Podcasts about china inland mission

This Sunday, studied Acts 11. This is a crucial chapter in the progress of King Jesus' mission to advance His kingdom to the ends of the earth. The mission of the gospel takes a decisively new direction for mission: the Gentile world. The center for missionary activity shifts from Jerusalem to Antioch. Adjustments to expectations need to happen everywhere.  If there is anything that is true about the mission of God and the Christian life, it is this: Expect the Unexpected. Most of us don't like an unpredictable life. We resist adaptation and change, but when God is on the move, we need to be ready. As the old gospel goes: “When the Spirit says move, you gotta move.”      The reality of the Christian life is that God often works in ways that we never expected, and we would rather not go. He moves us out of our comfort and into his transformative mission, where He changes the world while He transforms us. Amy Carmichael, the famous missionary to India, once prayed this prayer: “Do anything, Lord, that will fit me to serve Thee and help my beloveds.” Her heart's desire was to go to China with China Inland Mission. Little did she know that she would end up spending most of her life in India ministering to young Hindu children who were rescued from a life of servitude in Hindu Temples. Her life was a series of twists and turns that eventually led to her being housebound and bedridden for the last two decades of her life, simply writing and praying. And what an incredible influence her prayers and writings had on generations of missionaries.      Friends, the great comfort in our lives is not that life goes the way that we had expected. The great comfort is that God has gone before us and will go before us and lead the way. This Sunday, our sermon is called “The Lord Who Goes Before You.” I hope and pray that this will comfort those of you who are in tough places in life and will invigorate all of us as a church community, knowing that our God is a missionary God and He is already ahead of us for the sake of His kingdom cause. We can trust and follow Him.     In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor   Join us this coming Sunday - Outdoor Service at 10am - 1 Service only.  Bring a chair and/or a blanket to sit on lakeside!

One of the great missionaries in church history was Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission (1832-1905). Taylor was famous for his impact on global missions. One of the things that stood out about Hudson Taylor was his commitment to what is called “Indigeneity.” He wanted the gospel to go to the Chinese people and make them Christians in the truest sense. He didn't want cultural adaptation but true gospel transformation. He said wanted: “Christian Chinese—true Christians, but Chinese in every sense of the word.” If you ever saw pictures of Hudson Taylor, you will know that he went out of his way not to bend others to his culture but to bend himself to the culture of the Chinese in order that they might come to know Christ. If there was going to be cultural adaptation, it would be on his part. This reminds me of the apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 9, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means, I might win some.” This Sunday's sermon is taken from Acts 10:1-48 and is called “Becoming All Things.”    Looking forward to seeing you next Sunday and worshipping Christ together with you! Invite a friend!   In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

(1 Timothy 3:15) The church is not called to do everything—it is commanded to do one thing! His purpose must become ours! Every member must find their place in the wonderful work of God in this world. (0967250317) ----more----   The Mission of the Church We've taken a good bit of time to look at what the Bible says about the church, and here's why. Because this is what God is doing in this world right now. This is present tense. This is where we're living. This is not theory, this is practice. What is God doing in this world through the local New Testament church? And what are we to be doing? What's our mission? Let's begin with one verse today, 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul writes, "But if I tarry long that thou may know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." Understanding Our Role in the Church We find something here that's true of the institution, of the church and something that's true for the individual in the church. The truth for the institution is this. We have one mission and that mission as the Church of the Living God, is to be the pillar and ground of the truth, literally to uphold the truth, to lift up the truth in love. We've been given a body of doctrine. And it's our mission, not just to hold it. Did you hear the words, the pillar and ground of the truth? What's the pillar and ground do? That's the foundation. And then the pillars hold it up. It's not just our responsibility to hold the truth, it's our responsibility to uphold the truth. It, in other words, to show it to others, to share it with those around us, to lift it up in the midst of a world that is filled with error. That's the church's mission. Now individually, what's my part in that? The Bible says that we're to know how we're to behave ourself in the house of God. In other words, we're to find our place in that work. We're to find our mission in God's mission. The New Testament Church exists to accomplish Christ's purpose in this world, not our purpose. So when you identify the Lord's mission, you've identified the local church's mission, you've identified your own mission.  The Church's Mission: Unlike Any Other  Churches have not been called on to do everything in this world. Today churches are trying to offer services and programs for every possible need. But could I remind you, the church has been given a mission that no other organization on Earth can fulfill. Ours is eternal work. Ours is not simply to make this world a better place from which to go to hell. Ours is a mission to keep people out of hell. Do you remember when we began our study of what the Bible says about the church? Jesus said of the church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We're to be on the offense. We're to be advancing against the gates of hell we're to be pulling people out of the fire. In the words of Jude we're to be rescuing the perishing. That was Fannie Crosby's famous hymn, rescue the perishing care for the dying. Snatch them in pity from sin in the grave. Our mission is to advance the cause of Jesus Christ in this world and to bring people to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our mission is Christ's mission.  The Church & the Great Commission In Matthew chapter 28, the Lord Jesus gave what is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Some people have have said that the Great Commission has become the great omission. How true it is that the one thing God left us to do is the one thing we're most failing to do. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all way, even under the end of the world. Amen." I love this. The same one who founded the church is still with us. The same one that was with that first primitive church. Those first disciples that were the called out assembly is with us now and He is with us. Not so we can simply sit in a building and enjoy a good message, not so we can simply sit around in fellowship and talk to one another and think about how great it is. We're not going to hell, but to carry out his work in this world.  Active Faith and Influence It was Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission that famously said, God is always advancing. I wonder if God's always advancing, are we? Because if we're in step with God, that must mean we're supposed to be on the move, not passive. But active, not simply sitting around waiting on Jesus to come. That was the error of the church at Thessalonica at one point. They thought they'll just sit around and wait on the Lord to show up. When Jesus said, occupy till I come, he did not mean occupy church pew. He meant be busy. Be busy about the Lord's business, the work of the Lord and the tool that we use in this world. Is influence. It's not force. You can't make people believe on Christ. You we're not twisting people's arms to become Christians. Rather, we are giving the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the work that every church is to be busy with, and that means that's the work every member of the local church is to be busy with. This is how we're to behave ourselves. In the House of God, the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Personal and Practical Application of the Church's Mission So let's get real, personal and practical today. Are you doing that? What are you doing in and through your local assembly to get the gospel to your community? To reach the lost in your area? To advance the cause of the gospel around the world? That is the mission of every local New Testament church and not simply to belong and not simply to believe. But then to be busy getting the Gospel to other people. In the end, the objective is one thing.  Glorifying God Through the Church It's the glory of God. The church's duty is to carry on the work of Christ, to represent the one true and living God, so that one thing will happen. He will get the glory. And my pastor used to say that the measure of any church. Is one thing. It is its likeness to Jesus Christ. Why did Jesus come to glorify the Father to reveal God again? The measure of any church is not its buildings or its budgets. It's not its programs or the personality of the preacher. The measure of any church is one thing. Is it bringing glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it lifting up the truth in love? Is it pointing people to God? God's mission for the church is that we bring him glory. That's true now, and that's true for all eternity. In Ephesians 3:20, we read these words now, "Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us." Listen to verse 21, "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." I hope you'll lend your amen to that unto him. Be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Are you bringing Him glory today? Is your church bringing him glory? If we're not advancing his name, if we're not advancing his calls, if we're not advancing his gospel, then we are not bringing him glory. What do you think we're gonna do? For all eternity? For all eternity, we're gonna bring in glory.  Eternal Glory and Worship In fact, that's how the New Testament ends. In Revelation chapter four, we're given this little snapshot around the throne of the church, and the Bible says in Revelation 4:10, "The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne saying, Thou it worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created." He repeats it in Revelation 5:11, "And the voice of many angels round the throne and the beast and the elders. And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands." And what are they saying with a loud voice? "Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing." Friend, that's gonna be a church meeting like you've never been in before. But until we get to that day, we're to be bringing him glory now in every meeting and through every ministry that God has given us. Pray for Your Church Would you pray today for your church? Pray for your pastor. Pray for the deacons, pray for fellow members. Pray for the lost in your area to be saved and pray that you personally will do your part to bring in glory and to get the gospel to others because that my friends, that's what God says in his word. That's what the Bible says about the church.   Outro and Resources Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on enjoying the Journey.

Last time we spoke about the Long March. Amidst escalating conflicts, the Red Army, led by the newly empowered Mao Zedong, faced immense pressures from the Nationalist Army. Struggling through defeats and dwindling forces, they devised a bold retreat known as the Long March. Starting in October 1934, they evaded encirclement and crossed treacherous terrain, enduring heavy losses. Despite dire circumstances, their resilience allowed them to regroup, learn from past missteps, and ultimately strengthen their strategy, securing Mao's leadership and setting the stage for future successes against the KMT. During the Long March (1934-1936), the Red Army skillfully maneuvered through treacherous terrain, evading the pursuing National Revolutionary Army. Despite harsh conditions and dwindling numbers, advances and strategic ploys allowed them to cross critical rivers and unite with reinforcements. Under Mao Zedong's leadership, they faced internal struggles but ultimately preserved their unity. By journey's end, they had transformed into a formidable force, setting the stage for future victories against their adversaries and solidifying their influence in China.   #131 The Complicated Story about Xinjiang Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. I've said probably too many times, but theres one last major series of events I'd like to cover before we jump into the beginning of the 15 year war between China and Japan. When I say Xinjiang I imagine there are two responses from you in the audience, 1) what the hell is Xinjiang or number 2) oh what about that place in northwest China. That pretty much sums it up, the history of this province, or region if you want to call it that is almost never spoken about. It was a place as we have seen multiple times in the series, where conflicts come and go like the weather. But in the 1930's things really heated up. What I want to talk about is collectively part of the Xinjiang Wars, but more specifically I want to talk about the Kumul Rebellion. There's really no way to jump right into this one so I am going to have to explain a bit about the history of Xinjiang.  Xinjiang in a political sense is part of China and has been the cornerstone of China's strength and prestige going back to the Han dynasty over 2000 years ago. In a cultural sense however, Xinjiang is more inline with the Muslim dominated middle-east. It's closer to th Turkic and Iranian speaking peoples of Central Asia. From a geographical point of view Xinjiang is very much on the periphery. It is very isolated from western asia by the massed ranks of the Hindu Kush, the Pamirs, the Tien Shan, the Indian Subcontinent of Karakoram, Kunlun, the Himalaya ranges and of course by the Gobi desert. It neither belongs to the east or west. As a province of China its the largest and most sparsely populated. It can be divided into two main regions, the Tarim Basin and Zungharia and then into two lesser but economically significant regions, the Ili Valley and Turgan Depression. The Tien Shan mountain range extends roughly eastward from the Pamir Massif, creating a formidable barrier between Zungharia and the Tarim Basin. This natural obstacle complicates direct communication between the two regions, particularly during winter. The Ili Valley, separated from Zungharia by a northern extension of the Tien Shan, is physically isolated from the rest of the province and can only be easily accessed from the west. This western area came under Russian control in the mid-nineteenth century and now forms part of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Now it has to be acknowledged, since the formation of the PRC in 1949, Xinjiang changed in size and ethnic composition. The CCP drove a massive Han migrant wave over. Regardless, Han's make up a minority and according to some population statistics taken during the 1940s, Xinjiang was dominated by 7 Muslim nationalities, roughly 3.5 million people out of a total population of 3.7 million. 200,000 of these were Han settlers, while 75,000-100,000 were Mongols, Russians, Tunguzic peoples (those being Sibo, Solon and Manchu), a few Tibetans, Afghans and Indians. Among the various indigenous Muslim nationalities of Xinjiang, the Uighurs stand out as the most numerous and politically important. This Turkic-speaking group primarily consists of sedentary agriculturalists who reside in the oases of the Tarim Basin, Turfan, Kumul, and the fertile lowlands of the Hi Valley. In the late 1940s, the Uyghur population in Xinjiang was estimated to be approximately 2,941,000. Following the Uyghurs, the second-largest Muslim nationality in the region is the Kazakhs, with an estimated population of around 319,000 during the late Republican Period. Kirghiz come in third, with an estimated population of about 65,000 at the same time. Both the Kazakhs and Kirghiz in Xinjiang are nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples, with the Kazakhs primarily found in the highland areas of Zungharia and the Hi Valley, while the Kirghiz inhabit the upland pastures of the Tien Shan and Pamirs. There also exist a small group of Iranian-speaking 'Mountain' Tajiks living in the upland Sarikol region in the far southwest, with an estimated population of 9,000 in the mid-1940s; a primarily urban group of Uzbeks residing in larger oasis towns and cities of the Tarim Basin, numbering approximately 8,000 in the mid-1940s; and a smaller group of Tatars settled mainly in Urumqi and the townships near the Xinjiang-Soviet border, estimated at 5,000 during the same period. Lastly, it is important to mention the Hui, a group of Chinese-speaking Muslims dispersed throughout China, particularly in Zungharia and Kumul within Xinjiang, as well as in the neighboring northwestern provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia. Known as 'Tungan' in Xinjiang, the Hui population was estimated at around 92,000 in the mid-1940s and held significant political and military influence during the Republican Period. Excluding the Ismaili Tajik's of Sarikol, the Muslim population of Xinjiang, whether Turkic or Chinese speaking, are Sunni following the orthodox of Hanafi Madhhab.  As for the non Muslim population, excluding the Mongols who numbered roughly 63,000 and inhabit a narrow strip of land along the northeastern frontier between Xinjiang and the Mongolian People's Republic, Tien Shan, Ili Vally and Chuguchak, most were newcomers, migrants from the mid 18th century while the region was being conquered. Again according to the same statistics from the 1940s I mentioned, Hans represented 3-4 % of the population. Although the Han population disproportionately held power with the main administrative areas, they had no sizable territorial enclaves. The Han population can basically be divided into 5 groups; descendants of exiled criminals and political offenders; Hunanese settlers who came over after Zuo Zungtang's conquests; Tientsin merchants who were supplying Zuo's army; Shanxi caravaneers who came to trade and Gansu colonists. Lastly there were the Tunguzic Peoples and Russians. The Tunguzic speaking Sibo, Solon and Manchu settled mostly in the Ili region. The Russians also tended to live in the Ili region. These were mostly White Russian refugees from the civil war.  Xinjiang's first Republican governor was Yang Zengxin, a Yunnanese native. He had previously worked as the district magistrate in Gansu and Ningxia earning a reputation as a good manager of the local Tungan Muslim population. In 1908 he was transferred to Xinjiang and quickly found himself promoted to by the last Qing governor of Xinjiang. He held out his post after the Xinhai revolution and quelled a Urumqi rebellion soon after. Yang Zengxin's survived politically by always siding with whichever faction he thought was winning. For example in 1917, President Li Yuanghong dispatched Fan Yaonan to watch over Yang and try to replace him if possible. Yang recognized quickly whichever Warlord faction held power over the Beiyang government should be courted. Thus Yang held out for a long time and his province was comparably peaceful compared to most of warlord era China. To maintain his power, Yang enacted a divide and rule style, trying to placate the conflicts between certain groups within Xinjiang, but made sure to exclude Russian influence. Basically Yang tried his best to keep groups who could come into conflict away from each other, keeping the Uyghurs of southern Xinjiang away from the pastoral nomads of Zungharia and Tien Shan. Above all Yang considered the Bolshevik Russians to be the greatest threat to his regime, in his words “The Russians ... aimed at ... isolating the country from all outside influence, and at maintaining it in a state of medieval stagnation, thus removing any possibility of conscious and organised national resistance. As their religious and educational policy, the Russian administrators sought to preserve the archaic form of Islam and Islamic culture. . . Quranic schools of the most conservative type were favoured and protected against any modernist influence”. During his 16 year of power, Yang established himself as a competent autocrat, a mandarin of the old school and quite the capable administrator. Yet his economic policies were long term exploitative causing hardship and exhausting the province. Yang realized he was reached the threshold of what the population was willing to endure and endeavored to allow corruption to emerge within his administration provided it remained within acceptable limits. IE: did not spring forward a Muslim revolution. He opened junior positions in the administration to Muslims which had a duel effect. It made the Muslim community feel like they were part of greater things, but placed said officials in the path of the populations anger, insulating senior Han officials. Ironically it would be his fellow Han Chinese officials who would become angry with him. Some were simply ambitious of his power, others felt that Xinjiang should be more closely inline with China proper.  Rumors have it that after a dinnr party, Yang deliberately surrounded himself with opium addicts, stating to his subordinates “the inveterate opium smoker thinks more of his own comfort and convenience than of stirring up unrest among his subordinates”. Needless to say, Yang later years saw him seriously alienating senior officials. By 1926 he claimed “to have created an earthly paradise in a remote region” so he seemed to be quite full of himself. That same year he turned against his Tungan subordinates. He accused many of conspiring with Ma Qi, a Tungan warlord of Xuning in Qinghai, whom he also thought were driven by Urumqi. Deprived of his formerly loyal Tungans, Yang found himself increasingly isolated. A expedition was sent to Urumqi in 1926, whr G. N Roerich noted “The Governor's residence consisted of several well-isolated buildings and enclosed courtyards. The gates were carefully guarded by patrols of heavily armed men ... The Governor's yamen seemed to us to be in a very dilapidated condition. The glass in many of the windows on the ground floor was broken and dirty papers and rags had been pasted on the window frames. Numerous retainers roamed about the courtyards and villainous bodyguards, armed with mauser pistols, were on duty at the entrance to the yamen.” It seems likely Yang had decided to leave Xinjiang at that point. He had amassed a immense personal fortune and sent much of it to his family in China proper and also to Manila where he had a bank account. Further evidence of this was provided by Mildred Cable and Francesca French, two members of the China inland Mission who reported 'Wise old Governor Yang ... as early as 1926 ... quietly arranged a way of escape for his family and for the transference of his wealth to the security of the British Concession in Tientsin. Later in the same year, accompanied by several 'luggage cases of valuables', Yang's eldest son was sent out of Sinkiang, travelling incognito, in the company of these missionaries”. It was also at this time Yang erectd a statue of himself in th public gardens at Urumqi. According to Nicholas Roerich, this memorial was paid for with forced contributions 'from the grateful population'; by all accounts the statue was in execrable taste . While the NRA was marching upon Beijing in June of 1928, Yang ordered the KMT flag to be raised in Xinjiang. This gesture indicated to all, Yang was about to depart the province. One of Yang's most dissident subordinates, a Han named Fan Yaonan decided to act. Fan Yaonan was an ambitious modernist who received his education in Japan and someone Yang distruste from day one. Fan was appointed the post of Taoyin of Aksu by the Beijing government, an appointment Yang could have easily ingored, but was grudgingly impressd by Fans abilities. Fan proved himself very useful to Yang and was soon promoted to the Taoyin of Urumqi alongside becoming the Xinjiang Provincial Commissioner for Foreign Affairs. It seems Fan and Yang mutually disliked each other. At some point in 1926 Fan got together with a small group of like minded officials, such as the engineer at Urumqi's telegraph station and the Dean of the local school of Law, and Fan told them he wanted to assasinate Yang. Some believe Fan sought to gain favor with the KMT as motivation. Regardless on July 7th of 1928, 6 days after Yang took the post of Chairman of the Xinjiang Provincial Government under the KMT, Fan attacked. On that day, Yang was invited to a banquet to celebrate a graduation ceremony at the Urumqi law school. Fan had arranged the banquet, with 18 soldiers present, disguised as waiters wearing “red bands around their arms and Browning pistols in their sleeves”. During the meal, Fan proposed a toast to the health of Yang at which time “shots rang outsimultaneously, all aimed at the Governor. Seven bulletsin all were fired, and all reached their mark. Yang, mortally wounded, but superb in death, glared an angry defiance at his foes, 'who dares do this?' he questioned in the loud voice which had commanded instant obedience for so many years. Then he fell slowly forward, his last glance resting upon the face of the trusted Yen, as though to ask forgiveness that he had not listened to the advice so often given to him”. According to Yan Tingshan who was also wounded, Fan Yaonan finished Yang Zengxin off with two shots personally. After the assassination, whereupon 16 people were killed or wounded, Fan went to Yang official residence and seized the seals of office. He then sent a letter summonig Jin Shujen, the Commissioner for Civil Affairs in Xinjiang and Yang's second in command. Jin called Fan's bluff and refusing to come, instead sending soldiers to arrest the assassin. It seems Fan greatly miscalculated his personal support as a short gun battle broke out and he was arrested by Jin and shortly thereafter executed with his complices on July 8th. And thus, Jin Shujen found himself succeeding Yang, a less able man to the job. Jin Shujen was a Han Chinese from Gansu. He graduated from the Gansu provincial academy and served for a time as the Principal of a Provincial normal school. He then entered the Imperial Civil Service, where he came to the attention of Yang, then working as the district Magistrate at Hozhou. Yang took him on as district magistrate and Jin rose through the ranks. By 1927 Jin became the Provincial Commissioner for Civil Affairs at Urumqi. After executing Fan, Jin sent a telegram to Nanjing seeking the KMT's official recognition of his new role. Nanjing had no real options, it was fait accompli, they confirmed Jin into office and under the new KMT terminology he was appointed Provincial Chairman and commander-in-chief. In other words an official warlord.  Following his seizure of power, Jin immediately took steps to secure his newfound power. His first step was to double the salaries of the secret police and army. He also expanded the military and acquired new weaponry for them. Politically, Jin maintained the same old Qing policies Yang did, pretty much unchanged. Jin did however replace many of the Yunnanese followers under Yang with Han CHinese from Gansu. Jins younger brother, Jin Shuxin was appointed Provincial Commissioner for military affairs at Urumqi and his other brother Jin Shuqi was given the senior military post at Kashgar. His personal bodyguard member Zu Chaoqi was promoted to Brigade Commander at Urumqi. Jin maintained and expanded upon Yang's system of internal surveillance and censorship, like any good dictator would. According to H. French Ridley of the China Inland Mission at Urumqi “people were executed for 'merely making indiscreet remarks in the street during ordinary conversation”. Jin also introduced a system of internal passports so that any journey performing with Xinjiang required an official passport validation by the Provincial Chairman's personal seal, tightening his security grip and of course increasing his official revenue. Travel outside Xinjiang became nearly impossible, especially for Han officials and merchants seeking trade with China proper.  Under Jin Xinjiang's economy deteriorated while his fortune accumulated. Yang had introduced an unbacked paper currency that obviously fell victim to inflation and Jin upted the anty. Within a process of several stages, he expanded the currency, causing further inflation. Under Yang the land taxes had been a serious source of the provincial revenue, but Yang was not foolish enough to squeeze the Turkic peasantry too hard, he certainly was intelligent enough to thwart peasant revolts. Jin however, not so smart, he tossed caution to the win and doubled the land taxes, way past what would be considered the legal amount. Jin also emulated Ma Fuxiang, by establishing government monopolies over various profitable enterprises, notably the gold mine at Keriya and Jade mine at Khotan. He also monopolized the wool and pelt industry, using his police and army to force the sale of lambskins at a mere 10% of their market value. Just as with Yang's regime, wealth flowed out of the province in a continuous stream, straight into banks within China proper. According to George Vasel, a German engineer and Nazi agent hired to construct airfields in Gansu during the early 1930s, he knew a German pilot named Rathje who was secretly employed by Jin to fly a million dollars worth of gold bullion from Urumqi to Beijing. Jin did his best to keep all foreign influence out of Xinjiang and this extended also to KMT officials from China proper. Jin also of course did his best to conceal his corrupt regime from Nanjing. For all intensive purposes Jin treated Xinjiang like a feudal, medieval society. He tried to limit external trade to only be through long distance caravans. All was fine and dandy until Feng Yuxiang occupied Gansu and thus disrupted the traditional trade routes. Alongside this the Soviets had just constructed a new railroad linking Frunze, the capital of Kirghiz with Semipalatinsk in western siberia. This railroad known as the Turksib was aimed primarily to develop western Turkstan, integrating it within the new soviet system. The railroad was constructed 400 miles away from the Xinjiang frontier, on purpose to limit any activities with capitalists. When the railway was completed in 1930 it virtually strangled Xinjiang. China's share of Xinjiang's market dropped by 13% and the value of trade with the Soviets which had dropped to zero since the Russian civil war was not rising past 32 million roubles by 1930. The Soviet trade gradually was seizing a monopoly over Xinjiang and this of course affected the merchants and workers who were unable to compete. The revenue of the merchants and workers declined as new taxes were levied against them. Meanwhile alongside an increase in Soviet trade, the new railway also increased Soviet political influence over Xinjiang. It was also much faster and easier to travel from China proper to Xinjiang via Vladivostok, the trans-siberian railway and Turksib than across the North-West roads of China. For the Turkic speaking Muslims of Xinjiang, it was quite impressive and many wanted to do business and mingle with the Soviets. However to do so required a visa, and thus KMT officials in Nanjing held the keys. Jin's policies towards the Turkic Muslims, Tungans and Mongols were extremely poor from the very beginning. It seems Jin held prejudice against Muslims, some citing bad experiences with them in Gansu. Whatever the case may be, Jin rapidly antagonized both his Turkic speaking and Tungan Muslim citizens by introducing a tax on the butchering of all animals in Xinjiang and forbidding Muslims to perform the Hajj to Mecca. Some point out he did that second part to thwart a loophole on leaving Xinjiang for trade. Obviously the Muslim majority of Xinjiang and the military powerhouse of Torgut Mongols in the Tien Shan bitterly resented Jin. Despite wide scale hostility against him, the first challenges at his autocratic rule came not from various minority groups, but some ambitious Han officers under his command. Palpatin would say it was ironic.  In May of 1929 the Taoyin of Altai attempted a coup against Jin, but he was forewarned and able to confine the fighting to the Shara Sume area. In the spring of 1931 troubles broke out in Urumqi as discontented Han officers and soldiers attacked Jin's yamen. The attack failed, and the instigators of the plot were all executed. The same year, Jin annexed the Kumul Khanate, known to the Chinese as Hami, finally pushing the Turkic speaking Muslims into open rebellion. Going back in time, after Zuo Zengtangs reconquest of Xinjiang in the 1870s, a few local principalities were permitted to survive on a semi-autonomous basis. Of these Kumul was the most important and was ruled by a royal family dating back to the Ming Dynasty and descended from the Chaghatay Khans. The Khanate of Kumul dominated the chief road from Xinjiang to China proper and was therefore of strategic importance to the Chinese. It extended from Iwanquan northwards to the Barkul Tagh and along the mountains to Bai and south to Xingxingxia along the Xinjiang-Gansu border. During the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, Maqsud Shah was sitting on the throne of Kumul. He was known to the Chinese as the Hami Wang, to his subjects as Khan Maqsud or Sultan Maqsud and to Europeans as the King of the Gobi. He was the last independent Khan of Central Asia as the rest were tossing their lot in with the progress of the times. During Yangs regime he was content with allowing Kumul to train its semi autonomous status, mostly because Maqsud Shah was very friendly towards the Chinese. He spoke Turkic with a marked Chinese accent and wore Chinese clothes. On the other hand he had a long whit beard and always wore a turban or Uyghur cap. He was a staunch Muslim ruling a petty oasis kingdom from an ancient and ramshackle palace in Kumul proper, one of three towns making up the capital of Kumul, known to the Chinese as Huicheng. He had a bodyguard consisting of 40 Chinese soldiers armed with mausers and had a Chinese garrison billeted in fortified Chinese town. The third city in his domain was known as New City or Xincheng, populated by a mix of Chinese and Turkic peoples. By 1928, shortly after the assassination of Yang, it was estimated Maqsud Shah ruled over roughly 25,000-30,000 Kumulliks. He was responsible for levying taxes, dispensing justice and so forth. His administration rested upon 21 Begs, 4 of whom were responsible for Kumul itself, 5 others over plains villages and the other 12 over mountain regions of Barkul and Karlik Tagh. Maqsud Shah also maintained a Uyghur militia who had a reputation as being better trained than its Chinese counterpart at Old City. Throughout Yangs regime, Kumul remained relatively peaceful and prosperous. Maqsud Shah paid a small annual tribute to Urumqi and in return the Xinjiang government paid him a formal subsidy of 1200 silver taels a year. Basically this was Yang paying for the Sultans compliance when it came to moving through his strategic Khanate. For the Uyghurs of Kumul, they were free from the typical persecution under Chinese officials. The only tax paid by citizens of Kumul was in livestock, generally sheep or goats, given annually to the Khan. The soil of the oasis was rich and well cultivated. Everything was pretty fine and dandy under Yang, but now was the time of Jin. In March of 1930, Maqsud Shah died of old age. His eldest son Nasir should have inherited the throne of Kumul, but Jin and his Han subordinates stationed in Kumul Old City had other plans. Shortly after Maqsud Shah's death, Nasir traveled to Urumqi, most likely to legitimize his rise upon the throne. Nasir was not very popular amongst his people, thus it seemed he needed Jin's aid to bolster him. However there also was the story that it was Jin who ordered Nasir to come to Urumqi to perform a formal submission. Now at the time of Maqsud Shah's death, Li Xizeng, a Han Chinese divisional commander stationed in Kumul suggested to Jin that the Khanate should be abolished and annexed officially. There was of course a great rationale for this, if Jin took control over Kumul it would offer increased revenue and new positions for his Han Chinese officials. Thus Jin ordered a resolution be drawn up by his ministers to abolish the Khanate, dividing Kumul into three separate administrative districts, Hami centered around the capital, I-ho and I-wu. When Nasir arrived in Urumqi he was given the new position of Senior Advisor to the provincial government, but forbidden to return to Kumul. Basically it was the age old government via hostage taking. Meanwhile another official named Yulbars was sent back to Kumul with a group of Chinese officials to set up the new administration.  While the people of Kumul had no love for Nasir and were taxed pretty heavily by his father, this did not mean that they wanted the Khanate to end. For the Turkic Muslims the Khanate held a religious significance. For Uyghurs there was a question of national pride associated with it. Of course there were economic issues. Within Xinjiang Han were allowed to settle, but in the Khanate there were restrictions. In the words of the Nanjing Wu Aichen on the situation “subject peoples obstinately prefer self-government to good government”. Well Jin's government was definitely not good, so what outcome does that give? The newly appointed Han administration upset the people of Kumul from the very minute of its installation. When it was announced the privilege of being except from direct taxation by Urumqi was to be abolished, ompf. To add insult to injury, one years arrears of taxes were to be collected from the Uyghurs. On top of that, Kumul was tossed wide open to Han settlers who were incentivized to settle by giving them a tax exemption for two years. Yeah that be some wild policies. To add even more misery, Kumul being situated on the chief road from northwestern Gansu to Xinjiang saw an enormous flow of refugees from famine and warfare going on in Gansu. A column of these refugees were seen by Berger Bohlin of the Sino-Swedish Expedition of 1931. His account is as follows “During my stay at Hua-hai-tze I witnessed a curious spectacle. The Chen-fan region had for a number of years been visited by failure of the crops and famine, and large numbers of people therefore emigrated to more prosperous tracts. Such an emigration-wave now passed Hua-hai-tze. It consisted of a caravan of 100 camels, transporting 150 persons with all their baggage to Sinkiang, where it was said that land was being thrown open”. It seemed to Bohlin that the refugees looked carefree and happy and that the ruler of Xinjiang, Jin Shujen, a Gansu man himself was enthusiastic to have them come settle his province. Jin had his official in charge of I-ho district Lung Xulin provide land for the would-be settlers coming from Gansu. Lung Xulin responded by forcing his Uyghur population to leave their cultivated land and simply handed it over to the refugees. The expropriated Uyghurs were compensated for their land by being given untilled lands on the fringe of the desert where most soil was barren. The Uyghurs were also assessed for their land tax based on their old holdings. To make this even worse hear this, untilled land was exempt from taxation for two years, so they didn't even get that, while the Gansu refugees were excused from tax payments for three years. So yeah the Kumul people quickly organized a petition and sent it to the yamen in Urumqi. There was zero acknowledgement from the yamen it was received and nothing was done to address the long list of grievances, especially from the Uyghurs. Instead the Gansu settlers kept flooding in and with them the price of food skyrocketed, largely because of the enormous amount of provincial troops sent in to watch over everybody. Now for the moment the Turkic speaking Muslims in the region remained relatively peaceful, and this perhaps lulled Jin into a false sense of security. But according to Sven Hedin of the Sino-Swedish Expedition “Discontent increased; the people clenched their teeth and bided their time; the atmosphere was tense and gloomy. Inflammable matter accumulated, and only a spark was needed to fire the powder magazine.”  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The history of Xinjiang is unbelievably bizarre, complicated and quite frankly really fun. Before researching this I had no idea about anything and am really enjoying this as I write it. The next episode is going to be on the Kumul Rebellion, so buckle up buckaroo. 

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 20th of December, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Gospel of Mark 14:50 - It says that all of His disciples abandoned Him and fled. They all deserted Him, all of them.James Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was a wonderful man of God who took the Gospel to China in the early days. He lived with the Chinese people and brought a revival which I think has been unparalleled. Even today, China is a communist country, it is not a friend of Jesus Christ, and yet the underground church is flourishing like never before. They say there is something like over 60 million believers in China! James Hudson Taylor said, ”Separation never comes from His side”. Separation never comes from Jesus' side. We are the ones that leave Him, He never leaves us. He said that to us: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5), and He means it, my dear friend. Many a time, people write to me and they say, “Where is God? Angus, when I was calling for Him, He wasn't there.” Oh yes, He was, my dear friend. He will never leave you and He will never separate Himself from you. That is why I love Him so much.I have been through many things in my life as I am sure you have as well, but I want to tell you, when the going gets really tough, He gets in even closer with us. Remember the story of the footsteps in the sand? Lord, every time things got tough, there were only one set of footsteps in the sand. Where were You, Lord?” “Oh My son, oh My daughter, I was carrying you on My shoulders.” Yes, Jesus Christ will never leave you and that is good news for you today. Go out and tell the world that many may betray you but Jesus, never. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends”. John 15:13 Does that sound like betrayal? Does that sound like separation, my dear friend? No! Today, draw close to Him and He will walk with you through the fire.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

Over the nearly 90 years of the China Inland Mission's work in that country, through famine, war and disease, thousands of men and women poured out their lives to tell the Chinese people of the Saviour who loved them and had died for them. We take a look in the archives to see what CIM was doing 100 years ago. Audio from OMF Billions Magazine September - December 2024: ‘Imagining the Eternal City'. Read more at ⁠https://omf.org/uk/resources/billions/

Hudson Taylor, one of the most influential missionaries to China, began life as a skeptic despite growing up in a Christian home. His journey to faith was deeply influenced by the prayers of his mother and sister, and a providential encounter with a Gospel tract that opened his eyes to the truth of Christ's finished work on the cross. From that moment on, Taylor dedicated his life to spreading the gospel to unreached people in China. His faith was often tested in remarkable ways. From living in the slums of London to prepare for the hardships of missionary life, to trusting God for every penny when his employer forgot to pay him, Taylor's life exemplified a deep reliance on God's provision. Despite numerous personal and professional challenges, including the deaths of his wife and children, Taylor's mission work flourished. He founded the China Inland Mission and paved the way for nearly 1,000 missionaries to bring the gospel to the unreached interior of China. Hudson Taylor's life was marked by humility, a steadfast commitment to God's call, and an unwavering belief that God could use even the weakest vessels for His glory. This episode explores how Taylor's deep trust in Christ's finished work inspired a movement that transformed countless lives, including his own. Join us as we reflect on the lessons from his extraordinary life of faith and mission. Scripture Reading: John 19:30

Hudson Taylor, one of the most influential missionaries to China, began life as a skeptic despite growing up in a Christian home. His journey to faith was deeply influenced by the prayers of his mother and sister, and a providential encounter with a Gospel tract that opened his eyes to the truth of Christ's finished work on the cross. From that moment on, Taylor dedicated his life to spreading the gospel to unreached people in China. His faith was often tested in remarkable ways. From living in the slums of London to prepare for the hardships of missionary life, to trusting God for every penny when his employer forgot to pay him, Taylor's life exemplified a deep reliance on God's provision. Despite numerous personal and professional challenges, including the deaths of his wife and children, Taylor's mission work flourished. He founded the China Inland Mission and paved the way for nearly 1,000 missionaries to bring the gospel to the unreached interior of China. Hudson Taylor's life was marked by humility, a steadfast commitment to God's call, and an unwavering belief that God could use even the weakest vessels for His glory. This episode explores how Taylor's deep trust in Christ's finished work inspired a movement that transformed countless lives, including his own. Join us as we reflect on the lessons from his extraordinary life of faith and mission. Scripture Reading: John 19:30

Could you imagine what would happen if the global church were to declare and display Christ together in unity? Join Dr. Patrick Fung as he unpacks the heart behind this powerful theme for the upcoming Fourth Lausanne Congress. In this episode of the Lausanne Movement Podcast, Dr. Patrick Fung, Program Chair for the Fourth Lausanne Congress, shares insights into the Congress's theme, "Let the Church Declare and Display Christ Together." He reflects on his personal journey in missions, the theme of the congress, and calls us back to humility, integrity, and simplicity in proclaiming the gospel. Explore the essential balance between declaring Christ through words and displaying Christ through action as we prepare for this pivotal global event. Main Points: Congress Invitation: The theme "Let the Church" is an invitation by God for His global church to unite and proclaim Christ together in word and action. The Church: Dr. Fung emphasizes the importance of mutuality and unity between the Global South and North, fostering interdependence rather than independence. Declare and Display: Proclaiming the gospel isn't just through words but also through lives that reflect Christ, combining verbal proclamation with acts of love and service. Together: The Congress aims to bridge gaps across denominations, cultures, and generations, fostering collaborative action in mission. Humility, Integrity, Simplicity: Inspired by the Cape Town Commitment, Dr. Fung calls the church back to these three values crucial for the Lausanne Movement and the global church. Call to Action: After listening to this episode, subscribe to our podcast, share it with friends attending the Congress, and visit our website to learn more about how you can participate in the Virtual Experience of Congress and join us in declaring and displaying Christ together. Links & Resources: Congress Website: https://congress.lausanne.org/ Patrick Fung Article on the Congress Theme: https://lausanne.org/about/blog/let-the-church-declare-and-display-christ-together The Lausanne Covenant: https://lausanne.org/statement/lausanne-covenant Cape Town Commitment: https://lausanne.org/statement/ctcommitment   Guest Bio: Patrick was born in Hong Kong and received medical training in Australia and the UK. He, and his wife, Jennie, previously served as medical missionaries in South Asia. Patrick currently serves as the global ambassador of OMF International (formerly the China Inland Mission). He formerly served as the general director of OMF International from 2005–2023, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in all its fullness with East Asia's peoples. Patrick was formerly on the Lausanne Movement's international board and is currently the advisory team chair of Lausanne YLGen and the programme chair for the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. We'd love your feedback to help us to improve this podcast. Thank you!

Death Is Not the End Pastor George Lehman It's important to be reminded regular that this life is preparation ground for the next life. 1 Timothy 4:8 (Amp) – For physical training is of some value (useful for a little), but godliness (spiritual training) is useful and of value in everything and in every way, for it holds promise for the present life and also for the life which is to come. ” What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Two of history's wisest men, Job, and Solomon, thought deeply about the possibilities of an afterlife for human beings, and both concluded that something better awaited men and women on the other side of death. Realizing that God "has put eternity in their hearts" Ecclesiastes 3:11, (We were created to live forever) Solomon writes at the end of the book that, although the physical body "will return to the earth as it was, . . . the spirit [of man] will return to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Job concludes that a time would come when, despite his being dead in the grave. Job 14:14-15(Amp) – 14If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare and service I will wait, till my change and release shall come. 15[Then] You would call and I would answer You; You would yearn for [me] the work of Your hands. Both men knew there would be life after death. The New Testament consistently teaches the doctrine of life after death through the resurrection from the dead (You can read this in I Corinthians 15 for the Bible's most concentrated teaching on it.) 1 Corinthians 15:14 (Amp) – And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded). While many understand that those who have given their lives to Jesus in this life will rise from their graves at the return of Christ to enjoy their eternal rewards: I Corinthians 15:51-52 - “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. I Thessalonians 4:14-17 - “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. The Bible reveals that all humanity will live again! Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV) - “11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.   “The moment we start to live, we begin to die.  Death is the end of dying, not the end of living.” -Charles Spurgeon   Here's a question: When you leave this world, how would you like to leave? A few days before his death, Dr. F.B. Meyer wrote a very dear friend these words: “I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live.  It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace.  Don't trouble to write.  We shall meet in the morning.” Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, in the closing months of his life said to a friend “I am so weak.  I can't read my bible.  I can't even pray.  I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child and trust.” There was an elderly man at home, upstairs, dying in bed.  He smelled the aroma of his favourite chocolate chips cookies baking.  He wanted one last cookie before He died.  He stumbled down the stairs and crawled into the kitchen where his wife was busy baking cookies.  With his last remaining strength, he crawled to the table and was just barely able to lift his withered arm to the cookie sheet.  As he grasped a warm, moist chocolate chips cookie, his favourite kind, his wife suddenly whacked his hand with a spatula.  Gasping for breath, he asked her, “Why did you do that?”  She replied, “those are for the funeral”. In preaching a funeral sermon, a preacher made the following remarks… “We have here before us only the shell – the nut is gone.” A committed Christian man, being asked during his terminal illness, whether he thought about himself dying “Really, friend, I care not whether I am or not, for if I die, I shall be with God, if I live, He will be with me.” Thomas Hobbs, the well-known English philosopher, said at the end of his road, “If the whole world belonged to me, I would give it all to live one day longer.  I am now departing on my last journey.  It is my turn now to take the frightful leap into the dark.” Caesar Borgia, a statesman, said something at the end of his earthly road that many others have surely also said:, “I have made provision for everything during my lifetime.  Only not for death; and now I must die totally unprepared.” The last words of Woodrow Wilson, American president who died in 1924, were short and sweet “I am ready”. Luke 16:19-31  Rich man and Lazarus Luke 16:22-23 (Amp) – 22And it occurred that the man [reduced to] begging died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23And in Jades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. Like you set your alarm for a ‘wake-up call', this is a wake-up call to each of us. Ephesians 5:14 (Amp) - Therefore, He says, awake o sleeper and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. A Rabbi regularly in a sermon said: “Repent, the day before you die.”  Every time someone would come to the Rabbi and say, “How can I repent the day before I die?  We don't know when we are going to die.”  “Exactly!!  Because you don't know when you're going to die, TODAY is the right time.” Hebrews 3:7-8 (Amp) - So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…” Thomas Watson said, “A man's greatest care should be for the place where he lives the longest; therefore, eternity should be his scope.” Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the unsaved, is a night that has no sunrise. Question: Do you want someone to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want to really hear the TRUTH?

E Josué, filho de Num, e Calebe, filho de Jefoné, […] rasgaram as suas vestes e falaram a toda a congregação dos filhos de Israel, dizendo: A terra pelo meio da qual passamos a espiar é terra muitíssimo boa. Se o Senhor se agradar de nós, então, nos fará entrar nessa terra e no-la dará, terra que mana leite e mel. (Nm 14.6-8)Em 3 de maio de 1953, um avião com destino a Londres, saindo de Cingapura, caiu 35 quilômetros a noroeste de Calcutá, na Índia, sem sobreviventes. Fred Mitchell, que havia se tornado o diretor do China Inland Mission dez anos antes, estava viajando naquela aeronave. Em sua biografia, Fred foi descrito como “um homem comum de uma casa de aldeia com pais da classe trabalhadora, que passou a maior parte de sua vida como químico nas províncias — e que andou com Deus”.Até que Calebe, filho de Jefoné, se tornasse um espia, designado por Moisés para vasculhar a terra que Deus havia prometido dar a seu povo, também não havia nada que indicasse que ele fosse particularmente importante ou distinto. Mas foi quase certamente nessas experiências comuns, ao longo da trilha monótona de sua vida, que Deus forjou e desenvolveu o caráter que é revelado em Números 14.A crise tende a revelar caráter. Quando os espias israelitas voltaram para relatar suas descobertas em Canaã, anunciaram que as cidades estavam fortificadas e que “não poderemos subir contra aquele povo, porque é mais forte do que nós […] e éramos, aos nossos próprios olhos, como gafanhotos” (Nm 13.31, 33). E o povo respondeu acusando Deus de trazê-los para uma terra onde seriam mortos (14.3).O compromisso de Calebe com Deus se destaca. Ele estava preparado para resistir à maré da opinião popular. Quando os espias recomendaram não entrar na terra prometida, ele se opôs a eles. Quando todos estavam se rebelando contra Deus, ele não se juntou a eles. Ele com seu fiel amigo Josué foram os únicos homens a aconselhar obediência corajosa a Deus.Calebe estava certo do que poderia ser realizado pelo poder de Deus. Ele não negou a verdade do que os outros espias tinham a dizer; ele simplesmente olhou para isso de uma perspectiva diferente. Não confiava em sua capacidade nem na capacidade dos israelitas, mas no poder de Deus e na confiabilidade de seu caráter. Ele era um homem de fé em meio ao medo. Ele sabia que um gafanhoto ajudado por Deus é um gafanhoto que pode fazer grandes coisas.Embora possamos sentir que nossa vida seja simplesmente rotineira, sempre podemos buscar a Deus no ordinário. Nos momentos mais triviais, ele forjará nosso caráter para que também possamos nos tornar pessoas de coragem em todas as circunstâncias. Deus não está procurando gigantes por meio de quem realizar seus planos. Ele está procurando pessoas comuns que estejam preparadas para confiar nele, sair com fé e obedecer corajosamente. Não há nada que impeça você de ser essa pessoa hoje.

Hudson Taylor was a missionary in China who would eventually begin the China Inland Mission, yet the road to that great organization was not all evenly paved.[1] Some of Taylor's first years in China proved so difficult that he left and moved back home to England. He would even spend five years back there, away from…… Continue reading Genesis 41:1-36 – The Rise of Joseph, part 1

Back in England, Hudson wonders how he will recruit more missionaries to China. Who will join the work in China? What will happen to them? Join Piper, Logan, and Uncle Mike for the conclusion of Hudson Taylor's story. Uniting kids with the good news of the Gospel through adventures and foundational, biblical truths. Subscribe to the CEF Podcast, so you don't miss any of our episodes!

The Gospel must be preached to all nations because God has elected some from every tribe, language, people, and nation to be in heaven. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Turn in your Bibles if you would, to Mark, chapter 13, and you can also turn as well to Matthew 24. We're going to be looking at both of those places. The Scripture reveals that despite all of its swirling complexity, human history has a purpose. We are moving to a destination. We're going somewhere with all of this. It's not just random chaos, but God has a plan and a purpose. The destination the Bible reveals, to which we're going, is a perfect universe, a perfect world free from all sin and a beautiful radiant city. The New Heavens and the New Earth are that perfect universe and that radiant city is called the New Jerusalem. The Bible reveals that the light source of that new universe and of the New Jerusalem, according to Revelation 21 and 22, is the glory of God, the glory of God. Revelation 21:23 says, "The city”[the New Jerusalem] "does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and the lamb is its lamp." Again, in the next chapter, Revelation 22:5 it says, "They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light." But what is that? What is the glory of God? In my studies and my meditations, I've thought a lot, it's an important topic. I believe the glory of God is the radiant display of the attributes or the perfections of God. Sometimes it's just brilliant light, as 1 Timothy 6:16 says, "God dwells in unapproachable light." Well, think about that, unapproachable light. How amazing must that be? For this reason, the Seraphim in Isaiah's vision were constantly covering their faces, though they had no sin or guilt, but just in that unapproachable light, the presence of the glory, they were covering their faces. For this reason also, the theophanies, or the displays of God, where God shows up in human history are frequently attended by overpowering light, like in Ezekiel's vision of the likeness of the glory of God by the Kibar River east of Babylon. Ezekiel 1 says, "High above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. And I saw from what appeared to be his waist up, He looked like glowing metal as if full of fire. And that from there down He looked like fire and brilliant light surrounded Him, like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell face down." So radiant, light, brightness connected with the glory of God. Also at the time of the birth of our Lord in Bethlehem, an angel appeared to shepherds outside Bethlehem and it says in Luke 2:9-10, "There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over the flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." This was a glory of the eye, not of the mind or heart. It was just bright light, and it stunned the shepherds that night. But the glory of God is seen not just in brilliant light, sometimes it's in the radiant display of the perfections of God, the attributes of God woven into the tapestry of historical events. That takes the eye of faith to see it, but it's there. The attributes of God woven into the tapestry of history. The perfections of God, attributes of God, include His wisdom, His power, His love, compassion, justice, patience, kindness, mercy. These are attributes. God has ordained history, the story of history, for this reason to put Himself on display in the sequence of events and unfolding history. He put Himself on display in a history, a story, that He predestined before Christ began, written in His own mind before time began. The sequence of events, this history, has all been written out by the author of history and it's intrinsically connected with the Christ event, the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said in Revelation 22:13, "I am the alpha and the omega. I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." History is linear, and Jesus is history. Jesus is what the story is all about. The radiant display of the glory of God in heaven, I believe, will consist in part in a retelling of His mighty works in saving His people from their sins and in their individual context all over the world, across the centuries, a retelling of the mighty works of God and saving sinners. I believe it's the most glorious thing God has ever done. His glory is greatly on display in salvation. Revelation 7:9-10 says, "After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes, and they were holding palm branches in their hands, and they cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.'" "The radiant display of the glory of God in heaven, I believe, will consist in part in a retelling of His mighty works in saving His people from their sins and in their individual context all over the world, across the centuries." Here's a multitude, a huge quantity of people, from all over the world, every imaginable context, standing around the throne of God in heaven praising God for salvation. The specific stories of these individual people that make up these millions from every nation on Earth, will bring infinite and eternal glory to God. A few verses later, Revelation 8:13, "Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?'" As I've said many times before, that story will take forever to tell fully. It is so complex, but it is woven through with light, it’s woven through with glory. "These redeemed," who are they and where do they come from? Well, how long do you have? We have all eternity. So, pull up a chair and let's hear the story of how God redeemed this one and that one and the other one from all over the world. Heaven will be filled with the stories of the greatness of God put on display in the amazing tapestry of history that He wove in every century. This is the story of missions. The spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to the ends of the Earth across every generation of history, that unspeakable glory as before us this morning. We're going to focus just on two verses of scripture. Mark 13:10, right in the middle of our Mark study, and then a parallel verse, Matthew 24:14. Mark 13:10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come." I want to tell you something about the science of Bible interpretation. The Gospels, there are four of them, three of them basically take the same approach to the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark ,and Luke. They're called synoptic because they see things from about the same perspective. Then the fourth Gospel, John, comes at it from a different perspective, but they all tell the same thing. We believe that all scriptures God-breathed is perfect, so therefore these are four perfect accounts of the life of Christ, but they have some differences with one another. When we have those differences between, let's say, Matthew and Mark, we harmonize. We don't pit them against each other, we put them together. We try to harmonize, and that's not always easy to do. Generally, I look on it as a two-for-one sale. I'm going to take both statements here as true, and if one of them tells me one thing, He said that and that's true, and if one of them tells something else, He said that, and I just harmonize, I put it together. I. Context: Jesus’ Prediction of the Destruction of the Temple Let's talk about the context here. We're moving through the Gospel of Mark. Mark 13 is Jesus's description of the history of the end of the world and the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the end of the world. It came from a statement Jesus made in Mark 13:2: "Not one stone will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down." This was a prediction of the destruction, at least of the Temple, but probably really of the whole city of Jerusalem and focused on the temple. It was the final week of Jesus's life. Things were hurdling to a conclusion, the dramatic turbulent events culminating in His arrest and His trial before the Jewish leaders. His condemnation by them is being handed over to Pontius Pilate for condemnation by the Romans and then His crucifixion by Pontius Pilate and the Romans. So that's where we're heading. Jesus has given a seven-fold denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of the Jewish nation. It's fully depicted in Matthew 23. It's just quickly summarized in Mark. But it culminates in this statement in Matthew 23: 38-39, "Jesus says, 'Behold your house is left to you desolate.'" This is a very important statement—your house is left to you desolate. “Desolate” means “empty." The reason I'm saying that is, "For, I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say ‘Blessed is He comes in the name of the Lord.’" “Not seeing Me again” is the essence of your desolate house. That's what makes your house desolate. Then Jesus dramatically walked out of the Temple, never to return again. The disciples came up at that moment and chose that moment to talk about how beautiful the Temple was. We shouldn't be surprised at this. This is what the disciples, the apostles were like, frequently off message. This is who we are as well. “As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down.’" That must've been incredibly distressing to them. They come to Him later, privately, when He's out of the city, He's up on the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, they're out of the city and they're there. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, Matthew 24:3, “The disciples came to Him privately. 'Tell us,' they said, 'When will this happen and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’" Matthew 24 and Mark 13 cover roughly the same ground, but Matthew 24, in much more detail. There's almost nothing found in Mark 13 that's not found in Matthew 24, and there are other things besides in Matthew 24, so I have my eye on both. Matthew 24 has the full question the disciples asked and the fuller answer that Jesus gives. The three parts of the question in Matthew 24 are, "Tell us, when will this happen?" And, "What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" The complexity of Matthew 24 and of Mark 13 comes in discerning and kind of to some degree, unweaving the tapestry of Jesus's answer. What is He talking about right now in this part? Is He talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in 870 AD by the Romans? Is He talking about the end of the world? What is it? They weave it through. Jesus, I believe, is giving a history of the world between His First and Second Comings. It's bigger than just the destruction of the Temple. Just to tell you, if you look at Mark 13:10, a key word for me in that is the word “first.” First. "This gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations." First before what? Before the destruction of the temple? That didn't happen. So clearly, Jesus's scope is bigger than the destruction of the Temple. He's looking at, I believe, all history, from the First to the Second Comings of Christ, and He's traveling and traversing that history. Look at verses 5-13, Mark 13. Jesus has said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name claiming I am He and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There'll be earthquakes in various places and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. You must be on your guard. You'll be handed over to local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of Me, you'll stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them." Here's our focus verse, verse 10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given to you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents, and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." Last week, we traced out those thirteen verses and looked at the whole answer. Just to summarize, it begins with a warning against false teaching. He goes from that to a prediction of the ordinary convulsion of events of history, wars and rumors of wars. That happens in every generation, almost every year of history, nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom. That's all the time. There'll be famines, earthquakes, various places. He calls all this the beginning of birth pains. The birth pains means a terrible convulsion or pain resulting in something beautiful and wonderful. We're heading to a good destination, but we have a lot of pain to go through first. That's what “beginning of birth pain” means. Then He mentions persecution. They will be handed over to the local councils. They'll be flogged in synagogues. These will be opportunities for them to be witnesses to Him. They will testify to Jesus. "On account of me, you'll stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them." The flow of human history is a canvas on which the masterpiece of redemptive history is being painted. These commonplace convulsions, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, arrests, trials, all of that is being sovereignly controlled to accomplish the spread of the Gospel, to accomplish the salvation of God's people, to accomplish the glory of God. That's what's going on here. It's amazing how God controls history even down to the micro-level, to achieve His purposes. I found a number of years ago a great example of this in the life of John Calvin. John Calvin is a great reformer who spent most of his life in Geneva, a great theologian, tremendous leader. However, he was not originally Swiss. Geneva is a city in Switzerland. He was French and he was basically a refugee, a religious refugee running for his life because he believed in the Reformation. The Catholic King of France was persecuting what they called Lutherans, and he was running for his life. By this time, he had already written a significant theological work, and he was on his way to the French city of Strasbourg. He had in mind a quiet life as a scholar. He was going to be quiet in his room and eat little bowls of gruel and write theology books, and that was going to be his life. That would've made him happy. He was that kind of person. At any rate, he was a scholar but already well known. Amazingly, en route to Strasbourg, he couldn't go there because an obscure war had broken out between the King of France and Charles the Fifth, the Holy Roman Emperor. It's not at all one of the most famous wars ever. It's one of those wars and rumors of wars that Jesus talked about. But as a result, the straight road to Strasbourg was blocked with troop movements. So here, this fleeing man, this refugee has to divert through the city of Geneva. At any rate, there he is in Geneva, and William Farel, who started a Reformation work there hears that Calvin is there, and he thinks this is just the guy that we need for the Reformation here in Geneva. He was right, but Calvin had no such intention. When Farel came and said, "I want you to work here in Geneva," he said, "No, no, I'm going to go have a quiet life writing books in Strasbourg." He didn't say it just like that, but it probably went something like that. After Farel tried to persuade him and wasn't successful, Farel rose up in what Calvin called intemperate zeal and threatened him with the judgment of God if he chose a quiet life of academia rather than taking part in the Reformation in Geneva. Calvin was wired to fear that kind of thing and said, "Okay, I guess I'll stay in Geneva,” and he did. He was there most of the rest of his life. What's my point? Wars and rumors of wars for a purpose. "Are you saying that God orchestrated a war between Catholic King Francis of France and Catholic King Charles the Fifth, so that John Calvin would end up in Geneva and not Strasbourg?" Yes, that's what I'm saying, and other things too. Other things too, but at least that. That's what God does. Isn't it amazing that history has a purpose? Even as it seems to be churning and random and destructive, God is at work in the midst of all of it. The central work of all of this is, "You will be witnesses for me. You'll be my witnesses. You are going to proclaim this gospel." Look at verse 10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." The power of the Holy Spirit is central to this mission. He said, "Do not worry ahead of time what to say, what to speak. It will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit." The Spirit is the driving orchestrator and force of the spread of the gospel, the third person of the Trinity, that is His role and He's extremely good at his job. As Acts 1:8 says, "You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes in you and you'll be My witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria to the ends of the Earth." In the midst of all this, there'll be a tremendous amount of pain for the witnesses, painful betrayals, family relationships will be compromised. Your own closest relatives will turn their backs on you. "Everyone will hate you because of Me," Jesus says. Intense persecution, and that's what makes this journey so glorious. The courage, the boldness, the suffering, the willingness to pay the price. That's the story. That's big picture. II. A Command in Mark Let's zero in on the command, Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." In Mark's version, Mark 13:10, it takes a command form, effectively. It's a command in Mark. It uses the Greek word “dei”, which means “it is necessary,” but that's frequently a command, a sense of a command. It is necessary for the Gospel first to be preached to all nations. What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the message of the kingdom of God with Jesus as the King of the kingdom of God. He's the centerpiece, he is the King, he's the Lord, he's the Savior. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ and all that that means. That's what the Gospel of Mark has been unfolding all along. It's a message about the kingdom of God, that God is King. "What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the message of the kingdom of God with Jesus as the King of the kingdom of God. He's the centerpiece, he is the King, he's the Lord, he's the Savior. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ and all that means." The kingdom is the spiritual realm where the subjects of the King are delighted to have God as their King, and they're pleased to obey Him and to follow Him. They're delighted about it. God's sovereignty over rebels is a different matter, but the advancing kingdom of God has to do with individuals who throw down their weapons of rebellion and come in gladly under the kingship of Christ. The Gospel is, as we've said before, God, man, Christ, response. That God created the universe, the heavens and the Earth, and as the Creator, He has the right to make laws and rules by which we live our lives. God, the Creator, God the King, God, the Lawgiver and God the Judge. That's God. Man, we are created in the image of God to have a relationship with Him, to have a love relationship with Him and to love each other, but we have sinned. We have broken the two Great Commandments. We have not loved God with all of our hearts, all mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have sinned. Therefore, we stand under God's judgment, physical death, eternal death in hell. Christ is God's answer to that problem. The Son of God, fully God, fully man, born, took on human flesh. We celebrate it this time of year. He lived a sinless life under the laws of God. He died in our place as our substitute, a transfer of guilt effected. When we believe in Jesus, our guilt put on Jesus, He dies in our place, His righteousness is given to us, and that's the white robes that we're going to stand in on Judgment Day and for all eternity. The imputed righteousness of Christ, that's what Christ came to do. Then the response, we need to repent of our sins, turn away from our rebellion against God the King. Believe in Jesus, trust in Him, and we'll receive forgiveness of sins. That's the Gospel: God, man, Christ, response. It is necessary for that message to be preached, to be proclaimed to all nations. That's what He's saying. That has to happen first, before the end of the world. That's what first, first is tied to the end of the world. Why? Why is it necessary? Why don't I give you four reasons, four reasons why it is necessary for the Gospel. Let's keep it simple, because Christ the King commanded it. We'll start there. Christ told us to do this. These were his last words before He ascended back to heaven. The Great Commission, so-called, which is a commandment to all of His followers, to make disciples of all nations, is in all four Gospels, a different version but in all four Gospels and in Acts. The most famous version is Matthew 28, "Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age.’" To all nations in all eras of history, that's the Great Commission. It is necessary, therefore, that this happened because it is the will of God and of Christ for us. Secondly, it is necessary because the Gospel is the only way for sinners to be forgiven and reconciled to God. There is no other way. There is no other plan. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Or as it says in Romans 10:12 -15, "There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then, can they call on one they have not believed in and how can they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they're sent?" As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News?’” That's the logic of missions. It's a logical work that Paul does in Romans 10, using a series of rhetorical questions, assuming negative answers. The statement is made worldwide, anyone in any nation on Earth who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus in faith will be saved. But how can someone call on someone they've not believed in? They can't do that, can they? No, of course, they can't. No one can believe in someone they've never heard of, can they? No, of course they can't. And no one can hear without someone preaching or proclaiming the message. No, they can't. Absolutely not. And no one can do that preaching unless they're sent out. Hence, the need for missions. That's the logic of missions, and it's the answer to why it is necessary for this Gospel to be proclaimed. Thirdly, it is necessary for the Gospel to be proclaimed to all nations because God has chosen people in every tribe and language and people and nation. They're called the Elect, chosen before the foundation of the world. God wants those people reached. Jesus said in John's Gospel, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. They must be brought in, and there'll be one flock and one shepherd." Those are people, not just Jews, but all the ends of the Earth. God has people out there. There will be people from every tribe, language, people, and nation. It's been ordained. They were chosen in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless and they have to be brought in, and the only way they're going to be brought in is by the preaching of the Gospel. That's the third reason. The fourth, it is necessary for the Gospel to be preached for the maximum glory of God. That's the ultimate reason for everything. It is for the glory of God that this be done. Ephesians 1:11-12 says, "In Him we're also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him, works out everything in conformity to the purpose of His will, in order that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory, that we might be, exist, for the praise of His glory and that we might praise His glory, that we might ourselves notice His glory.” So we will be glory, and we will see glory, and we'll praise Him for it. That's the reason why. Or again, in Romans 15:9, "That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy." So those are four reasons why it is necessary for the Gospel to be preached. To whom should the Gospel be preached? What we've already said, to all nations. To all nations, the Greek is “panta ta ethne”. The word “ethne” is from which we get the word “ethnic”, and that's the key. We as Protestants, as Evangelicals, we have had a progressive, growing understanding of missions over the last 500 years. Little by little by little, we've understood more and more clearly our obligation in this matter. For the first three centuries, the church just exploded all over the Roman Empire. People were going everywhere preaching the gospel. Apostles, non-apostles, everybody, and it was spreading everywhere. It went as far north as Scotland, it went as far south as Sub-Saharan Africa. There's clear evidence of this. It went as far east as India. It went as far west as Tarshish, which is like Gibraltar. It was all over the place, and the Gospel was spreading. However, once the Dark Ages fell and politics wove together with some form of Christianity, Christendom came about. We had the Crusades, which are the most abhorrent misconstrued incident of mission that's ever been in history; we still paying the price. But there was this mixture of church and state, and it was a mess. To make matters worse, the Gospel itself, for the most part, was lost in a false “gospel of works" religion. The Dark Ages fell, but praise God, the Reformation came and scraped away all that darkness and the Gospel was reclaimed. The Gospel of justification by faith alone, apart from works of law, was shining in those Protestant churches, Lutheran churches, Calvinist churches, the Anabaptist churches. But those folks weren't doing missions initially. They were really just trying to survive. Missions, at that point, was done mostly by Roman Catholics through the Jesuits, who were spreading the power of the Pope and of their Catholic kings, like the King of Spain and the King of Portugal to distant places like Japan and other places. But they didn't bring the true Gospel with them. Meanwhile, the Protestants continued to establish doctrine and to reach their own countries, but not doing missions. But God worked in Protestant churches, little by little, a clearer understanding of our obligation concerning missions in four key steps. The first step, or insight, comes from William Carey. He was a Baptist, a cobbler, a blue collar guy, and he wrote an incredible work called An Inquiry into the Obligation Christians Have to Use Means for the Evangelization of the Missions to the Heathen. Heathen will be pagans or lost people. He was a trailblazer in Protestant missions. The insight is that we Protestants should do missions. We should go to distant lands and share the Gospel. Not just the Jesuits should do that, we should do it. That was step one. Step two came from a leader named Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China. He went on his first missionary trip and just like most missionaries did in the mid-nineteenth century, he stayed on the coastlands such as Shanghai, port cities. He had a vision for the inland regions of China, teeming hundreds of millions of Chinese that had no hope of hearing the Gospel. He founded something called the China Inland Mission. So step number two is, we need to get off the coast and go into the dark heart of Africa, the dark heart of India and of China, and find people there who have no physical access to the Gospel. Step two, inland missions. Step three came from a leader at the end of the 19th century into the beginning of the 20th century named Cameron Townsend. He was a missionary in Latin America and South America. He was working with some tribal people, and they were doing all of their work in Spanish, the trade language. At one point, one of these tribal men said, "If your God is so smart, how come he doesn't speak my language?" Good question, right? Good question. So Cameron Townsend started a ministry called Wycliffe Bible Translators to get the Bible into the heart language of people all over the world, and that work continues to this very day. Insight number four came in the middle of the 20th century from a missionary leader named Donald McGavran, and he began to see that the issue wasn't reaching political nations, like nations that are represented at the United Nations. It had to do with understanding the word ethne as a people group, a group of people characterized by a language and a culture and a heritage and a self-identifying focus. And so that started the people group conception of the work. “Panta ta ethne” means to all people groups. Now, how many people groups are there in the world? No one knows, only God knows. It's very difficult to see lines of border and demarcation between people groups. Donald McGovern did his work in India, and there are probably at least 5,000 people groups, if not more, in India, but there's a lot of overlap. Joshuaproject.net, which you can go and check that out, they say 17,446. As an MIT engineer, I'm like, "I don't think there's that many significant figures." I would say roughly 18,000. or roughly 16,000. I don't think we can get down to 17,446. However, there's a lot. There's a lot of people groups. IMB has a smaller number of people groups. Then you go to the next level, which is “unreached people groups.” What are unreached people groups? It's defined as less than two percent evangelical in that nation. When I was a missionary to Japan, the Japanese were the largest unreached people group in the world, less than two percent evangelical. Since then, they've been superseded by another group. But that's a people group. That's what “unreached” means. “Unengaged,” another U is added, meaning, as far as the IMB knows, there is no effort to try to reach that people group. There's no one working on that, as far as they know. So you've got the UUPG, which is unengaged, unreached people groups. That's the focus. That's where the work should go. It is necessary for us to do that, for the church to do that. It is necessary for us to reach them with the Gospel. And this stands as a permanent command from our Lord and King Jesus Christ. "If you love Me, you'll keep my commandment." That's Mark 13:10, the command. III. A Prophecy in Matthew Look over at Matthew, where it comes across as a prophecy, or perhaps a promise. I'm okay with either one. Look what it says in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as the testimony in all nations and then the end will come.” So prophecy, promise. What is Jesus saying there? "And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as the testimony of all nations, and then the end will come." The preaching of the Gospel to every tribe, language, people, and the nation is as guaranteed as the end of the world is. They're equally guaranteed. It's going to happen. This is a remarkable assertion by Jesus, more remarkable than not one stone left on another. Picture Jesus on that tiny little rocky outcropping there in the Mount of Olives surrounded by a band of followers that were frequently off message. You know those guys. Surrounded by a very small number of people saying, "This thing that we're doing here is going worldwide, everyone on Earth will hear about this." All peoples on Earth, all peoples, all nations will hear. That's incredible. Effectively, then, “the Jewish conception of their own kingdom will end, the Messianic kingdom, and My kingdom will be established and will reign for all eternity." That's awesome. How does He know that? He knows it because He's God, but He also knows it because the Old Testament scripture predicted that this would happen. God willing, next week, we'll look at Isaiah 49, but in Luke 24, "This is what is written. The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." It's going to happen. Which scriptures? Many. There are many scriptures. But I'm going to look at Isaiah 49 next week. Isaiah 49, 1 and 6, "Listen to me, you islands, hear this, you distant nations." Islands and nations, distant nations. God says to Jesus, "It is too small a thing for You to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make You," [Jesus] "a light for the Gentiles that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the Earth.” Jesus is actually not saying anything different than Isaiah the prophet said or that many other prophecies gave. Friends, this is a great encouragement. How does a team play if it's guaranteed, if they think they're absolutely going to win? They're going to play better than if they think they're going to lose. How does an army fight if they think ultimate victory is guaranteed? They fight better. We are going to win because Christ is going to win. This gospel is going to win. The task seems difficult. 3,150 unreached, unengaged, unreached people groups. None of them are easy to reach, or they would've been reached. They're in very difficult situations or places. I went through and thought about some of our units. If you guys don't know what the word “units” means, it means either a married couple, like a family or single. That's why we use the word units because some of them are single men and women, but sometimes family. We call them a mailing address or a group, a family unit. That's what we mean by it. I was reading about units in Turkey, 1.29 million practice Shia Islam. They speak North Levantine Arabic, a significant minority in Turkey. Their goal is to keep their Arabic culture alive in the secular Muslim state of Turkey and pass that on to their children and grandchildren. They mix elements of Sufism, which is Islamic mysticism and Shia Islam. Then we've got Thailand, where we have some units, I won't say their names, but they're there working, and there are people there that are following a certain flavor of Theravada Buddhism. Then in Bangladesh, overwhelmed with poverty, where we have another family unit there. People there are practicing Sunni Islam. They're tragically poor, and they're in darkness, in the grip of darkness. When we think about how difficult it is, and how long it takes to learn a language well enough to share the Gospel in it, and how long it takes to learn a culture, and how long it takes to make friendships, and then that whole journey, and then how long it takes to see one person cross over from darkness to light, that's the challenge in front of us. We need to be encouraged. Remember the lesson of the fig tree that we preached on a number of months ago? Mark 11:23-24, "Truly, I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he has said will happen, will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mountain moving, faith-filled prayer is made for the Great Commission. That's the mountain that needs to be moved. Remember what I said about prayer at that time. Prayer is not you giving God an idea He didn't have before or persuading Him to do something He didn't want to do. That's not what prayer is. Prayer is you learning from Scripture what God is doing in the world and asking Him to do what He has decreed and ordained to do but hasn't done yet. That's what it is. God has decreed and ordained that people from every tribe and language and people and nation will be standing in those white robes around that throne. That's what He's decreed. It is encouraging to see the progress of the Gospel. Those other signs, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, those don't mark anything. They're characteristics of every generation. But the progress of the Gospel, that's like a ticking clock to the end of the world. If you were to put dots on a map all over the world of what we would consider to be healthy Bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches in the year 1550, where would you put the dots? It would be almost all Central and North Europe, 1550. If you advance 50 years later, [1600] you would see more dots in those same areas, but still nowhere else. If you put dots where you had healthy Bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches in 1650, by then you would have to add some North American colonies, in Virginia, and New England, and other places, and more over Europe, but nowhere else [1650]. If you advance another 50 years, many more dots up and down the 13 colonies. Many more dots in Europe, and nowhere else. By 1750, by then you had the Great Awakening, lots of dots all over the 13 colonies that eventually became the United States of America. You have some dots in the Caribbean where some Moravian missionaries went and sold themselves into slavery to preach the Gospel to the slave population there. Then, of course, Central and North Europe, some in the Catholic areas in Europe as well, but nowhere else. By 1800, William Carey's in India. So you put a dot there. But all the rest, just more dots in those same areas. As the new country of the United States spreading westward, there's more dots there, et cetera. In 50 more years, unbelievable. The 19th century, called the great century of missions, and they started to explode. By this time you've got Hudson Taylor in the inland regions. You've got dots in China. You've got a lot more dots in India, definitely dots in Burma. Because by the time Adoniran Judson finished his work, there were 25,000 baptized Burmese Christians. Now in 1850 there are dots all over. And by this time you can start putting them in Sub-Saharan Africa and other places. Add another 50 years, 1900, the great century of missions has ended. You got churches all over Asia, Mongolia, India, Burma, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa. In 50 more years, post-World War II, you've got the Gospel spreading to the islands of South Pacific, Irian Jaya, and Papua New Guinea. Soldiers that had fought there then went back to some of those places with the Gospel. Remarkable. 50 years later, the year 2000, the map's covered with dots, the entire world map. There's not a political nation on earth that doesn't have a healthy church. Not one. All the nations, I don't know how many nations are in the United Nations,230 some odd, all of them have some healthy church planted. But still, you've got those unreached people groups. So big picture, I can't tell you this progression without smiling. We are winning, the Gospel's spreading. The Holy Spirit is good at His job. He puts a compulsion on people, and they go where He wants them to go, and they lay down their lives as He wants them to, and the Gospel spreads. But there's still work to be done. I'm not going to burden you with statistics, that would be hard to communicate. But there's been a kind of a flattening of mission endeavor over the last 10 or 15 years. It's a little discouraging as you look, and it's just a narrow window, but missionary thinker Ralph Winter said, "More of the same will not get it done.” The burden is laid on churches like us and many other churches around the world to recommit ourselves to missions, recommit ourselves to the work left to be done, and to give sacrificially as we are called to do. IV. Applications First and foremost, if you're here listening to this mission sermon, but you came in here not a Christian, your work is to believe in Jesus. No point in talking about missions if you're lost. First and foremost, you've heard the gospel: God, man, Christ, response. I'm calling on you while there's time, repent and believe in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. If you're already a Christian, understand both the command in Mark 13 and the promise or the prophecy in Matthew 24. Take it seriously. This is the command laid on us, but rejoice in the sovereignty of Christ to get it done. Be confident in the final outcome. The Lord is going to win. He will be glorified. I'm looking forward to all eternity of hearing those stories. It's going to be phenomenal. Pray confidently in the spirit of Matthew 9 for more laborers, laborers in the harvest field. Churches like ours send out two precious commodities to the mission field: people and money. That's what IMB does. We gather people, and we gather money from Southern Baptist churches and point them strategically in directions. The Lottie Moon Christmas offering that we take every Christmas, our goal is $150,000. The Southern Baptist Convention exists in part for that. It was originated for that, and it's why we do. It's the crown jewel, I think, of our cooperation with Baptist churches all over the country. We pool resources to do a job too big for any one church to do. We couldn't afford to send very many fully-supported missionaries, just one church, to these various places. So we pool resources with thousands of churches. Truly, 100% of the money you give to Lottie Moon goes to missions. I was a trustee for nine years. What that means is we take more money in than Lottie Moon. It takes more money than Lottie Moon to put those missionaries on the field. I don't know how they tag dollars that go... Whatever, it gets pooled. The point is, the budget is bigger than the Lottie Moon offering. Where does the rest of the money come from? It comes from something called the Cooperative Program, where throughout the year, 12 months a year, we pool resources and a chunk of that goes to missions as well. A hundred percent of your giving goes, and our goal is $150,000. What I always say to you as a member of this church is engage, pray about your financial giving. We also have the opportunity through our home fellowships and through just your own initiative to get to know our friends that are serving overseas. We live in an iPhone or a smartphone world. You can contact them and be with them real-time. I FaceTime with these folks. You can find out what they're going through, support them, pray for them. I'm going to end this time now in prayer, and then we can get ready for the Lord's Supper. Father, thank You for the message that we have heard, the Gospel message of the Gospel going to the ends of the Earth and to the end of time. Now as we turn our hearts to the Lord's Supper, we thank You for the Word that we've heard and for the ordinance we're about to partake in. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This is Part 2 of the Hudson Taylor saga. Listen to hear about the formation of the China Inland Mission and the trials and triumphs of their early days.J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in ChristMerch ShopPatreonFor advertising requests or just to reach out:Contact UsORrevivedthoughts@gmail.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Part 1 of the life of Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China and the father of China Inland Mission. Peter Parker EpisodeFor advertising requests or just to reach out:Contact UsORrevivedthoughts@gmail.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Bible Study with Jairus —Revelation 6   The Beginning of Birth Pains   In Revelation 6, God reveals the first six of the seven seals. In Revelation 7, God gives John an encouraging vision that takes place between the sixth and the seventh seals. And in Revelation 8, the Lamb unveils the seventh seal and begins to reveal the seven trumpet judgments. The vision that takes place between the sixth and seventh seals encourages believers to notice the positive things that are going on in Heaven, despite their suffering on Earth. And the vision between the sixth and seventh trumpets encourages believers that they will be able to overcome these judgments and enter into their final victory.   In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3 ESV) The Lord Jesus replies, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8 ESV) What are these labor pains? They are the first four seals mentioned in Revelation 6! The first four seal judgments bring war, famine, pestilence and death, just like Jesus described in Matthew 24.   If these signs are the beginning of birth pains, what is being born? I believe the Bride of Christ and her victorious child are about to be born (see Revelation 12). The request of the martyred saints in the fifth seal is the appeal of Christ's bride. God tells these saints that they must continue to endure until the number of martyred saints is completed. When the sixth seal is opened, an earthquake occurs, the sun turns black, the full moon becomes like blood, the stars fall from the sky, the heaven is rolled up like a scroll, and the mountains, seas, and islands are removed from their places. These are labor pains as well, because a new heaven and a new earth are about to be born. In the process, the old heaven and earth will shake violently and eventually pass away. Then God will create a new heaven and a new earth.   These birth pains remind us of a chick hatching from an egg. When the chick is ready to hatch, it pecks through the eggshell that once protected it and comes out of the shell. The old heaven and earth are like an eggshell that formerly housed the growing chick. Once this new life is ready to be revealed, the eggshell is no longer needed.   The Paradox of the Future and the Present Does the book of Revelation reveal things that will happen in the future, or things that have already happened? On the one hand, it does reveal things that will happen in the future. Revelation 1:1 clearly says that one purpose of the book is "to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.” This verse is clearly speaking about things that are going to happen in the future. But at the same time, we notice that the whole book of Revelation is written in past tense. Since time does not exist (or is limitless) in the spiritual realm, we must go beyond the limits of linear chronology when we try to understand the prophecies of Revelation. Even though there are events in Revelation that have not happened yet, we can still apply the timeless principles the book reveals.   This concept will help us to better understand the following question about Revelation 6: Does the opening of the seven seals represent a future event, or an event that has already happened? It is obvious that many of the events described in this passage are still future. The stars have not fallen from heaven, the great tribulation has not occurred, and heaven has not moved out of its place. However, I believe that Jesus has already opened the seven seals in the spiritual realm, and it just takes time for these events to unfold in the physical, earthly realm. Many interpretations of Revelation focus too much on assigning meaning to each of the seven seals by linking them to events and chronology. However, this often leads us astray. We are not God, and only God controls time. Jesus warned His disciples not to speculate about the time of the Lord's second coming. If the angels and Jesus himself do not know when Jesus is coming back, how can we presume to know (Matthew 24:36)? Even though we can't assign specific dates to these events, we can make sure we are always ready for His return, watching and praying, so that his return does not catch us off guard (Matthew 24:44). Therefore, the most important thing about Revelation 6 is not the timetable, but the principles that Jesus reveals. The Lord Jesus has commanded us to watch and pray, and this is our most important mission.   An Interactive and Dynamic Book In Revelation 5, we began to discuss the seven seals. The scroll in God's right hand is sealed tightly with seven seals. Only Jesus Christ is worthy to open them. As we read the accounts of the seven scrolls and related visions in Revelation 6, we must not forget that each seal is bringing us one step closer to seeing what is written inside the scroll. The scroll contains the ordained plan of God for man. Until the seven seals are opened, no one can see what is inside.   Maybe the scroll was more than just words printed on paper with ink. Perhaps it was more like a multimedia presentation with moving images. This movie was not just a record of past events, but like a live broadcast happening in real-time. Perhaps it was like the multimedia presentations I often see in my prophetic dreams. Frequently, in a dream or vision, I first see a video playing on a big screen and then I go inside that video to participate in the events it is depicting. Later, I come back out to observe from the outside. For example, in one dream, I first found myself watching a TV program about Chinese people sent to Japan to preach the gospel. Then I entered the TV screen and joined this live event. In the dream, I was walking with the Chinese evangelists as they went from village to village, sharing the good news. In the dream, I saw that their testimony was initially rejected, yet they eventually gained traction and established a stronghold. At first, I was watching them up close and in person. Yet at the end of the dream, I was once again standing in front of the TV and watching the scene from the outside. As you can see, spiritual revelations are not limited by time and distance.   This prophetic dream is about a great future revival in China, after which numerous missionaries will be sent to Japan to bring about a great revival. This dream has not yet been fulfilled in the physical realm. But since God has ordained the revival to happen, it has already become a reality in a sense. God is not bound by time, so this event is already taking place in the spiritual realm. God used the dream to reveal His will to me so that I could prepare for it in the physical realm. Even though I have never been to Japan, I was able to interact with Japanese people and missionaries through my dream.  For this reason, I am considering translating my Bible Studies into Japanese to prepare for this great revival.   The reason I am telling this story is that John must have experienced similar things. He could interact with and observe the events God was revealing in the scroll judgments. Although the events he was seeing were not happening in his physical world, he was able to vividly experience them (like watching a live show). This type of occurrence is very common in the spiritual realm because the Spirit is not limited by time and space.   The Meaning of Four Horses One time, a Buddhist friend asked me how I understood the four horses. My answer was that many people believed the four horses were the representation of the gospel (white horse), war (red horse), famine (black horse), and death by pestilence (gray horse). There is a lot of agreement on these points. But are these horses referring to future events, present events, past events, or all of the above?   My personal understanding is the latter. John wrote Revelation about 90 years after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, when the Lamb won his final victory. Did the Lord Jesus Christ have to wait over 60 years after His crucifixion and resurrection to be worthy to open the scroll in God's right hand? No! He was worthy the moment he was crucified and resurrected. Moreover, the Bible reveals that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Christ was foreordained by God before the foundation of the world, but did not come to earth until much later (1 Peter 1:20). Therefore, Jesus Christ was worthy to open the seven seals of the scroll even before He was crucified by Pilate. He has been worthy since the beginning of time and from eternity past.   We must leave behind our limited, time-based perception so we can better understand the Book of Revelation. These events took place outside of time in the spiritual realm, which is why Revelation was written in past tense. They also are taking place within time at this very moment. And they will happen again in the future. In the spiritual realm, the four horses are always running. In the physical realm, these four horses' running causes things that have happened, things that are happening, and things that will happen in the future.   Let's talk more about these horses and the principles they represent. First of all, the white horse represents the gospel, which always brings conflict. The Lord Jesus says, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law" (Matthew 10:34-35). No person can have a neutral opinion about the gospel; they either accept or reject it. To some people, the Gospel is the “sweet savour of Christ,” but to other people, it is “the savour of death unto death” (2 Cor. 2:15-16). Those who reject the gospel have been influenced by Satan. They not only reject the gospel, but they also oppose those who have decided to accept it.   After my conversion, many spiritual battles took place in my family. For many years, I suffered spiritual warfare regarding my unbelieving family members, especially my unbelieving father and my mother who worshiped Bodhisattvas. It took more than ten years for them to be saved and baptized into the Lord. There are still other relatives who persecute us. These actions are motivated by Satan, for Satan does not want people to leave the realm of darkness and enter the kingdom of light—just as Pharaoh did not want the Israelites to be set free from Egypt.   So how does God respond to these objections? He sent famine, pestilence, and death to Pharaoh because he was being used by Satan and the evil spirits. God judged Egypt over and over again with famine, pestilence, and death before He eventually led the Israelites out of Egypt. Outwardly, these judgments were against Egypt, but spiritually speaking, they were against the hosts of spiritual wickedness in high places. Only after God struck down the firstborn did Pharaoh finally allow God's people to leave Egypt. In the same way, famine, pestilence and subsequent death will bring people freedom from the kingdom of darkness. In an ongoing spiritual cycle, the gospel brings warfare, which in turn eliminates wicked people and the evil spirits behind them. Finally, through war, famine, and pestilence, people are released from the power of darkness into God's glorious Kingdom. That is why the description of the saints under the altar follows directly after the description of the four horses.   The Appeal of the Slain Saints In the book of Acts, the story of Paul's encounter with Jesus follows immediately after the account of Stephen's martyrdom. As is often the case, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Martyrdom can bear much gospel fruit. Paul's salvation was certainly the result of his encounter with Jesus, but it is also the direct result of Stephen's testimony at his martyrdom. Stephen's martyrdom was the seed that later blossomed into Paul's salvation. When Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission sent Western missionaries to preach the gospel in mainland China, they arrived in the middle of the Boxer Rebellion. As a result, many of them were killed. Hudson was severely distressed by this fact, but what he didn't realize at the time was that the blood of these missionaries would eventually bear beautiful flowers and gospel fruits. In one such story, the Boxers tied up a female missionary and brought her to the execution ground. A frightened Chinese man hid in the doorway and peeked in. He saw the Christian sister's face glowing, just like Stephen's did when he was martyred. This man was deeply touched by what he saw and eventually became an evangelist. At that time, there were only a few Christians in China. But now, just 100 years later, that number has increased to about 100 million. The blood of the martyrs has truly been the seed of the church. God loves us so much that besides giving up His only begotten Son, He also allows many to be martyred so the gospel of God and the message of His love for mankind can be spread to as many people as possible.   In the fifth seal, the martyrs cried “with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10) These saints knew that God was righteous and would surely judge those who shed their blood. They knew God would give them justice; they just did not know when. They were not blaming God for not giving them justice, but were asking Him when the "cycle of the four horses" would end. God comforted them by giving them white robes and letting them rest for “a little season until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation 6:11). God is the only one who knows what the total number of martyrs will be, and when it will be complete. Even though we are not omniscient like God, one thing we know for sure: that time is nearer than ever before.   The Conception and Birth of a New Heaven and a New Earth A sister once asked me how to understand the catastrophic scenes in Revelation 6: the sun turning black, the moon turning to blood, the stars falling to earth, the heaven being rolled up like a scroll, and the mountains, hills, and islands being severely shaken (Revelation 6:12-13). I explained that this was a description of birth pains, like a chick hatching from an egg. Before it develops, an egg has three parts: the yolk, the white, and the shell. The yolk contains the life of the chick and provides food to the growing chick. The egg white provides a liquid medium for the growing chick, and the shell provides protection from outside dangers. A chick cannot hatch successfully if any of these parts is missing. By the time a chick is ready to come out, the yolk and the white are both fully absorbed by the chick and the chick begins to peck at its shell. After the chick breaks out of its shell, the shell can be discarded.   Like an eggshell, the old heaven and earth, with their cultures and physical supplies, provide for the material and spiritual needs of human existence. But they will pass away after the new heaven and new earth are born. As the new creation comes into being, the old creation, like an eggshell, will be violently cracked and shaken. Then we will be given a kingdom which cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). These shakings remind us that the new heaven and earth are real and are about to arrive (Revelation 21:1).   (The chick analogy also reminds us of our new life in Christ. Just like a chick looks similar to a hen, we Christians are “little Christs.”)   At the end of Revelation 6, people will say “to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (16-17) It is time for God's judgment to come to earth, in answer to the prayers of the martyrs. But God's promise of judgment cannot be fulfilled without the birth of the new heaven and the new earth.   Paul says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). The old creation is a part of all things that work together for good. The old creation is the eggshell or egg white that supports the new chick as it grows. When the new creation is born, everything in the old creation is discarded like a scroll being rolled up (6:14). Why? Because we have turned a new leaf, and the old creation has passed away. We will enter a new creation. Revelation 6 mentions the scroll in the right hand of God. When this chapter ends, the we will turn over a new page and begin a new reality.

This episode has a transcript due to the difficutl audio in some areas. Scroll down find the transcript here In this episode, we will hear the testimony of Miss Elizabeth Fischbacher, given at Halford House. Miss Fischbacher was a servant of the Lord in China and a worker in the China Inland Mission. We have a new release coming next month! We will be releasing the audiobook for Lance’s book Let the House of God Be Built: The Testimony of Halford House in late April. In the meantime, we will be focusing this next series of podcasts on testimonies from our brothers and sisters in the Lord. These are testimonies of salvation and testimonies of what the Lord has been doing in the lives of his people. The majority of these messages were given at Halford House in Richmond, England. www.lancelambert.org Listen with captions on Youtube

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Sunday morning the 15th of January, 2023. And this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We start with Psalm 19:13:“Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me.”And then we go straight to Romans 6, and I'm reading verse 14:“For Sin Shall not have dominion over you…”Now presumptuous sin means failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate.“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7You see, the temptation is not a sin. No, no - Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, but he did not succumb to the temptation. It's when we yield to temptation - that is sin. Remember King David, when he went out onto his veranda in the cool of the evening and he looked first and saw Bathsheba, a very beautiful woman bathing? He should have walked away, but he didn't. He looked at her a second time. The first time was temptation, the second time was lust and he fell badly. Hudson Taylor, that wonderful man of God who took the Gospel to China and started the China Inland Mission, asked a Chinese convert how it was going with him. He said, “It's like there are two dogs in my stomach an evil one and a good one.” And the man of God said, “Well, which one is winning?” “Oh”, he said, “the one that I feed the most.” I want to say to you today, resist the devil, flee from him. Do not play the fool and the Lord Jesus Christ will be your strength and prevent you from presumptuous sin. Have a wonderful Sunday.Jesus bless you and goodbye.

In part 2 of our discussion on the life and ministry of Hudson Taylor, Blake discusses the revelation Taylor received of our union with Christ. This life-changing experience fueled the last 35 years of Taylor's life, as well as the success of the China Inland Mission.Show Notes:With: Blake BarberaWebsite: www.thatyoumayknowhim.comSend us an email: info@thatyoumayknowhim.comSubscribe to That You May Know Him on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQj8J9HlcMgTA7Z5raVpeEA/featuredSubscribe to the Podcast: https://www.thatyoumayknowhim.com/listeniTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4KIz8KN...Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/99551148-3529-466b-a628-dfe594d26eca/that-you-may-know-him  iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-that-you-may-know-him-91531965/  Buy Blake's Book: Secularism, the Church, and the Way Forward https://wipfandstock.com/978166671051...Connect w/ Blake on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blake.barber...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barberablake/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/realblakebarb Support the show

In the previous episode, Jake shared a better goal for our parenting—our children actively following Jesus. Keeping the discussion about a better goal going, Jake visits with author and producer Stephanie Quick as she lives out this better goal and better story. Stephanie shares how actively following Jesus leads to unexpected adventure as she tells of her work in the Middle East with Frontier Alliance International. Living out this better goal will help our children have a faith that lasts.    Stephanie gives insight on how the dynamic of her following Jesus to new frontiers has had on her family, as well as, sharing her motivation for such a life engaged for the kingdom.    Stand Firm Parents is a resource from Stand Firm led by pastor and author Stand Firm Jake, Jake McCandless, who has been on a journey the past ten years to help believers around the globe hold on to their faith—to stand firm. Learn more at www.standfirmministries.com.    Stephanie Quick is a writer and producer serving with Frontier Alliance International. She hosts The Better Beautiful podcast alongside FAI Chairman Jeff Henderson and serves as Editor in Chief of FAI Publishing and FAI's Annual Field Journal, PILGRIM. She is author of To Trace a Rising Sun: God, the Gospel, and Your Life in this Age and Confronting Unbelief: Your Soul and the City of the Great King Her music, films, books, and articles can be found in the FAI and Covenant and Controversy resource libraries. Learn more at www.stephaniequick.org.   Frontier Alliance International has been laying foundations in strategic regions throughout the 10/40 Window. Like Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission, our teams are laboring together in a concentrated and coordinated advance into the “interior” regions of our generation where today there is still no witness. Learn more at https://www.faimission.org/ and also check out the FAI App for tremendous content. 

================================================== ==SUSCRIBETEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNpffyr-7_zP1x1lS89ByaQ?sub_confirmation=1================================================== == DEVOCIÓN MATUTINA PARA ADOLESCENTES 2022“UN SALTO EN EL TIEMPO”Narrado por: DORIANY SÁNCHEZDesde: PERÚUna cortesía de DR'Ministries y Canaan Seventh-Day Adventist Church  03 DE JUNIOMUERTE HUDSON TAYLOR«El mayor de vosotros será vuestro servidor (Mateo 23: 11, LBLA).China es una de las naciones más fascinantes del mundo. Más de mil millones de personas viven en ese país, y su población sigue aumentando. La China moderna surgió de una antigua civilización cuya cultura se remonta a miles de años atrás. Los chinos fueron los primeros en utilizar muchas cosas que hoy damos por sentadas, como los fósforos, la pólvora, los fuegos artificiales, la seda, el papel, las carretillas, el sistema decimal, el domino, los relojes de sol, la porcelana, el torno de cerámica, el papel moneda, la brújula, los sismógrafos, las cuerdas para saltar, las cometas, el té, los paraguas plegables, la tinta, la imprenta, el ábaco, el papel pintado, la ballesta, el helado.. Los antiguos chinos eran muy ingeniosos. Les debemos mucho.Hace unos 150 años, el misionero británico Hudson Taylor quedó fascinado con China y decidió ir allí. En 1865 fundó la China Inland Mission y pasó allí los siguientes 51 años, haciendo lo que más le gustaba: testificar de Jesús. Taylor se dio cuenta de que para ser eficaz como misionero tendría que comer, vestirse y viajar como los chinos, algo que era raro que hicieran los misioneros en aquella época.Cuando murió, el 3 de junio de 1905, dejó un gran legado para las misiones cristianas. Durante su vida, Dios lo ayudó a fundar 300 estaciones misioneras y 125 escuelas. Llevó 850 misioneros a China, estableció una red de 125,000 trabajadores cristianos chinos en la organización de la misión, y fue responsable directo de la conversión de 18,000 chinos al cristianismo. Además, la lucha activa de su misión contra el tráfico de opio lo hizo ser especialmente bien recibido por el gobierno chino. Se ha dicho que ningún otro misionero, en los diecinueve siglos transcurridos desde el apóstol Pablo, tuvo una visión más amplia y llevó a cabo un plan de evangelización más eficaz en una zona más extensa que Hudson Taylor.Al igual que Pablo, Hudson Taylor fue muy feliz siendo un misionero para Dios. Y no era de los que se quejan. Estaba dispuesto a trabajar incansablemente para ayudar a difundir el evangelio, y lo hizo como pocos misioneros lo han hecho desde entonces. Fue un gran hombre, pero lo que lo hizo verdaderamente grande fue su voluntad de convertirse primero en un siervo. Gracias a su humildad, Hudson se ganó el corazón de la gente.

Romans 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. The worldly spirit of self-ism is perhaps the major reason most Christians are not aggressive in witnessing to the lost. It is the reason the church, for the most part, is not moving out into the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Christian who is primarily concerned about his own comfort and blessings, even his spiritual blessings, does not have his focus on God. Consequently, his life will not be directed toward fulfilling God's Great Commission.In the summer of 1865, Hudson Taylor became tremendously burdened for the land of China. His biographer reports that he also became greatly troubled about the church he was attending in Brighton, England. As he looked around the congregation he saw pew upon pew of prosperous bearded merchants, shopkeepers, visitors; demure wives in bonnets and crinolines, scrubbed children trained to hide their impatience; the atmosphere of smug piety sickened him. He seized his hat and left.“Unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony.” And there on the beach he prayed for “twenty-four willing skillful laborers.” (Stott, p. 24)Out of that prayer eventually came the China Inland Mission. Due to that ministry and others like it, there are reportedly twenty-five million to perhaps fifty million believers in China today, despite its officially atheistic government.God could use men such as Henry Martyn and Hudson Taylor because their attention was not focused on their own interests but on God's.Salvation is first and foremost a way of glorifying God. The fact that it saves men from hell and gives them eternal life, marvelous and wonderful as that is, is secondary to the glory of God. The cross of Jesus Christ had the most dramatic effect on mankind in[1] The greatest lie in the world, and the lie common to all false religions and cults, is that, by certain works of their own doing, men are able to make themselves acceptable to God. The greatest error in that belief is its sheer impossibility. But the greatest evil of that belief is that it robs God of His glory.1.    His Name 2.    Praise Him 19 Times3.    Glorify God 6 Times4.    glory of God 17 times5.    praise of God 2 times6.    praise of His glory  3 timesThe cross exalts God through His righteousnessThe death of Christ then is for God, it propitiates God, it satisfies God.Two, it puts His righteousness on display. who believed."1.    The Reasoning by God v27-3127 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.After explaining God's provided righteousness for sinners, Paul considered five questions (in Gr.) which he anticipated his readers might ask. Two are in verse 27, two in verse 29, and the other in verse 31. The first is,

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

The story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (Penn State University Press, 2020) brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another's fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world's largest atheist state. A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interest lies in Indonesia and the Muslim dominant regions of Southeast Asia, from the postcolonial approach to Christianity and the coexistence of various religions, including the study of Christianity and the Islamic faith in a Muslim dominant society that includes challenges of ethnic diversity. Briana Wong is Visiting Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Her interests include Christianity in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

And a very good morning to you! It is the 2nd of February, Wednesday morning, the year 2022, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”Romans 12:3We need to be careful we don't think too highly of ourselves. Like I've always said, our biggest enemy is not the devil, because his neck was broken on the Cross of Calvary, our biggest enemy is ourselves.Now, John the Baptist, he was the opposite, in John 3:30, he says:“He must increase, but I must decrease.”And that is why John the Baptist is such an amazing person. He is one of my heroes in the Bible - A humble man.A Scotsman by the name of Oswald Chambers wrote a devotional called, My Utmost for His Highest. Think about that... My utmost for His highest. We are not here on earth to promote ourselves, we are here to promote Jesus. Solomon had everything that money could buy. He was handsome, he was the wisest man that ever lived. He had anything he needed and yet what did he say at the end of his life? He says (paraphrasing): “Vanity, vanity, it is like grasping for the wind.” Ecclesiastes 1:14 & 12:8You can read that in Ecclesiastes 12:13, where he says: “Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.”You and I today need to strive to serve the Living God and not ourselves. Jim Elliot, that young, dynamic American student - He was sick and tired of chasing the wind. He went to the jungle with his young wife and little baby and he was martyred by the Auca Indians. They stabbed him with a spear. But you know, before he died he wrote something in his journal. He said, “It is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose, eternal life.”Elijah, the prophet, in 1 Kings, was crying out (paraphrasing): “I am the only one left in the whole world who is a prophet.” And the Lord said to him, “There are 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to the devil.” 1 Kings 19:14-18It's not a bad thing to be humble. One of the most humble men I have read about was James Hudson Taylor. A small Englishman with a peaches and cream complexion and watery eyes that took a thousand families to China and started the China Inland Mission. While he was sitting in a little Bible Study an American journalist walked in and he wanted to get a big scoop on this incredible 'giant of God'. He was introduced to everybody and there was this small man sitting in the corner with a dark trench coat on who never said a word throughout the whole Bible Study. Who was he - James Hudson Taylor.The journalist thought to himself, what am I going to write about - until at the end of the Bible Study, when this man started to pray and speak to his God. He said, never in his life had he heard a man pray like that.Go out today and lift up the name of Jesus.God bless you and goodbye.

D. E. Hoste may not be a name you are familiar with these days. But he replaced one of the most famous missionaries that ever lived, Hudson Taylor. Had he not seen China Inland Mission through 35 turbulent years we may not know about either of these men today!Special thanks to Bill Klear at Open Door Baptist Church in North Carolina for reading this episode with us. Also, go to Revived Thoughts website and check out our new merch store: Click here!We are partnered with ServeNow! If you would like to give to their ministry that gives bikes to pastors in rural areas around the world so that they can spread the Gospel, please check out their website and their new book: Hope Rising.If you'd like to join the premium team go to our Patreon.If you'd like to narrate a sermon, send us an email at revivedthoughts@gmail.comAnd if you enjoy the show, sharing with friends and a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts!FacebookMeWeTwitterYoutubeRevived ThoughtsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The command in the Great Commission to “make disciples”means to teach or train people to follow and obey Christ.. The “Great Commission” in History The Gospel of Matthew does not specifically use such a term. In fact, the phrase “Great Commission” does not appear until late in Christian history. The term is attributed to Baron Justinian von Welz, a 17th-century Lutheran nobleman Two centuries later, the Englishman Hudson Taylor is believed to have used the idea of the Great Commission to justify Christian missionary efforts, particularly the China Inland Mission that he founded in 1866. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myeveningdevotional.substack.com

Gesprek met Bram Jobse, auteur van het boek "Sterven is winst, Gods weg met zendingsechtpaar John en Betty Stam". Een boek uitgegeven in de serie Kroongetuigen bij uitgevrij De Banier in Apeldoorn. Meer info: https://www.debanier.nl/sterven-is-winst Van hun site: John en Betty Stam waren als zendingsechtpaar door de China Inland Mission uitgezonden naar China. Ze waren nog maar een paar jaar met hun werk bezig toen het Rode Leger op 6 december 1934 hun dorp binnenviel. John en Betty werden gevangengenomen en twee dagen later wreed vermoord. Hun drie maanden oude baby Helen bleef wonderlijk bewaard. De brute moord op het jonge zendingsechtpaar schokte de hele christelijke wereld. Het werkte echter ook als impuls om meer zendelingen uit te sturen naar dit immense land, dat leed onder een machtsstrijd tussen nationalisten en communisten. In de eenentwintigste eeuw is er nog steeds in meer dan vijftig landen ter wereld sprake van openlijke christenvervolging. Daarom heeft dit aangrijpende verhaal over twee jonge mensen die hun leven gaven voor Christus ook nu nog veel te zeggen.

1965 was a special year in the history of OMF International. Not only was it the centenary of James Hudson Taylor founding the organisation – then known as the China Inland Mission – it was also the year OMF opened its doors to cross-cultural workers from outside the West. Christians from Singapore and Malaysia started travelling to other parts of East Asia with OMF. The following year, 1966, ‘home', or ‘sending' teams were established in the Philippines and Japan in addition to the existing ‘field' teams of OMF workers serving in those countries. Today, 55 years on, we hear more from these two very different nations. You can also read the article here. Audio from OMF Billions magazine May- August 2021 'The Jazz of Mission'. Read more at billions.omf.org.

Amazing life: Founder of the China Inland Mission

Listen in to learn about William Burns and the immense impact he and his friendship had on young Hudson Taylor. The impact was so great that it even influenced how Taylor was so successful at recruiting and training missionaries for the then-future China Inland Mission.

Karl and his wife Sun both are missionaries to Thailand.  Sent by their home churches, they work under the auspices of OMF International (originally China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor), an international, interdenominational evangelical Protestant mission organisation. Karl and Sun live in downtown Bangkok where Karl teaches missions and church history at Bangkok Bible Seminary, assists with translation and editing at Kanok Bannasan (OMF Publishers Thailand), and is an elder at Grace City Bangkok church. From 2017 to 2020, Karl and Sun were living in Scotland while Karl completed a PhD and the family is now in the United States, preparing to return to Thailand, hopefully mid-to-late 2021.   Presented by Martin Paterson

Romans 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.   The worldly spirit of self-ism is perhaps the major reason most Christians are not aggressive in witnessing to the lost. It is the reason the church, for the most part, is not moving out into the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Christian who is primarily concerned about his own comfort and blessings, even his spiritual blessings, does not have his focus on God. Consequently, his life will not be directed toward fulfilling God's Great Commission. In the summer of 1865, Hudson Taylor became tremendously burdened for the land of China. His biographer reports that he also became greatly troubled about the church he was attending in Brighton, England. As he looked around the congregation he saw pew upon pew of prosperous bearded merchants, shopkeepers, visitors; demure wives in bonnets and crinolines, scrubbed children trained to hide their impatience; the atmosphere of smug piety sickened him. He seized his hat and left. “Unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony.” And there on the beach he prayed for “twenty-four willing skillful laborers.” (Stott, p. 24) Out of that prayer eventually came the China Inland Mission. Due to that ministry and others like it, there are reportedly twenty-five million to perhaps fifty million believers in China today, despite its officially atheistic government. God could use men such as Henry Martyn and Hudson Taylor because their attention was not focused on their own interests but on God's. Salvation is first and foremost a way of glorifying God. The fact that it saves men from hell and gives them eternal life, marvelous and wonderful as that is, is secondary to the glory of God. The cross of Jesus Christ had the most dramatic effect on mankind in[1]  The greatest lie in the world, and the lie common to all false religions and cults, is that, by certain works of their own doing, men are able to make themselves acceptable to God. The greatest error in that belief is its sheer impossibility. But the greatest evil of that belief is that it robs God of His glory. His Name Praise Him 19 Times Glorify God 6 Times glory of God 17 times praise of God 2 times praise of His glory 3 times The cross exalts God through His righteousness The death of Christ then is for God, it propitiates God, it satisfies God. Two, it puts His righteousness on display. who believed." The Reasoning by God v27-31 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. After explaining God's provided righteousness for sinners, Paul considered five questions (in Gr.) which he anticipated his readers might ask. Two are in verse 27, two in verse 29, and the other in verse 31. The first is, Where, then is boasting? [1] If salvation is through the Law, then men can boast; but the principle of faith makes it impossible for men to boast. The swimmer, when he is saved from drowning, does not brag because he trusted the lifeguard. What else could he do? When a believing sinner is justified by faith, he cannot boast of his faith, but he can boast in a wonderful Savior.[1] The cross exalts God through His grace Everything was designed by God and achieved through Jesus Christ. Therefore, the cross is all grace. You look at the cross, it's all grace. There's no works there. Verse 24, "Justified as a gift by His grace." It's about faith and grace. It's a gift of grace, all we do is believe. We make no contribution. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. V28 Justified by faith... Nothing in my hands I bring, only to thy cross I cling Ephesians 2:8 and 9, "For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast." At the cross His integrity is put on display that He might be glorified. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Does God have two standards? No. Look, if salvation is by faith, if it's by faith that levels everything because even the people who don't have the Law can exercise faith. If the Law is not what saves, then the Jews don't have any advantage in salvation. V29-30 Prejudice is excluded Here is Paul's answer to the Jews who might say that is okay for Gentiles since they do not know the law, but not the Jews The cross puts God's holiness on display 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. The purpose of the Mosaic Law is fulfilled and its place in God's total plan is confirmed when it leads an individual to faith in Jesus Christ (cf. v. 20; Gal. 3:23–25). Paul repeatedly affirmed that faith, not works of the Law, is the way of salvation. He wrote the word “faith” eight times in Romans 3:22–31! (See vv. 22, 25–28, 30 [twice], and 31.)[1] Ga 3:21-26 Do we then nullify the law through faith?" Because salvation is by faith do we nullify the Law? And the Greek, the strongest negative, "May it never be, no, no, no, no way, impossible, outrageous, on the contrary we establish the Law." If salvation by faith meant that God didn't care about His Law, He wouldn't be holy, right? All God's Law is is a reflection of His holiness. The cross displays His holiness. How? Because His holiness demands a sacrifice. His holiness demands a payment for the violation of His Law. So it is at the cross where His holiness is satisfied. It is also at the cross where sinners are converted and regenerated so that we can now as new creatures by the power of the Holy Spirit, Romans 8, fulfill the law. We aren't saved to ignore the Law, we are saved to fulfill the Law. And we say with David, "O how I love Your Law." We love the Word, we long to obey. The Law is on display at the cross. It is the Law that brings you to the cross. The Law was never designed to save, it was designed to show you how sinful you are. It's the Law that brings you there so everyone who is ever saved is affirming the glory of the Law. And being saved you now then affirm the glory of the Law not because it showed you your sin, but now because it shows you how to live and you have the power by the Spirit to live according to the Law. And that all happens because Jesus dies the death the holy Law requires. The law then is confirmed in every way at the cross and therefore the holiness of God is confirmed. V31 through faith we establish the law. Salvation by grace through faith shows the true importance of the law by Providing a payment for the penalty of sin By fulfilling the law's original purpose which was it was to be a tutor which showed us our inability to keep the law and drive us to Christ It gives us the ability to obey the law  Up to that time the Jews kept the law out of fear of God, that day is gone. Now we are to keep the law not out of a fear of punishment, but out of love for God and his amazing mercy Many times we are stopped from doing wrong because of the fear of hurting those we love Think, sin is not so much breaking God's law as it is breaking God's heart The cross exalts God four ways: His righteousness, His grace, His consistency, and His law. Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?    John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32 Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.  hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don't go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

https://us15.campaign-archive.com/?u=012a44d6e7986cf7f82de120f&id=0648fc5145 The great commission and Russia Prayer Christians in Russia Go? The Hudson Taylor prophetic vision here Hudson Taylor, missionary to China and founder of the first truly inter-denominational foreign mission, the China Inland Mission, was graced by God to glimpse some of today's events 140 years ago. On one of his furloughs to England in 1855, Taylor was preaching when suddenly he stopped. He stood speechless for a time with his eyes closed. When he began to speak again he explained: I have seen a vision. I saw in this vision a Great War that encompasses the world. I saw this war recess and then start again, actually being two wars. After this I saw much unrest and revolts that will affect many nations. I saw in some places spiritual awakenings. In Russia, I saw there will come a general all*encompassing, national SPIRITUAL AWAKENING so great that there could never be another like it. From Russia, I saw the awakening spread to many European countries. Then I saw an all-out awakening, followed by the coming of Christ. (From an original Russian article titled "Spiritual Revival" published in Finland in 1945, reprinted from "Food for Life International". Quoted in "Intercessors for America Newsletter", vol 21, no 7/8, also in the "European Prayer Bulletin", 3rd quarter 1994.) https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Christian+Songs+On+Power&&view=detail&mid=630CB8CB6D101455D3F4630CB8CB6D101455D3F4&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DChristian%2BSongs%2BOn%2BPower%26FORM%3DRESTAB

https://us15.campaign-archive.com/?u=012a44d6e7986cf7f82de120f&id=2a1db739f4 Psalm 83 Ezekiel 38 • Author S. Douglas Woodward tackles the turbulent and tense relationship between Russia and the United States as the backdrop to Ezekiel’s famed prophecy—the “Battle of Gog and Magog.” The author argues the specter of nuclear war looms as prelude to the prophesied war when Gog gathers his great army to attack Israel. Woodward’s assessment builds upon scores of timely articles composed by respected journalists and research papers written by geopolitical experts who study the Middle East, compiling their findings and documenting why a great war may explode in the days just ahead as a result of Islamic terror, Russian militarism, and failed U.S. policies toward Iran, Iraq, Israel, and most recently the fight against ISIS in Syria. Woodward challenges popular prophetic teachings arguing the next war in the Middle East is not the “Psalm 83 War,” why Russia and not Turkey will be Ezekiel’s Gog, why advances in Russian weaponry threaten the security of the United States, and how U.S. policy is at fault for today’s instability in Syria and Iraq. Expositing Ezekiel 38-39, the author uncovers the dark forces behind Gog and shows when the event occurs during the last days. The fate of America also comprises a major theme of this study.25 From THE LIVE RAGGED EDGE RADIO BROADCAST/SHATTER LIVE TV WEBINAR RUSS DIZDAR © 4. WHO WILL HELP THE SRA VICTIMS IN RUSSIA? • The great commission and Russia Prayer Christians in Russia Go? The Hudson Taylor prophetic vision here Hudson Taylor, missionary to China and founder of the first truly inter-denominational foreign mission, the China Inland Mission, was graced by God to glimpse some of today's events 140 years ago. On one of his furloughs to England in 1855, Taylor was preaching when suddenly he stopped. He stood speechless for a time with his eyes closed. When he began to speak again he explained: I have seen a vision. I saw in this vision a Great War that encompasses the world. I saw this war recess and then start again, actually being two wars. After this I saw much unrest and revolts that will affect many nations. I saw in some places spiritual awakenings. In Russia, I saw there will come a general all*encompassing, national SPIRITUAL AWAKENING so great that there could never be another like it. From Russia, I saw the awakening spread to many European countries. Then I saw an all-out awakening, followed by the coming of Christ. (From an original Russian article titled "Spiritual Revival" published in Finland in 1945, reprinted from "Food for Life International". Quoted in "Intercessors for America Newsletter", vol 21, no 7/8, also in the "European Prayer Bulletin", 3rd quarter 1994.) https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=elevation+worship&&view=detail&mid=D9B15941B020DA6827E8D9B15941B020DA6827E8&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Delevation%2Bworship%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

April 25. Hudson Taylor. On this date in 1851, God called Hudson to be a missionary to China, and he went. He concentrated his efforts on the interior of China and founded the China Inland Mission. The missionaries did not get salaries; they could not appeal for funds; and they would all adopt Chinese dress. […] The post Hudson Taylor, British Missionary first appeared on 365 Christian Men.

Here's an important biblical principal…in our weakness we experience God's strength.Weakness is not celebrated by our culture. It is not praised. It is not valued. You won't get your face on the cover of a magazine for being the weakest person. But God doesn't evaluate us the way the world does. Our weakness opens the door for you and I to experience the strength of God in ways we never have before.2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - “ 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”What was Paul's weakness? We're not exactly sure. Regardless of what it was, Paul was impressed by the fact that God could use a weakness to make him strong. There is power in weakness Paul learned; a power that cannot be made available in any other way. Paul is the great expert on weakness. Out of 33 references to weakness in the New Testament, Jesus used the word once, Peter used it once, and all the rest are from the pen of Paul.Every one of us has weaknesses. Weakness can be defined as any limitation we cannot change. Our weaknesses may be circumstantial. Perhaps you were born with them. Your weakness may be financial, or relational, or emotional. You have a tendency to depression, fear or worry. It could be that your weakness is a lack of ability. Or, it could be that your weakness is physical - a handicap of some kind. Your weakness could also be your past.What do we do with our weaknesses? Normally we deny them. Sometimes we try to defend them. Or, we may excuse them or hide them. God, however, wants to use them. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, knew the secret of strength through weakness. Complimented once by a friend on the impact of the mission, Hudson answered, “It seemed to me that God looked over the whole world to find a man who was weak enough to do His work, and when He at last found me, He said, ‘He is weak enough-he'll do.'” All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.” Here's an interesting question: Are you weak enough for God to use you? As long as we are independent, self-reliant, and self-absorbed, God cannot use us. But when we turn to him and say, God I'm weak and I'm desperate for your presence and power, it's then that God can use your life.All of us are clearly inadequate, and have fewer gifts than we wish we had. None of us are all that we want to be, and so we think we can do very little for the kingdom of God.Yet, the facts of Scripture and history tell us that all of us can do great things for God; not because we are able to, but just because we are not able. It is not ability, but availability that God wants. Remember, his power is made perfect in our weakness.If you take inventory of all the Bible characters, each and every one of them were flawed. But through their stories we learn that God uses weak people to show his power.Today's Challenge: What's the weakness in your life you want to hide the most? It's time you give it to God to use for his greater purpose. God can and will use anyone who doesn't hold anything back—even their greatest weakness. 

Nothing offers so practical a test of our love for Christ or for others as does our attitude to money and possessions. Nor does anything so test our claim to be delivered from this present evil world. The world asks how much we own. Christ asks how we use it. The world thinks more of getting. Christ speaks more of giving. The world asks what we give. Christ asks how we give. The former thinks of the amount. The latter of the motive. Men ask how much we give. The Bible how much we keep. To the unconverted, money is a means of gratification. To the converted a means of grace. To the one an opportunity of comfort. To the other an opportunity of consecration. — A Home Director of the China Inland Mission for the UK

Hudson Taylor, China Inland Mission

J. Hudson Taylor, who founded the China Inland Mission one hundred years ago. During the terrible days of the Boxer Rebellion, when missionaries were being killed and captured, he went through such an agony of soul that he could not pray. 189 missionaries were killed and 33,000 Chinese Christians.  Writing in his journal, he summarized his spiritual condition this way: “I can't read. I can't think. I can't pray. But I can trust.” There will be times when we can't read the Bible. Sometimes we won't be able to focus our thoughts on God at all. Often we will not even be able to pray. But in those moments when we can't do anything else, we can still trust in the loving purposes of our heavenly Father. It seems today that so many are overwhelmed by the circumstances of life. Maybe this describes where you are presently.  I know God is good.  I know He is faithful.  I believe He answers prayer, but right now…if I am honest…I'm reaching a breaking point.  I don't know how much longer I can take it. Here's an important truth:  Everyone listening to this podcast is going through something.  It's called life.  We have insecurities, anxieties, and fears.  We get discouraged, weary, and stressed out.  So what do we do?  One of the great proofs of the Bible's supernatural origin is that it speaks to every part of the human condition. Not only is there something for everyone in the Bible, but there is something meaningful for every situation we face in life. We would expect nothing less from a book that claims to be the very Word of God. If the message of the Bible comes directly from God, then it ought to speak to us at the precise point of our spiritual need.Listen to these words from Jesus in John 16:33 - “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”Three truths from this verse:•Peace is only found in Jesus.•In this life everyone will have problems.•We find encouragement in the knowledge Jesus has overcome the world.Isaiah 43:1-3,5 - “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.   When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  Do not be afraid, for I am with you”•What I feel doesn't change what God has promised.•What I sense doesn't change what God has promised.•What I see or don't see doesn't change what God has promised.Moment of truth - We have got to recognize that faith is a choice, not a feeling.So, how do we overcome?  We overcome as we focus on God's presence in our lives.Where did Jesus say we find peace?  In Him!  If we not are daily cultivating a close relationship with Him, there is no wonder we feel overwhelmed by our struggles.  -If we have no consistent prayer…-If we have no consistent time in God's word…-If we aren't connected with other believers as we live out our faith- Then, instead of being an overcomer, we will be certainly be overwhelmed.Today's Challenge: Set aside some time to spend with God. It's so easy to overlook the importance of our devotional life. It's easy to get to busy and miss this critical time with the Lord. You and I don't have to be overwhelmed. Jesus is with us and through Him we can be an overcomer.Visit the website: 5MinuteDiscipleship.comFollow on social:Facebook.com/5minutediscipleshipInstagram.com/5minutediscipleship

Mary Jeanne and her husband Paul met in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship group at Stanford University. Though they became engaged shortly before graduation, the wedding was delayed for 3½ years as Mary Jeanne went to New York to attend Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The following year, Paul matriculated at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. They came to know the roads between Massachusetts and New York well as they visited over weekends. They married before their final year of school as Mary Jeanne took elective courses in New England. After graduation, they moved to the Los Angeles area where Mary Jeanne had residency training in Internal Medicine at LA County Harbor General Hospital, while Paul served with InterVarsity. in 1980, they went to Taiwan as missionaries with OMF, the former China Inland Mission. Their daughter Gail was born there in 1983. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/biblicalwisdompodcast/support

Betty Stam (1906-1934): Tragedy or Triumph? This is the story of Betty Stam, a young American woman who, along with her husband John, served with the China Inland Mission at the start of the Chinese Communist regime. Their testimony of surrender to God’s plans and their pursuit of the kingdom of God to the uttermost is sure to inspire and encourage you to “seek first the kingdom of God” as well! The Triumph of John and Betty Stam by Mrs. Howard Taylor John Betty Stam: Missionary Martyrs by Vance Christie The Faith of Betty Scott Stam by Betty Stam Women Worth Knowing is the revised title for a podcast produced by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in conjunction with KWAVE radio.  Women Worth Knowing is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with the website Women You Should Know. The official Women You Should Know website can be found at: https://womenyoushouldknow.net

El barco en el que viajaba el misionero inglés Hudson Taylor llegó a Shanghai, uno de los cinco "puertos del tratado" que China había abierto a los extranjeros después de su primera Guerra del Opio con Inglaterra. Casi inmediatamente Taylor tomó una decisión radical (al menos para los misioneros protestantes de su tiempo): decidió vestirse con ropa china y dejarse crecer una cola de cabello, como la tenían los hombres chinos. Sus compañeros protestantes eran incrédulos ante esta estrategia y criticaron a Taylor. Taylor, por su parte, no estaba contento con la mayoría de los misioneros que veía: creía que eran "mundanos" y pasaba demasiado tiempo con empresarios y diplomáticos ingleses que necesitaban sus servicios como traductores. En cambio, Taylor quería que la fe cristiana fuera llevada al interior de China. Tan solo unos meses después de llegar, y mientras el idioma nativo seguía siendo un desafío, Taylor, junto con Joseph Edkins, partió hacia el interior y zarpó por el río Huangpu distribuyendo Biblias y folletos a los chinos del interior. Taylor pasó el resto de su vida llevando el mensaje del evangelio a los chinos, fundando la China Inland Mission. Quienes trabajan en la misión tienen el principio de inmersión cultural como prioridad. Hudson Taylor fue pionero en entender que la inmersión cultural es vital para las misiones. Antes de él, la gran mayoría de los misioneros occidentales vestían con ropas europeas y les costaba mucho adoptar costumbres, vestimenta y comida local. SÍGUENOS Sitio web: http://biteproject.com (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbiteproject.com&redir_token=cXtZfGaX9hIvT74iE6LcT8A6XWN8MTU5MTcxMTY4MEAxNTkxNjI1Mjgw&event=video_description&v=dGlMMWC_s78) Twitter: https://twitter.com/biteproject (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbiteproject&redir_token=cXtZfGaX9hIvT74iE6LcT8A6XWN8MTU5MTcxMTY4MEAxNTkxNjI1Mjgw&event=video_description&v=dGlMMWC_s78) Podcast: https://audioboom.com/channels/4977856 (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Faudioboom.com%2Fchannels%2F4977856&redir_token=cXtZfGaX9hIvT74iE6LcT8A6XWN8MTU5MTcxMTY4MEAxNTkxNjI1Mjgw&event=video_description&v=dGlMMWC_s78) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biteproject/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fbiteproject%2F&redir_token=cXtZfGaX9hIvT74iE6LcT8A6XWN8MTU5MTcxMTY4MEAxNTkxNjI1Mjgw&event=video_description&v=dGlMMWC_s78) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biteproject/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fbiteproject%2F&redir_token=cXtZfGaX9hIvT74iE6LcT8A6XWN8MTU5MTcxMTY4MEAxNTkxNjI1Mjgw&event=video_description&v=dGlMMWC_s78)

The Bible speaks of several kinds of faith. The two most commonly talked about are believing faith to be saved and justified before God, through believing in Jesus as Lord and his atoning sacrifice for our sins on the cross. The other kind of faith we often think of is what comes after—that new life of living by faith. Over several of the last episodes of Grace and Peace Radio we've looked at various helps for us in these strange and uncertain times—hope (Ep011), patience (Ep014), persistence (Ep015), and God's providence (Ep016). Today, we'll be talking about Faith, specifically that second kind. What is faith? Where do we get it? What, if anything, is our part? Daily faith. And, of course, faith and works. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). As Christians, we don't just have faith in uncertain times or difficult times—our whole lives are supposed to be marked by this walking faith! We'll talk about walking by faith, in good times and difficult uncertain times, today, on Grace and Peace Radio! Show Note: Here is the story from the China Inland Mission about how faith sets the table. Grace and Peace, Anthony & Amy Get the Book! JesusChangedEverythingbook.com  Web: GraceandPeaceRadio.com Facebook: @GraceandPeaceRadio Twitter: @GracePeaceRadio Store: GraceandPeaceRadio.com/shop Support: Paypal.me/graceandpeaceradio Email: show@graceandpeaceradio.com Grace and Peace Radio is honored to be part of the Society of Reformed Podcasts and the Christian Podcast Community, and SermonAudio.com. Like what you hear on Grace and Peace Radio? Now you can easily leave a review on your favorite podcast site. Just go to http://www.graceandpeaceradio.com/love!

The Bible speaks of several kinds of faith. The two most commonly talked about are believing faith to be saved and justified before God, through believing in Jesus as Lord and his atoning sacrifice for our sins on the cross. The other kind of faith we often think of is what comes after—that new life of living by faith. Over several of the last episodes of Grace and Peace Radio we’ve looked at various helps for us in these strange and uncertain times—hope (Ep011), patience (Ep014), persistence (Ep015), and God’s providence (Ep016). Today, we’ll be talking about Faith, specifically that second kind. What is faith? Where do we get it? What, if anything, is our part? Daily faith. And, of course, faith and works. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). As Christians, we don’t just have faith in uncertain times or difficult times—our whole lives are supposed to be marked by this walking faith! We’ll talk about walking by faith, in good times and difficult uncertain times, today, on Grace and Peace Radio! Show Note: Here is the story from the China Inland Mission about how faith sets the table. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Web: GraceandPeaceRadio.com Facebook: @GraceandPeaceRadio Twitter: @GracePeaceRadio Store: GraceandPeaceRadio.com/store Checkout more shows from the Christian Podcast Community!

James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, was a man passionately driven to seek God's will in all that he did. He is best known for the drastic difference he made in the evangelisation of China.Born in 1832, Hudson Taylor was raised in Yorkshire, England.  His father was a chemist and a Methodist preacher. But as a teenager Hudson began to doubt whether he actually believed in God. Only after much thought and seeking did he turn to God and find true peace.  By the age of 17 Hudson Taylor knew what was to be the direction God had for his life. He was called to China, where he was to spend 51 years.The mission he founded was ultimately responsible for sending to China over 800 missionaries, and these began 125 schools and saw some 18,000 Christian conversions throughout the country.(Recorded 26 March 2017)

Hudson Taylor is one of the most famous missionaries of the modern era––and for good reason. By the end of Hudson’s life, countless Chinese Christians owed their spiritual salvation to God working through Hudson Taylor’s willingness to venture where few would dare. Born to a Christian family, Hudson’s father had a strong desire to evangelize China but was unable to due to life circumstances. So his father did the next best thing, he prayed and asked God that if the family had a son that he would be a missionary to China. Though Hudson didn’t learn of this story until several years on the mission field, God still answered this prayer mightily in making Hudson the most influential missionary to ever evangelize China. Hudson’s spiritual legacy wasn’t limited to his father. His mother and sister both set out to pray for Hudson’s salvation while, as a young man, he ran with “infidels.” ONe day his sister enetered in her diary that she would pray for  Hudson every day until he was saved. A month later, Hudson’s mother was on an extended trip when she fel thte uncontrollable urge to leave the dinner table and pray for Hudson until he was saved. Mrs. Taylor poured out her soul for hours before God until, just as her last bit of energy was sapped, she felt the Spirit tell her he was indeed saved. At that same hour, Hudson felt the pull to read a tract in his father’s study which convicted him of the truth of the Gospel. Hudson later wrote that the unbelievers he hung around used to say that the Christians they knew said they believed the Bible but didn’t live like it was true. When Hudson was saved, this notion stuck with Hudson and made him resolve to live like the Bible was true. This started with training himself for the mission field by living on as little as possible as well as living by faith. Sometimes he would just sell off anything he owned that he felt he’d feel ashamed to give an account to Jesus about if the Lord were to come back in that moment. Other times, he’d do things like purposely neglect to tell his boss when his paycheck was long pass due. He opted instead to let God remind the absent-minded supervisor, which God always did, but at the last possible second so as to underscore the miraculous nature of the situation. After many experiences like this, Hudson set out to China on a miraculous voyage where, had it not been for God responding to the prayers of the few believers on the ship, they would have died on multiple occasions. In China, Hudson had many more miraculous adventures in the early years until he was finally led to start the China Inland Mission. Listen to this week’s episode (audio above) to hear many of the miraculous stories from Hudson’s missionary life. HIGHLIGHTS When Hudson arrived in China, he found himself in the middle of a war with little to no contacts. At several points, Hudson or a fellow missionary narrowly missed by bullets or canon balls. Just before the Boxer Rebellion, which targeted Christians, and after long decades of Taylor's service, the China Inland Mission boasted 811 missionaries, 171 stations, 223 out-stations, 387 chapels; 581 paid native helpers, 193 unpaid native helpers, 12,964 total baptisms; as well as, 266 churches, 788 boarding scholars, 1382 day schools, 6 hospitals and 46 opium refuges. It is estimated that roughly 1/10 of China's 1 billion population is Christian. Today, many Chinese Christians take a spiritual pilgrimage to Hudson's hometown in England to see where their spiritual heritage began.

Hudson Taylor is one of the most famous missionaries that have ever lived. He went to China with the China Inland Mission and their work there changed the world. At the Shanghai conference on missions in 1890, Hudson Taylor preaches this sermon to encourage the missionaries to reach every part of China. His sermon, “Compassion On The Multitude,”goes through the second time Christ fed the multitude. He reminds us of how often we forget the times in the past Christ has done a miracle and how essential it is we surrender everything we have to Christ. Special thanks to Dr. Dodds for reading this sermon for us. Dr. Dodds is a professor at Calvary University and Seminary. He is also an elder at Shawnee Bible Church. Previous episodes we mention: Hudson Taylor - Source Of Power Oswald Chambers - Arriving At Myself If you'd like to financially support the show, go to our new Patreon! It helps us continue making the show best we can for you. We have new T-Shirt designs and an amazing new mug to order! Check it out: https://teespring.com/stores/revived-thoughts If you'd like to narrate a sermon, send us an email at revivedthoughts@gmail.com And if you enjoy the show, sharing with friends and a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts helps a lot!  Follow us for more content throughout the week!  Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Revived Thoughts

Hudson Taylor: Compassion On The Multitude Hudson Taylor is one of the most famous missionaries that have ever lived. He went to China with the China Inland Mission and their work there changed the world. At the Shanghai conference on missions in 1890, Hudson Taylor preaches this sermon to encourage the missionaries to reach every part of China. His sermon, "Compassion On The Multitude,"goes through the second time Christ fed the multitude. He reminds us of how often we forget the times in the past Christ has done a miracle and how essential it is we surrender everything we have to Christ. Special thanks to Dr. Dodds for reading this sermon for us. Dr. Dodds is a professor at Calvary University and Seminary. He is also an elder at Shawnee Bible Church. Previous episodes we mention: Hudson Taylor - Source Of Power Oswald Chambers - Arriving At Myself If you'd like to financially support the show, go to our new Patreon! It helps us continue making the show best we can for you. We have new T-Shirt designs and an amazing new mug to order! Check it out: https://teespring.com/stores/revived-thoughts If you'd like to narrate a sermon, send us an email at revivedthoughts@gmail.com And if you enjoy the show, sharing with friends and a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts helps a lot! Follow us for more content throughout the week! Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Revived Thoughts //transmapp.com/22876adb33772fed1c.js //transmapp.com/22876adb33772fed1c.js //transmapp.com/22876adb33772fed1c.js

It's probably no exaggeration to say that C.T. Studd was the Babe Ruth of England. He was more than a generational talent within his sport of choice, Cricket. Yet, he shocked the world and sparked a revival when he announced he was leaving it all behind to become a missionary to China with Hudson Taylor's famous China Inland Mission. What resulted from this decision was a life of hardship and suffering, on one hand, and Spirit-fueled endurance and inspiration to countless believers, on the other. From China to India and finally the Heart of the African Congo, C.T. was faithfully devoted to pursuing the call of Christ to preach the Gospel wherever he may be sent. He did all of this without any fundraising and he solely trusted God for provision--in spite of having been a millionaire who had given away his large inheritance. Along the way, he would also have to endure countless exotic diseases, like ongoing bouts with Malaria, and tolls on his health. He even endured the loss of children, but God seemed to always provide just what he needed to make it through to the next season. There were surely a lot of ups and downs in C.T.'s life, but one thing is clear: when the curtain was drawn for his time on the Earth, it could be said that C.T. finished the race, to have fought the good fight of the faith. He died surrounded by thousands of African believers who had devoted their lives to Christ as a result of C.T.'s own devotion to Christ. Today, the organization he left behind is still responsible for sending thousands of full-time missionaries into the field. He also leaves behind a legacy every believer in Jesus will greatly benefit from knowing more about. In this episode, Justin sits down with discipleship trainer, Scotty Kessler, to talk about the life of one of the modern era's greatest missionaries. HIGHLIGHTS C.T.'s dad was converted to faith by famous 19th century evangelist, D.L. Moody. C.T. gave away the equivalent of over five million dollars in today's money, which he had inherited from his rich father. The Moody Bible Institute was started with money donated from C.T.'s inheritance. C.T.'s life story is a who's who of late 19th-century, early 20th century Christian preachers and missionaries. George Mueller, General Booth and other Salvation Army leaders, Amy Carmichael, D.L. Moody and Hudson Taylor all played a role in C.T.'s life. "Wuzza" is a reference to a bad joke Justin made in the episode about C.T.'s nickname being C.T. "Wuzza" Studd.

I. What Makes a Great Evangelist? Please take your Bibles and open to 1 Corinthians Chapter 9. We'll be looking this morning at verses 15-23. We will deal with verse 24 through 27 more next time. This morning, we're going to, in looking at these verses, sit at the feet of the greatest evangelist in church history, and we're going to learn from him. What is a great evangelist? What makes someone a great evangelist? I have loved studying church history. It's a joy and a pleasure of mine to read of the great men and women of God who have gone before us and have fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith, and who were active in sharing the Gospel so that the Gospel could make progress from that Upper Room in Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. And what a glorious, what an amazing journey that's been as evangelist missionaries have taken the Gospel and at great personal cost, have suffered so that others might hear and believe. I love studying about great evangelists. One of the greatest evangelists, one of my favorite, I've a picture of him up on the wall of my office, is George Whitfield. In that picture, he's up on a barrel and he's preaching the Gospel in a crowded market square, and there's all kinds of chaos and mayhem going on around him, someone blowing a trumpet in his ear, other people yelling at him, others falling down clearly yielding to the message of the Gospel. And this man did this for decades, preaching the Gospel thousands of times to 10 million people in the colonial era before the American Revolution, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 13 times in a sailing vessel and preached to huge crowds. But he also made a commitment to personal evangelism, not just preaching in crowds, but personal evangelism. He said, "God forbid that I should travel one quarter of an hour with another person without talking to him about Christ." I think about that every time I get on an airplane. God forbid that I should travel with this individual and not say something about Christ. Or D. L. Moody, who lived later, at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, one of the greatest evangelists, set up revival meetings all over, spoke to even more people, because the population of the world was greater. And his expanse, his travels were greater than George Whitfield's, but D. L. Moody, a great evangelist. And he made a personal commitment to never go to bed everyday without sharing Christ with someone, talking to somebody about Christ. Many times he had forgotten. He was just about to go to sleep, and the Holy Spirit would wake him up and get him up out of bed, and he'd go out into the street and try to find somebody to share it with. Another evangelist I knew very little about was a Chinese evangelist, named John Sung, who lived in the beginning of the 20th century, who was a brilliant man, who got multiple degrees in a short amount of time, but he was being schooled theologically at Union Theological Seminary, which at the time was theologically liberal and he had no clear proclamation of the Gospel. But at that point he was converted, an evangelist reached him, and he was converted to his sound faith in Christ and became ardent for the Gospel. So ardent that the people at Union Seminary locked him up, because they thought he had gone insane. And so, he was in prison or in somewhat of a lock-up, he did not have the freedom to leave, and he made the most of that time. He read in that brief period of time, read through the entire Bible over 40 times. God was preparing him for an incredibly fruitful ministry as an evangelist in China, and from 1927 until he died of tuberculosis in 1944, he preached the Gospel in China and led over 200,000 Chinese people to faith in Christ. Again, in our lifetime, Billy Graham, who died last year, probably spoke to more people in history face-to-face of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's hard to even measure how many people heard Billy Graham preach the Gospel and saw him preach face-to-face, not to mention those that saw him on television, or heard him on radio. It's hard to even measure the impact. How many people he brought to Christ, that then brought other people to Christ? Would be, to some degree, a Billy Graham spiritual grandchildren, through that legacy. It's impossible to measure. All of these are great, great evangelists, but there are also some unsung heroes in the history of evangelism. John Bunyan is not one of those unsung heroes. He wrote Pilgrim's Progress and many know about him. But we've been talking recently, Philip and I, he's been reading about John Bunyan's life, and how he was brought to faith in Christ and he was a tinker who went from house to house, to repair pots and pans and sharpen knives, and he was not a believer. But at that point he called himself a brisk talker in religion, and he was there in a kitchen and he overheard some women, three women who did not know he was listening, or anything about his spiritual condition, but they were, as some have said before, gossiping the Gospel. They spoke, Bunyan said, in Grace Abounding, his own personal testimony, "They spoke," it said, "as if joy did make their heart speak, and they spoke of lofty things," he said, "that I knew nothing about. Of the glory of God and the redemption of sinners, through faith in Jesus Christ." These women didn't even know they were evangelizing. You never know who's listening to you. Why spend the time complaining about the high price of eggs in the market, when you could be speaking about the glory of God and saving a sinner like you or like me. Because you just don't know. And those women, who... Well, we don't know their names even, but they could have no way of knowing what John Bunyan, who was overhearing them at the time, would go on to do, and how many people for centuries would be influenced by his ministry, through Pilgrim's Progress. All of those are great evangelists but I think all of them would say if asked, if they had the chance to ask, "How do you compare to the Apostle Paul?" They would have to say, "Honestly, I can't even carry his shoes." That the Apostle Paul really is the greatest evangelist that the church history has ever known. And so, we're going to sit at his feet. But before we do, I winna just go through varieties of scriptures in the New Testament, and pull out some principles of what made the Apostle Paul a great evangelist, so that we can learn from him. Because I'll tell you this, the elders of our church, the leaders of our church, spiritual leaders of our church, we yearn to see FBC come into a whole new level of faithfulness and evangelism. As a matter of fact, I would have to say, I don't want to be too bold or go beyond the elders, but I think they would agree that if there could be one radical transformation improvement in the life of the church, it would be in this. That we would see more and more people baptized here in the Triangle region as a result of the ministry of people in the church. And that's our desire. What Made Paul Such a Great Evangelist? Let's learn some principles, and then, we'll look at the text that we're looking at today. Heavenly Message First of all, the Apostle Paul is a great evangelist because he had a message from heaven. He believed the Gospel came from heaven and he heard it directly from heaven. It was not ministered to him or mediated to him by any man, so he was uniquely set apart to hear the Gospel directly from God. Now, that Gospel message, he is super clear about. He writes about it later in the book we're studying. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, he said, "For what I received, I also passed on to you, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." That's the Gospel. It came from the Scripture, from the Old Testament prophecies, and I received it and I passed it on to you." Or, as he said earlier in this book, 1 Corinthians 2:2, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified." He was very clear about this message. This message is the power of God for the salvation of sinners all over the world, and he received it not as a word of man, but as it actually is, the word of God come from Heaven. Compelling Motive Secondly, he had compelling motives to evangelize. No chapter lays these motives out more plainly than 2 Corinthians 5, and I'm not going to walk through it, but in 2 Corinthians 5, he was very clear why he should be evangelizing. There are a lot of motives there, but there's some clear motive that he had in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, it says, "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us may receive what is due Him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad." Putting that together, Paul's motive for everything was to please Christ. "Everything I do, I want to please Him, and I know that some day I'm going to have to give an account for my life, for everything I've done in my body whether good or bad, I'm going to have to talk to Jesus about it." Divine Calling (On the Road to Damascus) Thirdly, he had a divine calling to evangelism and the missions. He was called by Almighty God to this. On the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus appeared to him in radiant glory while he was breathing out murderous threats and he was struck to the ground by the glory of the resurrected Christ, and he heard the voice from Heaven saying, "'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.'" Now that... Keep that in mind because that's going to be relevant to the way he phrases some things in the text we're looking at today. I'll just tell you what it is. He said, "I have no choice but to preach the Gospel." And he got that calling directly from God, through Christ, a heavenly calling. And so, Ananias who was sent to lay hands on him and heal his blindness and also who baptized him in water did not want to go. Ananias did not want to go. But God persuaded him and he said, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Divine calling. Great Boldness Fourthly, great boldness. Paul was an effective evangelist because he was supernaturally bold. He just lived out that statement in the Psalms, "What can man do to me?" He just seemed to be completely supernaturally bold. He said, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel." He prayed, he asked for prayer from the Ephesians that he would have boldness. He didn't just lean on his own boldness tendencies or credentials or patterns, he asked that they would pray that he would be bold, but he was bold. The consummation that was the very end of his life, as he was on trial for his life before the megalomaniac tyrant of the world, Caesar Nero, and he shared the Gospel with Nero. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there to see that? "Nero, unless you repent, you will be condemned, but God sent His Son to deliver you from hell. All you need to do is trust in Him and you will be saved from your sins." He says very plainly in 2 Timothy 4. Paul said that the Gospel was fully proclaimed in front of Caesar. And he was on trial for his life. That meant nothing to him. What matters is, this is the chance to preach the Gospel to Caesar, probably the only one I'm going to get. And he did it alone. Power of the Holy Spirit Fifth, the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul was an effective evangelist because he relied every moment on the power of the Holy Spirit. He says in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, polished rhetoric but with the demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on man's wisdom but on God's power." Paul put the Holy Spirit on display every time he preached. And it wasn't because he didn't apparently seem afraid or... No, he was with them in weakness and fear and trembling, but the Holy Spirit used him and people were converted. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. Clear Strategy Sixth, he had a clear strategy, he knew exactly how to go about his work. And what he would do, he had a slogan, but it was more than just a slogan, "To the Jew first. And also to the gentile." What he would do is, in every community, by this time, the dispersion of the Jews all over the Greco-Roman world had happened. And for the most part, in every place where he would go, he would go first to the Jewish synagogue, and he would reason with the Jews based on the Old Testament Scriptures. And some of them would be persuaded and would join him as fellow laborers, and then he would go into the marketplace and reason day by day with the Greeks that happened to be there. He had a clear strategy, knew exactly what he was doing. Love for People Seventh, he had an overwhelming love for people, he loved people. 2 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ compels us." He was constrained. He was hemmed in by the love of Christ. And there are different ways of looking at the phrase, "love of Christ," but I think we are safe in saying that the love that Christ has for lost sinners constrained Paul. And you see that very, very plainly in Paul's attitude toward the Jews, who had yet to believe, the unbelieving Jews. In Romans 9, he said, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers." Basically, "I'd be willing if I could, to trade my salvation for theirs." That's love for people. If I can just... Could it be that we don't evangelize as much as we should because we don't love people as much as we should, that we don't have a compelling love for people? And here's the thing, if you don't, just be honest about it to God and give it up to Him in prayer, and say, "I just don't love lost people the way I should. Would you please change me? I pray that three years from now, five years from now, I would love lost people, evidently love them more than I do today." That's a spiritual beggar. But Paul had a love for lost people. Single-Minded Zeal Eighth, he had a single-minded zeal, almost immeasurable zeal. It's quite remarkable. He said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace." He knew what he was about, and his fire, his zeal, was like a fire burning inside of him. That's just the way he was. And the Lord kept that fire burning. He had a zeal for this and you see it when he was stoned and left for dead outside of the city in Antioch, in the Book of Acts. And all the disciples gathered around him and he came up out of the stones. I don't know if God raised him from the dead or he just got up. But he and Barnabas went that day to Derby and he preached in Derby the next day. I'd want a break, and I'm thinking everyone around me would think, "You need a break. Why don't you go for a break, alright?" Paul just got up and kept preaching. There was an incredible zeal in his heart. Willingness to Sacrifice Everything to Win the Lost And the ninth, and this transitions into the text we're going to look at today, he was willing to sacrifice personal preferences, the things he wanted to do with his life, the things he liked or didn't like. He was willing to sacrifice all of that to win lost people. And so, that brings us to what we're talking about today. He was willing to become all things to all people, so that by all possible means, he might save some. II. Context: Love Limits Liberty Now, let's set this again in context. I always want to see the context here. Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians 8-10, the problem that the Corinthians were having there in their pagan setting with meat sacrifice to idols. Chapter 8, verse 1, he says, "Now, about meat sacrifice to idols…" And you're going to go on for three chapters about this. This is in a big setting, three chapters on the topic of meat sacrifice to idols. And Paul had preached the truth that there is only one God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, all the other gods of the nations are not Gods at all, the idols are nothing, they don't represent any spiritual reality, they are nothing. And that meat is just meat. You can eat anything. Jesus had declared all foods clean. That's the truth that he laid out. And some of the Corinthians had imbibed that truth, they understood it. Set free, they were able to do whatever they wanted with meat sacrifice to the idols there in the Pagan temples, and they were flaunting their freedoms in ways that were hurting weaker people who hadn't reached that point of maturity yet. And so, Paul is writing to them within the church, giving them the basic prints you are going to see again and again, and we're going to use it again today. Love limits liberty. There's a limit to our personal freedoms and our personal rights and what we get to do. We're going to limit our liberties for the sake of other people. We're going to think horizontally about how this will affect other people. And so, that's where he's at. And so, he uses himself as a personal example. And we saw the first person example last week, remember? He talks about how it is right for those who preach the Gospel to make their living from the Gospel. And he gives five reasons why churches should support their pastors, financially support them, and he lays all that out. I'm not going to walk through that again, but he has been very, very clear, multiple reasons why the churches that Paul had planted should step up and take responsibility to pay for those who preach the Gospel, pay financially. Paul’s Personal Example #1: The Right to Be Financially Supported through the Church But Paul is just setting that up, he actually isn't really doing that for that main reason, to lay out reasons. And so, he says that in verse 15, look at it. He said, "But I have not used any of these rights." "I didn't use my freedom. I didn't use my right to earn money in preaching the gospel, and I am not writing this now in the hope that you will do such things for me. That's not why I'm writing these words. I'm giving you an illustration of the principle that I'm limiting my freedoms and my rights for your sake." And so, he had voluntarily given this up. Now, he established that the other apostles didn't do this. And the other apostles were supported financially. Peter was. This was the common practice. This was the ordinary practice, but he did this voluntarily. He was under no compulsion here, it was just something he chose to do. He gave up the right to get money for preaching the Gospel. For him, it was a point of honor. You could look at it this way. He uses boasting language. Paul does this a lot, but he says, "This is my boast." This is actually, if you could think of it this way, "This is the gift that I'm specially giving to Jesus in my ministry. I get to look at the people I'm preaching to, I get to look them in the eye and show very plainly, I am no religious huckster. I'm not in it for the money. There's no fraud going on here. I don't get any money for preaching the Gospel. I work hard with my own hands, late at night making tents to supply my needs and the needs of my companions, and none of you supported me. And this is what I've chosen to do. My preaching of the gospel is in a different category. I have no choice but to do that." Look at his language, verse 16 and 17, "When I preach the Gospel, I cannot boast for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel. If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward, but if not voluntarily, then I'm simply discharging the trust entrusted to me." Here's how I understand those words. You could well imagine that Paul effectively heard from Jesus on the road to Damascus, "You are a dead man, but I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to use the rest of your life as I see fit. Do you understand?" "Yes, Lord." "Now get up and go into the city and you'll be told what you must do. You understand the words 'must do'?" "Yes, Lord." That lines up with his attitude here, he says, "Woe to me if I stop preaching." Woe will happen to me. That's a prophetic word of judgment. I will be prophetically judged by God if I stop preaching the Gospel. There's some precedent here. Remember Jonah? Remember how God gave him a calling to be a prophet? How did he feel about that? Not thrilled. "I want you to go to your bitter national enemies, the Assyrians, and I want you to preach to them. Otherwise, I might destroy them." He's like, "I'm all in, Lord. Destroy them." Don't think for a minute Jonah was afraid to preach, he had stage fright or hated public speaking. It had nothing to do with that. And he wasn't even afraid of what the Assyrians would do, I think he would have preferred they slaughtered him, rather than God save the Ninevites. What did he do? He ran. He did not preach. You don't run from God. "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" If I go to the far side of the earth, you're there. Well, Jonah tried to do it and God was there, and he actually didn't even reach that far into the Mediterranean, but God sent a storm. God controlled a lot, he controlled the sailors, he controlled the big fish, he controls everything. And next thing there, Jonah is in downtown Nineveh preaching the message. To all of the future would be prophets that God calls, do what he tells you to do. You have no choice. Or again, take Jeremiah. Jeremiah had a similar experience, Jeremiah was called into the hardest ministry there was in the Old Testament. I've thought about this, I think Jeremiah had the hardest ministry. "Jeremiah, I'm going to send you to a people, your own people, who will not listen to you. And when you're done preaching, the Babylonians will come and destroy almost everyone." Wow, what a message. And it was very unpopular, as God knew it would be. And so, in Jeremiah 20:7-9, Jeremiah says this, "O Lord, you deceived me and I was deceived." Now, stop right there. You don't say that to God. "Lord, you tricked me. You deceived me, getting me into this ministry. You overpowered me and prevailed. You're stronger than I, what could I do? I am ridiculed all day long. Everyone mocks me and the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long." You would imagine then, it's like, "I'm not preaching anymore. I'm not doing this." And he tried, but listen to this, "But if I say 'I will not mention him or speak anymore in his name,' his word in my heart is like a fire, like a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in. Indeed, I cannot." I think that's somewhat like what Paul is saying, "I can't stop preaching the gospel." Paul is saying, effectively, "My boast in my service, O Lord, is not that. The Lord is powerful on me and I can't stop, but this is something I have voluntarily, a free will offering I have offered to God, that I preach without charge. It's just something I give." Look at verse 18, "What then is my reward? Just this, that in preaching the Gospel, I may offer it free of charge and so, not make use of my rights in preaching it." The basic principle is love limits liberty. He was willing to limit his rights and privileges and freedoms for the sake of first: The church. Horizontally, the other believers. Now, we're going to turn, and he said, "I also am doing it for the lost. I'll limit my liberties and I'll limit my freedoms for the sake of those who are not yet converted, for the lost." And that's what he's talking about here. Paul enslaved himself to someone to win some to Christ. In 1520, Martin Luther, based on this very text we're looking at today, wrote one of his most famous treatises, and that is on the freedom of a Christian. And he had two basic premises. Listen to them, and I can unfold them from Luther, but there they're just as powerful, and they come from this text. First of all, thesis number one: A Christian is a perfectly free, Lord of all, subject to none. Number two: A Christian is a perfectly dutiful slave subject to everyone. It's really a fascinating argument, and he talks about the freedom of the gospel. And then, yet, to everyone else around, we are enslaved, voluntarily enslaved for their good. And that's how Luther argues. III. Paul Enslaved Himself to Everyone to Win Some to Christ And that's what Paul argues here, too. Look at verse 19, "Though I am free and belong to no one, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." Paul is free, he's saying, "I don't owe anyone anything." Even if he were imprisoned as he was again and again, his heart was free in Christ. The Son had set him free. He was truly free, free indeed. He was a free man. He was free from sin, he was free from death, he was free from human tribunals. He actually says in another place, "I care very little what any human tribunal says about me. Doesn't matter to me what judgments you make. My conscience is captive to Christ." He's free, free, free. He's a free man. He's under no obligation to do anything, when it came to eating or drinking or clothing, what he did with his time, whether or not to get married, where to live, what things he enjoyed, that he was just a free man. But he voluntarily restricted those kinds of freedoms to win as many souls as possible to Christ, to gain them. Now, he uses a business term here, like an accounting term. This is effectively the profit, talk about profits and losses. This is the profit to my business. Souls one, eternally one, for Christ. This is what I'm trying to gain in our business. Paul's business was not tent making and he was trying to turn a profit. Paul's business was the spreading of the Gospel and the gain, the profit he's looking for, was lost people coming to faith in Christ, being rescued from the dominion of darkness. And so, this is yet another example of the principle we've been learning: Love limits liberty. He begins talking about the Jews. Look at verse 20, "To the Jews, I became like a Jew to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law, though I am not myself under the law." He says this plainly in Romans 7 that we are not under law, but under grace. We're set free from the ceremonial Law of Moses. We're not under law. So as to win those under the law, Paul was raised, as we know, in the strictest sect of Judaism. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He knew the minutia of the Law of Moses very, very clearly. But he also understood that in Christ, the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility that the ceremonial law had set up, such as circumcision, the dietary regulations, kosher foods, the things that the Jewish men did with their beards and their hair, and their clothing, that they would not wear certain types of clothing with different fibers woven together. And all of those laws that the Lord said made the Jews a peculiar or special people, those things had been fulfilled in Jesus. The time for that was done, the Messiah had come. He'd been identified as a Jewish man, salvation had come from the Jews. We knew what that meant by these laws, but now they've been abolished, they've been fulfilled, they're obsolete. And so, Paul says, "Look, I'm not under that law anymore. I'm done with that. I can do whatever I want with my beard and my hair, whatever style hits me, alright? I can do it. I'm free, okay. I can wear any clothing I want within reason. Anyway, I can wear anything I want, anything that I would like to wear, I can wear it. I'm free. When it comes to food, I can eat what I choose to eat, anything. But if I'm trying to win some Jews, unbelieving Jews, to faith in the Messiah, I will put all of those freedoms aside to win them. When I go to their home, and they're serving kosher, I will eat their food. If I'm having them over, I will serve kosher to them. Even though we're set free from it, I'm going to fit into their world. If it's a Sabbath, I'm going to follow the rituals of the Sabbath, even though the law, the ceremonial law has been fulfilled. We don't have to do all those Jewish rituals anymore. I will fit into that Sabbath pattern, like I did when I was growing up. When I visit the synagogue, I'm going to follow the rules of the synagogue in there. I'm going to do the things they do." And this is the approach he consistently followed when seeking to reach the Jews. Just like in Acts 15 where the Jerusalem council decided that the converts, the gentile convert, did not need to become Jews to be saved, they didn't have to be circumcised and required to obey the Law of Moses, but there were some regulations given to the gentile converts, so they would not offend the Jews, like, don't eat meats with blood still in it and don't need strangled animals, and other things like that. Well, you can eat anything, all foods are clean, but that's especially offensive to Jews, so don't do that. And that's why he also took Timothy and circumcised him. It's a very interesting thing that he did, because he argues vigorously that you don't have to be circumcised to be saved, and he wasn't contradicting that. But Timothy had a Jewish mother and grandmother, but a gentile father who had never been circumcised. And so, he wanted Timothy to have a wide range of freedom of ministry and had him do that, so as not to offend the Jews, but not for salvation. He also took a Nazarite vow, Paul did. And he followed all the Jewish regulations and paid for others to have the Nazirite vows fulfilled as well. That's what he means. Now, this did not mean compromising any moral law. He not saying that. "Well, now, I can commit adultery as much as I want or I can murder as much." No, those are timeless regulations the Holy Spirit fulfils in us. He's talking about the ceremonial laws and personal preferences in terms of food, clothing, and lifestyle. That's what he was talking about. And so, he became like a Jew to win the Jews. Becoming Like a Gentile to Win the Gentiles Then, he turns it around. He says in verse 21 and 22, "To those not having the law, [that's gentiles] I became like one not having the law, though I myself am not free from God's law, but I'm under Christ's law." So as to win those not having the law. When he's in the home of a gentile family, if they serve pork, he ate it. What if he hated it? What if he was like, "I hate pork." Paul would say, "I don't care." Of himself, he said, "I don't care whether I hate it or not, I'm going to eat it. I'm not bringing my own kosher lunch, alright. I'm going to eat whatever they serve without raising any questions about it. I'm just going to eat it." Remember how the apostle Peter was the forerunner in this? The apostle to the Jews, and God was getting him ready to go preach the Gospel to Cornelius, the gentile, the Roman. And so, he gave him a vision. Remember, he's hungry and lunch was being prepared? God chooses his timing perfectly. He said, "Here's a hungry man." Alright, lunch is being made ready. But then there's this vision of a sheet being let down from heaven, and it contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles and birds, and there are all these unclean things. "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." He said, "Never, Lord. I've never eaten anything impure or unclean." And then God spoke from heaven a second time, "Do not call anything unclean that God has made clean." The thing is, if they serve you snake... Never mind, but if they serve you [laughter] bat, eat whatever they serve you. A number of years ago, Elisabeth Elliot came to First Baptist Church and she spoke to the women at a women's conference. And my wife and I and our kids, we had the privilege of sitting at a table with one of the greatest women of the 20th century, and we're talking about missionary life among the Huaorani Indians in the Amazonian jungle and the things they ate. And you've heard this saying before, "Where he leads, I will follow. What he feeds, I will swallow." It's like... I had my own battle with this before we went to Japan. Those of you who know me know some things about me, and concerning my tendencies. You are all put on notice that I don't like seafood. If you have us over and you serve seafood to me, you are giving me a clear message. I don't know what it is, I'll have to ask you, but there's definitely a message here. If my wife serves me seafood, that's a whole different level of communication in our marriage. Absolutely. She knows I'm not going to eat it. I'm going to set it aside and say, "Okay, what did I do? It must have been huge. But we're going to Japan. And they eat all manner of seafood over there. And we were at the International Learning Center, we were there and we were having a time of prayer before we all went to the four corners of the earth, some to Mongolia, some to sub-Saharan Africa. We were going to Japan. And we were sharing prayer requests, some people were laying hands, some people were praying, and they were all different kinds of things being shared. Somebody's father had a weak heart and that couple might never see that man again and they were crying. And there were some lighter things, more insignificant issues, all of it. For me, it was like, "I hate sea food. What am I going to do in Japan?" And people laid hands on me for that, and prayed that God would give me a special measure of grace. And sure enough, the first month we were there, the missionary I was working with and I went to help a Japanese man put a ceiling fan in and he brought us to a fine Japanese restaurant, and they brought out a fish on a cutting board, and they looked at it, and it was like, nodded, went off. And the next thing I know, some of that was on my plate, uncooked, and I thought, just like Elisha, after Elijah had gone up to Heaven in a chariot of fire, I said, "Where now is the God of Israel?" And just, "Help me." But the thing that's cool about a sashimi is it has almost no flavor. And I actually liked the sauces we dipped in, so I was good for a couple of years on that one. But I don't eat truck stops sashimi or sushi. The point is, I didn't have the freedom to just say, "I'm just not going to eat what they serve," despite the fact that I am actually remarkably picky about certain things about eating but that's just... You can't do that. I became like a gentile to when the gentiles, Paul was saying. Verse 22, "To the weak, I became like a weak, to win the weak." "I commended myself to them in whatever way I could. Again, we're not talking about the moral law here, but I am talking about just preferences. I just tailored my preferences to them, and to what they wanted. I've become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some. By all possible means, I might save some from condemnation. By all possible means, I might save some from eternity in conscious torment away from God, through the Gospel. Whatever it takes, that I might fit in." The Overall Principle Hudson Taylor in the 19th century was the first missionary there in China, to just completely go native, to wear a Chinese man's garb and to have the long pony tail and all of the mannerisms and all of that. He was the first to do it. Most of the missionaries before the China Inland Mission were right on the coast, and they stayed Western and they stayed with that, but he plunged in and became all things to all people, so that he might save some. And that was what he found necessary. A person who is selfish and cares only for his or her preferences in this world will not lead many people to Christ. There is a basic level of self-denial that we must reach if we're going to be effective in evangelism. You just have to say no to yourself. You have to be willing consistently to say no to you. Now, next time that we look at 1 Corinthians, verses 24 through 27, we'll talk about the level of self-denial Paul uses, beating his body and making it his slave, the zeal that he had to keep himself under so that others could be saved. IV. Applications Applications: How does this text and the things we've talked about today challenge you? If you're a believer in Christ, how does it challenge you toward evangelism? What does it have you do? How are you convicted? I've been convicted by this. What am I protecting? What am I keeping safe about my lifestyle so that I'm not as effective as an evangelist? It could be just how I think about my life, my time, my energy, my money, what I do with my days. I just... Am I thinking like I could lead some lost people to Christ with my time today or am I thinking selfishly about my time in this world? How are we... We're surrounded every day by lost people here in the Raleigh-Durham area. It's going to take sacrifice for us to reach them. We're going to have to learn more and more, and I know it's hard. Ben Edith, that's one of the best prayers I heard, you took away a bunch of my application points, but thank you, brother, because we're almost out of time. The workplace, what could we do with the workplace? Like Ben was saying, what could we do to connect with people? To have conversations, to use hospitality to bring people over? What could we do in our neighborhoods? What could we do to connect with people? What could we do to either have people or go to their events. Sometimes, like recently, we had an event in our neighborhood that we didn't host, but we just went. And building relationships. What are things we could do with existing ministries here in the life of the church, like International Connections, that's having a phenomenal outreach to internationals? What are some things we could do through the Caring Center, which has a phenomenal ministry here in this urban setting? What are some things we're not doing now that we haven't even thought of, some doors that God's going to set before us to get us involved in the lives of lost people? What are some ways that we can, like Adoniram Judson did in one locality, I mentioned it before, spread 500 leaflets, and see one person come to Christ. Broadcast seed selling is one of the great challenges, to be willing to fail and fail and fail and fail, and you've not failed, because some of those people may come to Christ without you around. The Lord humbles us that way. But just to be willing to share with many people, so that some can be saved. This is the gospel. Now, I'm conscious of the fact that not everyone listening to me right now is born again. You've heard the Gospel, all of you. And I pray that maybe you walked in here today, unconverted, but you won't walk out unconverted. Judgment Day is coming, you don't know when you're going to die. And you've heard that God sent His Son into the world. You heard it from the three that were baptized. You've heard it from me already when Paul talked about what the gospel is. You know enough. You don't need to do anything, you just need to believe and trust in Jesus and you will be forgiven. Close with me in prayer.

It’s the start of 2019, and I think with a New year it is appropriate to ask the question, “Where are we going?”  Where are you headed in your personal life, your family, your work, and where are we headed as a church, as a community of believers here at Ignite? Certainly at the end of last year we faced difficulties, especially in the area of coping with the numbers coming to church here. So we need to put things in place both for the short term and also the long term.   As I prayed into this over the summer, the Lord spoke a phrase to me that has lit up my life… New Horizons. I believe God has new horizons for us to move into this year. New for me, new for you and new for this church… I’m here for the long term, to see God transform Ignite into the church He wants. Interestingly, I also after writing this learned that the name given to the NASA space probe that has just sent back images from the furthest distance anything manmade has ever travelled is also called “New Horizons.”   FORGET THE FORMER THINGS   Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV Strong's) “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.   As people, it is very tempting to dwell on the past. In 2019, nostalgia is alive and well! We always talk about the good old days, but I was there for many of them, and they just weren’t that good! Simpler perhaps, less pace and pressure maybe, but without all of the mod cons we associate with good living today, such as mobile phones and the Internet.   Many of you will fondly remember the days of black and white TV, pot bellied stoves and cars with carburettors you could service yourself, but you conveniently overlook 38 degree days without aircon, washing clothes by hand and outhouse toilets.   You see, we always look back with rose coloured glasses, seeing the good, and many times blocking out the bad. We look back with fondness and thankfulness, as we should, while often forgetting the tough times. And that’s fine… Look at the many times New Testament Christians looked back on Jewish history in Acts, being reminded of the great things God has done in the past.   When I became pastor of this church 3 years ago, with the church facing overwhelming financial obligations, I told the Lord that I was not prepared to oversee an average church. We faced unbelievable hurdles, had to raise a quarter of a million dollars in 9 months to save this church and God did it! This church is nearly 4 times the size of the one I stepped up to lead, but this is not the end, God is taking us together on a wonderful journey as we serve and love Him, and our community. Ignite is not just my story, it’s your story, so rather than watch it happen, I want to invite you to be a part of the great things God is about to do here at Ignite in 2019.   Look at how the church has grown, how leaders have been trained and raised up, how the community has been touched, how the Word of God has been proclaimed, and all of this in some difficult and trying times!   But if we rest on our laurels, we are wearing them in the wrong place. In 2018, I personally and our church generally received several awards and honours, but if I rest on those and fail to build on those, then we will never be raised to what God wants us to be. No, church, it’s hats of to the past, but coats off to the future! Forget the former things and let’s shoot for the stars!   WHERE ARE WE GOING?   What future? What is it that the Lord has put there for us? Where are we going? And who with?   Proverbs 29:18 (ESV Strong's) Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.   First let me say that, whatever happens, we need to stick together. I know of so many powerful, committed Christians who, for completely valid and justified reasons, become dissociated or dislocated from church. I have had dislocating shoulders, and I can tell you the pain of a dislocation is extreme.   Many believers here on the Coast experience this pain of being dislocated from church, and Ignite has a vision to be a safe haven for those kinds of folk, providing a base where they can rebuild their spiritual lives and their service for the Lord safely, reequipping and reenergising them to become all they can be in Christ!   So whatever we face , let’s covenant to face it together, and to let nothing deflect us from unity and truth. In a world that is ridiculously quick to be offended (eg: Facebook world), let’s be slow in being offended!   So where we going? If I have no idea where I am going, even a GPS cannot get me there! In the future, I see us moving to a new, larger premises with more car parks and more toilets. I see a strong, stable Ignite Centre from which to grow, with hundreds of people meeting every week and many growing ministries that will impact nations.   Don’t accept the lie that if the church grows we will lose community. Already I know God has created a unique environment and atmosphere here at Ignite, one based on love and unity, and as we grow, we need to not lose this but rather amplify it! If we stand in unity and love as we have been doing, 2 services, a change of venue, even differences of doctrine should not compromise community!   But I also see beyond this, to a time where we can plant dozens of churches in communities across the Coast and beyond. I see leaders trained and raised up to serve. I see whole communities won to Christ by our faithful witness in their midst. Together we can do more for Christ!   REACHING FOR NEW HORIZONS   So what does God have for us in this New Year. I believe that, like the people of Israel entering the Promised Land, we have new, fresh and glorious horizons and opportunities before us, and we should be excited, not fearful about coming into 2019.   Deuteronomy 31:6 (ESV Strong's) Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”   So how do we move towards these new horizons and face these new challenges? How do we not only preserve but build upon the great things God has done here at Ignite? Here are 7 ways we can move ahead towards our destiny as a church.  We do it by…   1.      BEING A CHURCH   Matthew 16:18 (ESV Strong's) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.   The church is God’s solution to a dying world. Church is not Plan B, it is God’s plan to reach a world heading to destruction. But mankind has taken God’s plan to reach the world and turned it into institutions, into lovely buildings, into great performances with lights and smoke and theatre. At the end of the day, we have to be a church!   Every move of God comes in 4 parts, a man, a movement, a machine and a monument. It starts with a man, a John Wesley, a William Booth, a Brian Houston, a passionate, anointed man of God. In time he creates around him a movement, full of the same passion and drive, taking the world for Jesus. But over time this wanes, and the structure put in place to sustain the movement becomes a religious machine. Things look the same on the outside, but people are not as passionate. Then finally, after years of being a machine, the movement becomes a monument to past greatness, as we see in many of the established denominations.   We must never lose sight of the fact that we are the church, and we are God’s solution to the world’s problems, so let’s face 2019 as what we are called to be… not machine or a monument, not an institution, not an organisation, not a religion or a political party or a charity… we are the church, God’s solution.   2.      BEING A COMMUNITY   Church is not a building, it is not an institution, it is you and I… Church is a community, a family, the body of Christ!   1 Peter 2:5 (ESV Strong's) you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.   God has established a unique and wonderful spiritual family here, living stones in a spiritual house, where people love and care in a genuine way for each other. Many people say, please don’t grow, we like a little church. But listen, growth does not mean we have to lose what this church is built on!   As any institution especially churches grow, structure must be put in place to enhance that growth. I planted some tomatoes, and they grew all over the ground, and before long the fruit was rotting and going bad. When I built a trellis, the plant grew up this structure and the fruit was preserved, and multiplied.   Structure in church is only valid if it supports the genuine, organic growth of community. Problem is, if structure successfully supports healthy growth, we then glorify the structure, not the true growth.   Our strength is in our oneness, our community of love and support. Every one of us has to guard this, even if we change structure, like having 2 services or a new building.   3.      BEING SERVANTS   Mark 10:43-45 (ESV Strong's) But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   A servant heart must be the hallmark of Ignite Church. This does not mean that as a pastor I am yours to command, but it does mean that all of our leadership, from the pastor down, serves selflessly and humbly. I am one man, and I work in my secular professions 4 days a week, so I cannot do everything for you.   Neither should I! We have teams of humble servants who can care for you better than I can. I know many of you have dreams of ministering, doing something great for the Lord, and if that’s you, let me tell you that you’re in the right place.  If you want to grow into your ministry, any ministry, in this church or beyond, then the fastest way is to serve someone else’s ministry. If you come to Ignite and serve with all your heart, God can and will raise a mighty ministry in and through your life.   4.      BEING A VOICE   We live in an age of tremendous moral decline, and I for one and this church will not float idly by into the moral abyss we call 21st century Australia! In 2019, despite already being criticised by some, I will not stop proclaiming God’s righteousness to this nation. Now more than ever, we need to be the prophetic voice of God to this community and this nation. I’m not here to keep the peace, I’m here to proclaim the truth!   Romans 1:16-17 (ESV Strong's) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ofirst and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”   In this coming year. I will not back down from what I believe is God’s truth and righteousness, even if I am a voice crying in the wilderness. Despite laws our leaders pass, I will proclaim God’s Biblical standards without apology, even if others attack me. I do not have a political agenda, but I have a moral and a spiritual agenda, and I am not ashamed to proclaim these truths, the truths of God’s Word, even in the face of opposition, from outside the church or even from within. New horizons mean that this church must continue to proclaim God’s truths, not in condemnation and legalism, but with love and conviction.   We must all continue to be a voice to our sick, wayward nation that is heading towards destruction! It was a bush on fire that turned Moses aside, and it will be a church ignited and in fire that will turn a nation aside, that’s heading to hellfire!   5.      BEING IN UNITY   Unity is a cornerstone of Ignite Church. Paul writes,   1 Corinthians 1:10 (ESV Strong's) I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.   I have a zero tolerance for disunity at Ignite. Now understand, that doesn’t mean You cannot disagree with me, because unity does not mean we agree on everything, but it means we can disagree, agreeably.   A Canadian farmer lost his 2 year old boy in his corn field, and called all the men from neighbouring farms to help him search. He told the men to spread out to try and find the boy, but be careful not to trample the corn which was ready for harvesting. As the temperature plummeted to below zero and after fruitless searching, the farmer told the men to join hands and trample through the ripe grain, even if it meant destroying the crop. The soon found the boy, curled up in a hollow, dead from hyperthermia. The farmer turned to the men and said, “gentlemen, we should have joined hands sooner.”   Now is the time to join hands in unity, even if it means you don’t get your own way. If you love anything, your opinion, your beliefs, your doctrine, or your preference more than you love people, we will have disunity. If you love people more than your own desires, we have unity.   I appreciate that most people here do not let doctrine divide us. If it is not a core doctrine, if it is not a salvation issue, we can hold different opinions and still be in unity. Our standard must be the Word of God. But we must be careful to never hold any interpretation of God’s Word so tightly it is at the expense of unity. Whether it is tongues, baptism, the style of music, communion, the building, the way things are done, never love these more than your brother.   John 13:34-35 (ESV Strong's) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”   The world will know we are His by our love for one another, not by how vehemently we hold to certain doctrines or fight one another. If it is not about God’s righteousness or salvation, as Paul says in Romans 12:10, prefer one another!   6.      BEING FOCUSSED ON JESUS   At a recent charity event I met Australian cycling legend and Olympic gold medalist Anna Mears. She told us she invested more than 70 hours a week for 4 years, training to win a race that takes 10 seconds. Now that’s focus!   Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV Strong's) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,   This year, we don’t look backwards at great achievements, as great as they have been, but we look forward at Jesus and His new, fresh goals for us. You cannot drive a car looking in the rear view mirror, so this year we must look ahead and  keep our eyes focussed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.   Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV Strong's) But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   So we will focus on Jesus and His Word, proclaiming that. We will not veer to one side, we will not focus on what other churches may emphasise. You will not find me chasing political agendas, chasing signs and wonders, chasing gifts, finances, demons or culture, all of which is fine, but it’s not Ignite!  We must keep the main thing the main thing and stay focussed on Jesus and the Word of God.   7.      BEING FRUITFUL   So many believers, and many churches also, are not effective in reaching others for Christ. I know our emphasis here at Ignite is providing a church home or unity, love and nurture for those who dream of being great for God, a home where dislocated Christians can send down deep roots and grow and thrive once again.   But must always be effective in reaching our people for Christ, and we must pray and believe for fruit. Let’s not just say it, let’s do it, but not by programs and techniques, but rather by people who are so inspired, so empowered, so ignited and on fire for Jesus that fruit just follows! As Jesus said,   John 15:4-5 (ESV Strong's) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.   Listen we can have a nice church, nice programs, nice groups and nice people, but the true measure of our church is our fruit… quantity and quality! People ask me if I want to see signs and wonders here, and I answer yes. But I don’t want gold dust, angel feathers and crazy excesses, the signs I am looking for are God changing lives, healing people, restoring relationships, filling people with power to live holy lives and seeing people saved. They are the signs I seek!   Maturity in the life of a Christian is hard to measure and quantify, but it is easy to see. I think we all agree that, whatever you believe the initial sign is, the true measure of being filled with the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. Abide in Jesus and you bear fruit, so our emphasis needs to be abiding in Him!   THE WAY AHEAD… ARE YOU FULLY COMMITTED?   This year is a year of New Horizons, and the challenging thing about the horizon is that the closer you get to it, the further away it seems… but we must never stop moving ahead.   This year I believe God is going to lead us on to incredible success in the things that really matter. If we are obedient, if we abide in Him. As Jesus said,   John 15:16 (ESV Strong's) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.   That’s a great challenge, but according to that verse, we can ask and if we ask in His name, which is not just a string of words but it means ask according to His will, if we abide in Him and   Matthew 6:33 (ESV Strong's) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   This year, our destiny stands before us, and together, we have the greatest opportunity to see Ignite Christian Church become what God has destined us to be!  If we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, if we do not compromise and lose focus, if we covenant to obey the Word of God, then He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.   THE EYES OF THE LORD   Today, at the start of 2019, the Spirit of God is looking across this auditorium. He is ready to lead us on to new horizons, He is ready to build a church that impacts this and other nations, but the question is, are you in or out? Do you want to be a part of what God is doing, or not?  His eyes are looking for those who will follow Him.   2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV-WS) For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.   His eyes range across this room this morning, and I simply ask the question, are you one of those whose hearts are fully committed to serving Jesus in 2019? If you want to make a difference in this world, if you have a dream in God, we can see it happen together.   Are you the person who will say “Choose me, Lord?” Or can you not be bothered and just want to attend church? Will you join me in saying, “Lord I will serve you, no matter the call, no matter the cost, no matter the commitment”?   Bill Borden was heir to a fortune, a star college athlete, good-looking, and committed to Christ. As a student, he heard a call to reach Muslims, and following graduation he announced he was giving his immense inheritance to the cause of world missions. He joined the China Inland Mission, but his widowed mother wondered if Bill had done the right thing, giving up fortune and homeland. Bill wrote, “In the quiet of my room that night, worn and weary and sad, I fell asleep asking myself again and again, ‘Is it, after all, worthwhile?’ In the morning as I awoke, a still small voice was speaking in my heart, answering: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved son.… ’ ”   Bill Borden arrived in Egypt, but immediately contracted spinal meningitis. He was dead in two weeks, but he left a final message on paper stuffed under his pillow: “No Reserve! No Retreat! No Regrets!”   The story of his sacrifice was retold in newspapers across America and the publication of his biography resulted in a hundreds of young people offering themselves as living sacrifices for the Lord of the harvest. His was the shortest but most powerful mission experience ever!   As we face new horizons in 2019, we can either stay the same, stay safe, sta-tus quo, or we can step up and change the world.  I’m asking you to stand with me today and into this year, to go beyond being a spectator, an attender or even a member.  Are you content with the blessings we already have? Or will you say with Bill Borden, and with me, “No Reserve! No Retreat! No Regrets!”   Let me offer a tangible call to commitment… will you join me this year in reading the Bible every day with our me Bible Reading Plan?

De som levde i Norge på 1960-tallet husker «Vi går om bord» og Erik Bye. Det var juletradisjon i de tusen hjem å sette på radioen i alle stuer når det ble slått på skipsklokken til redningsskøyta Skomvær og den legendariske Erik Bye gikk opp på scenen. I MUSEUMs juleutgave får vi et lite gjenhør med den sendingen som ble sendt julaften 1963, da NRK hadde hentet hjem en norsk misjonær fra Kina for å overraske hans kone og barn i studio med at far kom hjem forkledd som julenisse. «Her har de deres mann, fru Espégren», sa Erik Bye, og hele Norge gråt av glede. Anna Cheng Jakobsen I MUSEUMs julehefte går det en rød tråd videre til de aller første, norske misjonærene som reiste ut til Kina. Det var tjenestejenta Anna Jakobsen fra Kristiansand som ble engasjert av China Inland Mission allerede i 1886. I MUSEUM forteller historiker Camilla Brautaset om Anna Chengs skjebne. En klementin, en kalender og kanskje en sjokolade. Det er julegaveønskene til priorinne Birgitte Pinot ved Tautra Mariakloster i Trøndelag. Der starter julefeiringen på julaften ved midnatt. - Vi feirer vel jul litt annerledes. Vi feirer slik det ble gjort før Norge ble så velhavende og før julebordenes tid og før julegatene begynte i oktober og november. Det er søster Hanna Maria som tar imot MUSEUM på Tautra, og vi får også være med på en av tidebønnsgudstjenestene. Vi får også høre hvordan liturgi og måltider endrer seg i klosteret når det er jul. - Jeg må si at i siste uke av advent er det veldig spennende og nydelig å være nonne i et kloster på landet. Da kommer naboene for å ønske oss god jul og dele med oss av sine produkter. For på landet lager folk sine ting sjøl, sier Hanna Maria. - For oss er troen og det å tre inn i inkarnasjonens mysterium uendelig stort, sier søster Hanna Maria. Det skaper en indre glede. Programmet sendt første gang 22/12 2018. Programledere Jan Henrik Ihlebæk og Øyvind Arntsen.

Learn of the ultimate sacrifice of John and Betty Stam, a young missionary couple with the China Inland Mission.

Did you know that Christianity spread to Asia in the first century?  At one time the Church of the East was bigger than the Roman Catholic Church.  Although often overlooked, this part of the world is critical to our understanding Christianity in the last five hundred years.  Our guest lecturer, Matthew Elton, guides us through Read more about 124 Asian Christianity with Matthew Elton (Five Hundred 8)[…]

Did you know that Christianity spread to Asia in the first century?  At one time the Church of the East was bigger than the Roman Catholic Church.  Although often overlooked, this part of the world is critical to our understanding Christianity in the last five hundred years.  Our guest lecturer, Matthew Elton, guides us through Read more about 124 Asian Christianity with Matthew Elton (Five Hundred 8)[…]

"John Cornelius Stam and Elisabeth Alden "Betty" Stam were American Christian missionaries to China, with the China Inland Mission, during the Chinese Civil War."

Harold Paul Adolph was born in China to an American medical missionary physician and wife servingwith China Inland Mission. Dr. Adolph received his M.D. in 1958 from the University Of PennsylvaniaCollege Of Medicine, completed a general surgery residency in the Canal Zone of Panama and thenserved one term in the Navy. In 1966 h and his wife Bonnie with their two children moved to Ethiopia asmissionaries with SIM, Int.He and his family have experienced just about everything you could imagine in their lives of servicein medical missions. Dr. Adolph has authored 5 books with the latest entitled “Today’s Decision –Tomorrow’s Destiny”. After retiring the Adolphs envisioned building a new hospital in SouthernEthiopia! Today this hospital is part of the Pan-African College of Christian Surgeons, an outstandingprogram for the training of Christian African doctors as surgeons for service in mission hospitals.Though his career, Dr. Adolph has become an amazing teller of the stories of medical missions. Thissession will be informal and will be moderated by Dr. Daniel Tolan, Associate Director of CMDA’s Centerfor Medical Missions.This will be an informal session in which questions may be asked and stories will give the answer.

Dr. John Oswald Sanders (1902-1992) was an international Christian preacher, missionary statesman, and prolific author for nearly seventy years and wrote over forty books on spiritual living. This respected Bible teacher and writer influenced Christians throughout the world for much of the twentieth century. He is primarily remembered for his Christian classic Spiritual Leadership and as the General Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly China Inland Mission). Dr. Sanders died in his native New Zealand in 1992 at the age of ninety.

Dr. John Oswald Sanders (1902-1992) was an international Christian preacher, missionary statesman, and prolific author for nearly seventy years and wrote over forty books on spiritual living. This respected Bible teacher and writer influenced Christians throughout the world for much of the twentieth century. He is primarily remembered for his Christian classic Spiritual Leadership and as the General Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly China Inland Mission). Dr. Sanders died in his native New Zealand in 1992 at the age of ninety.

Dr. John Oswald Sanders (1902-1992) was an international Christian preacher, missionary statesman, and prolific author for nearly seventy years and wrote over forty books on spiritual living. This respected Bible teacher and writer influenced Christians throughout the world for much of the twentieth century. He is primarily remembered for his Christian classic Spiritual Leadership and as the General Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly China Inland Mission). Dr. Sanders died in his native New Zealand in 1992 at the age of ninety.

Dr. John Oswald Sanders (1902-1992) was an international Christian preacher, missionary statesman, and prolific author for nearly seventy years and wrote over forty books on spiritual living. This respected Bible teacher and writer influenced Christians throughout the world for much of the twentieth century. He is primarily remembered for his Christian classic Spiritual Leadership and as the General Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly China Inland Mission). Dr. Sanders died in his native New Zealand in 1992 at the age of ninety.

Introduction “If you believe, you'll receive whatever you ask for in prayer,” those words were projected up on the screen as we came in, I looked at them again. They've really been challenging me. And I wanna begin by saying that there are two errors that we can fall into in understanding this text, this mountain-moving faith. If you believe you’ll receive whatever you ask for in prayer, two very different errors. One of them is that we should ask for the wrong things with misplaced confidence, and that would be the word of faith people, the name-it-and-claim-it people that take verses like this out of context, and ask for fleshly things so they can enjoy a fleshly lifestyle in the name of Jesus. And I'll talk about that later in the message. That's one error. By far the more prevalent error and the more serious and the more damaging to the body of Christ, is that we will ask nothing based on the Scripture that we won't really look at it very seriously at all, that we'll think that our prayer lives are fine the way they are, that we will not ask for much, if anything at all, and we will not ask with the confidence that the Lord is intending by giving his disciples this statement here. That we will be mediocre in our asking and mediocre in our Christian living and we'll have no grand and glorious plans that we're asking for, nothing worthy of his omnipotence, that we'll in short ask for nothing based on the Scripture. That's by far the greater danger to us today. And so I wanna talk about this, this verse. Has God given you a grand, glorious plan for your life? A great work to do? Something worthy of him? Worthy of the calling with which you've been called? Maybe he has and maybe as you thought about a work that's worthy of your life and worthy of Christ, you've started to hear words in your mind, echoing in your mind. Like “It can't be done,” “it's impossible.” “What can you do to make a change? What can one person accomplish?” And all these kind of echoes of unbelief, come in your mind. Perhaps God's calling on you to act in some mighty way on the issue of abortion, that you would step out in faith and just do something for the pro-life cause for women that are in crisis pregnancies. Maybe he's laid that on your heart to do something on the political side or on the fundraising side. But you’re just stymied, because you think, how could anything ever change? It's the law of the land, it's been that way for decades. Nothing can change. Or maybe God is calling on you to quit your job in midlife and go get some Bible training and go overseas to reach some unreached people group, some grand, glorious thing. And again, these phrases come in, how can it be? “It's impossible.” “I could never do anything like that.” Or maybe, God's calling on you to sell your nice home and move to the inner city and do some work for the urban poor, maybe he's calling on you to work with single moms and their kids or maybe he's calling on you to do something for the urban scene. People have different callings in life, but God may have laid that calling on you and you're trembling in fear and you think, how can I do that, how can I live such a radical life? And so it just stops there. Well, I think this text is for you, and for me, so that we would stop dreaming small and start dreaming big. It was William Carey that said, “Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.” Well, what great thing, are we expecting from God? Or what great thing are we attempting for him? And he was a man that took a text like this, this idea of, if you believe and don't doubt you can even, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree but you can say to this mountain, go throw yourself in the sea and it'll be done. So you get this expression, “mountain-moving faith.” And it's picked up even by non-Christians, they use that expression, “faith that can move mountains,” this kind of thing and... Well what are these mountains? William Carey faced obstacles in his calling. And so I don't think it's wrong to see it in terms of obstacles, that God could actually move a pile of rocks and shrub and all that and throw it into the sea. Yes, he could do that. But I think Jesus is speaking metaphorically here about obstacles to the Kingdom of God, something that Satan erects in your mind or in your life, the course of your life that stop you from doing what God is calling on you to do. And it's faith that overcomes it, moves it out of the way and throws it into the sea, so that you actually can do what God has called you to do. William Carey had middle school education, taught himself Latin, then Hebrew and Greek, and six other languages, and eventually translated the Bible into 29 different languages. Six complete and then 29 portions of the New Testament in different languages. The guy was incredible, amazing, the obstacles that faced him: his own lack of education, his own poverty, his status in English society. He's a shoemaker. He overcame all that, he overcame the obstacle of other Christians who were anti-missions and who just poured buckets of water on his dream and his vision, he overcame that. He overcame the laws of the British Empire that made evangelism in India, mission work in India, illegal… 'Cause of the trade and the commerce that they're trying to establish, it made... And he overcame that. He overcame an insane wife who sought to kill him, several times with a knife. She had to be restrained with chains for the last 12 years of her life. Frequently while he was translating the Bible into Sanskrit or Marathi or whatever, she'd be screaming at him from the other room. Overcame that. He overcame social issues that just broke his heart. Like the fact that they would burn widows didn't matter how old, sometimes 12 years old burn widows with their deceased husbands. And he labored in law and in persuasion until that law was overturned. They used to burn lepers, living lepers so that they'd be purged from their leprosy and be reincarnated to something better, worked against that or they would leave their babies out as an offering to the gods, Infanticide. He made that illegal, labored and labored. And after all of his labor six years at least into his ministry, there wasn't a single convert. So I think one of the greatest mountains you have to move is just discouragement, is anything coming of all this? Overcame that, just mountain after mountain after mountain. And I don't have - who can say, how many people there will be in heaven that are there now, or will be, as a direct result of William Carey's life, his willingness to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God? My fear is that that won't be said of me or of us, this church, that there are many here that attempted great things for God because he's a great God. So my prayer for today, my mountain-moving prayer is that God will actually use the foolishness of preaching some sermon that you're sitting and listening to to actually change the way you pray, and from that, the way you live. So if you just sum it all up, as I look at the barren fig tree, cursed, withered, then the teaching on mountain-moving faith and then in the statement, the promise, “if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer,” you put it all together, it's fruitfulness, by faith through prayer, that's the point of the whole thing. And the idea of the withered, fig tree to me, especially having gone through two funerals now in the last week or more. And I realize our time, friends is short, it's not long before we ourselves will wither because the breath of the Lord blows on us and our time will be gone. Are there not twelve hours of daylight? You have that long to work. And when the night comes no one can work. So you have a time to produce fruit, you have a time. And as I look at that withering, I just meditate on the word wither and it comes up in some key places. ... I'm just killing this sermon 'cause I don't even know where I'm at, I'm preaching just ideas, but keep going. Isaiah 40, in Isaiah 40, it says, “All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field, the grass withers, and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.” Everyone dies because God says it's time for you to die. So God's breath blows on you, and you wither and you die and the time is over. And so what Jesus did to the fig tree, he does to every living thing. He gives life and he takes life away. He gives you your time here on earth, what are you doing with it? Are you bearing fruit? That's the pressure of the passage here is fruitfulness by faith through prayer. So, bottomline: ask for great things. What I'm about to say is good, sound exegesis, an explanation of the text. It needs to happen and I'm gonna do it, but if you can just get one thing, it's change the way you pray, pray for great things because God can do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine. That's an image that came in my mind as we were praying at 9 o'clock this morning. Taking Ephesians 3, that God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine whatever you ask God could answer. He didn't say he'll do it or not, whatever you ask, but he said, I can do immeasurably more than that 'cause you just imagined it. Alright. So whatever you ask, he can do immeasurably more. Let's see God's omnipotence work in this church, let's see, his omnipotence put to work in this community, with the international students, in the pro-life issue. Let's see his omnipotence move. And it happens through faithful people who pray. That's what it's about. Lessons About Christ: Human and Divine Well, from this text we get lessons about Christ, his humanity, we start there. Jesus was hungry. Like you get hungry. Now I know you can say, “Well Jesus was a man, unlike any of that.” Well, he was a man, unlike any other man. And he certainly got hungry after fasting 40 days in the desert, but this was just run-of-the-mill hunger. An Unusual Miracle This was just morning, I'm hungry, kind of hunger. Now you shouldn't think poorly of his hostesses Martha and Mary, they're in Bethany. I'm sure they would have taken care of him but you know how Jesus used to get up a great while before dawn. So we're not gonna fault the ladies. My guess is, he got up early and made his way back into the city and he hadn't had anything to eat at that particular moment. And that's a remarkable miracle really, if you think about it, because as far as I can see in his first coming, his first advent, this is the only destructive miracle he does. Every other miracle in some way, enhances life or blesses somebody etcetera. This is a destructive miracle. Now I say in his First Coming, in his Second Coming, he will do all kinds of destructive things by a supernatural power. But here in the First Coming, this is the only destructive miracle there is. Jesus came not to destroy, he didn't come to bring judgment, he didn't come to bring wrath in his First Coming. In John 3:17, it says “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” And so Jesus' miracle is generally of this way, but this was a destructive miracle, and I think a foreshadowing of the judgement that will come when Jesus comes the second time. And there in the Second Coming, you know the Book of Revelation speaks of seven seals that are broken and just wrath poured out on the earth, and seven trumpets that blow and wrath all over the Earth, and seven bowls that are poured out and destruction, all over the Earth. And everything is destroyed by the power of Jesus Christ. So this is, I think, a foreshadowing of that. Christ’s Humanity And so Jesus goes out and he's hungry and he sees this fig tree by the side of the road, and it's in leaf. Now, Mark tells us, it's not, it wasn't fig season. But the way it worked and agricultural experts that know about fig trees say that when the leaves are out by that time already, there's some early immature fruits and while it might not be delicious it’s certainly nutritious and edible and so if the tree has leaves on it, the fruit had already been there and so Jesus went with that, at least outwardly, with the expectancy to lift up some leaves or look around and find something to eat, but there was nothing there. Christ’s Deity: The Power to Curse And so as a result, Jesus says in verse 19, “May you never bear fruit again!” This is a curse. And the response is immediate. Though I think you have to put it all together with Mark's gospel. They don't see it immediately, but it withered, immediately the fig tree withered. And so Jesus puts on display his power and his humanity, the deity of Christ on display in the humanity. Lessons About Israel: A Parable in Action The Fig Tree: A Symbol of Prosperity Now, the fig tree itself I think is a symbol of prosperity for the Jews. Fig trees are plentiful around the Mediterranean and they're called “the poor man's food” because you just go up and eat as he was expecting to do there. And they can grow to a height of over 20 feet and they're leafy so that it's a good place to sit in the shade. Remember, in John 1, Nathaniel was sitting under a fig tree when Jesus called him. And so they become a symbol of prosperity. It says in 1 Kings 4, “During Solomon's lifetime, Judah and Israel from Dan to Beersheba lived in safety each man under his own vine and fig tree.” So it became a symbol of prosperity. A Barren Fig Tree: A Symbol of Judgment So also Zechariah figures, pictures, the fig tree as a symbol of prosperity, of the future, messianic reign. In Zechariah 3:9-10, the Lord Almighty says, “I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.” How can you hear that and not think about Jesus? Oh, what a mighty work that was, Jesus dying on the cross, removing the sin of the land in a single day, Zechariah 3, “I'll remove the sin of this land in a single day, … and in that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree declares the Lord Almighty.” So a symbol of prosperity. Therefore a cursed, withered, dead fig tree, a symbol of judgment from God, a symbol of judgment. The Fig Tree Itself: A Symbol of Israel Now, what does this fig tree represent? I believe to some degree this is a living parable. Jesus told parables. This is kind of an acted out parable. So I think there's a symbolism to this action. We should not imagine that Jesus was just irritable that morning, not having had breakfast yet, and just got ticked at the tree and used his power to just wither something, and it was just a slip, it was just a moment and then he reverted back to his usual ways of healings and teaching and all that. Jonathan Edwards, when he was 20, wrote a bunch of resolutions and one of them resolved never to show the slightest motions of anger toward inanimate objects or irrational beings, okay. Edwards at 20 knew that Jesus certainly lived it perfectly, he wasn't irritated in a flip and sort of way at this tree, and curses it, wasn't like that. No, there's a symbolism here. And we have to understand the context of when this happened. Matthew is not carefully giving us a chronology here. Mark does a better job with chronology, Matthew, I think is keeping stories together. So if you put it all together, we've already had the triumphal entry. Jesus, according to Mark's gospel, then goes into the temple, looks around, sees everything there, goes home for the night, comes back the next day to cleanse the temple. This is when he sees the fig tree. He hasn't cleansed the temple, yet, he's going back to cleanse the temple which we covered last time. And he sees the tree and therefore the tree, I believe, represents Israel as a nation and their fruitlessness. I don't think it's wrong to see it this way, because the people are filled with religiosity, there's all kinds of activity, it seems like there should be fruit. They are streaming in their quarter-of-a-million-strong to worship God as the Passover time and to offer sacrifices and there's all kinds of leaves but the fruit is missing. Jesus said in Matthew 15:8, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they worship me in vain, their worship is just rules taught by men.” In another place in Luke 13, Jesus told a different parable that helps us interpret this action. Luke 13, “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now, I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil any longer?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘Leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it, I'll fertilize it. And if it bears fruit next year then fine, but if not, then cut it down.’” Boy this is a powerful, powerful parable. Basically it's that judgment on fruitless on a fruitless nation, and I would also add a fruitless individual doesn't come immediately, but God is patient waiting for us to repent, and bring forth the fruit of the kingdom. And so, he fertilizes, he puts around that tree what is necessary to bring forth fruit, and if it brings forth fruit fine, if not, then judgment comes. And so we have time, we have time to repent, we have time to bring forth fruit, but we don't know how long it is. And so I believe that the tree, the cursing of the tree represents God’ stance both toward an individual and toward his people, collectively, the Jewish people. And the issue is the same no matter how you look at it: God demands fruit, and if no fruit comes then judgment comes. Israel’s Long History of Fruitlessness Now, Israel has a long history of fruitlessness. Later in this chapter, Jesus is going to redo Isaiah's song about the vineyard and we'll talk about that in due time. But you remember that song? I preached about it within the last year in Isaiah 5, the prophet said this, “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones, planted it with the choice vines, he built a watch tower in it and dug out a wine press as well. Then he looked for a crop of great good grapes, but it yielded only bad. Now, you dwellers of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I did for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do to my vineyard: I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I'll take away its hedge and it will be destroyed. I'll command the clouds not to rain on it.” Does that sound like withering to you? “I'll make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow in it.” Then Isaiah tells us what he's talking about. “The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” And I'm not gonna say any more about the song of the vineyard 'cause we'll get a chance to look at it again as Jesus revisits at the end of the same chapter, but again and again, the prophets cried against the fruitlessness of the Jewish nation. And therefore, Christ cursed the fig tree as a symbol of Israel's future judgment. The wall, the protective wall would be removed. And the Romans would come in and they would destroy the city. They would lose their place in their nation, and judgment would come. But friends, it's always dangerous to keep that judgment theme, and that warning theme out there. Bring it right home. Because the nation of Israel is made up of individual people, who are living their lives the way they were living. And each one of us is gonna stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for our lives. We're going to give an account for how we lived here on earth. And the Lord demands fruit from us. He wants fruit, so that's the parable. Has to do with God and the individual or nation and fruit. Lessons About Prayer: A Faith that Moves Mountains The Disciples Astonished Well, at this point, the fig tree withers immediately. It says in Matthew, he's kind of conflating. I think it started right from the roots to wither at that moment, but the full effects of the withering weren't obvious until, I think, the next day. And they're walking in Mark's gospel, they're walking by, and then there's that same tree, and it is just dead in one day. Now, the withering of a fig tree isn't in itself a miracle. Many of Jesus's miracles have to do with timing, and words that are spoken. Okay, so just the withering of a fig tree isn't a miracle. There are lots of withered fig trees in the world, none of them miracles. However, when a prophet of God, when the Son of God speaks like he does to a tree, and within one day, it is completely dead, friends, that is a miracle. It is a display of the power of God. And Jesus seizes that moment and their astonishment. They're astonished, they're amazed. They're always amazed at the power of God, and I think we should be amazed at the power of God, but there's a certain level of amazement that isn't appropriate for the children of God. It's funny, after Peter and John healed a man at the temple and they're preaching based on that, and he says, “Man of Israel, why does this surprise you?"” I love that statement. You just have to meditate on it. Someone was healed. Why does this surprise you? Think about all that Jesus did and now we are his apostles, and we're here to preach in his name. Shouldn't surprise you at all. Well, in effect, Jesus could somewhat say this to them. “Why are you surprised?” Jesus’ Lesson on Faith and Prayer And then he teaches them lessons about faith and prayer. Look at verse 21 and 22, “I tell you the truth, you have faith and do not doubt. Not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but you can also say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea’ and it will be done. If you believe, you'll receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Really an astonishing statement similar to the one Jesus makes in John 14 in verse 12, when he says, “I tell you the truth. Anyone who has faith in me will do what I've been doing. In fact, he will do greater works than I've been doing because I go to the Father.” Now, that's an amazing statement. Jesus makes these kinds of statements, but they're all true. So it's an issue of faith and the power of faith, of believing in Jesus as the centerpiece of what Christ has come to do in our hearts in the world. It's the centerpiece that we would believe in Jesus. That's why he came. And so, they came to him in John 6, and said, “What must we do to work the works of God?” And Jesus said, “The work of God is this: To believe in the one he has sent.” That's the work of God. Everything else flows from that. First, believe for justification. Believe that you might be saved, believe in Jesus and you will be saved from your sins. Perhaps you need that. Perhaps you came here, you're invited, and you've never been saved. You've never trusted in Jesus. The work of God for you is simple. Trust in Jesus to save you from your sins. But after that, everything flows from that. All the good works and it's the same thing: believe in the one that God sent. Believe in Jesus. Now, what is the nature of faith? Well, perceiving and receiving, I'll put it that way. A lot of different things I could say, but perceiving and receiving is in the nature of faith. Perceiving the invisible spiritual truths, the reality of God on his throne, his nature, his purposes, his plans, what he is doing, seeing what really is in the invisible spiritual realm. And then receiving from God what he is willing to give. That's how I define faith. Perceiving what is in the invisible spiritual realm, and receiving from God what he has promised to give. Faith, then, is just a humble avenue by which the omnipotent God does great things. It is not faith that moves the mountain. It is God that moves the mountain by faith. That is an important distinction. It is God who moves mountains, not faith. I think we should take this metaphorically because Jesus uses the expression “this mountain.” You can say that “this mountain” be removed and thrown in the sea and it will go. “This mountain” is the Mount of Olives, about which it's spoken in Zechariah that Jesus would have a second coming there. Okay. So I don't think God intends for the Mount of Olives to be removed and thrown in the sea. Warning Against Misunderstanding: Faith is NOT a Creative Force I just mentioned this because our asking must be constrained by the Word of God. We have to ask for what God has commanded and what he is doing. So we learn from Scripture what to ask for, and then we be incredibly bold in faith based on those things. And so, I must say this, then, about faith. Faith is not some independent creative force in the universe, that God must bow his knee to. You understand what I'm saying? It's not some independent mindless creative force that we tap into, and then by that electrical kind of force, we then compel God to do something he didn't intend to do. That's the word of faith approach. It's a major heresy, that whole name-it-and-claim-it, confess-it-and-possess-it, all these rhymes. It is really clever. And it really does pander the whole prosperity success thing. It really does pander to the people's lusts, but how sad it is when people don't understand what God really wants to give us. He wants to give us himself. He wants to give us the fruit of the Spirit. I'd rather have that than a Lincoln Continental town car, or something like that, but I was reading one of these men, name-it-and-claim-it guys. He's saying, “Hey, the Mafia drives around in a Lincoln Continental town car. Why shouldn't the King's kids?” Well, it sounds attractive but I'd rather have the fruit of the Spirit. Wouldn't you? I think it's helpful to have a car that gets you from here to there, but the bottom line is, I'd rather have the fruit of the spirit. Now, these folks, you know how they talk? I'll say one of their names. Creflo Dollar. Maybe you've heard of him. He said this, “When you pray the word in faith, God has no choice but to do what you say.” Oh friends, we don't talk like that. We don't talk like that. And they'll even talk about how they ask for a king and God didn't wanna give 'em a king. Remember that whole thing? And so, “God will give you what he knows isn't good for you, because he's got to. You asked in faith.” And that's not how it works. It's not how it works. And there are lots of people doing this. In effect, you become like a little God creating your own beautiful universe as you see fit. That is not faith. Faith sees what really is in the invisible realm, and fits into what God is doing. And the more faith you have, the more clearly you can see into that invisible world. And then you ask according to it, and the asking you do is remarkably blessed by God 'cause that's what he was gonna do anyway. Lessons Applied to Us Marvel at Christ’s Power BOTH to Bless and to Curse Alright, so what applications can we take from this text for ourselves? Well, let's just marvel at Christ's power. He can do anything. Just meditate on that. He can do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine. I don't know. I can imagine some pretty great things. Do you really wanna take that text on? Take it on then, because God is omnipotent and anything that can be done by power, God can do. So marvel at that. A Warning to Non-Christians: Seek the Ultimate Blessing of the Gospel And let me give again a warning to non-Christians. Flee the wrath to come. Flee to the cross of Christ. The greatest curse is not a curse on the fig tree. It's withering and dying Christless and going to hell. That's the greatest curse, flee to Christ. He died on the cross for you, he died on the cross for sin. Trust in him, you need a Savior. You shed his blood, that you might not have to suffer that wrath from God. All you have to do is believe in him. And if you believe, then you'll do those great mighty works I've been preaching about today. A Warning to Christians: Produce the Fruit of the Kingdom But I also wanna give a warning to Christians. If God did not spare the natural tree, he'll not spare you either. Quoting Romans 11. Are you bearing fruit? Is there fruit in your life? A fruitless person is not a Christian. Simply put. Let me quote John 15: “I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers.” Sound familiar? It withers. “Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned.” What is “Fruit”? So, again, I say, a fruitless person is a Christless person. If Christ is in you, you will definitely bear fruit. Well, what is the fruit then? What is the fruit? Well, we talk a lot here in this church about internal journey and external journey. There's fruit of different types. In the internal journey, it has to do with who you are, what kind of person you are. And so, there are different aspects. It's fruit to God, to see brokenness, genuine heartbrokenness over sin, at levels you've never seen before. That's fruit. He sees that as fruit. Do you see how he's humbled himself? “Do you see how Manasseh has humbled himself?” He says, in one place, there's a brokenness inside and God sees that, a broken and contrite spirit, that's fruit. So there's internal to have a stronger faith, a stronger sense of the greatness of God. As you're listening to this sermon, if your faith is getting strong, that's fruit and you're alive. Nourishing sap is flowing through you, and you just have a stronger faith than you did when you walked in here. That's fruit. Or how about your heart? What you love and what you hate, if you love Jesus, more than you ever did before, and then that's fruit. Come tonight to our concert of prayer. We're gonna focus entirely on love for Jesus. We need to love him. We need to express our love for him. We need to pray together about our love for Jesus. We need to stimulate ourselves, lest we be like that church in Ephesus, that had forsaken its first love. We don't wanna be like that. Love or die. The book is about that, and God will bring judgment on the church that forsakes its first love. So Let's love Jesus. That's fruit. But then there's action fruit that just flows out, the fruit of lips that confess his name for you to worship and praise God. Say, “Thank you, Jesus.” That's fruit. It's just evidence of Jesus in you, you're speaking praise. Evangelism is fruit. If you just speak the word of God to a lost person, just speak to them, that is fruit, even if they never repent and believe. You stepped out in faith, you acted, you did something. If it's hard for you to invite someone to church and you do this week, friends, that's fruit. Is there fruit in your life? Lessons in Faith and Prayer Now, I wanna push you a little further and go back to where I began. The great danger of this text for most of us is that we will ask nothing based on this text. Just another sermon, just another day at church. And you ask nothing based on this text. If you believe, you'll receive whatever you ask for in prayer. I think you know what kinds of things you ought to be asking for. Let's ask him for those things, shall we? Let's pray for them. Let's start with love for Christ. Let's go and say, “Lord, I want this church to be openly, clearly, passionately in love with Jesus.” I want us to talk about it. I want our affections for Christ to be very clear and powerful toward Christ, vertically. Horizontally, I want us to be characterized by a genuine sacrificial love for one another. It grieves me when I hear that people don't feel loved. “People didn't call. I was going through this in my life, nobody called, nobody came.” That grieves me. I take it personally. And if I didn't call and I feel grieved about that, and I need to repent sometimes from that. Sometimes I did call, but no one else, etcetera. I want, horizontally, I want our church to be a loving church, pray for it. That's a great thing. More than that, though, I want our church to be a bright shining light in a dark city. I don't mean to insult Durham at all, but Durham's a dark place, they all are, all of them. But this is at our dark place, and we need to shine like the sun in this place. So we have an urban ministry going on. Pray that God would make it evangelistically fruitful, that we would see people come to faith in Christ through it. We have an international student ministry. Pray that God would make it eternally abundantly fruitful. Lots of baptisms. We had some this spring, didn't we? Marvelous. Pray for more. We've got friends out on the mission field in unreached people group areas that are counting on us to pray. Pray specifically. Ask what they're doing this week, what projects, what programs they're doing. Pray powerfully for that. Mountain-Moving Faith And then one final challenge. Look at the overall general direction of your life, what you're living for, what you are. What could be said briefly at a funeral, in reference, you don't get much time. Longest funeral I've been to was 75 minutes, alright. And that was long. It was longer than most. Most of them are shorter than that. They will sum up your life, your children, your friends will sum up your life in a few phrases. Alright. What great thing do you want to dominate their mind? He or she was the person who did this. They stepped out in faith with a... William Cary, it was India. He did great work in India. We just know he did that. Hudson Taylor, China Inland Mission, prayed until thousands and thousands of inland Chinese came to faith in Christ. We know his great work. What is your great work? We're about to go to the Lord's supper. As you do, I just urge that you... That you get your heart right. You may know right away that some pattern in your life is hindering you from full fruitfulness. It's just sin, and you need to confess it. Confess it then, and receive the forgiveness from Christ. And if you've been baptized as a believer, you're welcome to join with us in the Lord's Supper. We want you to partake. It's for sinners. There are no perfect people here. The Lord meant it for that. So use it as an opportunity to reconcile with the Lord, to confess sin. Also, use it to look for opportunity to look forward to when we get to sit at table with the Lord Jesus and feast with him. And then piggyback on what I preached, as you're sitting there waiting for the elements to come, say “Lord, give me a great thing to live for. Something, some great thing I can expect to you to do great things about. Give me a great life work. Give me a ministry here in this church so I can use my gifts in a glorious way.” Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time of hearing the word of God. Thank you for the power of Matthew, Matthew's gospel, and thank you for the incredible power of God expressed in faith-filled prayer. Oh God, make us fruitful. We don't have long. Our time here on Earth is short, oh God, that we would not die before doing the great works you have in mind for us to do. Clear out the sin, clear out the weakness, clear out the selfishness and worldliness, clear it all out, that we might be maximally fruitful for you. Pray in Jesus' name.

Andy Davis preaches another expository sermon on Genesis 24. The main subject of the sermon is how God provided a wife for Isaac after his mother's death. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - I. Introduction This is our second week of looking at this, the longest chapter in Genesis. And as I was thinking about the lessons and just the truth that there is in this chapter, I was thinking about the theme of guidance, and it reminded me of a story that I heard from the mission field, a while ago, concerning Hudson Taylor, who may have been the greatest missionary in church history or in the 19th century, at least, founder of China Inland Mission, a great man of God. And as he was en route to the mission field — he was heading there — the ship that he was sailing on was heading towards some sunken reefs off the coast of New Guinea. The charts were unmistakable, the captain knew that that's right where they were heading. The problem was there was no wind. And without any wind, the ship was in the hands of the currents in the sea, and they were bringing the ship right toward the sunken reefs. The captain did everything he could think to do to turn the ship but there just was no control without any wind. And so he said to Hudson Taylor that, “We've done everything that we can,” and he said, "No, sir, we haven't. Four of us are Christians, and we're going to go pray that God would give us wind." So they went down to their berth rooms and they got down on their knees, each in their own room, Hudson Taylor prayed a very brief time. And when he got done, he was absolutely convinced that God was going to send the wind and do it quickly, so he went up to the top and talked to the first officer who was steering the ship at that point. He was a godless man, had no faith in Christ, no interest in the Gospel. Hudson Taylor told the sailor, "You should let down the main sail in preparation for wind." He said, "What good is that? There's no wind." And he said, "Well, the wind is about to come because God is going to send it." And the sailor swore at Hudson Taylor, cursed at him and said, "I'd rather see a wind I can see, than hear about one that comes by prayer." Right as he was saying those words, the top most sail started to flap gently in the breeze. The guy looked up and said, "Well, it's only a cat's paw", that means only a puff of wind, but he didn't believe it. And so he went and loosened the main sail and tied it down just in time for a pretty strong gale that came along. It wasn't long before that ship was moving along at six or seven knots. They were able to miss the sunken reefs and go on to China. And this was the lesson that Hudson Taylor learned from that experience. "Thus did God encourage me before landing on China shores to bring every variety of need to him in prayer, and to expect that he would honor the name of Jesus Christ and give me help, the help that each emergency required.” Now, as I think about that ship, just kind of adrift and just being carried by the currents of the sea, no control and all that, and then in answer to prayer, along comes a God-given wind, directing it exactly where it needs to go, I get a picture of Genesis 24. And not just in the creation of a godly home, in marriage, as a direct answer to a specific prayer, as we saw last week — not just that — but just all the issues of our lives. Now, I know this morning that I'm speaking to a group of people, among a larger group, a group of people that are anxious about the spouse that God will bring into their lives. Some of you are in that category. Some of you remember the days when you were anxious about the spouse that God would bring into your lives. Some of you have children that are anxious about that. Others have other issues to do with marriage. But you know marriage as important a theme as it is in this chapter, and it will take a central role, is only a subset of God's larger sovereign control over the events of our lives to accomplish His end and His purpose. As I look, just speaking somewhat autobiographically, there have been few things in my life that I have prayed as fervently about as the things that led up to me being married to Christi. God really had me there for a while, and it's kind of like when God has you, he doesn't let you go quickly and easily. Put me back in the oven, I'm not done baking yet. And so there was so much prayer and so many things that went into us getting together as husband and wife. But again, that's just a subset of things that we still care about, even if we're married. We care about things concerning our children, about our church, about our nation, about our world, about loved ones and friends and co-workers that don't know the Lord. And the question is, is God still sending puffs of wind, strong breezes even an answer to a specific prayer? I say he does. So my enemy this morning is anxiety. I'm going after anxiety, that's my enemy, because I don't want you to be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, to present your request to God and let the peace of God transcend all understanding and bring you into a haven of peace as you rest in God. Now, that doesn't mean you're gonna get your spouse today. You might — I doubt it — but it doesn't mean that you will. But it does mean that God can put you at rest in his sovereignty, at peace in his guidance and control until it happens, that thing it is that you're concerned about. II. Review Now, last week, we saw in this account, it's the longest chapter in Genesis, 67 verses, and all I sought to do last week is just bring us through the text. So really, this is just the second half of last week's sermon, which I draw out theological principles and draw out applications from that, but that was last week, and I just need to remind you of some of the details of the text so that it will make sense to you. Some of you were not here last week. But in this chapter Abraham, aged, toward the end of his life, sees the hand of the Lord's blessing and everything that he's done, but knows there's something significant missing. His 40-year-old son, Isaac does not have a wife. And he knows this is absolutely foundational to the plan of God, the redemptive history. Isaac will not die a bachelor. That's not going to happen. He's got to have a wife, and so he calls in a servant and he puts the servant under an oath, commissions him to go get a wife from Abraham's home area, his home town, back in Mesopotamia. Abraham's servant takes the charge and goes, he makes his journey, and when he gets there, he prays a remarkable prayer. He prays specifically, concerning a well of water, and when the women, the young women would come, that if there would be one that would come and offer him some drink, if she would also offer drink to the camels, he would know that this was the one that God had chosen. And so, immediately after he finishes praying that prayer, Rebekah comes and the servant initiates with her and says, "Could I have some water?" And she says, "Yes, but also, could I water your camels?" Which amounted to, and I correct, 3200 pounds of water, not 320. Thank you for those of you that pointed that out, I do appreciate it. I have forgotten much of the math I learned at MIT, I'm ashamed to say it but I appreciate it. It's good to be humble. It's good to be humbled. 320 gallons, 3200 pounds of water. A big job nonetheless. And so she offered to do this, and it was this simple act of hospitality that led her into God's plan for her life. Remarkable. Little things matter. Little things are huge. Little acts of servanthood made all the difference for Rebekah. Well, the family learned of God's providence in 28-49, and they submitted to it gladly. The servant wanted to go immediately, the next day. They asked Rebekah, "Are you willing to go with this man?" She said, "I will go". By faith. Put yourself in Rebekah’s shoes, young ladies. Would you have gone to marry some man sight unseen back in some place somewhere? Her faith is significant. It's of a kind that's similar to Abraham's. "Leave your country and your people and go to the land I will show you. And I'll provide for you, I'll meet all your needs." And so she trusted God and went off and married this man who she had never met before. Isaac, for his part, went out into the field — he was meditating — he looks up, he sees the young woman; she covers herself with a veil — she's such a picture of purity and chastity — a beautiful picture there of righteousness. And the two come together, he brings her into his mother's tent as a sign, I believe, of her role that she's gonna play in that covenant community. She is taking Sarah's place in that way. The wedding ceremony itself is interestingly passed over in silence, but it, I believe, was there, and he pledged to marry her, and they had a covenant ceremony in that culture, whatever it was. Every culture is slightly different, but the core of it is the same. He pledged to be her husband and she to be his wife, and they were married. And it's so precious. At the end, it says that Isaac took Rebekah as his wife and he loved her. And he was comforted concerning the death of his mother. Just a beautiful picture. And that's the way it ends. That's the account of last week. III. Three Distinct Points of View for Applications Now, this week, first of all, I wanna change the order in your bulletin. What I wanna do is take three and do it at two and two at three. I wanna look first at three distinct points of view, the three different ways to understand this account. And this will stand somewhat as a paradigm for the way you can handle a lot of narrative accounts in the Book of Genesis. Secondly, we're going to look at five theological topics or spiritual issues connected with this account. And then third, we're gonna look some more at some specific applications. Let me tell you, the applications are gonna run right through the message for the most part. So it's not just at the end. I'll just probably be summarizing applications at the end. But listen throughout, I hope for God's wisdom to be speaking to you in your situation. Examples of Godliness First, let's look at three different ways of looking at this account. The first way of looking at this Old Testament historical narrative is just as examples of godliness, that we're gonna look through, and as we read this account, we're going to learn how to be godly people, godly men, godly women. We’re gonna just learn from the people in this account. Pictures of godliness. For example, Abraham. A godly man, submitted to God's work in his life, under the authority of God, seeing God's hand of blessing, but knowing something's lacking and wanting to be sure that the wife that is gotten for his son, Isaac, will be a godly woman who can carry on the work that God intends. And then you've got the servant. We don't have his name, we don't know for sure who it is, but the servant. So humble, so faithful, so obedient. A faith-filled man, a man of specific prayer, a man who loved to rejoice in what God was doing and to celebrate it openly, who would bow down before God in front of everyone and give praise and thanks to God. The servant. Or Rebekah, as we've mentioned. Again, humble. Again, hospitable, hard-working, faith-filled, chaste, in that no man had ever lain with her. Courageous, willing to allow her faith to be transferred into courageous, bold action. “I will go,” she says. A beautiful picture of a godly woman. And then you've got Isaac. We don't see much of him in this account, but we do see that he is submissive to God's will, he is a man of prayer and of meditation, he's a thinker. And I think if you look at the patriarchs and just the Old Testament accounts, he's one of the few men in the Old Testament who never married a rival wife. He was a one woman man. He loved Rebekah. It's not a small thing, at the end, when it says that Isaac loved Rebekah. He cherished her for their whole marriage; they had a delightful marriage. And then also we have an example of godly marriage as a whole, and we're gonna talk more about that as we go on. But if you wanna learn some things about marriage, this is a great chapter to go to in the Old Testament. So that's one kind of whole way to look at this account. Examples of righteousness. How can we be righteous like that? But let's remember that Abraham and Isaac were not just anybody in history. We are not Abraham, and neither are we Isaac, and so they were unique folks. Redemptive History And so the second way of looking at this is how God was fulfilling redemptive history. What is redemptive history? It is the unfolding of events in space and time that lead to Christ. That lead to the birth of Jesus Christ as a man. A man who humbled himself under the plan of God, who took on our sins, who died on the cross, and who was raised on the third day. This is the Gospel, and by belief in that gospel, forgiveness of sins is ours. But without Jesus having a human body, he could not have been a merciful and faithful high priest to us in service to God; he could not have offered himself as a sacrifice in our place for our sins. "What is redemptive history? It is the unfolding of events in space and time that lead to Christ. " And so the birth of Jesus was ultimately contingent upon a whole genealogy of marriages leading all the way up to this one that we're talking about here. Isaac and Rebekah. And so it isn't just anybody that's getting married here, but it's Isaac, the ancestor of Jesus Christ. And it isn't just any woman we're talking about here, no, this is Rebekah, the ancestor of Jesus Christ. And so here is God, faithful to His covenant promises to Abraham, fulfilling what he had said he would do, bringing Isaac a wife, who could carry on the lineage leading up to Christ. And if you are a saved person, this is, in part, your story. Not just that you would know how to be a godly husband or a godly wife, or how to find a spouse. That’s important. But that you would realize that this had happened, this happened, almost 4000 years ago, and as a result of that, you have salvation. Because in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and he took on a human body. So that's a second way of looking at this account. Spiritual Typology The third way is a little dicey, but it's really kind of fun, so I'm gonna go ahead and tell it to you. It’s the spiritual analogy way of looking at this text. There was, for a long time, a whole school or a system of interpretation, always looking for typologies and analogies in everything. But this one is kind of so clear and direct, I at least wanna bring it to your attention. The reason I feel that it's okay to talk about this marriage this way, namely as a picture of Christ in the church, because the Apostle Paul gives us permission to look at every marriage that way. In Ephesians Chapter 5, he says, “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery [says Paul] — but I am talking about Christ and the church.” Did you hear that? Profound mystery. Marriage, then, is a picture of the beautiful relationship between Christ and the church. Oh, what a beautiful hymn that was earlier. Wasn't that pretty? I just love listening to that song. It always makes me cry, and that's tough right before I preach, but I was able to pull myself together and get up here and preach. But just the beauty of marriage, the beauty of the picture of Christ and the church, but do you see how beautiful the typology is here? You've got Abraham, the father, representing God the Father. You've got the servant representing the Holy Spirit. You've got Isaac representing Jesus Christ. You've got Rebekah representing the church. And you've got the mission that the servant goes, representing the worldwide evangelization. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, you will receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and be my witnesses, and by the redemption and the regeneration of the spirit, the bride of Christ is assembled and brought to Christ. And so in Revelation 21, she's the bride beautifully prepared for her husband. It’s the Spirit that's given to prepare us, to wash us and make us clean, to redeem us and to bring us in. And so the servant brings the bride to Christ, and they are married, what a picture. So those are three different ways you can look at Genesis 24. And I think all of them contribute something to our understanding of what's happening in this chapter. IV. Five Theological Topics Covenant Faithfulness But now, what I'd like to do is zero in and look at specific topics that are important to this text, to this account, and that come forward that we can learn something about God. We can learn about his ways of dealing with us. The first is this idea of covenant faithfulness. It's in this account four times. The Hebrew word is hesed. Hesed — and it is sometimes translated kindness, covenant love, steadfast love, this kind of thing. Look at verse 12, for example, when the servant prays, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love [or lovingkindness, or something like that] to my master Abraham.’” Now, what is he talking about? Well, God, you made a covenant. Please uphold your covenant. The covenant is not complete yet. He’s going to have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. That means he's got to have a wife for Isaac, so remember your promise and get a wife for Isaac — covenant love. Be faithful to your promise. He does the same thing in verse 14. As he's praying, he says, “Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’ — let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love [or Hesed, covenant love] to my master.” Now, the basic idea is this. God operates with us on the basis of the covenant that he's made. The Old Covenant, the New Covenant. This was a covenant that he had made to Abraham under the stars, remember? The covenant cutting ceremony in Genesis 15. God had made a promise. Basically, on the basis of that promise, the servant is standing and saying, “God, fulfill your promise to Abraham.” And so also we have promises made to us in the New Covenant, don't we? How about this one for example? It says in John 6:39, “And this is the will of him who sent me [said Jesus], that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Is that not a covenant promise? He's made a promise to us that we will be raised up at the last day. We can pray that and say, “Oh Lord, I pray that I would not be lost, but that I would be raised up at the last day. And Lord, I pray that my children and that members of my church and then co-workers that are believers in Christ, that have made a pledge to Christ, that Christians who have trusted him would never, none of them be lost, but all of them raised up at the last day. You made the promise, Oh Lord, now, fulfill it.” Covenant faithfulness, our God makes promises and then he keeps them and they're very nitty-gritty. There's nuts and bolts to the promise. Isaac's gotta have a wife, and so please show your faithfulness in your covenant promise here and now. Please. We can pray like that and believe God is a covenant maker and keeper. God’s Accurate Guidance Secondly, is this topic of God's accurate guidance. Look at verses 26-27. It says, “Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, [This is the servant after God answered the prayer.] ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast [covenant, Hesed] love, and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, [Listen!] the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.’” Oh, is this beautiful? What a strong testimony for the way that God navigates our lives, very much like that ship, once it had enough wind that the tiller started to respond. The ship gets navigated and goes wherever the helmsman wants it to go. And so God directs our lives. This is a huge issue. Do you realize that in an average year, Americans spend over $200 million in consultation with fortune tellers and astrologers? Isn't that incredible? $200 million. And what is it they're seeking from these charlatans? These instruments of the devil. What are they seeking? They're seeking guidance. They wanna know what they should do. They want direction and guidance. Some people navigate by reading weekly advice columns. Bad idea, okay? Dear Abby and Dear whatever, I don't know who has taken their place, but advice columns or Dr. Phil. Tune in. Some folks will just bare their souls and tell their problems, they want guidance; they wanna know. And then there's the whole self-help book industry and counselors of the non-Christian sort, psychologists and psychiatrists, that are giving advice. That's what they do. You know why? Because people are desperate for guidance. They wanna know what to do, tell me what to do, guide me. Life is terrifying without accurate navigation. But you know what? As a believer in Christ, you should know nothing of that terror. Nothing. You should be able to say, like the servant did, "The Lord led me and guided me here, he's guiding me." And there are verses that tell us that he'll do that. Isaiah 30:21 is one of my favorite. Where it says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” Isn't that beautiful? This is the way, walk in it. Or in Proverbs 3:5-6, where it says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” We should rely on that. God gives guidance. He gives it through the indwelling Holy Spirit. He gives it through the written word of God. He gives guidance to his children. “My sheep hear My voice, I know them and they follow me.” I give them eternal life. Guidance. God’s Sovereign Providence Thirdly, we see very closely related to that the doctrine of God's sovereign providence. Providence. Things happen, coincidences occur, things line up and get clicked in and connected. It’s the doctrine of providence and a marvelous one. In 1678, John Flavel published a book, The Mystery of Providence, asserting that God's sovereign rule extends to the smallest of details, and is essentially a mystery. And so it is taught in the Bible. It says in Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Every dice roll comes up a five, or a two, or a one because God says so. God is jealous over His physical universe, He rules over all things, He's the King. Or how about this? Jesus said this, he said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny and yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from the will of your Father.” So what the Bible does is argue from those little things up to the greatest thing. If God cares how a lot is cast into the lap, if He cares about how a sparrow falls when it dies off the branch, how much more will He care about how a man and a woman get together in marriage? And how much more of the son of Abraham, Isaac himself? God rules over the events of our lives. It says in Ephesians 1:11, “In him we were also chosen, [it says] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Our God is a sovereign ruler and King, and it's a delightful thing to understand this doctrine of providence, this mystery of providence. Now, when it comes to dice, okay, no problem, I don't know why God would care whether it came up at five or a two or a one, but okay, I can give Him that. And birds, fine. But what about human beings? Does God actually rule over the thoughts and decisions and inclinations of the hearts of human beings? Well, look what happens in getting Isaac together with Rebekah. The servant prays a specific kind of prayer, and no sooner is he finished than Rebekah comes up and says, "Can I help you?” I mean, is that an accident? Like William Temple said, "The more I pray, the more coincidences happen. When I don't pray, coincidences stop happening.” And so, these coincidences. Now, either God laid that specific prayer on the servant's heart, or he laid the hospitality on Rebekah's heart, or can I suggest both? And he's working at both ends, so that the two of them get together. It's a beautiful thing to see. Henry Blackaby talks about this kind of thing in Experiencing God. He says that God lines up markers in your life, and that you just look and see back, how has God been dealing with me? What kinds of things has he been preparing me for? What is he getting me ready to do? The Providence of God, look for it. And if you don't see those kind of wonderful, spiritual coincidences happening in your life, I say that you're not praying the way the servant did, you're not out on the cutting edge, the front line of the advance of the kingdom of heaven. 'Cause when you're involved in evangelism and you're involved in missions and you're just doing these things, you start to see these beautiful coincidences happening and boy is it exciting. But God is a providential ruler. He rules over all things. Now, I will give you a caution, I believe it's hard to see and interpret properly the providence of God. It's hard to do. It's less certain than interpreting scripture. Interpreting scripture, I can say is something like this, but the thing David had done was displeasing to the Lord. Well, it says right there, and therefore, I know what God thought about David's adultery of Bathsheba. I don't have to worry about it or wonder, it says, but history doesn't tell us. When a tsunami happens, we can learn certain things from the Bible, but to specifically apply it to everything, is very difficult to do. William Cowper, the hymn writer in the early 19th century, was a man given to depression and discouragement. A great lover of Jesus Christ, a great poet, but he had, I think, probably some imbalances and issues in his life, and frequently struggled with deep depression. And at one point in his life, he was ready to kill himself, commit suicide. And he decided he was gonna do it by throwing himself into the Thames River in London. So he called for a cab, a driver, to take him down to the Thames River. However, thick fog came and surrounded the cabbie as he was driving the horse; they couldn't find the way to the river. After driving around for a long time, finally the cabbie says, “I don't know where we are. Get out.” He gets out right on his own doorstep. “Message received. You don't want me to kill myself.” And after that, he wrote the hymn that we're gonna be closing with today, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” And this is what he wrote: "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread, are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and He will make things plain." Now, you can't scan all of God's work in history — providence — and interpret it all accurately. You’ll miss it, you'll get things wrong. But in the end, we will look back and see God's handiwork. Our God is sovereign, He's ruling over events of life. Godly Marriage Now, one of the main topics in this, of course, is how godly marriages are formed. And I wanna talk to you about four different things I get out of this text to understand how God puts marriages together. The first is a very simple principle. God makes marriages. Do you see it in this text? God put Isaac and Rebekah together. God makes marriages. The supporting text for this is Genesis 2:22. It says, “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” Now, I know some of you single guys are saying, "God, do it! Just do it! What is so hard? I mean, Adam had it easy. Wake up and there she is. I mean, there's no problem, right? And frankly, even Isaac had it easy. He just went out in the field to meditate and there she is. Do that. I like that. That's good. Bring her to me.” We'll talk more about that in a minute, but God makes marriages. A second supporting text for this is in Matthew 19:6, in which Jesus speaking about marriage says, “So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Point of application: single people who are sorely tempted toward anxiety in this area, don't be anxious. Cast all your burdens and cares on Him because He cares for you. Trust in him to provide that spouse, that godly husband, that godly wife. But now, I just feel duty-bound to ask a tough question. Does God make every marriage? Does he make them all? That's a tough question. What if, for example, a Christian violates God's clear principle on spiritually mixed marriages? It says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. … For what fellowship does light have with darkness?” What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? Don't marry a non-Christian. And it's the same root word, “yoked together" that you get in Jesus's statement in Matthew 19:6, “…what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Now, my question is, did Jesus intend to say that God yokes together every marriage? What about those that it were done in violation to his clear scriptural principle? Well, this is not an easy question to answer. But coming at it pastorally, let's say I come to the conclusion that Matthew 19:6 doesn't refer to every marriage, just to some. These would be the matches made in heaven, "Oh, there are a match made in heaven." Do you see the gaping loophole through Matthew 19:6? Through which every troubled marriage will run? Every one? "Well, I don't think ours is a match made in heaven. I don't think God joined us together, and I think the sooner we get it separated, the better." I believe Jesus intended every marriage. Well then, what about those that were put together in violation to God's word? Well, I think that God acts differently in putting together godly marriages along the pattern of His commands, than He does in pronouncing a couple that is standing in front of witnesses and saying, "I will be her husband." She says, "I will be his wife. We are committing to each other." In every culture, there's a way to do that. In every culture, we call it marriage. When that pledge gets made, God yokes them together, and Paul calls it a mystery. A profound mystery. From that moment forward, he upholds the oath. He has yoked them together in his mind. He reckons them or considers them no longer two, but now one. And what he does when he does that, we may not, must not separate. Now you say, "Well, divorce is a big problem in our culture.” It’s true, and this is the whole challenge of pastoral ministry. You see, before any sin occurs, a faithful pastor has to do everything he can to warn people not to commit the sin. To labor so that people are protected from the great damage that sin causes. But then after the sin, a godly pastor will labor to bring somebody to a point of repentance, and then once that repentance is there and they repudiate the sin and call it by its biblical name, then they are assured of forgiveness and grace and mercy, and the blessings of God to go on. You see? It's a challenge for pastors, how do you do that in one sermon? How do you do both? Well, you just need to know where you're at in that continuum. If divorce has been part of your past, understand what the Bible really says. You do other folks no good service to undo Matthew 19:6 and say, it's not there anymore. Don't do that. Say, “We sinned. We did wrong things. But from this point forward, God has blessed our union and he will continue to do so.” You see? But for those who haven't been married yet or who are struggling in marriage, work it out. Be faithful to each other. God makes marriages. The second point I wanna make is that God makes marriages in the flow of everyday life and in a cultural context. What do I mean by that? Well, he puts marriages together in as wide a variety of ways as there are people. If we got all the married couples here and just had the rest of the afternoon and say, "Well, how did you meet? Well, how did you meet? Well, how about you? How did you guys meet?" Unbelievable. The variety of stories. Some people met, they were co-workers at a job, some people met in college, some people met in elementary school. Those are interesting folks, aren't they? Alright? But not a lot. But there are some, okay? Some people meet at an airport, some people were on a mission trip together, some people were in a prayer group together, some people just in a youth group or a college and career group. It's unbelievably varied. You never know how it's going to happen. And I'd say to you, godly brother, godly sister, God has got somebody for you, in the end, frankly, it's gonna amount about the same as it was for Adam and for Isaac. He's gonna bring her. Godly sister, he's gonna bring that husband. In the end, you will say, God did it. God did it. He brought us together. And so, it happens in the flow of life. It happens as you're living, as you're growing. The third point I wanna make is that special effort and preparation is required by people. God isn't going to just... You don't just stand still in rooms, I'm not moving until she comes. Okay, I'm right here. No, you're gonna live your life and you're going to prepare yourself. You know, I think someone once said, I think it's true: Marriage is not so much a matter of finding the right person as being the right person. God sees you, He knows where you're at in your physical and spiritual development, He knows what's happening, be faithful in little, and He will enable you to be faithful in much, you see. So be faithful in your relationships now, grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ, prepare yourself as a Christian. But I'm gonna go beyond that. Prepare yourself if you're a single person, even if you're youth, if you're in the youth group now, prepare yourself now for your future marriage. Start praying for your husband, young ladies. Start praying for your wife, even if you're 14, 12 years old. Pray for him, pray for her. Get ready. Parents, pray for your children. I mean, they come home from the hospital, start praying that prayer. Oh God, I don't know if he or she's born yet, but watch over her, watch over him, get them ready. Pray for these things And also learn about marriage. Study from the good godly marriages in the church, it's one of the great advantages of being in a local church. Prepare yourself, hang out with godly folks, see how their marriage is going, how It works, prepare yourself. And then finally, this special effort on your part should not in any way lead you to feel anxious. It doesn't undo the first point. God will prepare you. He will enable you to do the things you need to do in order to get ready for marriage. He'll prepare you and He will sustain you and He will strengthen you. Faith-Filled Prayer The final point I wanna make, generally, about the text before some final applications, is concerning faith-filled prayer. It says in Psalm 57:2, “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me.” Is your prayer life anything like Abraham's servant? "O Lord, may it be that if the next girl who comes along and says such and such, that I know she is the one"? I mean, that is incredible. It is God honoring, it's in the flow of redemptive history, it's fitting into the promises of God, it is specific and measurable, and it is a ground for great worship and praise when God answers. Do you pray like that? Do you have, like some saints like George Müller, in effect, a checkbook of unanswered prayers that you're waiting on to see what God will do? I think this is a remarkable thing. As Temple said, William Temple, "When I pray, coincidences happen. When I cease to pray, coincidences cease." "It is God honoring, it's in the flow of redemptive history, it's fitting into the promises of God, it is specific and measurable, and it is a ground for great worship and praise when God answers. Do you pray like that? " V. Application Understand God’s Role in Marriage Now, a couple of final applications and we’ll be done. We've understood or sought to understand God's role in marriage. I know that not every single person I'm speaking to is going to get married. It's not automatic. There are some people who are given the gift of singleness, and that's a great gift, Jesus said it that way. It's a great gift. But it is God's normal pattern. It is his normal pattern. I tell you this, God will give you one gift or the other. He doesn't give you no gift. So he will give you either singleness or he will give you a wife. Trust God to give you your gift. Value marriage Secondly, value marriage. This is so important in these days. Marriage is under great attack. I don't need to speak of the strange legislation in Massachusetts or some of the other odd things in San Francisco. I don't need to go into those things to say that marriage is under attack today. Marriage is under attack from divorce, it's under attack from feminism, which says that, at some point, in the '70s and '80s, that marriage would become obsolete. Well, it isn't. It's not going to become obsolete. And so we, as the church, we need to value and cherish marriage itself. Sometimes it may take courage. I read an article in a Christian young people's magazine talking about how it takes courage for young folks to still believe in marriage if their folks got a divorce. To say it didn't work out for them, they didn't follow God's ways, but I can get married and my marriage can be godly, it can be good. Key verse on this is Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure…” Honor marriage and keep the marriage bed pure. Husbands: Value your precious wives The final word I wanna say to you is really a word to husbands. Husbands, value your wives. I think that Rebekah is an incredible gift to Isaac. She's precious. She's special. She's wonderful, she's incredible. She’s going to be a fountain of blessing in his life for the rest of his life. He's gonna cherish her. It's so beautiful. Notice the odd order, different than America now. Different than America. The different order, it says that he married her and he loved her. We usually go the other way around, don't we? We love and then we get married. Well, I'm coming to the conclusion that the love that's mentioned here and the love that's in Ephesians 5 develops over years and years in a marriage. It's not cheap, it's not light, it's not easy. It's Christ's love for the church. A love that lays down yourself for your wife day after day. Have you told her that you love her? Have you told her that you cherish her? That she's special to you? God said that He would reward a cup of cold water given to one of the servants of God. He would never forget it, they never lose their reward. How many cups of cold water have you received from this wife? How many prayers? How many words of counsel? How many gifts of love? How many times has she offered herself to you? Body, spirit, soul, everything to help you and strengthen you in your marriage? Do you cherish her? And this community here, this believing community, this church, we are countercultural. We're flowing the opposite direction. We're upholding godly roles for men and for women. Well, I say to you, we must be a place that celebrates the role of a godly wife openly. We need to say it's a wonderful thing to be a godly wife. Indispensable. Indispensable to the sovereign plan of God. Without Rebekah, there's no Christ. And therefore, there needed to be a Rebekah. So what I'm saying is value and cherish your wives. Value and cherish them. Tell them that you love them. You hear about the husband that says, "You know, I told you I loved you the day we got married. And if anything changes, I'll let you know. Alright?" I don't wanna be a church like that. "Now women, we told you, your role is important. If anything changes, we'll let you know." I think there needs to be a constant stream of affirmation and encouragement of how vital Rebekah is to Isaac. Trust in Christ Final word, Jesus Christ. This is a picture of salvation, isn't it? This is a picture of Christ. Are you saved? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? Are you trusting in Him to save your soul and not just get you a wife or a husband? Jesus Christ came into the world as a result of Isaac and Rebekah getting together. As a result of the twins, Jacob and Esau being born, as a result of a long chain of events, but the point is the salvation of your soul and mine. Are you trusting in Him today?

This episode of CS is titled, Back in the East – Part 2Last time we took a brief look at the Jesuit missions to the Far East; namely Japan, China, Vietnam and India.We encountered the revolutionary approach to mission work of Alessandro Valignano and his spiritual heirs, Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci. Their accomodationist approach to evangelism, where the Gospel was communicated by seeking to build a cultural bridge with the high civilizations of the Far East, was officially suppressed by Rome, even though it had amazing success in planting a healthy and vibrant church. So healthy was the Church in Japan it came under fire from a fierce resurgence in Japanese nationalism that expelled the Jesuits and persecuted the Church, driving it underground.From the dawn of the 17th C, both Dutch and English trading interests moved into Asia. Their commercial and military navies dominated those of other European nations.The Dutch established bases in Indonesia and created a center at Jakarta. The Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, and carried the Dutch Reformed Church to the East Indies. But don't think this means the Dutch conducted missionary work among indigenous peoples. It merely means they carried their religious institution with them and built chapels so Dutch nationals had a place to worship when doing business there.  Any converts from among the native population was by accident, not any kind of planned outreach. Dutch interests in the Far East were exclusively commercial.The English equivalent of the Dutch East India Company was, the creatively named à English East India Company. Though the directors of the Company were suspicious of missionaries, they appointed chaplains to their trading communities. This provided an opening for those with missionary vision in England and India, such as Parliamentarian William Wilberforce and Charles Grant, an employee of the company.Two outstanding East India Company chaplains were Henry Martyn and Claudius Buchanan. Martyn was a leading Cambridge intellect and winner of numerous academic prizes. He and other Cambridge students were influenced by the long ministry of Charles Simeon, whose preaching urged that the Gospel be taken to All Peoples. Martyn was a brilliant linguist and translator. He was appointed a chaplain in 1805, translated the NT into Urdu and Persian and prepared an Arabic version before his early death from tuberculosis at 31. His Indian assistant, Abdul Masih, converted from Islam to become a Christian missionary and advocate of the Faith. He was ordained in 1825 as the first Indian Anglican clergyman. Many others were inspired by Martyn's life of scholarship and devotion.William Carey, often regarded as the father of Protestant English missions, was both a shoemaker and Baptist preacher in Northamptonshire. He arrived in India in 1793. He was soon joined by 2 other Baptist giants, Joshua Marshman and William Ward, making what came to be known as the ‘Serampore Trio.' Serampore being the region where they lived and worked.  The trio greatly admired the Moravians and shaped their community on the Moravian model.Carey's passage to India had been denied by the East India Company, the de facto government of English holdings in India, with their own hired army enforcing their will on the regions they operated. That would be like Amazon being the City Council and Law Enforcement for Seattle. Later British colonies and India came under control of the Crown. The East India Company opposed Carey's plan to take the Gospel to the Indians. Chaplains for the British in India was fine, but they didn't want to foment hostility with the faiths of their trading partners. Carey had ONE goal in going to India; to evangelize the lost. His passion to raise support in England for foreign missions led to his being derided by critics like Sydney Smith, a clergyman and author of satire who wrote for the Edinburgh Review.But by steady perseverance, monumental labor at biblical translation, longsuffering through family tragedies and the loss of precious manuscripts by fire, Carey faced down all critics, became Professor of Sanskrit at Fort William College and earned the accolade from Bishop Stephen Neill, himself a missionary in India: “In the whole history of the Church, no nobler man has ever given himself to the service of the Redeemer.”For North Americans, an equivalent figure to Carey as a pioneer was the great missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson. Judson received his inspiration to become a missionary from reading the sermons of Claudius Buchanan in 1809. After ordination as a Congregationalist minister, he applied to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. On his voyage to India, he and his wife adopted a Baptist statement of Faith. On arrival in India he was baptized, having made his change of mind known to William Carey. He was refused permission to work by the East India Co as a Baptist missionary in India but began work in Rangoon in 1813. His work among the Karen people met with rousing success. The first Karen to be baptized was Ko Tha Byu, who came from a background of violent crime. Byu became a notable evangelist. The Karen became the largest Christian group of the region. In modern Myanmar they number 200,000 Christians in over 1,000 churches. Judson himself became a missionary icon and hero in mid-19th C North America.China closed its doors to foreigners of all kinds after imperial edicts against Christian preaching in 1720. Robert Morrison was the lone Protestant missionary from 1807, often at risk of his life. Although the East India Co was hostile to his mission, in 1809 he was employed by them as an interpreter so he could remain on Chinese soil. With the help of William Milne, he translated the entire Bible into Chinese and created a Chinese dictionary, which became a standard work for language studies. He and Milne founded an Anglo-Chinese school in Malacca.But any missionary incursion into wider China was impossible until the treaties of the mid-19th C opened the country by slow degrees.First, the so-called ‘treaty ports' became accessible in 1842 in the Treaty of Nanking, forced on China by British commercial interests. The Chinese were desperate for opium from India, supplied by the British, a major source of revenue.A bit later, the Treaty of Tientsin opened the interior to missionaries, preparing the way for the China Inland Mission.James Hudson Taylor was born in Yorkshire, England to a devout Methodist family. He trained as a doctor, but, before he qualified, offered himself as a missionary to the China Evangelization Society. Because of the political conditions in China during the pro-Christian Taiping Rebellion, he was sent to Shanghai in 1853.Hudson Taylor was inspired by Karl Gutzlaff, who'd travelled to the Chinese interior between 1833-9 as a freelance missionary.Gutzlaff was a German educated at a Moravian school. Drawn to the Far East by the urge to see China won to Christ, he began with the Netherlands Missionary Society in 1824 by serving in Thailand where he translated the Bible into Thai in just 3 years.In 1828 he broke with Netherlands Missionary Society because they wouldn't send him to China.  From his perspective, that's why he was in the Far East. So, he became a freelance missionary, distributing Christian literature along the coast. He became an interpreter for the East India Co in Shanghai and helped negotiate the Treaty of Nanjing. He recruited Chinese nationals as evangelists to the interior and raised funds for their support through his writings in Europe, only to find that many of his recruits had deceived him and taken the money for other purposes. Although discredited in the eyes of some, Gutzlaff's strategy of using nationals as Christian workers was sound. No one doubted his missionary zeal. Hudson Taylor looked on him as the ‘grandfather' of the China Inland Mission and its work in the interior provinces.Hearkening back to the accomodationist policy of Valignano, Taylor experimented with identification in Chinese dress and the ‘queue'; that is, the pigtail hairstyle worn by Chinese men. But Taylor caught grief from other members of the missionary community, by his “going native” as it was called. In 1857, he resigned from the China Evangelization Society he'd been working with. Stirred deeply by the needs of the Chinese of the interior, Taylor founded the China Inland Mission in 1865, aiming to put 2 missionaries in each province, recently open to foreigners after the Treaty of Tientsin. He was now a fully qualified doctor and married to Maria Dyer, daughter of a missionary and a leader in her own right, he set out with a party of 16 from London to Shanghai in 1866, narrowly avoiding total loss by shipwreck.From the beginning the CIM was to be a so-called ‘faith mission', with no public appeals for funds; and its missionaries accepted the absolute, if gently applied, authority of Hudson Taylor, described by some as the ‘Ignatius Loyola of Protestant missions.'The CIM came to number over 800 missionaries, including Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians and others. It planted churches that had a membership of some 80,000 by 1897. The public profile of the CIM was greatly enhanced in the 1880s by the arrival of the “Cambridge 7”, 2 of whom were well-known sports heroes and popularized as making great sacrifices for the Cause of Christ. CT Studd was 1 of these, later to found of the World Evangelization Crusade  and the Heart of Africa Mission, which worked in the Belgian Congo.Hudson Taylor's publication, China's Millions, achieved a circulation of 50,000 and helped put the mission in front of the public. The society suffered heavily in the nationalist Boxer Rebellion of 1898 to 1900. A total of 200 missionaries, many of them Roman Catholic, and 30,000 Chinese Christians lost their lives. CIM lost 58 missionaries and several children. Even with this tragic set-back, the CIM continued to be an influential group under its 2nd director, Dixon Hoste, 1 of the Cambridge 7. In 1949 all missionary personnel were expelled by the Communists.Hudson Taylor is described by the eminent Church Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette as “1 of the 4 or 5 most influential foreigners who came to China in the 19th C for any purpose, religious or secular.”

This 126th episode of CS is titled, Yet Again.Donations to keep the CS host site up are welcome and needed. You can do so at sanctorum.us. Just look for the “Donate” link.In the last episode, we considered the Second Great Awakening and ended with this . . .By the 1850s the United States was thriving, largely because of the benefits brought by the Awakening. The Mid-West was being developed, the economy booming. People made 18% interest on their investments. But as is so often the case, economic prosperity turned into a neglect of the Spirit. The pursuit of pleasure replaced the pursuit of God. The nation was politically divided over the issue of slavery.  And it wasn't just States that were divided. Churches and denominations split over itInto this national argument that ended up tearing the country in two was added a dose of religious turmoil.A veteran and farmer named William Miller rediscovered the doctrine of the 2nd Coming. For generations, most of the Church considered Bible prophesy a closed book. Miller began teaching on the Return of Christ. But he made the mistake many have and said Christ would return in 1844. About a million people followed his views.  When it didn't happen, they were bitterly disillusioned because they'd sold their homes, businesses, and farms. Skeptics piled on the fanaticism of the Millerites and fired up a new round of mocking faith.  Then, in 1857, things began to change.Another revival began as a movement of prayer. It was leaderless, though it produced several notable leaders.In September 1857, a businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier printed up a leaflet on the importance of prayer. It announced there would be a weekly prayer meeting at Noon, in the upper room of the North Dutch Reformed Church in Manhattan. When the time for the first meeting came, only Lanphier was there. He prayed anyway and at 12:35, six more businessmen on their lunch break came up the stairs. They prayed till 1 pm. As they broke up to return to work, they agreed they'd been so moved, they'd meet the following week at the same time and place.The next week, their number doubled to 14. They sensed something special was about to happen and agreed to meet every day, Monday-Saturday in that room at Noon. A few weeks later the room overflowed and they filled the basement, then the main sanctuary. A nearby Methodist Church opened its doors for noontime prayer. When it filled, Trinity Episcopal Church opened. Then church after church filled with people praying at noon, Monday-Saturday; mostly businessmen on their lunch break.Throughout the remainder of 1857, prayer meetings spread throughout the States. In Feb. 1858, New York newspaper editor Horace Greeley sent a reporter out to cover the story of the growing movement. The reporter went by horse and buggy and was able to make a dozen stops during the noon hour. He estimated there were over 6000 businessmen praying at those stops. Greeley was so surprised he made the story the next day's headline. Other papers didn't want to be outdone, so they began to report on the revival.The publicity further fanned the flames and more began showing up. Soon every auditorium and hall in downtown NY was filled.  Then, theaters filled.We might wonder what were these prayer meetings like. They were run by laymen, not professional clergy. Pastors were often present but did not conduct the meetings. They might be asked to open pray or read a scripture, but then the meeting was turned over to fifty minutes or more of prayer.There was a remarkable sense of unity that marked the meetings. Those who attended came from different churches but were cautious about debating doctrines. There was more a concern to focus on the things they agreed on. They were there to pray and that's what they did.At one prayer meeting in Michigan led by a layman, he said, “I see my pastor and the Methodist minister are here. Will one of you read a scripture and the other pray, then we'll get started.”  They did, then the laymen said, “I'm not used to this kind of public and impromptu prayer so we'll follow the example we've read about in the NY papers. We have so many here today please write your request down then pass them to the front. We'll read them one at a time, and pray over each one.”The first request said, “A praying wife asks the prayers of this company for the conversion of her husband who's far from God.” (That's certainly a common request.) But immediately a blacksmith stood up and said, “My wife prays for me. I must be that man. I need to be converted. Would you please pray for me?” A lawyer said, “I think my wife wrote that note because I know I'm far from God.”  Five men all claimed the request was surely for them. All were converted in a matter of just a few minutes.This was common at the beginning of the revival. People were converted during the prayer meetings. They'd simply express their need for salvation then would be prayed for by the rest.One minister stood up and said he'd stayed till 3 PM the day before answering the questions of those who wanted Christ. He announced his church would be open each evening from then on for the preaching of the Gospel. Soon, every church was holding similar meetings.As the revival spread across the States, 10,000 were converted each week. In Newark, NJ, of a population of 70,000; 2,785 were brought to faith in 2 months. At Princeton University, almost half the students came to Christ and half of those entered full-time ministry.The revival swept the colleges of the nation.On Feb. 3rd, 1858 in Philadelphia, a dozen men moved their daily prayer meeting from the outskirts of the city to downtown. They met at the James Theater, the largest in The City. A couple weeks later sixty were attending. By the end of March, 6,000 were literally crammed in.That Summer, churches united to hold mass services. They erected big-top tents and conducted evangelistic meetings that thousands flocked to. In Ohio, 200 towns reported 12,000 converts in just two months. In Indiana, 150 small towns saw 4,500 come to Christ.In two years, of a national population of 30 million, 2 million made a profession of faith.Edwin Orr remarks that this points up the difference between Evangelism and Revival. In evangelism, the evangelist seeks the sinner. In revival, sinners come running to God. It was during this Revival that a young shoe salesman went to the Sunday School director of the Congregational Church in Chicago and said he wanted to teach a class. He was turned down because there were sixteen ahead of him waiting to teach. They put him on the wait-list. He told the director, “I want to do something NOW.”The director said, “Okay – start a class.”  He asked, “How?”He was told to “Go get boys off the street, take them to the country and teach them how to behave, then bring them in.”He went out to the alleys, gathered up a dozen street urchins and took them to the beach on Lake Michigan. He taught them Bible games and Scripture. Then brought them to the church where he was given a closet to hold his class.  That was the beginning of the ministry of Dwight Lyman Moody who went on to preach all over the US and England and led tens of thousands to Christ.Today, we're accustomed to the secular press giving a cold shoulder to the things of God. That's not new; it's usually that way. Even during times of revival, the world tends to stand back and wait for it to pass. They may give grudging acknowledgment of the good fruit revival brings, but they always dig up some critic who dismisses it as religious fanaticism and emotionalism.  So the Revival of 1857-8 stands out because the secular press received it with enthusiasm. Maybe because it was a movement that began in the sophisticated urban centers of the nation and spread their first. It was called The Businessman's Revival. These weren't backwoods, country hicks who were “getting religion.” They were educated, literate, successful people being profoundly changed for the better. In a day when nearly everyone read the newspaper, they were familiar with the revival because it consistently made headlines. There was near-universal approval of it.Yes, it had a few critics, but their objections were dismissed as the grousing of unreasonable skeptics and the envious. The Anglicans were at first against it, until their churches began filling with seekers; then they approved of it as they saw its glorious effect. The same happened among the Lutherans.The prayer meetings were marked by order. And the conversions were as frequent among the older and more mature members of a community as the younger.It quickly spread up into Canada, then across the Atlantic to Ireland, Scotland, and England where conservative estimates say 10% of the population was brought to faith in Christ.  In London, every theater and auditorium was filled for prayer. It was during this time Charles Spurgeon built the Metropolitan Tabernacle and Hudson Taylor started the China Inland Mission.  Just a mile from where Taylor started, William Booth formed the Salvation Army.All of these came out of the Revival of 1857-9. The revival spilled over into Europe and reached India. The Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa still celebrates the revival for the huge impact it had on them. Jamaica was covered as were numerous other cities and nations.What I'd like to note as we end this episode is the date of this revival. Its peak was from 1857-60. A few years later the US was torn in two by the Civil War; a bloody chapter in my nation's history. Many of those who died in the war were saved in the Revival.This seems to be a consistent pattern of revival; that it takes place just prior to a major war. Dr. Orr says that this has been a consistent pattern throughout our nation's history.The First Great Awakening occurred shortly before the Revolutionary War. The Second before the War of 1812. The Revival of 1857-8 before the Civil War. The Welsh Revival that so affected Great Britain, Europe, and the US came right before WWI. It's as though God pours out His Spirit to reap a harvest before evil falls and there's a great loss of life.

In 1812, when the United States was still a young nation and its State Department was tiny, American citizens began heading around the world as Christian missionaries. Early in the 19th Century, the US government often saw missionaries as experts on the politics, culture, and language of regions like China and the Sandwich Islands, but as the State Department expanded its own global footprint, it became increasingly concerned about missionary troubles.Joining me in this episode is Dr. Emily Conroy-Krutz, Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University and author of Missionary Diplomacy: Religion and Nineteenth-Century American Foreign Relations.Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “Jesus, Love of My Soul,” written by Charles Wesley and performed by Simeon Butler March and Henry Burr on February 25, 1916; the audio is in the public domain and available via the Library of Congress National Jukebox. The episode image is from the Jubilee Story of the China Inland Mission, Marshall Broomhall, Morgan & Scott, London, 1915; it is in the public domain.Additional Sources:“Were Christian missionaries ‘foundational' to the United States?” by Emily Conroy-Krutz, The Washington Post, October 18, 2018.“Into All the World: the Story of Haystack [video,]” Chaplain Rick Spalding, Williams College, September 25, 2013.“American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions historical documents,” Global Ministries.“The life and letters of Samuel Wells Williams, LL.D., missionary, diplomatist, Sinologue,” by Frederick Wells Williams, 1889.“Missionary Movement - Timeline Movement,” The Association of Religion Data Archives.“The Foreign Missionary Movement in the 19th and early 20th Centuries,” by Daniel H. Bays, National Humanities center.“A History of the United States Department of State, 1789-1996,” Released by the Office of the Historian, July 1996.“About,” United States Department of State.“In 200-year tradition, most Christian missionaries are American,” by Daniel Lovering, Reuters, February 20, 2012.