Open your Bibles, if you will,
to Acts chapter 14. Acts chapter 14. In the pattern of the New Testament,
the ministry God gave to any man was not the ministry of a
single man. but the ministry of the local
church with which that man was personally connected, what he
was a member, which he was either pastor or a missionary, an evangelist,
sent out by them to preach the gospel. That's so very, very,
very important. Local churches, hearing a man
preach, Paul and Barnabas, when they were traveling together,
they would be supported by that local assembly and then supported
to go on to the next assembly, and thus it was recommended.
At times, Paul made tents to supply his needs, but he clearly
taught that the laborer is worthy of his hire, that God's servants
are to be supported and maintained in the work of the gospel by
the churches where they pastor. That ought always to be the case
wherever it is possible. I say that because I want you
to understand. God has graciously, for reasons
known only to himself, given this congregation an open door
of ministry in many places around the world for these many years
we have been together. What a great privilege, what
a great opportunity God has given to us, that we, a body of believers
like us, should be given open door of utterance for the gospel
in so many places for so many years. Understand the blessedness
of it and understand that God who gave it can take it away
and shut those doors like that. Let us be faithful. in the cause
of our Redeemer so long as we live on this earth, and understand
that we are laborers together in the cause of Christ. Yes,
I am your pastor. God has gifted me to preach the
gospel to you, and God has given us this ministry together, but
it is our ministry, our labor together, and without you, I
couldn't do it. I'm aware of that. I thank God
for you and thank you for making it possible. Several years ago,
I was going down to preach for Brother Mahan in Ashland at New
Year's Eve service. This had been a long, long time
ago. And Brother Rex met me at the door and said, I sure would
like to go with you, but I have to work tomorrow. And my response
to him was, don't ever apologize to me for having to work. Because
if you didn't work and pay the bills, I couldn't go. And I recognize
that. I recognize that small part of
what you do in the cause of our Redeemer. But I appreciate more
than I can tell you your faithful support of the gospel ministry,
both of my own life and of the lives and ministries of others
in various parts of the world and through this country as well.
We are laborers together in this work God has given us. Let us
pray together that he may make us faithful and use us for his
glory. Here in Acts chapter 14, actually
the context begins back in chapter 13, where Paul and Barnabas were
sent out by the church at Antioch to preach the gospel among the
Gentiles. These men were called of God,
gifted of God, and one means by which God did this, to send
them out, was through his local church. I promise you, I promise
you, If a man is gifted of God to preach the gospel and sent
of God to preach the gospel, God's people will know it before
he does. God's people will know it before
he does. Men who appoint themselves to the work never amount to anything
and never do anything for the glory of God and the good of
men's souls. Men who make their own way. may
put themselves in a position where folks call them preachers
and refer to them as pastors, but they're not sent of God.
God's servants are sent by his church to preach the gospel of
his grace by God the Holy Spirit separating them for the work
of the gospel. These men, Paul and Barnabas,
were sent to preach among the Gentiles, sent by Jews who had
been converted, to preach the gospel to Gentiles who were yet
without the knowledge of Christ. After preaching the gospel at
Antioch, Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas came to Iconium and preached
Christ there. They went on to preach the gospel
in Lyconia, in Lystra, And then they went to Derbe and back to
Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, Pisidia again, preaching the
gospel, confirming the brethren, ordaining elders in every city
wherever God raised up churches. They then passed through Pisidia
and preached the word in Pamphylia, Perga, and Italia. And then they
returned to Antioch, Syria, to give a report of what God had
done on their first missionary journey. Let's begin reading
at verse 21 in Acts 14. And when they had preached the
gospel to that city, had preached the gospel to that city, that's
why they went, to proclaim the glad tidings of Jesus Christ
crucified. And had taught many, taught them
the gospel of God's grace, taught them the word of God. They returned
again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch. confirming the souls
of the disciples, establishing them in the faith of Christ and
exhorting them to continue in the faith. Go on believing God
and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom
of God. That's true of God's people in
every generation, wherever they are found. If we enter God's
kingdom at last, we will enter God's kingdom through much tribulation. that may include outward physical
opposition, even persecution. But it certainly means here that
we who are gods, as we make our pilgrimage through this world,
continually endure tribulation that opposes faith. Tribulation
that tests faith. Tribulation that proves faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they had ordained them
elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended
them to the Lord. Commended God's people to God.
That's about the best thing you can do. Commended God's people
to God. On whom they believed. They believed on the Lord. They leaned on the Lord. They trusted the Lord Jesus. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ
is never really defined in the Word of God. We know faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. But that's simply a declaration of what faith bestows upon us
and gives us. Faith in Christ is illustrated
and given by many different terms. It's leaning on Christ, looking
to Christ, walking with Christ, trusting Christ. Faith is coming
to Christ. Faith is seeing Christ. These
disciples are men and women who believed on the Lord. That's what God's people do.
They lean the weight of their lives upon Christ the Lord. Read on, verse 24. And after
they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia, And when
they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Italia
and then sailed to Antioch from which they had been recommended
to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. The church
at Antioch, by God's grace, recommended them to this work. They went
out to do the work and they fulfilled the work. This is my constant prayer and
has been for nearly 45 years. God, give me grace to fulfill
the work to which you have appointed me for the glory of your name. God, give us grace to fulfill
the work he's committed to our hands. That involves devotion,
That involves responsibility, that involves commitment, that
involves work. If we would serve our Redeemer,
we must do so with deliberate purpose. I recognize, and I've said often
from this pulpit, that by religious standards, by the standards that
men generally think the work of the ministry is, I am the
poorest of all pastors. By the standard of this book,
things are somewhat different. Beacons were established in the
sixth chapter of Acts so that pastors could give themselves
to prayer, to study, and to preaching. That's where the work of the
ministry is done. The social life is wonderful. I hope you
know how much I appreciate and enjoy and try to seize every
opportunity I have to be with you when you get together in
your homes privately. I'd love you to stop by here
and visit with me. But the work of the ministry is done back
there in the study. If a man would serve God faithfully
as a preacher, he must study. He must give himself to prayer
and to study and to preaching. You pray that God will give me
grace, wisdom, and strength constantly to devote myself to those things. And I appreciate so much you
taking other burdens off of me so that I can. Now following
Paul's example, I want to now give you an example or a report
of what God has been pleased to do in this last trip to England
and Northern Ireland the last couple of weeks. First, let me
remind you of the reason for the work. Turn to Matthew chapter
28. Matthew 28. This congregation, you, are an
exemplary congregation in the work of evangelism. Paul told
Timothy to do the work of an evangelist, to do the work of
one who goes about place to place preaching the gospel for the
salvation of God's elect, to confirm the saints, to exhort
them to continue in the faith. You generously give to the cause
of Christ and you graciously support various ministries throughout
the world. We support our missionaries.
If God raises up men who preach the gospel, we do what we can
to help them. Pastors who need help, we do
what we can to help them. The churches, we do what we can
to help them. God has allowed us to have a real active part
in establishing a number of churches in the time we've been together.
We use every means God's put at our disposal for preaching
the gospel to folks, both by writing and by audio and video,
wherever God opens the door. The Free Grace radio ministry,
as you'll find in just a little bit, is continuing to be a vital,
vital ministry around the world. Almost every week, you send your
pastor somewhere to preach the gospel, and many wonder while
you do so. Others wonder that you do so
at all. You can't imagine how many times
I have folks to suggest that it's surprising your church lets
you go where you do. When I don't get real bad, I
laugh. My wife doesn't let me go where
I do. You're not about to. That's not going to happen. That's
not going to happen. But I'm thankful that you're very much
a part of everything I do, sending me to preach the gospel. Folks
wonder why I strive to give myself relentlessly to this work as
I continue to age. Folks think, well, you ought
to slow down and stop doing some things. Why would a group of
hardworking men and women give so generously to proclaim the
gospel everywhere as God opens the door. We do so for exactly
the same reason that John the Baptist came in his day. To bear
witness of the light. That's our whole business. To
bear witness of the light. To lift up the light of the gospel. The light being Christ Jesus
crucified. That all men through him might
believe. This is how God saves sinners.
This is how God calls out his elect. This is how God shows
mercy to sinners. He causes their paths to cross
with a gospel preacher. Brother Frank just read that
marvelous story of Naaman and meeting up with God's prophet.
When God intends to show mercy to a sinner, he will cause that
sinner's path to be crossed by a gospel preacher some way or
another. And I, after 63 years of age
now, I am more astonished and surprised and delighted every
time I see how God causes the path of his servant to cross
with the chosen sinner at the time he's pleased to call him
by his grace. Look at Matthew chapter 28, verse
18. Jesus came and spake to them,
his disciples, his church, saying, all power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. As our mediator, as our substitute,
as our surety, as the God-man, the Lord Jesus earned the right
to rule the world. The Father said to the Son in
Covenant Mercy, Psalm 2 verse 8, ask of me and I'll give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance. The Lord Jesus, when he finished
his work on this earth, said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. He said, give me
now. The glory I had with thee before
the world was as a man by his obedience under death as our
substitute fulfilling all that God Almighty Stipulated in the
covenant of grace for the saving of his people perfect righteousness
and complete satisfaction The Lord Jesus now is about to ascend
into heaven and he says to his disciples God the triune Jehovah
has given me all power and over all flesh, that is, over all
things. He's given me authority and power
in heaven and in earth. Now, what's next word? Go ye
therefore. Go ye therefore. Quite literally,
while you are going therefore. As you are making your pilgrimage
through this world, as you are walking towards Zion, as you
are moving toward the celestial city, and teach all nations,
teach people everywhere. Among all nations, black and
white, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, male and female,
teach folks everywhere. Teach them what? Teach them the
gospel. Teach them who I am, what I've
done. Teach them how God saves sinners
by his marvelous grace. Baptizing them. Notice the order. He didn't say baptize them and
then teach them. He said, teach them. And when
they had been taught, men and women taught of God, brought
to life in faith in the Redeemer, baptize them. That's how sinners
confess faith in Christ, is by what a baptism. In the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them. Teaching them. That is, as you
baptize them, you are teaching them. As men and women are taught
the things of God, they're obedient to God if they're born of God,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you. You go into a hostile world of
darkness. You go into hostile enemy territory
every day, marching against the very gates of hell with the word
of God, with this authority, I sent you and I'm God your Lord. Don't be afraid of anything.
Don't allow any obstacle to stand in your way. Don't be turned
aside by anything. Lo, I, God with all power, the
God-manual redeemer, I am with you always, wherever you are,
wherever you go, even to the end of the world. Amen. We devote
ourselves to this blessed work of preaching the gospel for the
salvation of God's elect. That sinners might believe on,
trust the Lord Jesus, that sinners might have that great salvation
God so freely gives to all who trust his darling son. Now, in
the time that remains, let me follow the example Paul and Barnabas
give in Acts 14 and rehearse that which the Lord has done
in the places we visited in the United Kingdom. Paul asked the
saints at Colossae to pray for him, that God would open to us
a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ. Just as I have asked you to pray
for me and as I asked you to pray for us, particularly when
Shelby and I started to leave for England two weeks ago, and
I'm happy to report to you as Paul did, a great door and effectual
is open to me. I won't try to give you all the
details of everything preached, but after we left here Sunday
morning, we went over, or after our fellowship dinner Sunday
the 20th, we went over and spent about an hour or so with Doug
and Faith and the kids, and that's always delightful, and then they
took us to the airport, and we flew from Lexington to Atlanta
and got into Birmingham, England on Monday morning about 1130
or so. Brother Paul and Matt Wheeler, sons of Norman Wheeler
and Hilda Wheeler, pastors of the Church at Dudley, Robert Street Baptist Church
in Lower Gornal in Dudley, England, just outside of Wolverhampton.
Paul and Matt picked us up at the airport, as they normally
do, and drove us that hour or so drive over to Wolverhampton.
I met Norman and his wife, Hilda, and Hilda, she's just, I wish
you could meet her. I doubt they'll make the trip
here at their age, but I wish you could meet them. Norman's
been pastoring Dudley for 45, 46 years. And several years ago,
he was going through some difficult, difficult times. And Brother
Sid Buggins had walked by the church door one day and stuck
one of our videos in the door. Norman had no idea where it came
from, what it was, but he stuck it in his video recorder and
watched the messages on it. Then he called his sons in one
day and his daughters and said, ìYou all have got to hear this.î
They sat and listened to the messages. I think there were
four or five, listened to them all at one time. He seemed to
be greatly helped by it. Then he called Brother Buggins
and said, ìYou need to hear this. Let me give you this tape.î He
said, ìI am the one who gave it to you.î After some time, Norman was going
through some difficulty and physical things, and Diane was terribly
depressed and going through some struggles. And his son, Matt,
contacted me and asked me if I might write to his dad. So
I called him and chatted with him a couple of times, and we
became just very, very good friends over the past several years.
I've been preaching for them over there a good while now.
The congregation, very small group, but they've been there
for a long time. and always enjoy going and preaching to them.
His wife, Hilda, does everything to perfection. She prepared the
motel room, makes sure everything is there we need and makes sure
all the things are there that Shelby needs to take care of
our things. She is just one of those ladies. She is very thankful
to have them as friends. Then Tuesday and Wednesday, I
preached at the Robert Street Church. Brother John Graham and
his wife, Ann, came up from London. and Brother Jeff Thomas from
down in Bournemouth and a fellow by the name of Chris. I can't
remember Chris' last name. I've met him a few places over
there. Jeff and Chris just began to meet together. I think there
are three families meeting together down in the very lower part of
England in Bournemouth now. They bought a television screen
in a meeting watching videos. They had their first service
last Sunday and things went very well. So you pray for that group. There are groups like that literally
all over the world, folks in this country, others that have
no pastor, no one close by with any reasonable proximity to drive,
and they meet together and they read the scriptures and pray
and sing their hymns and then watch the videos. Folks in Dudley
and Ballymoney had been doing the same thing, meeting on Sunday
afternoons at the Orange Hall there, and meet together, read
scripture, pray together, and sing God's hymns, and then watch
the video messages. Well, Shelby and I were greatly
encouraged the first night in Dudley. Met a fellow by the name
of Michael Kelly. He won't mind me telling you
his story. I don't think he will. I'm sure
he won't. If I thought he would, I wouldn't tell you. Michael
was my age. I had heard from him, and frankly
I had forgotten about hearing from him. I had heard from him
back in November. He had at one time been a wealthy
man, an artist by trade. He told me he had a pretty wife
and children, home, car, a good bit of money, and lost everything,
in his words, through my own profligacy. He was raised in
a staunchly devoted Roman Catholic household where the kids were
required to go to mass regularly, and if they skipped mass, they
got in big trouble. He came home early one day as
a teenager from mass, and his father knew he hadn't had time
to be there and get back, and he threw his clothes out the
window, and that was the end of the relationship. Five months
ago, he was in at his wit's end, as the psalmist said. and began looking for something.
He said, I didn't have any idea what I was looking for, but I
needed something. And I got on the internet, and the first thing
I ran across was a sermon by you. And God got him. And I heard from him a couple
of times and encouraged him to come to the meetings at Dudley,
put him in contact with Brother Matt Wheeler, who lives in Chester,
about two hours from there. I didn't know of a church in
the area. He asked me for one. I said, if there's one there,
Brother Matt will know. And he hadn't found one. He came
up there and told me a story. And we had a good visit. He was back the next night. And
I encouraged him. I said, if you If you can't move
here, I would encourage you to let this pastor and this congregation
know I'll be here once a month or once a week, however often
you can make it here, and make this your place of worship and
commit yourself to building the kingdom of God with these people
in this place. And I think he's going to. I
believe he will. I just heard from him again this morning or
this afternoon. Anyway, after we left Dudley
on Friday or Thursday, Paul and His wife, Christine, and Matt,
and his wife and children all drove up to the conference at
Eggleston, where Brother Peter Minney is pastor. And they took
Shelby and I up, took about all day to get there. But on Friday
night, when the conference started, I preached at the Egglesburn
Church, where Brother Peter is pastor. He's been there for 22
years. For 22 years, preaching to probably less than 10 people
most of the time. Congregation won't hold more
than about 40 people when it's packed out, as it was on Friday
night. But he'd been there faithfully
serving them for 22 years, and he's a faithful man. You've met
him, gifted preacher. But I was delighted that Michael
Kelly drove up He and his brother Martin, and his note today told
me he and Martin both greatly profited by the message and being
at the meeting there in Egglesburg. So you pray for them. Pray that
God will be pleased to give them direction and supply their needs.
But we had a good meeting at Egglesburg that night. Brother
Alan Jellett and his wife Christine from Nebworth came over. Christine
has been real sick for the past year, but she's doing much better
now, so they were able to make the trip. We got to spend a little
bit of time with them. And then on Saturday, I had the
meeting at Nicolton Hall in Egglesburn, just a little way from the church
building, a little bit bigger place for folks who would come on Saturday.
And that is all day. We started meeting in the early
afternoon about 2 o'clock and had services that afternoon,
had dinner together, services again that night. A good many
folks from the general area there came as well as the folks from
over at Dudley. and Brother Alan Jellett preached,
Brother Peter preached in the afternoon, and we had supper
together. I preached that evening, and then again Sunday morning
at the Eggelsman Church. And then Sunday night, Shelby
and I went over Sunday afternoon back to our lodging and got a
brief nap. We had a long trip Sunday evening.
Took a late flight out of Newcastle to go over to Belfast. Got into Belfast Airport about
8.30 and got in a motel room. Must have been about 11 o'clock
Sunday night. and had services with our friends
at Ballymoney in Northern Ireland. That's right up on the, almost
on the coast in the most northerly point of North Ireland. Those
folks have been meeting together for a good while, but they just
started meeting regularly on Sunday afternoons in a public
place since we were there the last time. They started renting
the Ballymoney Town Hall. The ones who meet regularly are
Brother Bill Campbell and his wife Helen. Brother Stuart Boyd
and his wife, Harriet, and Brother Russell Smith and his wife, Sharon,
their children, Catherine and Johnny, both adult children,
but they're children and they meet with them regularly. Brother
Stuart Boyd and Russell met us at the airport and took us to
a place of residence, our lodging over at the Lodge Hall. Again,
just very well taken care of there. But Brother Stuart a zealous
witness. We first met him on a first trip
over to Northern Ireland eight or nine years ago, and he's had
a serious heart condition since he was 46 years old. And ever
since I've known him, had one foot in the grave and the other
one on a banana peel. Could hardly get around, but he's finally
with Obamacare in Great Britain. He finally got a defibrillator
about a year ago and has been doing better ever since. He is
able to get around pretty well now. Anyway, he and Russell met
us at the airport and we met for supper every night. Those
folks meet together and watch the videos and do what they can
to get the gospel out in that area. You pray, God will be pleased
to send them a pastor. Pray that God will be pleased
to establish his witness in that place. Some folks Look at those
things and think, this is meaningless. For two or three are gathered
together, gathered by God's spirit. In my name, there am I in the
midst of them. Why would you go preach to such
a small group of people, take such labor, and go to such expense,
and spend so much time doing it? If they were your family,
you'd want me to, wouldn't you? Few were your sons and daughters
you want me to, wouldn't you? God's people are gathered where
God gathers them. Sometimes in very small numbers,
faithful men serve them. Faithful men serve them. And
I pray that God will be pleased to establish his witness in that
place. Well, on Wednesday, we got up
early and Russell and Sharon drove us down to Dublin. That
was all day. We had late lunch or early supper
together and flew back home late Thursday night. Everywhere we
went, everywhere we went, numerous people said to me, others said
to Shelby, you be sure to thank Grace Baptist Church of Danville
for sending you to preach the gospel to us. Thank them for
the various ministries from which we benefit. Speaking specifically
a free grace radio the audio and videos the books We greatly
profit by them and they want you to know They feel very much
a part of this assembly and want you to know they're very thankful
for you sending your pastor to preach the gospel to them and
if I am able to do so Lord willing I'll go back in the fall and
repeat the work, maybe go to a couple of other places, but
you pray for God's direction and blessing in that regard and
pray that God will continue to open doors of utterance for the
gospel. I can't tell you how thankful I am for God's goodness
to me, saved me by his grace, and sending me forth to preach
the gospel of his grace. Unto me, whom less than the least
of all saints is this grace given that I should preach to you the
riches of God's grace, the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I'm more astonished by that,
Alan, than I've ever been in my life. Me. Me. Less likely. Nobody less capable. Nobody with less ability. But God has put this rich treasure
of the gospel in my hands and in yours that we should hold
forth the light of Jesus Christ crucified to this generation. May God make us faithful to that
work. Give us continue to open doors
of ministry and add to us whatever is needed to conduct the work
for His glory. For Christ's sake, amen. All right.