Are You a Missionary:

Rick Blount

Romans • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Romans 15:18–21

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PORTRAIT OF A MISSIONARY.

Romans 15:18–21 ESV

18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

We are moving along in our study of the book of Romans and god willing in just a little while now we will complete our study of this wonderful, wonderful book in the Bible.

— some very personal words from the Apostle Paul this morning and I believe they have a message for every one of us. These very personal words from the heart of the Apostle Paul let us know that he was not only a real soul winner, but he was also a great missionary. Of course, there is a sense in which both are the same. Every person who knows Jesus, as Savior ought to be a soul winner. Every person who knows Christ, as their Savior ought to be a missionary seeking to take the Gospel to others. Wherever you are you ought to be winning souls to Jesus and wherever you are - that is your mission field — that’s where God has placed you to carry the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a wider sense that a missionary is different. A missionary, in the wider sense, is someone who has been called of God and sent out by a local congregation of believers into another place. Believe a missionary is absolutely essential in order to fulfill the great commission of Jesus. Jesus said, “Go ye therefore into all the world and make disciples.” It’s impossible for me to go to all the world, literally. It is impossible for this church to go to all the world, literally. But we can obey the commandment of Christ as we pray and as we give and as we send others to tell this world about the Lord Jesus.

Some congregations make the mistake of being local in concern only. Other congregations make the mistake of being global only. If a church is only local in its concern, then it’s selfish. If a church is only global in its concern, then it is inconsistent. But what God wants us to do is to have a heart for our local place of service and have a heart for the world that the whole world might come to know Jesus as their Savior.

The key to be a missionary is being a witness for Jesus wherever you happen to be. Early in my ministry in a church where I served there was a young lady who said that God had called her to be a missionary. A lovely young lady, a wonderful young lady in many ways. Yet I never saw her being a witness for Jesus right in our church community. My heart was burdened and concerned about it as I observed her, and I was saddened to see later on that she abandoned her plans to be a missionary.

If you are not going to be a missionary for Jesus right where you are, then chances are you will never be a missionary anywhere else. The Apostle Paul was not made a missionary because he got on a boat and you and I will not be made missionaries because we get on a jet. If you want to be a missionary for Jesus, the thing to do is be a missionary right where you are.

In the verses which Paul gives to us today I want to share with you and speak some very practical words about the portrait of a missionary. Our church supports several thousands of missionaries who go through the Southern Baptist Convention. We also support missionaries who come right out of our own congregation. On the image mags you will see pictures of these different missionary families. Some of them you will not recognize, others you will.

So, I want my message today to be a tribute to those who are missionaries and a challenge from the Lord for all of us to be missionaries for Jesus right here in Jacinto City.

I call your attention to the

1: A Missionary Bears Fruit.

It is the desire of every missionary, and should be of every Christian, that we be fruitful in our witnessing. That we win people to Christ, that we have some fruit to show of our witnessing endeavors. There are some who have served on mission fields for many years and the results have been very meager. One of the greatest missionaries of all time was a man named Adeniran Judson. He went as a missionary to the country of Burma. He served faithfully for five years before he had his first single convert. So, some people are on difficult fields yet I believe God promises that those who are faithful to witness for Jesus can see people come to know Christ as their Savior.

My life verse is

Psalm 126:6 ESV

6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” I believe we can claim from God fruitfulness in winning people to Jesus. Paul was fruitful in his missionary endeavors. Look at what he says in .

Romans 15:18 ESV

18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,

Notice the little phrase “to make the Gentiles obedient.” There is the statement right there which lets us know that he bore fruit. That is the statement of his fruitfulness. This man Paul had some results and some converts that were genuine and lasting.

How do we know his converts were genuine? He says they became obedient to the faith. They became obedient to the Lord. It’s not enough for a person to raise a hand and say I’ve accepted Jesus. It’s not enough for a person to walk down an aisle and say I’m accepting Jesus. It’s not enough for a person to just sign a card and say I’ve accepted Jesus. Salvation puts a Spirit in the heart of an individual which causes that individual to want to be obedient to the commands of Jesus.

We do not believe that public confession saves you. It’s an indication you are saved. We do not believe that baptism saves you. But it is an indication that you are saved. The job is not done until a person who has professed faith in Christ is baptized, brought into the fellowship of a local church and taught to obey the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, “My results were fruitful. The Gentiles were obedient.” They were lasting results. Paul could go back where He had been and find people who were still going on in the Lord. They were growing in their Christian faith. They were maturing in the Lord.

That’s the kind of results we want right there. We are not so interested in just people signing a card. We are not so interested in people just walking down an aisle. We are interested in people being genuinely converted, genuinely knowing Jesus as their Lord and as their Savior. So, he states here his fruitfulness as a missionary.

He also shows us the source of fruitfulness as a missionary. He says in verse 18 “that I will not speak of those things that Christ has not wrought by me.” Paul came to understand what all of us have to understand. We witness in the power of the Holy Spirit, but we are aware of the fact that the results have to come from Jesus Christ. There is no bragging on Paul’s part. There is no parading of statistics. There is no listing of all the converts. Paul realized that anything that really happened that was ultimately fruitful in his life, Jesus Christ did it.

Here’s a word I would like to give to all of our missionaries. A word I’d like to give to all of our members. Let’s be very careful that we never take any of the credit ourselves. Let’s always be mindful that if the results are there, they are there because of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who works in us. It is Jesus who does His mighty work in and through our lives. So, he tells us here the source of his fruitfulness.

Notice he also tell us his secret of his fruitfulness. Notice three little statements Paul makes beginning in verse 18. He says, “by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God.” Those three little phrases right there tell us the secret of bearing fruit in winning people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By word and deed. That little phrase occurs several times in Scripture, or something similar. We are told in

Acts 7:22 ESV

22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

that Moses was a man mighty in word and deeds. It is even said of the Lord Jesus in

Luke 24:19 ESV

19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,

where the disciples said about Jesus Christ that he was mighty in deed and word. What does it mean that we are to witness in word and in deed? It means that not only are we to say the Gospel, it means we are to live the Gospel. We are to be witnesses for Jesus not only by our lips but by our lives. Your lives and the caliber of its testimony and the reality of your faith in Jesus Christ is a tremendous crediting agency or a crediting force in your testimony for Jesus. If you are not living for Jesus -- if there is no indication that your life has been changed by Jesus Christ then the inconsistency of your life will to a large degree validate what you say with your lips. If people can see that indeed you know Jesus, if indeed He has changed your life, then you provide a powerful, powerful testimony for the Gospel of Jesus Christ as you tell others about the Lord. Let me encourage you, dear members of FBC, live the Gospel in front of those who are around you. Be a faithful witness by the way you live around those who need to know Christ on your job or in your neighborhood, by word and deed.

Then he says “through mighty signs and wonders.” In those days God gave signs and wonders and miracles to authenticate the preaching of the gospels until the New Testament canon was completed. We have the full Word of God today and as we preach the Word of God the

authentication that God has given to us is the authority of thus saith the Word of God. Jesus said in -

John 14:12 ESV

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

“Verily, verily I say unto you he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall He do also. And greater works than these shall he do because I go to my Father.” The disciples in his day were healing the sick. They were casting out demons. They were even seeing people raised from the dead as Jesus was calling people from the dead. Yet, Jesus came along and said you’ll do greater works than these. Let me tell you what the greater works are today. The greater works are the miracles of salvation that God is bringing to pass in the lives of individuals. 0, the miracles of salvation. Liars are made truth tellers. People who are living lives of immorality are made pure and holy and good.

I heard about an agnostic who was standing one day in a public square belittling the miracles of Jesus. He was making fun of the miracles. He said, “Who in the world would believe that Jesus could actually turn water into wine.” There was a man recently converted standing in the audience who said, “Sir, I don’t know a whole lot about the Bible and I’ve never read about Jesus turning water into wine. But let me tell you what He’s done for me. I was an old drunkard and wife- abuser and I met Jesus and He has turned liquor into milk for my little babies. He has turned a monster into a sweet man for a husband for my wife. I don’t know about that water to wine, but I know that Jesus has changed me.” He is still in the miracle business today. The Lord is still changing lives today. All over this building there are people who have been saved by the miracle working power of God. In every section of this building there are people who have been saved and their lives are changed and the signs and the wonders and the miracles are still going on in the 20th Century.

He says also, “by the power of the Spirit of God.” Paul was saying everywhere I preach the Gospel God’s power, the Holy Spirit was at work. In

1 Thessalonians 1:5 ESV

5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

Paul says, “I have preached the Gospel unto you, not in word only, but by power and by the Holy Spirit.” It’s a wonderful thing to know that every time I preach and every time you witness and share your faith, the power of the Holy Spirit of God will be there to do things you and I cannot do in our own flesh. It’s a beautiful thing.

I love the story of Charles Finney, the great evangelist in America years ago. They tell me that Finney was operating in the power of God so much that sometimes he would just walk through a factory and there was so much of the power of God on him that people would fall into the aisles under the conviction power of God. The power of God is still at work today. The Spirit of God is still moving in power today where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached.

That is the power of God. The power of God is manifested every time we preach the Gospel or every time we witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve seen it happen literally hundreds of times. I’ve walked into the homes of individuals. Dirty carpet, beer cans on the table. People there caring not for God themselves or their families. I have shared the simple Gospel of how we are sinners and the simple Gospel of how Jesus died on that cross to save us from our sins and the simple Gospel of how we need to repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and be saved. I’ve seen them hit the floor on their knees and pray their way to Jesus hundreds and hundreds of times. The fruitfulness of a missionary. The great power of God.

2: A Missionary is Faithful:

Don’t we need faithfulness? Don’t we need people who will keep on keeping on for Jesus? Don’t we need people who will not be quitters but will stay with the task and be faithful to tell others about Jesus? Paul says in

Romans 15:19 ESV

19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

, “So that from Jerusalem, round about unto Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” There is a statement of the faithfulness of Paul. It is an encouragement to all of us to be faithful missionaries for Jesus wherever He has put us. These words encourage us to be faithful to the commission of Jesus. Paul says I have started at Jerusalem. Why do you think he said that? In

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

the Scriptures say, “you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” The Lord Jesus said start in Jerusalem and that is exactly where Paul started. He was faithful to the commission of Jesus Christ. Then he says I went round about Illyricum. That word literally means in a full circle. If you will take a map and trace the journeys of Paul you will find that he logged over 1400 miles in his day and established churches in a full circle from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum which is Yugoslavia right on the edge of Rome. Paul obeyed the command of Jesus.

We have the same command. We are to begin at our Jerusalem. Our Jerusalem is Jacinto City. This is where we start. It’s one thing to get a burden for the world which we ought to have. But we also ought to have a burden for our Jerusalem. Some churches are microscopic in their vision. They see only that which is close -- their Jerusalem. Other churches are what I call telescopic in their vision they see only the world. Could I coin a word for you and say that what we need to be is MICROTELESCOPIC? We ought to have our Jerusalem on our hearts and we ought to have the whole world on our hearts. In every widening circle we ought to be getting the Gospel of Jesus Christ from our Jerusalem to the utter most parts of the world. Faithfulness. Faithfulness not only to the commission of Jesus, but faithfulness also to the communication of the Gospel. “I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ.” What a tremendous statement that is. Paul is saying I didn’t leave any of it out. He is saying that he told the whole story. That’s our responsibility - to tell the whole story.

I remember an account in the Old Testament about the lepers. There was great famine and starvation in the land. They went into the city and they found that the plague had come and they found food there. The leper said, “we do not well, this is a day of good tidings and we hold our peace.” That could be said of many Christians today. We do not well. We have a message of good news. We have a gospel and we hold our peace. For a Christian not to be a witness is either to be a counterfeit or to be inconsistent. A light that will not shine. A seed that will not grow. A spring that will not flow. They are no greater in inconsistency than a Christian who will not witness. Paul said, “I have fully preached it.”

We are living in a day where people say you have to back off just a little. People say you can’t give them the whole thing because you will run them off. You just give them a little bit to entice them and once you get them in the doors then give them the whole load. I repudiate that philosophy because it is contrary to the teachings to the Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ stood before the rich young ruler and told it to him just exactly like it is. The rich young ruler turned and walked away. But he didn’t walk away saying I don’t understand. Don’t know what it’s all about. It’s not our job to make the Gospel appealing; it’s our job to make it available. When people receive it, then it gets very, very appealing. We have to tell the whole story. I’m talking about being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. For over 50 years this church has had a faithful, consistent, certain sound of the Gospel. Nobody has to wonder in this city where we stand. Nobody has to wonder where they are going to hear about the precious blood of Jesus Christ and the Lord dying on the cross for their sins when they get to this church. Our church is a lighthouse for Jesus Christ and God keep us faithful until Jesus Christ comes again. Amen and amen.

3: A Missionary need to have freshness:

There is an appealing freshness about the ministry of this man, Paul. It’s amazing what went on in Paul’s life. Paul was snake bitten in Malta; he was stoned in Lystra; he was scourged in Philippi. There was never a dull moment. Somebody said when people go to towns today they ask about the nearest hotels. When Paul went to a town he asked about the nearest Jail. Everywhere Paul went he either had a riot or a revival. Never a dull moment. If you want your life to be filled with excitement. If you want every day to be an adventure, get involved in the soul winning business. Get involved in this missionary business of getting the gospel out to a lost world that’s dying and going to hell.

Notice the freshness, first of all, of reaching new frontiers. He says, “I have strived to preach the Gospel not where Christ was named.” He was reaching out for new frontiers. He is saying I want to go somewhere that’s brand new. I want to reach out to anew frontier for the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted to plow some new ground. He wanted to get into some new soil, some virgin territory. I remember the statement of Paul in

2 Corinthians 10:16 ESV

16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence.

where he talked about the regions beyond. That’s the spirit of a missionary. Always the regions beyond. One of the great missionaries of all time was a man named David Livingstone. He went to Africa and there planted the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The missionary society that was considering sending him as a missionary asked him where he wanted to go. His reply was “I want to go anywhere so long as it is forward.” They say when he went to Africa that he was haunted by the smoke rising from a thousand villages that had never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. When they brought his body back for burial in the Westminster Abbey in England they put a sign that said, “Here lies the body of David Livingstone, but his heart is buried in Africa. That’s the frontier spirit. The Spirit of new frontiers fro Jesus. We need to get a new vision today. We need to get a fresh vision of frontiers to conquer for the Lord Jesus. We’re just scratching the surface in Jacinto City. We are just playing games in Jacinto City. There are thousands that are lost and need Jesus Christ in Jacinto City. We need new approaches. We need new exciting ways of reaching people for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are praying now about a Life of Christ that will absolutely blow your eyes out. It’ll blow your brains when you try to think about the concept. We are thinking about. You help us pray about it. We want to do something that will help us reach not just thousands, but tens of thousands of people to know the Lord Jesus Christ. New frontiers for Jesus.

We have technology - all this stuff in the modern age today - it all needs to be used to hit some new places for the Lord Jesus and get some new methods of winning people to faith Jesus Christ in the 20th Century. Reaching out. The freshness of reaching new frontiers.

The freshness of laying new foundations. He says I have tried to preach the gospel where Christ was not named. “Lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” It’s not wrong to build on another man’s foundation. Nothing wrong with that. In

John 4:38 ESV

38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Jesus said to His disciples, “Other men have labored and you have entered into their labors.” Dr. Lindsay Jr. and myself are building on the foundation that was laid over 50 years ago by Dr. Lindsay, SR. Not a thing in the world wrong with that. Paul knew he was a master architect. Paul knew he was a pioneer fro Jesus. God had given Paul the ministry of going out in new frontiers and laying fresh foundations where they had never been laid before.

What does he mean building on another man’s foundation? Paul is talking about planting churches. The New Testament way if you are going to do missionary work the New Testament way, is you win people to faith in Jesus and then you organize them into churches. You lay the foundation of churches. Paul could go back later on and visit where he had been doing his work and there was something there. In the book of

Acts 15:36 ESV

36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

— as he is contemplating another tour, Paul says, “Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the Word of the Lord and see how they do.” How was he going to do that? He laid the foundation of churches. He organized converts in churches. It does no good to go to a field and preach and just preach the gospel and just walk away. 0, it does good, that’s not correct. It does good if you can get them saved and going to heaven, but you haven’t done the job until you get them in a church and until they are baptized and they have some way to grow in the Lord. I have come to believe that’s the strategy that will capture America for Jesus again. America is going to hell in a hand basket. This beloved country of ours is going to hell on a jet ski. The churches are in retreat in America instead of moving into the cities. The churches are moving out of the cities. God’s strategy is to put a church in a city. That’s the way you shake that city for the Lord Jesus Christ. We aren’t going out to the suburbs. We are staying right down here where the action is. We are not retreating from the problems of downtown. We are going to stay down here and solve the problems of the downtown. We are going to be a beacon for Jesus Christ in the center of the city. We need to lay new foundations for the Lord Jesus Christ. The freshness of it all.

The freshness of reaching and speaking to new faces for Jesus. In verse 21 he quotes

Isaiah 52 ESV

1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. 13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 52:15 ESV

15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 1 ESV

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. 5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9 If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. 18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 21 How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. 22 Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. 23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them. 24 Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. 25 I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. 26 And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” 27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. 28 But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. 30 For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. 31 And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.

Isaiah 52 ESV

“I want to speak to those who have never seen and let those hear so they will understand.” He is saying here I want to speak to some people who have never heard the name of Jesus. Paul was a visionary. Paul was a pioneer. Paul had a heart for the world. Paul saw people who had never heard about Jesus in his visions and he wanted to go and speak the name of Jesus to those who had never heard.

You say preacher I can’t do that in America. They’ve all heard in America. No, they have not. A pastor friend of mine in Birmingham, Alabama, several years ago told about a member of his church who was out witnessing in Birmingham and witnessed to a teenage boy - the Bible belt - Birmingham, Alabama, - and mentioned Jesus to him. The boy looked up at him and said, “Sir, who is Jesus?” I will guarantee you that right here in the city of Jacinto City that has a church virtually on every corner of every street in this city — there are people who may have heard the name of Jesus but they don’t have an idea in the world who Jesus is. You have neighbors and you have people where you shop and where you work, and they wander who Jesus is. If you don’t tell them, they will never, never know.

Has God given some of you today visions of new faces that need to hear about Jesus? Black faces that have never heard? Yellow faces that have never heard? White faces that have never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Let us go to the regions beyond where the story has never been told. To the millions who never of Jesus have heard, let us take the sweet story of old.”

God may call some of you to go to a foreign field. If He does let me say to you, prepare yourself. Don’t give Jesus a half a missionary. Give Him a whole missionary. Get your education. Don’t take the short-cut approach. Get a doctor’s degree. Get everything education can provide and give Jesus all of your capacity and potential and then you go out and tell those who have never heard.

God may not send you to a foreign field. God may want you to be a witness for Jesus on this field. Let’s ask God to paint the portrait of a missionary of me and you. Let’s commit ourselves anew and afresh to being what God wants us to be in Jacinto City.