Well, thank you so much.
I need hardly say that it's been a
tremendous joy for me to be here with
the with you these days it's been a
wonderful week and I want to thank you
for the Tremendous fellowship that I personally have
enjoyed as also Rick school who's been accompanying
me.
He's the son of the director of our
work in Sweden and he Acts as my
mule he sort of carries my baggage and
writes my letters and Nope Where are you
Rick?
There is stay up Thank you very much
He's bumped into a quite a lot of
folks here and I'm thankful for his tremendous
help He records the messages and takes care
of all kinds of other things and does
his best to keep me out of mischief
with no great success.
I Have a fantastic wife.
Her name is Joan and She comes from
the north of Ireland I Thank God for
her for seven years before I met her
Because I was so busy engaged, you know
traveling all around the British Isles that I
didn't have time to look for a wife
So I just said Lord We're created in
Christ unto good works Which God has before
ordained that we should walk in them Which
means quite obviously that if I'm to have
a wife in your divine purpose, it's already
settled in heaven You've already made the decision.
There are no issues for you to face
The only thing is I don't know where
she is, but you do and that's really
all I need to know If I'm to
have a wife, of course, if I'm not
to have a wife, then it doesn't matter
too much.
I Mean if you want me to go
to South America, you know float down the
Amazon get eaten by crocodiles I probably don't
need a wife unless she's going to get
eaten at the same time But the thing
was That by circumstances that I won't bother
to tell you I landed in her home
And we saw each other about three times
before we got married Because you see the
world was at war and I didn't have
time So it was a very brief courtship
and very inexpensive because all my letters were
paid for by the British government being in
the army but We spent about five months
together during the first five and a month
five and a half years of our married
life In the service of King and country.
We've improved a little bit on that not
an awful lot but She really has been
fantastic totally identified in the ministry that God
was pleased to entrust to us heavily involved
and We seek to get together now and
again I'll see her tomorrow for a few
days and we commute around the world and
you know make a date sometime where we're
gonna meet and We're both delighted at the
incredible privilege that God has given to us
to be Separated so often from each other
in his service.
She writes to me and says when there's
no blessing come home Trouble is there's always
blessing But it's wonderful, isn't it to have
a wife so completely identified and I rejoice
in all the rich ministry that God has
given to her.
She's just come back from England a couple
of days ago and we have four children
and all our sons are boys and Mm
-hmm Sometimes you can't tell these days, but
mine are My wife accepted Christ when she
was seven years of age and my oldest
boy Chris I'm happy to say he accepted
Christ when he was seven years of age
His catapult broke and he came if you
know what a catapult is.
It's an engine of war You know elastic
and a piece of paper or even a
stone Hmm Magnificent if the teachers back his
turn Because he doesn't know where it's coming
from But his broke and so in the
process of mending it for him I talked
to him about the Lord Jesus and that's
when he received Christ Well, he's in his
early 40s now some you may know he
married Cliff Barrow's oldest daughter Bonnie and They
have three little boys and they live in
Ravencrest Chalet, which is my home to in
Colorado Estes Park and Mark and Peter the
next two boys they received the Lord Jesus
when they were five and Mark today He
directs our international headquarters in England Cape and
Ray Peter has a sort of world parish.
He directs the Spring school, which is our
fall school in New Zealand Until Christmastime then
he organizes Evangelistic camps and then operates at
our center in Australia Then shoots back usually
through the United States and Canada stopping it
Some of our centers on this part of
the world before going back to lead our
spring school in England Maybe takes an evangelistic
team all over the British Isles before returning
to New Zealand.
So he has rather a wide parish and
He's just come back from Israel my fourth
boy He's now 21 you'd hardly believe that
two years ago I still had a teenager
He was three years on our maintenance staff
in England, but is with us at this
moment in Colorado getting more experience in construction
So that he too can be part of
the team We are so delighted that they're
all as excited as we are about the
Lord Jesus and we thank God for these
boys so That's of course been a source
of real joy to our hearts I was
converted as I told you last night at
the ripe old age of 12 Peter the
last boy he was only four all the
family were away at that time save he
and myself and Much to my surprise at
the end of the evening meeting.
He said We ought to pray and read
the Bible Well, that was a pretty smart
suggestion and surprised me somewhat He hadn't shown
too much evidence of being particularly pious at
that age So I took him on my
knee and we read a few verses from
the Bible and I explained about the Lord
Jesus coming to live Within you sharing his
life every moment of every day But he
couldn't do it until first having died that
our sins might be forgiven.
We invite him to come to be our
Savior Well, he listened very very care.
I said do you know the Lord Jesus
lives inside you?
or no Wouldn't you like to?
well, he said yes, so we pray together
and I deliberately didn't say anything to his
mother They always had a little devotion, of
course at night and I thought if this
is truly of God's Holy Spirit Life will
be manifest and sure enough that evening.
He blurted it out He said Jesus lives
in my tummy Well That's the inside for
a small boy I'm happy to tell you
that his theology has risen by about 15
inches And now he knows where the Lord
Jesus Christ lives.
So that's been a great joy for us
Torchbearers.
Well God laid this upon our hearts when
I returned from World War two and a
beautiful place up in the northwest of England
A hundred and seventy acres of lovely parkland
near the English Lake District about 70 miles
south of Scottish border 150 miles say from
Glasgow 60 160 from Edinburgh beautiful location and
We've had about a hundred and twenty five
thousand young folks staying with us there But
it's sort of buddied out into different parts
of the world so that we have two
in Austria two in Switzerland one in Spain
Switzerland France and in Austria and here in
the United States in Colorado there in Estes
Park in Texas between San Antonio and Kerrville
and a beautiful location on Thetis Island in
the Straits of Georgia between Vancouver and Victoria
on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and
in Australia And we have a school as
I indicated in New Zealand and now a
new one that we've just established in Indonesia
between Jakarta and Bandung up in the mountains
We have many schools in places like Malaysia
Burma and Hong Kong and We thank God
for these delightful opportunities.
There's a jungle base 150 miles from Bangalore
in India elephants and all and That's a
marvelous opportunity to reach out to the countless
millions of that needy country 700 million as
all of you know I'm sure and 70
% living them in little villages so many
of which there in particular where we are
in the jungle utterly pagan but they reach
out to those needy people for whom the
Lord Jesus died and we have a an
administrative headquarters and Bible school outreach in Manila
in the Philippines and We're just about to
establish a new base in Japan and The
object of course is Bible camp ministry so
that thousands of kids can come and be
confronted with the total claims of the Lord
Jesus Having come to Christ as a boy
in a boys camp needless to say that's
very much laid on my heart and so
we've ministered to these young folks all over
the world and Then as a an offspring
as it were of the Bible camp ministry
the short-term Non-vocational Bible schools and
every winter we have about 800 students in
residence from about 30 different countries in these
different locations And then a couple of hundred
added to that during the spring and summertime
in special short-term Bible schools so that
about a thousand students 18 years and age
and upwards come and Participate in that Bible
school program not a vocational training.
We're simply teaching Christians what it means to
be a Christian Is if you produce preachers
you're not necessarily produce Christians, but if you
produce Christians you always produce preachers so that's
more economical, so we do it that way
around and we thank God for the thousands
of young folk that come and some of
them have been here this week and Some
are in residence now of course during our
spring school You may say How do you
start these centers?
What's very simple?
All you have to do some 30 years
ago is drive down an autobahn in the
south of Germany With a somewhat loaded car
and a lot of baggage.
I had my wife with me and if
you have your wife with you always have
a lot of baggage, and then you see
a boy hitchhiking and You're strongly Sort of
desirous of picking him up But you look
at the car, and you feel the springs
And you know how many people are aboard
and you harden your heart and drive on
But about 300 yards later you're strongly impelled
to go back and pick him up Because
you see that boy who lived near Hamburg
had a deep desire in his heart to
know Jesus Christ, but didn't know how What
do you think God does when he sees
a boy on the side of the road?
Who wants to become a Christian, but nobody's
told him exactly how to become a Christian
It's very simple God watches all the cars
going by until he sees one with a
Christian in And then he says stop pick
him up in the if the driver's too
stupid Too idle too much of a hurry
or thinks the cars too laden that he
drives on then 300 yards late He shouts
a little louder.
I'm glad I heard the second shot Went
back picked him up took him to the
place where dear friends were allowing us to
spend the night in their home And they
graciously gave him accommodation and that night Peter
accepted Christ he was raised from the dead
he became a Partaker of the divine nature
the Lord Jesus came to invade his humanity
Exactly what it means to be a Christian
a living finger on the hand of God
marvelous Well he came to our home point
of fact and was with us five years,
and we gave him a wife I Mean
you can't do much more than lead a
boy to Christ give him his training introduce
him to his wife And then give him
a job.
I mean apart from burying him.
That's about all you can do But you
know before that as a teenager boy.
He went up to His home and led
one of his school chums to Christ Well
that boy went to Bible school met a
sweet Spanish girl and as a result of
that he now directs our Center in Spain
on the Mediterranean coast near Valencia then Peter
came first to Capernaum and then Having been
deeply impressed with the need of the young
folks in Austria.
He went on assignment on our staff to
a place called Schladming and We seconded him
to a Lutheran church where God first Marvelously
used him amongst the young folks now we
have a beautiful old castle built a thousand
years ago Which we've dusted and rehabilitated and
thousands of kids have been there, but in
the meantime while he was in Schladming There
was a knock on the door and a
boy came with a letter from his mom
and dad who were Lutheran Christians And they
said we understand in this letter that you're
a German young man come to Austria to
lead boys and girls to Christ well We
have four sons and none of them are
converted, so we're sending out all this boy
amps with this letter.
Please lead him to Christ Well that was
a nice invitation so right there on the
doorstep.
He led him to Christ now Ernst in
the meantime went back later and led his
three younger brothers to Christ and his mother
to Christ He's just come back after five
years in Micronesia the islands off the mainland
of Indonesia But having led his three brothers
to Christ the older of those three boys
when he was still a teenager came to
one of our summer conferences and Then hitchhiked
back through England France Germany to Austria Now
in the meantime of course Peter Had become
the director of that big castle there in
upper Austria Schloss Klaus So now we've got
two centers just because a kid was standing
on the side of the road you see
now in the meantime While that boy his
the older of his three younger brothers was
hitchhiking back through England France Germany and Austria
He stayed overnight in a youth hostel in
Paris and while he was in that youth
hostel he met a Buddhist student from Japan
and Being you see a living member of
the body of Jesus Christ his lips gave
utterance to what the Lord Jesus had to
say to that Buddhist student learned that he
wanted to go to England he was sort
of Hitchhiking around the world and so that
young Austrian boy said if you go to
England call it Capon Ray which was pretty
smart Because he knew what would hit him
Once he got there, and it did We
were building a new conference hall And he
worked and got so interested asked whether he
could stay another three months and did during
which time he accepted the Lord Jesus He
came through our Bible school.
I had the joy of baptizing him in
the lake at Capon Ray in England he
went to Bible training Institute in Glasgow and
He now is our national director in Japan
and it has just purchased some land so
then we can establish a new center in
that Country you see it's so simple All
you have to do is pick up a
kid about 33 years ago on an autobahn
in Germany you see lead him to Christ
He leads somebody to Christ who establishes the
center in Spain He leads his three younger
brothers to Christ one of whom hitchhikes through
England Germany Paris leads a Buddhist Japanese boy
to come to England to find Christ so
we can have another center in Japan isn't
it simple I Mean could you organize that
I?
Mean could you sit down in committee and
see you know plan it all happen of
course you couldn't You see the Lord Jesus
said out of your innermost being will flow
rivers of living water and the beautiful But
thing about a river is it flows?
You can't push it Nor can you channelize
it if you do if you want it
to flow in a certain direction You've got
to dig the channel then it isn't a
river.
It's a canal That's man-made And it's
always changing course It's always unique you can
never keep it the same shape if you
want to keep a river the same shape
You've got to freeze it, but then you
haven't got a river.
You've only got a block of ice The
best thing to do is let it flow
and cut its own channel and over all
these years Since 1947 God has been cutting
the channel and all over the world circling
the globe today We have 17 centers with
thousands of kids boys girls men and women
So that they might be introduced to that
living dynamic relationship to the Lord Jesus that
allows him to be God in the man
Well, that's just a little panoramic view of
what we call torch-bearing nothing nothing novel
about it nothing unique there are countless other
agencies that God has been pleased to bring
into being and We enjoy the sweetest fellowship
with such and it's our privilege being interdenominational
interorganizational international simply to be a fellowship that
serves as Best God would have us know
the interests of every true believer worldwide, and
that's our privilege to serve others What we've
been talking about the Christian life in these
days Especially as it was evidenced in that
early group of believers Men remember who were
incorrigibly happy utterly unafraid and nearly always in
trouble Who knew what they believed believe what
they knew acting on the assumption that it
was true and let God prove it who
were sent and when But they weren't always
that way and we have been discussing that
for the last couple of nights Something had
to happen to get them out of Matthew
16 into Acts chapter 5 Matthew 16 forbidden
by the Lord Jesus to tell anybody that
he Jesus was the Christ yet Acts chapter
5 Though beaten and flogged forbidden to say
anything in his name Rejoicing that they were
allowed to suffer shame for Jesus they ceased
not to teach and preach that Jesus was
the Christ What was it that made the
difference?
the resurrection the resurrection After a death at
first they did not want a resurrection in
which at first they had not believed But
in rediscovering the Lord Jesus as he appeared
to them in the upper room.
They've got a new joy new Bible new
message New responsibility and a new enabling now
said the Lord Jesus I'm going to lift
the prohibition and you're going to be my
witnesses to the ends of the earth But
before you embark upon those new responsibilities Tarry
in the city of Jerusalem because I haven't
yet returned to be with my father so
that I can come in the in the
person of my other self the Holy Spirit
and Occupy your humanity as that new body
The father is going to give me so
that your hands will be mine to work
with your feet mine to walk with your
lips mine to speak with eyes to see
with ears to hear with hearts to love
with remember That's the Christian life Well, how
did it work out Well, I thought we
might dance at that just for a few
minutes tonight turn to Acts chapter 8 the
church in action the church which is his
body Chapter 8 verse 1 Saul was consenting
to the death of Stephen Stood by bear
saw his blood run in the gutter heard
his bones snap as he was stoned to
death and Saul as for him verse 3
he made havoc of the church Entering into
every house and hailing men and women he
committed them to jail which Of course was
the very best thing that could possibly have
happened for the early church Because at that
stage they were tempted to settle down and
get comfy But that wasn't the purpose which
they had been redeemed Because God didn't send
his son simply to come into this world
that men might get out of heaven into
heaven But that he our risen Lord Jesus
might get out of heaven into them That
they indeed might be that Humanity in which
he would continue to do that which he
had begun to do and teach that which
he had begun to teach as he Came
to seek and to save that which is
lost And it was never his intention that
the church should get comfortable in Jerusalem.
So he put a cat among the pigeons
Therefore they that were scattered abroad when everywhere
preaching the word Then Philip went down to
the city of Samaria and preached Christ Unto
them What's the difference between preaching the word
and preaching Christ?
Well, no difference We saw that last evening
there's no dichotomy between the written word and
the living word or between the living word
and the written word That was the mistake
the theologians made they detached the written word
from the living word and that Remember from
last night was the mistake that the disciples
made they detached the living word from the
written word and for that reason to the
Theologians the Bible didn't make sense and other
cycles Jesus didn't make sense But now you
see the Lord Jesus having opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures whether they
preach the word or they preach Christ it
was one of the same thing they knew
they couldn't preach the word without preaching Christ
and then you they couldn't preach Christ without
preaching the word and Philip in Samaria was
marvelously owned of God as he bore testimony
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is
one who laid down his life that we
might be Reconciled to God know the power
of his divine indwelling and there was great
joy verse 8 in that city And then
when they had testified and preached the word
of the Lord verse 25 They returned to
Jerusalem and they preached the gospel in many
villages of the Samaritans in other words after
that great citywide crusade in Samaria they had
subsidiary campaigns and the villages around and by
this time, of course Philip's name made news
And everybody was out to hear the great
preacher citywide evangelist and then verse 26 The
angel of the Lord Spake under Philip saying
arise And go Go toward the
south And to the way that goeth down
from Jerusalem to Gaza which is desert To
the citywide evangelist whose name made news the
Spirit of God Came to give instructions From
the head to a member of his body
go I Wanted to get on a donkey
and go for a ride in the desert
And of course many of us at that
stage would have been tempted to argue What
do you think I'm gonna do in the
desert I'm the citywide evangelist I Mean nobody
knows me in the in the desert, but
around here everybody knows me They all come
up to hear me preach what I'm gonna
do in the desert.
Who are you a bunch of goats But
you see Philip didn't argue Why didn't he
argue very simple He was a man being
filled with the Holy Spirit Or you say,
how do you know he was filled with
the Spirit Well, the answer to that is
equally simple it tells you in the next
verse When God said go He arose and
Went In other words he was sent when
What happens when you're sent and when You
put And if you know who sent you
know who put you know it's God who
sent you and God who put you nothing
can frighten you and You don't even bother
to ask questions Because you realize now there
are no decisions for you to make as
A living healthy robust full-blooded member of
the body of Christ.
There are only instructions to obey So he
went a donkey ride in the desert And
as he arose and went behold a man
of Ethiopian eunuch of great authority on the
candidacy queen of the Ethiopians who had the
charge of all her treasure and had come
to Jerusalem for the worship was returning and
sitting in his chat reading of all things
in the middle of the desert The prophecy
of Isaiah and the spirit then said to
Philip go near join yourself to that chariot
and Philip ran He had to run otherwise
he'd have missed his text But he arrived
dead on taste What do you think what
do you think in the middle of the
desert an Ethiopian Eunuch was reading chancellor Vick's
trekker a man of great authority on the
Queen candidacy.
What do you think he was reading?
Says verse 32 the place of the scripture
which he read was this He was led
as a sheep to the slaughter like a
lamb dumb before his shearers who opened in
on his mouth in his humiliation His judgment
was taken away who shall declare his generation
his life is taken from the earth The
gospel according to Isaiah the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief The cost of our
peace laid upon him by whose stripes we
healed I Said Philip to the eunuch verse
30 understand as thou what thou readest He
said how can I Except some man should
guide me I Need
a voice I need somebody to tell me
I Said the eunuch to Philip verse 34
I pray thee of whom speaketh the prophet
this is he talking about himself or is
he talking about some other man?
Say what a fantastic opportunity Philip there in
the middle of the desert All the God
sent him was get on a donkey and
go for a ride in the desert.
No other instructions God didn't tell him why
and Philip didn't even have to know He
only had to go when God sent him
with a hilarious expectation of Something that would
happen that would be to God's total satisfaction
That's how we know that he was a
man being filled with the Holy Spirit Of
our Lord Jesus.
We're told Luke chapter 4 in verse 1
Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit Was
led by the Spirit into the desert The
evidence that our Lord Jesus every moment of
every day from the moment of conception was
being filled with the Holy Ghost was that
he Was told by his father what to
do and did at all times what he
was told.
I Do only those things that please him
So Philip verse 35 and we were discussing
this over lunch one or two of us
This is one of the most magnificent lectures
on homiletics.
You could find anywhere Said the unit to
Philip of whom speaketh the man this So
Philip verse 35 Opened his mouth and that's
the best thing to do if you're going
to say something And you think it's very
elementary but a lot of true Christians need
to learn how to open their mouths But
remember this only open your mouth if you've
got something to say When the disciples before
they wanted the cross or dared to believe
in the resurrection With all their enthusiasm wanted
to serve Christ.
He said keep your mouth shut Because they
didn't know what it was all about But
now you see Philip with the others Have
rediscovered the Lord Jesus in the fullness and
power of his resurrection as the one whom
they crucified but God raised from the dead
Began at the same scripture and preached unto
him Jesus If he'd come from one of
our liberal Theological seminaries today he'd have probably
apologized for the prophecy of Isaiah and he
probably said well You know, there are at
least seven different theories about its authorship.
We're not absolutely certain that it's authentic Fat
lot of use of he he would have
been in the dead But then you see
he never would have received the instructions to
go Beginning at the self same scripture he
preached unto him Jesus Because these are they
that testify said the Lord Jesus of me
He was wonderfully saved almost took Philip's breath
away as they were on their way they
came to a certain water and no doubt
Philip had explained that the beautiful picture then
as now of our Identity with the Lord
Jesus as those judicially executed in the person
of another is to go beneath the water
Testifying to the world.
I want you to know that the person
I was and you have known me to
be In all my sin and need has
been buried with Christ And I give you
public notice that you can say goodbye to
the person you knew me to be And
when you come out from the water No
doubt Philip would explain to the eunuch in
this beautiful picture of what happens when a
person on the grounds of redemption Enjoys that
spiritual regeneration that puts God back into the
man when you come up into the water
You're testifying to the world that you being
identified with Christ in death He now the
risen Lord has come to share his life
with you and you share his resurrection And
you give public notice to the world mom
dad brothers sisters school chums fellow students workmates
fellow drivers My associates in the office my
customers and clients I give you public notice
that the person I used to be you
can consider buried and now you have the
absolute right in that I have shared the
resurrection of my Lord Jesus to expect of
my hands what he would do to expect
from my Lips to hear what he would
say and to expect with my legs to
see him going where he wants.
That's baptism It's baptism.
I'm crucified with Christ Nevertheless, sir.
Nevertheless, I live here not I Christ lives
in me.
So I give you public right to see
Christ behave That's a Christian because remember a
Christian is somebody who cannot possibly happen apart
from Jesus Christ Well while he was explaining
this they came across some water and said
the the unit to the to Philip He
said what hinders me to be baptized?
Well Philip said if you believe with all
your heart, of course you may Well, he
answered and said of course, I believe I
Believe that this Jesus you've been telling about
is the Christ the Son of God I
was just waiting for somebody to come and
tell me what that meant Fantastic say how
hard was it for Philip to lead that
man to Christ?
Well, he couldn't help it I Mean did
he need an all-night prayer meeting to
twist God's arm to bestow some blessing upon
that?
Well, of course not I Mean if he
in the middle of the desert asked God
to bless that man God is so what
do you think I put you there for?
That's why I told you to get on
the donkey and go for a ride Because
I've come to seek and to say that
which is lost this man went all the
way to Jerusalem to find God and found
nothing but sterile dead religion But God doesn't
leave a man in the lurch He tells
a healthy member of his body to get
on a donkey and go for a ride
in the desert so simple When they were
come up out of the water the spirit
of the Lord caught away Philip he came
by donkey went back by air And the
eunuch saw him no more He went on
his way rejoicing That was the church in
action say who organized it Who put Philip
at that precise precise moment in time in
The place where he would encounter a man
reading his Bible all about a Savior who
was wounded for his transgressions and With a
heart hungry to know Who it could be
and how he could know God who organized
that Well the Lord Jesus you see he's
the head of the body And all he's
asking of you and me men and women
boys and girls who know that we have
been redeemed in his precious blood And that
he's come by his Holy Spirit and well
our humanity all He wants of us is
our sensitivity to his direction so that we
are told what to do And do as
we're told be being filled with the Holy
Spirit In the meantime we're told chapter 9
and verse 1 soul breathing out threatenings and
slaughtered against the disciples of the Lord Went
to the high priest desired of him letters
to Damascus to the synagogues if he found
any of this way whether there were men
Or women he might bring them bound to
Jerusalem That's all of times arch enemy of
the early church dangerous man But on the
way to Damascus there was a light brighter
than the Sun at noonday, and we discussed
this on Wednesday night And he was flung
sightless to the ground heard a voice in
the Hebrew tongue saying soul soul why persecute
is thou me Who are you Lord?
I'm Jesus Whom thou persecuted hard for you
to kick against the praise soul of Tarsus
capitulated Said he Lord verse 6 chapter 9.
What wilt thou have me to do and
The Lord Jesus said arise and go Go
into the city and it shall be told
you what thou must do and he went
Ended up in the house of a man
called Judas in a street called straight And
verse 10 tells us that there was a
certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and to
him said the Lord in a vision Ananias
he said here.
I am and The Lord said unto him
arise and Give you one one guess what
do you think he said?
Go Go Go into the street, which is
called straight and inquire in the house of
Judas for one cold soul of Tarsus behold
he prayed He has seen in a vision
a man named Ananias coming in and putting
his hand on him Then he might receive
his sight go You see to Philip God
said get in the donkey and go for
a ride in the desert To Ananias one
of his disciples another healthy member of the
body of Christ on earth said he I
want you to knock on a door down
the road a Little house-to-house visitation
Well Ananias wasn't at first all that enthusiastic
He said Did you say soul of Tarsus
God said yes, so let us And imagine
Ananias said are you sure you've got the
name, right?
God said yes, I've got the name, right
Well, are you sure I'm the best person
to go I?
Mean would you have been all that enthusiastic
to knock on the door where you knew
soul of Tarsus arch enemy of the early
church With letters of authority to throw into
jail everybody who dared to name the name
of Jesus.
Would you have been all that enthusiastic?
Ananias answered verse 13 Lord.
I've heard by many of this man how
much evil you have done He has done
to thy saints at Jerusalem here He hath
authority from the chief priests to bind all
that call in your mind on your name
and you want you want me to knock
Batman's door Right Get on The Lord said
go thy way he's a chosen vessel unto
me The last person and an ass maybe
you would ever have supposed would become a
Christian But he's a chosen vessel unto me
To bear my name before the Gentiles and
kings and the children of Israel for I
will show him how great things he must
suffer For my name's sake I haven't offered
him health wealth prosperity or anything else.
I've just Recognized the deep longing of his
heart in his fanatical pursuit of religion Doing
it with the utmost sincerity thinking misguidedly that
he was serving God I hated what he
was doing, but I loved his motive and
Knew that if only he could come face
to face With truth he'd obey him and
did So go I Said go And
Anna and I stopped arguing do you know
why?
He was a man being filled with the
Holy Spirit, how do we know that?
What tells in the next verse 17 and
a nurse When That's what it means to
be being filled with the Holy Spirit That's
what it means to be a healthy member
of the body of Christ exactly what you
expect of your hands When you tell them
to do something you expect them to do
it If you want to eat your food,
you tell your hands to pick up the
knife and fork and they do Well, what
do you expect?
What would you anticipate the Lord Jesus would
expect of us when we dare to say
I'm a Christian a member of his body
Subject to his headship sharing his life.
He dwelling within me that Humanity the father
has presented to him on earth today so
that he can continue Through me to do
his ancient work seeking and saving that which
is lost.
What do you expect?
That he would anticipate if I dare to
say I'm a Christian well when he tells
me to go I go The only evidence
that I'm a healthy living robust full-blooded
member of his body Enjoying the sheer adventure
of sharing his life on earth on the
way to him And an ass went his
way entered into the house and all he
had to do when he went into the
house where there was housed the man who
so shortly before Had been the arch enemy
of the early church was to put his
arms around his neck and say brother Saul
The Lord even Jesus that appeared unto thee
in the way as thou camest hath sent
me that thou mightest receive thy sight and
be filled with the Holy Ghost Say how
difficult was it for an honest?
To bring blessing to this man who had
been the arch persecutor of the early church
We couldn't help it All he had to
do was to be told what to do
do he was told and fling his arm
around his neck And We made the Christian
life complicated Are you Christian Then if whose
body are you are you a member Under
whose jurisdiction do you operate?
Who do you recognize as being the head
of that body that you say you belong
to?
Are you allowing other people to play God
in your life other than Jesus Christ Then
probably the Christian life you will be very
exhausting Because in all probability with the best
will in the world you'll be trying to
live a life for him that only he
can live through you Only a glance at
the tenth chapter because the story is well
known to you.
It was the devout man He was a
a Roman officer very very fine man.
He was a major Centurion of one of
the most famous regiments in the Imperial Roman
Army It's believed that this regiment was that
regiment that finally was stationed in Chester in
England And there's a museum with their chattels
and things they left behind Cornelius he was
a good man wasn't a Christian But he
was devout he prayed to God always Extremely
generous and gave much arms to the people
probably the one who built the synagogue for
the Jews although he was an officer in
an enemy occupying army Everybody loved him and
The Jews had the highest regard And then
God sent an angel About the ninth hour
of the day He was somewhat surprised and
The angel brought the message thy prayers and
thine arms are come up for a memorial
before God now send men to Joppa Call
for one Simon whose surname is Peter.
He lodges with one Simon a Tanner whose
house is by the seaside He'll tell you
what you ought to do God sent this
servant of his and said your prayers and
your arms haven't been despised God never despises
the goodness of a good man But God
was kind enough Recognizing the symptoms of a
soul quest of a man hungry for God
praying day and night fasting Doing good things
because he wanted to know God God doesn't
despise a man for that But in answer
to his prayer he gives him a warning
This time to be on the lips of
Peter to tell him what he ought to
do And You see because Cornelius was such
a good man.
He got saved good men like Cornelius always
got get saved not because they're good But
because they're good enough to know that they're
not good enough You see it's only men
as good as Cornelius that are good enough
to know that they're not good enough And
he wasn't even ashamed to tell his servants
and the soldier that he sent as an
escort But he was sending for a man
who would let them know how they could
be saved In the meantime remember God was
warning Peter up on the roof having a
quiet doze while somebody was getting the food
ready He saw the vision a sheet lowered
by its four corners with unclean beasts and
God said arise Peter slay me And he
protested that's dirty stuff I'm a Jew.
I can't eat that stuff.
You know, I can't eat that stuff God
said call not thou common that which I
have cleansed three times it happened and While
Peter thought on the vision the Spirit said
under him a whole three men seek you
Arise therefore verse 20 and get thee down
and what's the word?
Go Go with them Doubting nothing I sent
them So you see to Philip God said
get on a donkey and go for a
ride in the desert to ananas God said
go and knock on the door down the
road To Peter.
He said I want you to spend a
day in a doghouse a House of a
dirty Gentile dog These men have come to
fetch you I Sent them And
Peter stopped arguing Do you know why he
stopped arguing Because he was a man being
filled with the Holy Spirit, how do you
know what tells you the next verse 21
Peter Went God said go and Peter went
To Philip God said go and he went
to ananas God said go and he went
to Peter said go and he went and
when you're sent and went you're always poor
and you're always put in the place where
God wants you to be and Blessings inevitable
I wouldn't waste God's time asking me to
bless in the place in the place where
he put me If I'm absolutely convinced at
any given moment that I'm in a place
where he put me what possible Service could
be rendered by my saying God, please bless
me.
God would simply say what do you think
I put you?
Therefore, don't you credit me with any intelligence?
You're a member of my body I'm the
head of that body and if you go
when I send you you're put in the
place where I want you Credit me please
with enough intelligence to know that I'm going
to do something that will be to my
eternal satisfaction Even if it isn't to anybody
else's That's the hilarious expectation that you have
the right to have so long as you're
prepared to be sent and Be numbered amongst
those who win Nothing sensational about it.
There's nothing much sensational about going for a
ride on the back of a donkey in
the desert Nothing very much sensational about knocking
on the door down the road Or going
with a couple of servants and a soldier
escort back To the house of a Roman
officer nothing very sensational spectacular, but essentially miraculous
When Cornelius finally welcomed Peter he said thank
you for coming We are here all gathered
and he had filled the place with his
friends Not to hear your opinions But to
hear what God has to say through your
lips what a marvelous congregation And before ever
Peter had done preaching God had seen the
faith in their hearts that embraced the message
Acts 15 God knowing their hearts cleansed them
through their faith and witnessed giving them the
Holy Spirit and Cornelius and his friends in
Receiving the Holy Spirit from God in response
to their faith as they learned that Jesus
God's dear son died in their place Were
raised from the dead and Peter was still
preaching Hadn't got to his third point Not
even the little poem at the end There
wasn't even an invitation.
I mean it was hardly respectable and Yet
they were all saved So how difficult was
it for the Philip to lead the unit
to Christ couldn't help it How difficult was
it for Ananas to be a blessing to
Saul of Tarsus who had encountered Christ on
the road to Damascus?
Well couldn't help it.
All he had to do is fling his
arms around his neck.
How difficult was for Peter to lead?
Cornelius the dirty Gentile dog and his friends
to Christ He didn't even know they were
saved though.
He was still preaching God had done the
job I Say what did it take for
Philip in the desert to be the right
man in the right place at the right
time saying the right thing to the right
person Well, he had to die to his
reputation as a citywide evangelist be told what
to do and do as he told So
what did it take for Ananas to be
the right man the right place at the
right time saying the right thing to the
right person Very simply had to die to
his own physical well-being He was sticking
his neck on the block Knocking on the
door of the arch enemy of the early
church, but he died to all that So
what did it take for Peter to be
the right man the right place at the
right time saying the right thing to the
right person Well he just had to die
to his racial and religious prejudices his denominational
prejudices Be told what to do and do
as he was told isn't that simple that
was the church in action Say who was
running the church Well the Lord Jesus The
head of the body Operating through his Holy
Spirit.
Who's the nervous system of that body?
So that just as the father could communicate
to the son through the indwelling Holy Spirit
Through whom he shared as man on earth
the life of his father God in heaven
so now the Lord Jesus By the same
Holy Spirit communicates to you and to me
Who on earth has redeemed sinners cleansed in
his blood share his resurrection life?
What a fantastic privilege that God has given
to us And you see nothing's changed It's
as true today as it was then because
the Lord Jesus is the same yesterday today
and forever the only essential difference between what
he began to do and began to teach
remember on earth in that body the father
gave him at Bethlehem and what he Continued
to do and continue to teach as recorded
for us in the book of the Acts
Was that it was in the new body
the father gave him on the day of
Pentecost when he risen from the dead came
to invade the humanity of a hundred and
twenty Forgiven sinners to whom were added that
evening three thousand others and then daily all
down the centuries till 1986 Added to the
Lord members of his body makes life incredibly
exciting You know I Had to fly once
from Billings, Montana to Seattle it was a
plane that was stopping at Spokane in Washington
It was a full plane just a few
seats vacant one was next to me And
then a mum and dad came with a
whole bunch of kids They had to scatter
to occupy the remaining seats and one of
the children a boy of about 12 came
and sat alongside And After a bit we
got in a conversation.
He was a nice kid And I talked
to him about the Lord Jesus I was
interested to know that he was 12 because
I was converted when I was 12 So
I shared with him how in a boy's
camp.
I received the Lord Jesus.
We had heaps of fun.
I Because if God gives you a lovely
opportunity like that keep in touch he became
part of my parish So I wrote him
didn't get a letter written in reply don't
expect a letter all that soon not from
a kid at 12 Because they hate writing
letters worse than I do But finally I
did get a letter It's always a source
of joy to me Is what he read
He said dear mr.
Thomas when I was about 10 years old
Well, he was 12 not 10.
I told him that afterwards because I had
it in my address book.
He didn't even know how old he was
When I was about 10 years old I
sat next to you on an airplane from
Billings, Montana to Spokane, Washington And I don't
like this bit He said I remember you
as a happy old man Do you know
when he wrote this 1966 20 years ago
And he thought I was a happy old
man Happy old man my foot Anyway, he
said I remember you as a happy old
man full of life and I remember that
you asked me all kinds of questions about
Jesus and you shared with me some things
about him But now I can't remember what?
That's encouraging too, isn't it for preaching?
But the things I do remember most was
that you though a perfect stranger talked to
me It made me laugh told me for
the first time about one called Jesus and
when we changed planes in Spokane I felt
you were my friend And you even wrote
me one letter that I now have before
me that was in November 1966 Today he
said I'm 19 years old He said I'm
now about to graduate from a Lutheran Bible
school here in Seattle Most of all I
wanted to share with you the joy that
the Lord has given to me in his
son Jesus in The fellowship of the Saints
in the deepness of the word I praise
him for leading me making himself real to
me loving me dying for me Changing me
from my old nature to the new glorified
nature in him.
I want to live for him I want
to live to his praise.
I want to live to his glory He
quotes Ephesians 112 that I may be to
the praise of his glory Galatians 220 I
am crucified with Christ never the letter I
live yet not I please don't get me
wrong Christ lives in me this He said
is my single heart's desire.
I want you to know this because you
were the first one I remember talking to
me about Jesus in a real way You
shared through your witness and your prayers in
my salvation and in my fulfillment in Christ
I just wanted you to know that and
to know that I'm eternally thankful that you
love Jesus enough to share him with me
Thank you said he in Christ.
I'll see you in heaven Be looking for
me Well, I wasn't prepared to wait till
I got to him.
I Mean he didn't think it would be
all that long before I got there, so
He Signed himself a fellow child of the
King Brad Agen brought next time I flew
into Seattle I Contacted him we had a
marvelous time of fellowship in the airport And
then just a very short time ago because
he teaches now in Oregon He came to
the coast where I was having a conference
drove two hours just to have 20 minutes
To remember what a joy it is you
see to be available to the Lord Jesus
just a kid In a plane Well I
Didn't have to get on a donkey.
I just had to get on a plane
that's all But get excited about being a
Christian It isn't it isn't just sort of
you know getting involved in Christian work.
No no no just be a Christian Just
be a Christian just be a healthy living
Hilariously happy member of the body of the
Lord Jesus in joyful anticipation that under the
prompting of his Holy Spirit He's going to
cause your path to cross with some of
our boy go home and a woman Who's
desperately in need of the one whom you
already know and he knows where they are
Exactly where they are You don't even have
to know What he's doing when he does
it One of the greatest joys of my
life now Almost every week my life almost
every day of every week is to meet
those who are surfacing and Who come to
me again as many have done here in
these few days and said it was 20
years ago 30 years ago 15 Years ago,
and I just want to thank you now.
I don't know these dear folks don't remember
their faces Don't remember the circumstance, but something
happened that has its lasting consequence to the
inestimable Enrichment of their lives simply because you're
available and you see there's not one boy
Not one girl man or woman sitting here
in this congregation this evening who cannot be
that available to the Lord Jesus that whether
you know It or whether you don't which
is totally irrelevant His life released through you
like a flowing river will make its impact
and change the course of some boy's life
girl man a woman to the uttermost ends
of the earth Just five years ago.
I had the great privilege of speaking at
commencement Columbia Bible College South Carolina I Was
speaking at meetings in Germany at the time
so I had to fly back for those
two days and then fly back to Germany
on the Sunday To be back in time
for the meetings on Monday But there was
a student there who was taking a graduate
course so instead of leaving after graduation He
remained passed a message.
He said I'd like to talk to you
So on the Sunday morning he came He
was a little diffident introduced himself Jack Cooper
he said I Don't know quite how to
talk to you because I don't know whether
you'll fully understand But he said you're the
only real father that I've ever had Now
I've never seen him before He said I'm
an Apache Indian, and I was brought up
in an Apache Indian village in New Mexico
He said my grandfather and my great-grandfather
were two of the most famous Apache Indian
chiefs.
They were fine noblemen Involved of course at
that time in the Indian Wars But he
said my mother and my father have been
debauched degenerate drunkards I've never known real parents
My father's a brutal man From my earliest
days as a little child he thrashed me
mercilessly The age of eight he beat me
So brutally that I lay on the ground
in despair and in agony and I cried
from my heart God, where are you?
He said I didn't know God I didn't
even know there was a God But I
felt somehow there must be some body somewhere
who cared That was the beginning of the
awakening of his soul He said by the
18 I was as drunken as my dad
I Was not only a drug addict I
was a drug pusher and I was a
gunrunner He said there was seldom a day
That I slept before I bought two or
three thousand dollars in my pocket in the
pursuit of my dirty trades But by the
age of 23 My whole life seemed to
have disintegrated And in sheer despair I dropped
on my knees again And I said God
Whoever you are save me So I didn't
know what it meant to be saved I've
never heard the language But within a day
or two in the first First time ever
in our Apache Indian village a lady missionary
came through And she led me to Christ
But she only stayed a day or two
but before she went she left me your
tapes and your books and For several years
you were the only church I ever went
to The only voice I ever heard The
only counselor to whom I could go The
only real father I ever had I didn't
know that he said I wanted you to
know that It was at your recommendation to
that lady that she recommended me to come
here to Columbia Bible College I've graduated I'm
taking a postgraduate course so that I can
go back to that Indian village in that
neighborhood and Start a Bible school said he
so that no little boy of eight years
of age in agony would ever have to
cry out to God And have to wait
so long Before he discovered Who he is
Do you know ladies and gentlemen?
You're surrounded by boys and girls and men
and women whose heart Cry out for God,
and they don't even know what they need
But you do Because he lives within your
heart And all he's waiting for you Is
to be in that sensitivity as healthy members
of his body so that he who knows
The crying need of a lost world who
satisfies the hungry soul with goodness Can send
you where he wants you to clothe his
divine activity?
So that that little boy girl man a
woman May not go on seeking in vain
Why not get excited?
Get up tomorrow morning and say Lord Jesus
Thank you for the incredible privilege that you've
given to me as my Redeemer having Reconciled
me to God and cleansed me from my
sins that you should come and live within
me that I might be available to you
To reach out to the uttermost ends of
the earth that some boy girl man a
woman May be raised from the dead and
with me added to the Lord To share
your life on earth until at last we
see you face to face and then forever
then you can say I'm a Christian Not
a super Christian Just a Christian That's all
now, let's pray.
I don't know your hearts Maybe some boy
girl man a woman And there's been a
deep cry in your own heart For longer
maybe than you would care to tell To
know God for yourself Maybe some boy some
girl who's come in with that group here
just for tonight and be on campus tomorrow.
I Don't know you're a stranger to me
But I'll tell you something You're not a
stranger to him who came to seek and
save that which is lost And what a
wonderful thing it is to be lost You
see if you're lost It means you're wanted
You don't throw lost things in the trash
can You look in the trash can for
lost things That's why the Lord Jesus was
always getting into trouble for keeping bad company
He could meet the woman in Samaria He
could stop beneath the tree where Zacchaeus was
hiding He knows your heart And if
you're lost You're wanted And he who wants
you is here wanted you so much that
he died upon the cross That in the
shedding of his own precious blood you could
be reconciled to a holy God and stop
existing And come alive To be inhabited by
your maker So that on earth you added
to his new body could be the means
whereby He might meet the desperate need of
One of your own fellow human beings and
hear the needy cry of some soul in
despair What a marvelous thing For those of
us who know him our Lord Jesus to
be our Redeemer To tell him tonight Lord
Jesus.
I don't know where to go.
I don't know where to look But you
do I Just want to become that sensitive
To you that when you say go I'll
yield obedience to your command And find myself
Miraculously the right man in the right place
at the right time saying the right thing
to the right person So I dare to
thank you already in advance for the blessing
you're going to be through me Somebody's waiting
for me Almost round every corner loving Savior.
There's somebody that you want to reach and
I'm available To the outermost ends of the
earth Thank you for the privilege of being
expendable That as the father once Sent you
So you now may Send me Thanks dear
Lord in your own precious name Amen You've
been listening to a sermon by Major Ian
Thomas if you've been blessed by this sermon
you can find more sermons by him and
Additional resources on this subject at path to
prayer dot-com Again, if you've been blessed
by this sermon You can find more sermons
by Major Ian Thomas at path to prayer
dot-com as well as other resources