Called To Reach The Nations | Truman Whitaker

Well, good morning. Good morning. Turn this thing

on here. The past three days, Nancy and I have

been at a missionary convention called ICOM in

Atlanta, Georgia. There was Church of Christ

people there, Christian Church people there,

and it was a great experience. I love missions,

and I love missionaries. And so today I've named

this message, Called to Reach the Nations. And

I think that within this church here at Blairsville,

we find that we are doing that somewhat, not

that we can't do more, but it's a great opportunity

for us to do what God has called us to do, and

that is to reach the nations. There were people

from all over the world there in the Atlanta

Civic Center or Convention Center, and we met

friends that we hadn't seen for a long time.

It's just a great experience. Now, if you notice

the flags behind me, how many of you have been

outside of the United States? Okay, quite a few

hands. How many would like to be outside the

United States? Out of these flags back here,

I have been in about 40 of those countries. In

2003, I decided to go into full -time mission

work. Nancy was a school teacher, and the Lord

had been putting on my heart a lot about going

and doing mission work, because that's where

I felt my calling was. You know the first place

I did mission work? Hawaii. Isn't that horrible?

You know how I got there? I was doing my last

year of Bible college in Cincinnati. We were

living in Kentucky. And in February in Kentucky,

it's pretty cold. There are six inches of snow

on the ground. Nancy was working at a newspaper.

a place there in the little town we lived in,

and I was driving back and forth every day to

college. So she was expecting our first child,

and she saw in a Christian publication a minister

missionary needed in Haula Church of Christ,

Oahu, Hawaii. So unbeknownst to me, she writes

a resume for me. Now, you can imagine, I mean,

from her perspective, she's expecting a child.

She's not feeling good. Six inches of snow. It's

cold. What better place to do mission work than

Hawaii, right? And she didn't tell me. That's

the thing about it. She didn't tell me about

it. So anyway, two or three days after she did

that, she said, I need to tell you something.

The guilt was getting to her, you know. So she

said, I need to tell you something. She said,

I wrote a resume. to this church in Hawaii that's

looking for a minister missionary because it

wasn't a self -supporting church. You had to

get support. And I said, don't worry about it.

Nothing ever come from it. Well, it did come

from it. And her preacher found out about it

and called her and said, if y 'all want to go,

we'll support you. And so in May of that year,

I graduated from college. First child was born,

and in July of that year, we were flying to Hawaii,

and we did mission work there in Hawaii. And

it was quite an experience, too, because we had

all kinds of people in that church. We had some

white people. We had Koreans. We had Filipinos.

We had Japanese. It was quite a mixture of people

there in our congregation. Our neighbors across

the street were pure Hawaiian, pure Hawaiian.

Their little girl's name was Tuesday Kapiolani

Naki. She was born on Tuesday in the Kapiolani

Hospital, and her last name was Naki. So anyway,

that was our first mission experience. And then

we came home from Hawaii and did preaching work,

pastor work. But in 2003, I decided, you know

what, it's been on my heart a long time, and

I want to go into full -time mission work. And

so what I did was to join a mission agency and

from that point on I've been traveling around

the world into at least 40 of these countries

along with Nancy helping me out on the mission

work. So today I want to talk about a call to

reach the nations. And I believe this is pertinent

for us today, especially since I've been in Atlanta

for three days with missionaries. And missionaries

is the only thing that's on my head and heart.

Why not preach about it? So, do you have to point

this thing or how do we? Oh, I know. He told

me that one. There we go. Okay. Okay, so everybody

stand. What I want you to do is follow with me.

We're going to read this scripture out of Matthew

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28 and verse 18. Just follow me. Then

Jesus came to them and said, All authority in

heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore,

go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to

obey everything I have commanded you. And surely

I am with you always to the very end of the age.

Thank you very much. You may be seated. Now this

is God's word. And he commissioned his disciples

to go into all the world. He died on the cross.

He was buried and rose from the dead on the third

day. And then he stayed and did all the evangelism

work. No, he didn't. He could have, right? He

could have stayed and done all the evangelism

work himself. Jesus was a great evangelist. He

had a heart for people. He stopped at the tree

where Zacchaeus was sitting up there. He could

have passed him by, but he didn't. He stopped

and said, Zacchaeus, you come now. Why? Because

that person was important to Jesus. He was an

evangelist sent from heaven, and he cared about

people. He met a woman at the well. a Samaritan,

and he cared about her, which eventually led

to the whole village coming out and talking to

him. Jesus was an evangelist, so when we read

this verse, we wonder, Jesus, why didn't you

stay here and you do the evangelism work? The

reason was because he wanted you and me and his

disciples, Peter, James, and John, and all the

rest of them, to do evangelistic work. And so

what he did before he left, this earth, and went

up into heaven, he commissioned them. Now what

is commission? It's authorization from somebody

to do a task or duty. And that's what Jesus did

before he went up into heaven and ascended up

into heaven. He gave authority to his disciples

to go into all the world and preach the gospel

to whoever it was they would be led to. Jesus.

The Lord Jesus that we know did not stay on this

earth. He did what he was supposed to do, and

that is to die and to redeem us, and then his

disciples, which he trained for three years,

would go out and preach the gospel. I read an

illustration one time about Jesus when he ascended

up into heaven. What happened up in heaven when

he got there? What do you think that would be

like when Jesus, who left heaven and came here

to this earth, born as a baby, and then grew

up, and then at 33 years of age was crucified

on the cross, and then that Jesus went up into

heaven where he came from? How would it be if

Jesus came into heaven? What would it be like

up there with all the angels, with God the Father?

Well, the illustration I was reading about, Said

entire heaven erupted with shouts of praise.

Can't you imagine that? The King of Kings and

the Lord of Lords is now back. One angel comes

up to Jesus and said, Jesus, we're so happy to

have you back. However, how are the people on

all the earth and the earth going to know about

you and your death? He said, well, I've trained

my disciples. I've trained James and Peter and

John and all of them to go out into the world

and tell about what I did on the cross. And the

angel says, but Lord, what if James and John

don't like this evangelism stuff? What if they

go back to fishing? And the angel said, what

about Matthew? Maybe he wants to go back to collecting

taxes. What then, Lord? And the Lord said, I

have no other plan. Folks, do you know another

plan that Jesus has got other than we who have

been commissioned as disciples going into all

the world? I don't know it. He has no other plan.

His disciples did what he told them to do. They

went out and preached the gospel. And great things

happened in the book of Acts as they preached

the word. And those people did what the Lord

wanted him to do. They were commissioned. Jesus

gave that commission to carry out the job, and

they did a wonderful job. You know, as we look

at these verses, he said, Therefore, go and make

disciples of all the nations, baptizing them

in the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, and

teaching them to obey everything I have commanded

you. What if you and I fail? If you look at that

verse, it says, and surely I'm with you always

to the very end of the age. We know that it's

not just for those 12 disciples. We know it reaches

us because those disciples are now dead. So are

we expecting Peter or James to come and evangelize

our neighbor, our co -worker? Can we call on

Nathaniel or any of the other disciples and say,

now you come because Jesus commissioned you.

No, it's for us. Not only did he commission them,

he commissioned us to do the work of evangelism

because the end of the age when Jesus is coming

again has not happened yet. And so after those

disciples did their work, now it is upon us to

do the work of evangelism and carrying out the

Great Commission. The Apostle Paul, in the book

of Romans, Chapter 10 has some questions about

Romans 10 · chapter mention

this. In chapter 10 and verse 13 of Romans, Paul

said, For everyone who calls on the name of the

Lord will be saved. Okay, Paul. We got that.

And then Paul in verse 14 has some questions.

And the question is, How then will they call

on him in whom they have not believed? Now think

about that question. How? How will they call

on him in whom they have not believed? In other

words, if they don't believe it, how can they

pray to the Lord Jesus about their problems,

about their difficulties, that they're sinners,

and give their lives to him? How can they do

that if nobody has ever told them about the Lord

Jesus and what he does and what he has done and

what he will do? How will they call on him? They

won't. They won't call on him. How do you expect

your neighbor or your co -worker or your students

you go to school with to call on Jesus if you've

never told them about Jesus? Next question Paul

has in verse 14 of Romans chapter 10. How would

Romans 10 · chapter mention

they believe in whom they have not heard? Makes

sense, doesn't it? How would they believe in

him, in Jesus, whom they have not heard? If they

haven't heard about him, Then how can they believe

in it? It's like, let's say somebody's walking

down the street out there and we believe somebody

needs to be baptized to be saved. And we go out

there and we say, Tim, run out there and get

that guy. Go out there and bring him in here

and we're going to baptize him. Tim, go get that

guy. Tim says, you're crazy. I'm not going to

go get that guy. But you go out there and we

say, Jeremy, go get that guy. And he runs out

there and grabs that guy and that guy says, what

are you doing? He said, I'm going to baptize

you. You're crazy. What's baptism? He said, don't

worry about it. Come in here. And Jeremy takes

him in there and dumps him in the water. Now,

everything's good, right? He's been baptized.

How will they believe in him and whom they have

not heard? That guy didn't hear anything about

Jesus, about baptism, about whatever. So it doesn't

take. It's no good. That's why missionaries,

preachers, teachers are important in the kingdom.

That's why Jesus commissioned his disciples to

go into all the world and preach the gospel if

they preach it in Africa, if they preach it in

Brazil, if they preach it in Mexico. They hear.

Not all of them believe, but some do. And those

who do, those who come to Christ and give their

lives to the Lord Jesus are baptized into Christ

for the remission of sins. One time I was preaching

in Ukraine. And this woman came forward and wanted

to accept Jesus. We didn't have a portable baptistry.

We didn't have a baptistry like that back there.

We didn't have a stream or a creek or a river

out here. We didn't have a lake. What are we

going to do? How are we going to baptize her?

You know what they did? They filled up the bathtub.

They set her down in there, put her under the

water, and came back. She was baptized. Wherever

you are in the world, it's important that we

preach the gospel. Last question, Paul said in

Romans 14, how were they here? Without a preacher.

Faith comes by hearing it. Hearing by the word

of God. Who's going to preach it? If not you,

then who? Who's going to tell your neighbor,

is it up to me? To talk to your neighbor about

Christ? Is it up to you to come to Hiawassee

and talk to my neighbor about Christ if they

need it? Is it up to me to come to your place

of work and do what you need to do that Christ

has called you to do and commissioned you to

do? It's not up to me. It's up to you. And it's

not up to you to come and talk to my neighbors

or my ten people. It's up to me. God has commissioned

us to go into the world, to go into Blairsville,

to go wherever to do his will. Paul also, I mean,

in the scriptures, we read about being witnesses

for Jesus. Acts 1a, but you will receive power

when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you'll

be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea, Samaria,

and the ends of the earth. We are witnesses for

Jesus. Sometimes when I see a Jehovah's Witness,

they call themselves JWs, I go up and say, hey,

I'm a JW. They say, yeah. I said, yeah, I'm a

Jesus witness. You know what it says here in

1 .8? Aren't we all JWs, Jesus witnesses? We

witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said,

but you will receive power. The Holy Spirit came

down in the book of Acts. And those disciples

learned a language just like that because the

power of the Holy Spirit filled them. And in

Acts chapter 2, they started preaching and teaching.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And people heard them in their own language.

It was a marvelous thing. And so they were able

to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ through

his power. And God gave them specific situations

to do. He said that you'll be witnesses in Jerusalem.

That city knew who Jesus was. The people who

tried to shut them up, the Pharisees and the

others, said, you guys quit preaching. Quit teaching

this stuff. And they said, no, how can we? We

have God's word, and we're going to teach and

preach what God tells us to, not what man tells

us to. And they did preach and teach. So, Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. This

is not a correct analogy, but I was thinking,

how does it work for us today? What would God

tell us to do? He would tell us to go into Blairsville.

When was this church started? In the 70s? 60s?

I don't know. I think Curtis had told me one

time, but I don't really remember exactly. But

nevertheless, it was started. And since that

time, you folks have been preaching and teaching

in Blairsville, right? And then you go from Blairsworth

to Union County and then to the state of Georgia

and then to the ends of the earth. So we don't

have Jerusalem that we need to witness to or

Judea or Samaria or the ends of the earth. I

did hear that the restoration preachers in the

beginning were wondering, where can we go and

preach the gospel? And they went to Jerusalem.

They didn't have much success there, but that's

where they went. But for us, we don't have to

go all the way to Jerusalem. We're in Blairsville,

Georgia, and that's where we need to spread the

word. You want this church to grow? Well, get

busy. This week, what I liked was to be able

to see people I hadn't seen for a while. I kept

running into them, and Nancy and I were going

to eat. They had some tables set up, so we're

eating. And there's another couple there, and

I said, where are you folks from? They said,

from Kentucky. And I said, I'm from Kentucky.

They said, where? I said, Harrison County. They

said, we're from Pendleton County. I said, I

went to Unity Church, and they said, man, that

church is really growing. Now, when I was a kid,

you know how many people that church had? About

90. You know what? He said, that church is really

on fire. You know how many they're growing now?

I said, how many? He said, 400. He said, they've

had 50 baptisms this year. Blasphemy. Church

of Christ, are we dead? When's the last time

we had a baptism here? When's the last time you've

seen anybody baptized into Christ here? I'm saying

if Jerusalem was their ministry they were called

to and they had 3 ,000, right? If we read it

in the book of Acts chapter 2, they went out

Acts 2 · chapter mention

and preached, and 3 ,000 people were baptized

in Christ Jesus, and then they grew to 5 ,000,

and then the Bible just quit using numbers that

said multitudes, multitudes, multitudes. So my

home church of 90, when I was there as a kid,

now is running 450 baptisms this year. Don't

you get it? Go into all the world and preach

the gospel. We're called to reach the nations,

but we start here in Blairville. And then we

go to Georgia and to the ends of the earth. Don't

we have a young man from this congregation named

Jake, and where is he? Thailand, right? And we

support Alex over in Ghana. And Brother Terry

went over to Kenya two years ago and had 30 baptisms.

The ends of the earth. So not just here, but

to the ends of the earth. And it's a tremendous

thing that God has given us when he stirs in

the heart of somebody and says, Hey, we can do

this. We can see this church grow. We can see

things happen. It's a wonderful thing. to the

ends of the earth. I believe that God is calling

us to do his will. And maybe you say, well, I

can't go way over there. I understand that. I

understand God doesn't call everybody to be a

missionary, to hear their yawn. And he doesn't

call everybody to the same country. Some people

are called to South America. Some people call

to Africa. Some people call to Eastern Europe.

But the gospel can go, but it starts here. And

then it goes throughout all of the world. I just

received a request from the OUGIS Church of Christ

in OUGIS, Kenya, about a school that they want

to purchase behind the church. And it's a small

price. I bet we could get it right here. You

know what they want for that property? And it's

such an outreach for that church to get into

the community with the kids, and the kids bring

the parents. They only want $5 ,500 ,000. You

think we could do that? Don't we have a big God?

Folks, that's in Kenyan shillings. It's $44 ,000,

and that seemed like a big number, but you know

what? Nancy and I said, hey, we'll give $5 ,000

for it. Why? We had a church in Athens. They

would give $2 ,000 for it. Now we're down to

$37 ,000. Folks, I'm telling you, we can do it.

And the thing I loved about the convention, we

kept hearing positive things from preachers about

what they can do. Instead of, I can't do this,

we can't do this, blah, blah, blah. Let's see

what we can do. Because these verses in the Bible,

Jesus said, go to Jerusalem. We can't do that.

There's too many Pharisees there. There's too

many Sadducees. We can't go there. Well, then

go to Judea. Well, we can't do that either. Well,

go to Samaria. Nope, nope, nope. There's Samaritans.

We don't like them. We have to walk around. Jesus

went to Samaria, didn't he? Talked to the woman

at the well. Well, go to the ends of the earth

then. So what do we say here in Blairsville?

Let's go to Blairsville and bring our friends,

our relatives, our neighbors, and reach this

community and Georgia and all throughout the

world. Pray for Brother Jake. Pray for Brother

Alex. Pray for Brother Felix and Rachel and Kenya.

Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray that we might reach

the world because time is short. Many years ago,

I got to travel to Russia, and I was teaching

a class. This was after the Soviet Union fell

in 1991. There was a woman in my class named

Bella. And she had a lot of questions. Remember

that in the Soviet Union, they taught there was

no God, right? Remember that? If any of you grew

up during the Cold War, there is no God. Their

cosmonauts went up into space and said, we don't

see any God here. Our astronauts went up and

they read from the Bible, in the beginning, God

created the heavens and the earth. Two different

world views. But the Soviet Union fell. I got

to go over and preach and teach. So anyway, Bella,

after class through an interpreter, she said,

would you come over to our house with the interpreter,

and I want to ask some questions. And Bella had

a lot of questions. Resurrection, really? She'd

kind of gotten into New Age stuff about, you

know, this thing about what the Indians call

it. It's not resurrection. Yes. where they keep

going, you know, and you die, and you're born

into something else, and you die. They said,

oh, Buddha was 500 times. But anyway, we had

to go through all that because she had all these

cobwebs in her brain and talk about the Lord

Jesus and his resurrection, that he was real,

and talk about the Bible and who Jesus was. But

after a week of talking to her, guess what? You

know that guy out there in that river in Russia?

The Sur River. It's the coldest river, I think,

I've ever been in. The water I've ever been in

is really cold. But nevertheless, me and Bella

got out there and I baptized her into Christ

for the remission of her sins. Praise God. Because

I was willing to go there and preach and teach.

And there are many people in countries all around

the world who are preaching and teaching. And

some believe. and some gives their life to Christ

and are baptized into Christ, and one day those

people are going to resurrect when the Lord Jesus

comes back again. There was another girl named

Olga, good Russian name, who was our interpreter.

We were asking our interpreters, do you know

Jesus? And Olga raised her hand and said, There

were some people who came over, and they said,

if you want to accept Jesus, just raise your

hand. I said, Olga, did they talk to you about

being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness

of your sins? She said, no. I said, do you mind

if I talk to you? So on this same river, in a

high river bank, Olga and I were sitting, kind

of like that bank back there behind us, and it's

real sandy soil. We were sitting there, and I

was going through the book of Acts with different

scriptures about baptism and why she needed to

be baptized because if she believed in Jesus,

because believers are baptized, not unbelievers,

so she was a believer. And the bank gave way,

and I was sliding down towards the river, and

I thought I was going to be the one who was going

to be baptized, but thank God I stopped before

I got to the river, and we both had a good laugh.

But out of that, Olga accepted. what the scripture

said, and she was baptized into Christ. Folks,

that is the way it happens. In Acts chapter 1,

Acts 1:9

verse 9, After he said this, he was taken up

before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from

their sight. They were looking intently up into

the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men

dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee,

they said, why do you stand here looking into

the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from

you into heaven will come back in the same way

you have seen him go into heaven. Has he come

back yet? No, but he will. What Jesus is coming

back? Is it the Muslim Jesus? See, the Muslim

believed that Jesus was not crucified. No, it's

not that Jesus is coming back, because that Jesus

doesn't exist. What about the Jehovah's Witness

or Mormon Jesus? They do not believe that Jesus

was God in the flesh, like John 1 says, in the

beginning was the Word, the Word was with God,

and the Word was what? The Word was God, capital

G. They've changed their translation, the New

World translation, to say he was God, little

g. No, he is God. And that Jesus, the one who

was crucified, the one with the nail prints,

the one that had the spear put in his side, that

Jesus is coming back. Thomas, you don't believe

that I resurrected? Put your hands here, Thomas.

Here, Thomas, look here. When he comes back,

we will recognize him, we will know him, that

Jesus, this same Jesus, not a different Jesus.

He's coming back. He'll split the eastern sky.

We're going to look up and say, praise God, hallelujah.

So Jesus is coming back again. And it's going

to be a wonderful thing. You know, the Apostle

Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 says that the

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

dead in Christ will rise first. And we who are

alive will meet him in the air. And he says we

will forever be with the Lord. This same Jesus

is coming back. Time is moving on. And he's saying,

get to work. Get to work. Any of you ever seen

a rocket launch in Florida? Nancy and I lived

in Florida near the Cape Canaveral area. So whenever

they would launch a... we would go down and watch

it. We could actually see it from the backyard.

But one time, the sky was so clear, the day was

so clear, and they shot that rocket up. I mean,

you could see it, and you didn't want to go in.

You could watch and watch and watch and watch

and watch and watch and watch and watch, and

then finally it disappeared. Can't you see these

disciples? They've never seen anybody fly before.

Have you seen anybody fly before other than Superman?

Here Jesus ascends up into heaven. And I can

imagine here they're standing watching Jesus

go up, up, and up. There goes the Lord Jesus.

We know who he is. We know he is crucified. We

know he resurrected. And now he's leaving us

and they're watching, watching, watching. And

then the angels appear and say, men of Galilee,

why stand you here gazing up into heaven? This

same Jesus, he's going to come again. Now what?

Get to work. Go into all the world. I've commissioned

you. Go talk to your neighbors. Go preach the

gospel. Send missionaries out. This is your calling.

This is your task. Because Jesus is coming. And

I'm looking forward to what a day that will be

when my Jesus I shall see. We will look at him

and see him face to face on that day he comes

back. Are you looking forward to heaven? I have

relatives there. I have friends there. I have

preachers who I've known over the years, and

they've ministered to me and people I have ministered

to. When I was in high school, we had a youth

worker, and she loved teenagers. Sometimes people

don't love teenagers. You know, they want to

get them to that stage and get on past that stage,

you know. But this woman actually acted like

she loved us. Not only did she act like it, she

did love us. She said, come on over. We're going

to have hot dogs and hamburgers. And she would

cook out for us. And she was just a really good

person and a good Christian woman. And she wanted

us to know the love of Christ because she loved

us as teenagers. Friday night, Sunday afternoon.

She really liked being around us, and we liked

being around her. When I graduated from college

with my master's degree, she wrote me a note,

and she said, congratulations on your graduation.

You've worked hard, and you deserve it. However,

the best graduation will be the graduation from

this earth with all its trials and tribulations.

To the eternal home in heaven. And then she wrote

these words. See you there. See you there. Will

we see you there? Will you be there when Jesus

comes and we get to go up to heaven? I know I

had a pretty sure I don't. I won't go along with

this, but my great, great, great, great, great

grandfather was a Methodist circuit riding preacher.

Everything about that man that he did was Christian.

And we have his will. And he gives praise to

God right in his will. And I cannot 100 % say

he's there, but I can almost be assuredly by

reading what he wrote. that he will be there.

Praise God that there are family members and

other people that have gone on that you will

see again. Folks, believe in the resurrection.

Jesus is your proof. If Jesus came forth from

the dead, what makes us think that we won't if

he said we will? Will you be there? You should

be. For God so loved the world that he gave his

one and only son that whoever believes in him

should not perish, but have eternal life. Why

won't you be there? God loves you. Is there something

in your life you're just keeping you bound and

you can't make that decision to let go and say,

Lord Jesus, come into my life, forgive me of

all my sins, every one of them, I give my life

over to you. I want to be baptized like the Ethiopian

eunuch when he was preached Jesus to by Philip.

He said, here is water. What hinders me to be

baptized? And he was baptized. Folks, today,

this is the message that we're called to reach

the nations. But let's just start right here.

Maybe there's somebody right here in this church.

Instead of going to all around the world, let's

start here. Who is here today? That if you died,

you'd stand before God and God said, I don't

know you. You've never given your life to me.

I don't know you. Depart from me. Why be in that

position for? Be in a position where you know

what to do and you've done it and then you are

able to lead others there. Folks, we're going

to stand and sing our hymn of invitation. If

you have not made that decision, you're welcome

to come forward. And if not today, talk to one

of our elders, talk to one of our members, talk

to me, that you might get right with God before

it's eternally too late. Let's just stand and

sing.