For those of us who work in Africa, we don't live by the clock, we live by the calendar. And this is a wonderful position here because I can't say a clock, but I will try to keep to time. I'd like us, please, to turn to a second Timothy chapter four, please. I'd like to, with the Lord's help this afternoon, to speak upon the subject of rekindling of our missionary vision and the Lord willing tomorrow morning, the rekindling of our missionary priorities. Second Timothy chapter four, then please, chapter one, verse one to the end of verse eight. Do bear in mind that the Apostle Paul is an older man at this time of his writings. He's in prison. And one could visualize quite easily as he takes the quill and he begins to write. And these are his last words to be recorded. And the last words to this young man called Timothy. Please listen to what he says and what he writes. I, Paul, the Apostle. That's what's included in the personal pronoun. I charge thee, therefore, before God. and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine or sound teaching, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned on to fables. But what's thou in all things? You can almost hear him or sense him summing up that final energy in a body that has been wrecked in the service of God. And he pens. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lust shall they heed to themselves teachers having itching ears. and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned on to fables. But watch thou in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready. I am now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. And may God bless to us this afternoon the reading of his precious word. The rekindling of our missionary vision. Here is an apostle. Here is an old servant of God. His days are numbered, humanly speaking. Nero has made it clear that he is to be executed. But in these last and final words of the Apostle, there is not the least sign of lessening of the missionary vision that God entrusted to him in next chapter nine. He is as it were handing it over now to a younger man. And I am consciously aware, in our gathering this afternoon, there are beloved brethren who should be up here and not me. Men who have served the Lord for many years, some even before I was born. And it would be a joy to listen to them ministering the word of God. The Apostle Paul is directing his final words to a younger man. For him the missionary vision is not dead. It is very much a lie. This man is not a dreamer. He is not thinking about his personal welfare. He is thinking of the future, according to the will of God. And he addressed his final words to this young man. Throughout almost thirty-five years of service, not once has he, Paul, ever been ashamed of the word of God. My dear brethren, fellow servants, and dear beloved sisters, in the service of God. We are all acquainted with the theory of the new age. But is it not possible that we also are moving by selectness of purpose, by the dimming of the vision, that we too are moving into a new age in small letters, that the need for the preaching of the gospel that we once knew and have been fond of, that this is slowly dimming. He has been true and faithful to the Lord in his commission. We also need to be true and faithful in our commission. Mr. Robertson, his last words of this particular platformer, just before we broke up, were these. There is much to be done. But we cannot face the future in a spirit of spiritual weakness. We cannot face the future in our service for God when the missionary vision is dimming. It needs to be, if you like, reactivated and brought up to pull all the power and the potential and freshness that it was once entrusted to us for some many years ago and for a number of us not so many years ago. When Paul realized that there would be no release from prison, He proceeds to entrust to Timothy a solemn charge which is recorded in the first two verses. Now I want you to catch the atmosphere here. Here there's a servant of God and his days of service are now limited. But he is not saying to Timothy, Now Timothy, take it easy. Just go slowly, my brother. You have your whole lifetime in front of you. Look where it has got me. I'm in prison. This is not the language of a man of God who for thirty-five years has proved God, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior, who was able to meet every personal need that he has. We often, in Tanzania, we use the little phraseology, polypholion do go, which means just go slow. Now, slow down a bit. You're getting older. And I just look around and say, now, who are you talking to? And not so many weeks ago, a well-known figure in my part of Ireland said on his seventieth birthday, if I had my time over again, I would go just as twice as hard. There was no slackening of his attitude to the service of God. We must not slacken up. There is much to be accomplished. These two verses, one and two of chapter four, can be read in one minute. Try it. One minute it will take, yet it will take a committed life to Christ to practice the totality of what Paul is saying here. Look, preach the word. Now what word is he talking about? He's talking about the word of God. My dear brother, my dear sister in the service of Christ, our beloved Lord, how much, how precious is the word of God to us today? Are we prepared to go into the swim and alter it? Well, you know, man is not so bad now. We should slacken down a little bit now. Just go easy now. Time is moving on and we're getting older. Or well, maybe we should alter the gospel, the content of the gospel. My dear brother, my dear fellow servant of the Lord, that is what we must never do. Do we believe it? Of course we do. But do we believe it with the same tenacity? that we first believed it when we were saved and when we were first commended to the service of God. Now observe these six parts. Preach the word with a sense of urgency and there has to be no dilution to it. We need to be really convicted to the power of the word of God. And it is only this word in whatever language in Africa or in other parts of the world that it may be translated into. It is only this word that can bring about the conviction of souls and bring souls to our Lord Jesus Christ to know him as a savor. And it is only this word that can bring comfort to many of the Lord's beloved people in assembly stretched right across from West Africa to East Africa. We have had, Maria and I have had the privilege of serving the Lord for quite some years in Ethiopia. and now in Tanzania and our ministry stretches over into Kenya two or three times of the year we go up there and visit the assemblies and try to be a help. And everywhere we go in these three countries there is a tremendous longing from the believers to hear something of the Word of God. Not some of our spiritual philosophy. That must not enter into our ministry but that we must preach the Word. with a sense of urgency and with a sense of realism that this is the Word of God. And this is a word that will bring comfort, conviction to sinners, to find Christ as the Savior and to many of the Lord's beloved people. How wonderful, my fellow servants in the Lord, to sit down with a small company of the Lord's people, to take out the Word of God and to listen that in the background there's a silence and to notice that the husband who is a believer calling the attention of a household to listen. He would say to them, come near and listen to the word of God. Not to listen to what the missionary is saying, but to the word of God. Preach the word with a sense of urgency and realism. Be in season and out of season. Be always ready to give a word. Reprove when it is necessary. To convince the sinner of his need and the believer of Christ's glory. Is it possible that the glory of our beloved Lord Jesus is dimming? I have been moved in recent times in Revelation chapter four when John, that aging servant of God, who has suffered much at the hand of Diocletia, the Roman Caesar. and who had isolated or segregated him to the Isle of Patmos. And he looks up into heaven, and the door, heaven is open, and he sees a throne that is established from eternity to eternity, and it is occupied. Beloved fellow servants, isn't it a great comfort to us? We have heard of sad news this afternoon but a few moments ago. Isn't it a tremendous comfort that we can go to the throne of grace, as our brother Wilson has mentioned already, and bring these dear ones of the Lord's servants, and to bring them before the throne of grace, not a throne of judgment. Not a throne where we are not welcomed, but where we are welcomed, and to pour out our hearts and tell him, the Saviour, our blessed Lord, all those things, that we love him, yes, and how much he means to us, yes, and to bring to him the needs of many of his beloved people. Rebuke correct what is false, exhort and encourage the sinner to repent and the believer to continue, because... There is much to discourage. In northwestern Tanzania, on the other side of Lake Victoria, we happen to go through or push our way through to that northwestern corner some few years ago, and there is an evangelist by the name of Eleazar and Geyser. And we came to that dear brother, and he said, you know, Brother Cunningham, I am so much discouraged. And I said, my brother, what is the problem? He said, I have no Bible. I have no hymn books. I have no tracks and I just threw my arms around him. I said, Eliezer, we have all those things that you have just mentioned and how his heart was encouraged and we need to do this to our fellow workers even in various parts of the world. In these last five years of this century, each of us need to be aware that this solemn charge that Paul committed to Timothy It's still very much with us. And each of us are responsible to the Lord as to how we discharge that responsibility. It is dangerous, my brother, my sister, for us to try and cancel the authenticity of it or to alter it in its format. Now let us grasp the importance of this charge. and try with sincerity to complete each part of it in our lives. My dear fellow servants, each of us is responsible directly to the Lord. How we fulfill our commission. That commission that was entrusted to us in each of our home assemblies, it was given to us. May I ask you to say this afternoon, as your fellow servants, Is that commission just as precious as it was the day it was handed to you? Or has it been caused or has it due to the passing of the years that it had lost its lustre? Is it possible that the dimness of the preciousness and the sacredness of it that is going down in quality? We need to take account. We need to ask ourselves a number of questions. in his service overseas or at home, we need to be faithful to that commission. This whole charge is to be completed with patience and long suffering. We must never, my fellow brother, we must never, never, ever, be offensive in our service for the Lord one to another and to the people to whom the Lord has directed us to serve him. Nor in our ministry before the Lord and his people. There is enough of this. And we must never usurp that position. If we ignore this spiritual advice, then our service for the Lord will be rejected by the believer and by the unbeliever. There were three charges that Paul entrusted to Timothy. In chapter one, first Timothy, chapter five and twenty-one, that Paul gives to Timothy in all matters of judgment to be impartial. Chapter six, eleven to twenty-one, to be of personal integrity. And finally here in chapter four of second epistle, to be faithful. To the commission, to the calling in the ministry of the Lord. These charges do not vary from one generation to another. And neither do they vary from one country to another. And neither do they vary from century to century. Just because we are coming towards the end of this century and therefore the end of the second millennium. That we need to modify. We need to modify our service. that we need to slow down. Or perhaps we are losing touch that the sickness of the charge is unchangeable. Think of them again. Personal impartiality. Personal integrity. Personal faithfulness. Is it still fresh with us? Is it still meaningful to us? As I comprehend the situation, there are two very good reasons for these charges. One. There will be a general departure from the teaching of the word of God. This is what he says in three to six. Look, for the time will come. They will not accept or endure sound teaching. But after their own love shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned on to fables. But Timothy, Timothy, Do you understand? But watch thou in all things endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry. Then there's the second reason. Paul's approaching death, verses six to eight. Look at the way he puts it. I am now ready to be offered. Now listen, my beloved fellow servant. Are these the words of a man who, after thirty-five years of service, who has endured much affliction, Much abuse. All you have to do is read Second Corinthians chapter eleven and see what he went through. In perils often. From my own countrymen. In perils of water. In perils. If you go through it, I think there are things that he refers to. Here he is. I am now ready to be offered on the time of my departure is at hand. Are these the words of a man who has lost the vision of a glorified Lord? Are these the words of a man who after thirty-five years is now slowing down and becoming or adopting the attitude of a defeatist? Are these the words of a dreamer? No, these are the words of a man who knows his present circumstances. He is not hiding away in some corner of his darkened self, but realizing that his days are numbered. He is encouraging a young servant of God. To be just as faithful to the Lord. And he goes on and he says, I am now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. These would confirm the attitude of the assembly at Laodicea. It was materially minded. It was self-centered. It was self-satisfying. It was lukewarm in its devotion to the Lord. And it was becoming more like the world. Sort of only, isn't it? And yet today it can be repeated in various parts of the world. But my dear beloved, my fellow, my fellow servant, there is a departure from the truth of the word of God. You and I have a responsibility to teach it. And to teach all of it. Not to teach what we like best. or to take out a little portion of it. I learned very early in my missionary service, Father Lord, never take a text out of its context and make it a pretext to build a theory on. That has happened, and that has caused nothing but problems. But always look at the context, look at the text within the context to reach a proper conclusion in its integrity. The charge which... was the final of three, is most instructive to Timothy and to ourselves. There is a departure from the truth of the Word of God. They will not endure sound teaching. They will desire teachers who are pleased, pleasant in personality and in teaching, in various parts of the world where you and I serve the Lord. There are little assemblies which you have seen established to the glory of our God. And men of God of past years, of past years, have been established and they continue today. Now what are we going to give to them? Do we really believe what we believe? Do we really believe what we're teaching? Then let us teach it with that deep conviction that we might indeed continue to upbuild the people of God, no matter in which country they may be. The character of these pleasant teachers will be to turn away believers. From the truth of the word of God, onto fables and myths which have no truth in themselves. And look at this little word here. What does it mean? They will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, meaning they will want their own type of teacher and therefore their own type of ministry. My fellow servant in the Lord, we have the Holy Scriptures. Let us see to it that in all circumstances that we shall stand together. and with men of God in the past generation, that we too, in our time, will be bound to be faithful to the Word of God. There is no going back. There's too much going back. There's too much of adjusting our way of thinking to accommodate the masses. But in doing so, there is room for error, and we must not be a part of it. Paul is writing to this young man and putting him on his guard, meaning that they will want their own type of teachers who will teach them what they particularly want to hear. To be watchful in all things. Paul is view of his departure. Death is looming up. He's sure. And these are the final words. The final testimony, if you wish, of a servant of God. Thirty-five years of service. And you would think that now, just slow down, Timothy. Look what has all got me. I think now if you adjust your way of thinking and if you adjust your way of teaching the Word of God, you perhaps will continue in more comfortable circumstances. That is not what Paul is teaching. That is not what Paul is saying. In the view of his departure, he encourages this young man. And what I'm trying to say today, that it may be encouragement to all of it, myself included, to be watchful. As a shepherd will his flock at this time of the year in the lambing season, that we might be watchful in all things. Recently, a little paper has come into my hand concerning a very famous musician, man who moves in high circles in the classical world of music. And he could play any opera or sonata, whatever you may want to hear. But he realized that in himself that he was only going and living on his name. He realized from his experience that things were not right. And he took a look inside it, and he realized that there was failure. But people listening to his expertise in music could not detect it. But he took one look inside, he knew what was wrong. And he decided that for two hours every day, he would spend going over the various keys, scales in the various keys. and therefore he returned to basics of the music scale. Is it not a time, my fellow servant of the Lord? Is it not time, I plead with you, that we took a look within, that we consider our position before our beloved master? and that we get back down to basics again and develop a greater love for His Word, a greater love for His people, and at all times to teach in the truth of the Word of God. There is nothing in this book that we may be ashamed of. And you know when Mr. Robertson was speaking here just a few moments ago and telling us and sharing with us our noble heritage, it is a heritage. One that we should be proud of with a small pea. Not that we should throw our head back and say we are a great people. But to bow before the Almighty and to thank Him for what He has done through us. And not to be ashamed of His word and our association with His assembly in all parts of the world. Where do you go to? Oh, I go to a little gospel hall, but don't tell anybody. And what do you learn down there? There are a lot of these people who do all the dipping. Oh, you mean, yes, well, that's right, I suppose. And what kind of an answer is this? Yes, I go to a little place where they preach the gospel, where there's a little assembly. And if you want to see how we work or function, just you come someday and see. Now let me give you an example of that. In February of this year, in the town of Moshe, there was two Maasai, for Maasai matter. One was, they were father and son. The father had a serious medical condition. And the son came with his father to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center and saw that his father entered into the hospital and so on. And this young man, he is a believer. And his name is David, lovely name for a Massai. And we said to him, well, now David, tell us, are you a Christian? Yes, he said, I have been a believer for some years. Now I said, you know, would you like to come to the assembly meetings? He said, yes, I would love to come. And come he came in all his Messiah regalia. I think he frightened a lot of the people. But he came and then after the gospel meeting was over and we prepared for the breaking of bread, he sat away at the very back of the building. And when the breaking of bread meeting was all over, he came to me afterwards and he said, you know, he said, I have been a Christian for many years. Now, this is a math guy. He said, but I have never in my Christian experience witnessed such a meeting as this. Isn't that tremendous? And we got a letter from him just a few weeks ago. Or maybe a month or six weeks ago. And he said, I've never forgotten my visit to Moshe. And what I saw the Christian church practicing. And we want you to come to Masai Mara. When you come back. Come amongst them as I. And teach them these things. What are we going to teach them? We're going to teach them the Word of God. Beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord's service. Let us see to it. that we teach without fear and teach without compromise. Now he goes on to be always vigilant against error and wrongful practices in personal life and in church life. Each of us stand as a witness for the Lord and the truth of the Lord's God's Almighty, His Holy Word. No matter how unpopular such a stand may be, It may not make us acceptable to the people, to the population, generally speaking. But we're not out to please the world. We're living to please the Lord and to serve him and to be ready at all times and to share the Word of God with those who come with a genuine interest to know the Word of God. Whose praise do we wish to have? The world of the Lord. The choice is ours. Now, I must push on ever so quickly. He says here, I am now ready to be offered. He uses this word offered on two occasions, and one is found in Philippians chapter two, seventeen. The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. I am now ready to be offered. The last act of his earthly life would be the pouring out of that life as a drink offering. Isn't that remarkable? You have to go back into the Old Testament to find out the significance. He says here, I am now ready to be offered. The last act of this earthly life would be a pouring out of that life as a drink offering upon the burnt offering. The burnt offering represented the death of Christ. His life was a living sacrifice, continually being offered in his service. He has indeed presented his life as a living sacrifice unto God. Now there comes the final sacrifice. pouring out office life. What is left of it? Would be completely and devoted to the Lord without reservations. Without reservations. Please notice something about this offering. This was a drink offering which was constantly and consistently being poured forth in the service and devotion of the Lord. We need to take this to heart. Look at it in Exodus twenty-nine, Leviticus twenty-three, the book of Numbers, chapter fifteen, and so on. And from these scriptures you will note that the drink offering was poured out upon the Lamb of burnt offering just before it was placed upon the altar to be consumed. Tremendous. I am now ready to be offered. The thought is, I am now ready to be poured out. Are these the words of a man who has lost the vision of the glory of the Lord? Diocletia attempted to destroy John. He knew if he could break John, he thought the church would fail. But John had a vision of the person of Christ in all his glory. Chapter one, chapter four. Paul in chapter eight, chapter seven, he stands by at a young man by the name of Saul and watch Stephen being put to death. One word from him, Stephen would have been released. Chapter eight opens up that Paul, Saul stands and consents to the death of Stephen. Full sentence, complete in its entirety. But chapter nine opens up that he is going up to Damascus with letters from the hierarchy. to put to death or to put into prison, but to cause tremendous maximum suffering to the people of God. But God stopped him. And God turned him. And God saved him. And God kept him. And now, he says, I am ready to be offered. The last act of my life will be the pouring out of my life upon the sufferings of Christ. For what Christ has done for him and what he means to him. We can also... The time is going far too quickly. Let me just say this. I am now ready to be offered reflection upon his life as a drink offering. I have completed my course reflection upon his past service. I have kept their faith reflection upon his faithfulness to his Lord. There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. Reflection... upon a future reward. These are not the words of a man who is in a state of depression. And I use that word guardedly. Not stiffenedly, but guardedly. I can understand a person in experience of depression, and I would just touch that with great sensitivity. But you know, here is a man. And you'd think he would be sending letters and getting a whole lot of people to go and intercede for him to near him. Not him. He said, I'm now ready to pour my heart. I'm now ready to pour my heart. There's not much left of my life. But I'm willing to pour it out. This was Paul's final message to Timothy. Yes, it is a message for every generation of the church. From then until now. some one thousand nine hundred and sixty one years. And blessed be God for the tremendous role of honor that is written in heaven of valiant men and women of God who have served the Lord him. The missionary vision for them has not diminished. And let us take care of that. It has not diminished with us. Therefore, let us take the message of Paul's to heart and practice his content as this present century closes. Now, my, just finally, I would like to say this. In the early years of the church, there were five words that characterized the apostles in their service in their commission to serve the Lord. Wherever he would guide them. And that is why there was so much progress. Let me give you these five words and only take a minute or two and then I'm finished. willingness to go. Two, courage, to go beyond the limits of home, to the regions beyond. Look at Romans, fifteen and twenty, and second Corinthians, chapter ten, and verse sixteen. Paul was ever striving, moving on, not satisfied with what he's done, my beloved brethren and sisters in Christ. We need to be out in front, leading. Not for the sake of leading, but to be with these beloved brethren in the field of battle, spiritually speaking. And to take the sacrifices, or rather to accept the dangers that they accept, and to meet it head on. For these men, and I know five of them, of the dangers, and you know many more violent African brethren who have faced tremendous dangers, but they have not retracted. They have not retreated. And we need to be out there in front, not for front's sake, but to be alongside our beloved brethren, encouraging them to confront the impossible, if necessary, to stand alone, to preach the gospel for the salvation of souls, to teach the word of God for edification and not for destruction. No matter the dangers these men have courage to face. Commitment. Three, total surrender. No matter the cost. No little part of our lives should be reserved for us personally. Complete commitment is what the Lord is looking for, not conditional commitment. Four, compassion for souls. To sit where they sit at the heart of the African home. To sit where they sit. Listen to what they have to say. And to share the gospel for souls to be saved. And Holy Spirit directed enthusiasm. In the early church there was total commitment to Christ and His work. Are we ready and willing to take these last five years of this century? Are we ready to be just as committed as they were in the first century? A man of God in the last hundred years. If so then, let us catch the missionary vision of a dying world around us. This is not the time for retreating. Let us dig our heels in and say, with the confidence in our blessed Lord thus far and no further. We have retreated enough. Let us stop the retreat. Let us turn around with fresh courage and with fresh confidence and let us again rekindle the missionary vision. Accept the challenge no matter how formidable the task may be and go forth to serve him to where he would lead us, being totally committed to Christ. This twentieth century is dying out. Don't let us lose the vision of a glorified Lord. To fold our hands and lie back, taking things easy, and wither away the time is a great sin before the Lord. Such a stance is totally unacceptable before the Lord. Let us once again as the century closes. Catch the missionary vision afresh. Access the need, accept the challenge and get out of the rut and move forward. This is not the time for relaxation. I know that we're here for such a time, spiritual, but for working, not for sleeping, but up and ever moving forward. We need to be alert ever pushing forward into new areas. Total surrender means unconditional control of our lives and handed over to our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning we reserve no portion for ourselves. Selfies planned die. In the life of the believer, the secret of a non-satisfied life too often is a non-surrendered will to the control of our God. We often hear the phrase, one minute and I'll be finished. We often hear the phrase, he is strong will. My dear brother, you're strong will. And that terminology comes across with a certain amount of plausibility. But let us get it right down to the very root in English grammar. What does it mean? It means stubbornness. But stubbornness has a built-in weakness. It has not got the strength to yield. and therein many a promising believer has not fully realized his potential service for God. Steve G. Statt, man of early fifty came back from the Far East, broken in health, suffering from severe asthma. Now we're going back fifty and more, sixty, eighty and more years. And in those days there wasn't too much of treatment for asthma. But at the age of fifty-five, God called him, and he went off to Africa, in which he spent seventeen lonely years. He went by himself, his dear wife, staying at home to look after their four daughters. And he only saw his wife once in seventeen years when she came out to visit him, and she never returned again. He never saw her. He died in the heart of Africa. My beloved brethren, his commitment in his totality. So, as I finish, let us again renew or rekindle the missionary vision and to go on to serve our beloved Lord with renewed strength and purpose. Thank you and God bless you.