In this sermon, our missionary Brian Shortmeier looks at the vision of the glorious Lamb on the throne in Revelation 5. Brian Shortmeier explores the nature of Christ’s glory and how His overwhelming glory ought to compel Christians to evangelistic and missionary work. Brian Shortmeier concludes by showing a video describing recent gospel fruit among two tribes in Papua New Guinea.
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well good morning um I was thinking oh great I’m sitting up in the front so my bad voice is not going to influence anybody else it’s just going in this direction but oh nuts that also means you can see me wiggle as I sing well uh Pastor Bobby if you’re listening to this later I only raised my hands once and I didn’t wiggle too much uh like Eric said um uh my wife and I Susan she’s there in the back go ahead stand up all right we went to Papua New Guinea in 1984 and uh we obviously looked a lot younger back then and uh we went to work the school for missionaries children we were in there for 16 years as principal of that school for 14 and then we moved into field Administration I was a field administrator for for 10 years left there at the end of 2010 we’ve been back now here in the states and I was asked to join the Executive Board of new transmission so there’s six of us on that board guiding the work of NTM USA throughout the world and in the training facilities here and being part of the global neutralized mission for part of that for uh in conjunction with that this uh November Susan I will be heading off to Thailand for a global forum with our International Leadership there and uh it’ll be a real good time of getting back in touch with a lot of our folks especially those in the Asia Pacific area now I’d like to thank you for uh your support uh your prayers uh this church has been supporting us for close to 20 years now I’m thinking in that you know we’ve known you for quite a while and we’re just really really grateful uh I got a question to ask you here let’s see first let me make sure everything working okay with sound good good we’re in good shape there okay when’s the last time any view this doesn’t count for those that are under 20. but when’s the last time any of you looked at your old high school yearbook you know do you even know where it is sometimes reminiscing is fun and bring backs a lot of fond memories there are a lot of memories associated with significant events especially things like marriage marriage anniversaries usually bring to my a lot of thought most of them happy but you know there are a lot of different types of anniversaries as an organization new tribe’s mission is coming up on a really significant one on a horizon the 75th anniversary of new transmission will be next year in 2017.
uh that was the 1942 was when Paul Fleming our founder and two other men signed a pledge it was Cecil die and Bob Williams and in preparation I’ve been reading some of the old letters and documents from the founding days of NTM and not surprisingly one of the passages of scripture that was often quoted in those early days is Revelations chapter 5 verses 1 to 14.
so I’m going to be reading from that right now obviously you’re welcome to to read along with you or if you want to just I want you to try and visualize this and imagine what I’m going to be reading here so Revelation chapter 5.
this is the vision of John as he was caught up to heaven then I saw on the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with Seven Seals and I saw a mighty Angel proclaiming a loud voice who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll but no one in heaven or on Earth or under the Earth could open the scroll or even look inside it I wept and wet because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside then one of the elders said to me do not weep see the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has triumphed he is able to open the scroll in its Seven Seals then I saw land looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders he had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the Earth he came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne and when he had taken it the four living creatures and the 24 Elders fell down before the lamb each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls of incense which are the prayers of the Saints and they sang a new song you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and Nation you have made them to be a kingdom and Priests to serve our God they will reign on the Earth then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand they encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders in an allowed voice they sang Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise then I heard every creature in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and on the sea and all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and Power forever and ever the four living creatures said amen and the elders fell down and worshiped it’s quite a stirring picture isn’t it well why do missionaries with new transmission do what we do I mean why do we feel the need to attempt Ministries that other Christians choose to ignore well part of the answer is found there in verse 9.
what we see there isn’t it’s not a parable it’s not a metaphor verse 9 describes an actual event that is yet to happen the redeemed of the Lord will include people from every tribe every language every people and every nation that is a fact that is what’s going to happen but you know the emphasis of the Revelation 5 passage isn’t isn’t on who’s included in the group though you would think that’s what you know uh what I focus in on and that’s true but that’s not the focus of the passage the focus is on the one who sits on the throne and on the land in the center of the throne it’s always where the focus needs to be we read in verse 12 that they will sing those around him to Hidden who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor glory and Power forever and ever praise and honor power and Glory and I’ll tell you praise and Power they’re actually easy concepts for me to understand and I think I have a handle on honor though the more I think about it the more I realize there’s more I don’t know to that but you know what I struggle with Glory it’s a word we read a lot an alert word we use a lot but I ask you what is it really now in the Old Testament the glory of God was described as a consuming fire on top of Mount Sinai it was described as something that filled the Tabernacle and then the temple God’s glory has been set above the heavens and says that the heavens themselves declare the glory of God it’s interesting we get to the New Testament one of the first things we read about the glory of the Lord is the glory shown around the Shepherds and right before martyrdom Stephen was able to look into heaven and see the glory of God and in a process that I believe in but I don’t really yet understand we reflect the Lord’s glory in an ever-increasing way as we are transformed into his likeness at Second Corinthians 3 18.
that’s kind of hard to believe that people like us could be a reflection of the Lord’s Glory but that’s what the word tells us well is Glory something physical well actually it seems it can have a physical manifestation is it Supernatural or spiritual well obviously there’s certainly an aspect of that have you ever thought about it is Glory a degree of splendor is it a degree of reputation for what God is known for I believe there’s a certain element of both in those as you look through the Bible you will notice that glory is most oftenly associated with light Psalm 104 2 tells us that God wrought wraps himself in light as with a garment and we also read that the light source of the New Jerusalem which will come out of Heaven from God that light source is solely the glory of God Revelation 21 23.
so what’s the glory of Jesus Christ well scripture tells us that Christ’s Glory was possessed before the foundation of the world so it’s something he’s always had it was revealed in the Incarnation oh that’s not the kind of Glory I would have imagined right now just their a little infant taking on a human body yeah the Lord’s glory is revealed in the Incarnation it was beheld upon the Mount of transfiguration his glory will be manifested at the second coming again some of what we read before it will be shared by those who believe in him will be sharing in the Lord’s Glory and as we read earlier around the throne Glory will be ascribed to Jesus Christ ascribed by the Heavenly hosts well what does ascribe mean well means that Glory will be credited to him will be attributed to him will be recognized in him so though we cannot clearly Define it I believe we all have a sense of what glory is glory of God reveals his magnificence his worthiness his holiness it inspires worship and praise you know one aspect of the glory of a thing is that which is outstanding about it for example Proverbs 20 29 says the glory of young men is there strength any old man knows that that’s not there anymore another significant aspect though of the glory of a thing is that which represents its best feature or highest accomplishment the thing of which it’s most proud well we understand that because Proverbs 17 6 that says that what are the glory of children they’re fathers yeah my dad my dad can beat up your dad um we understand that but again here surprisingly First Corinthians 11 tells us tells us that men meaning mankind are the glory of God that’s an interesting concept are we the thing of which God is the most proud that he created not sure but that’s possible one of the themes of the book of Hebrews is how Jesus is better than all who came before him he accomplished more he himself just is more his glory surpasses any previous Glory and I think the verses that Express this thought well are found in second Corinthians chapter 3.
verses 7 to 11.
uh those verses are appropriate in King James but they’re difficult to understand in the NIV I’ll read that here second Corinthians 3 7 now if the ministry that brought death which was engraving in letters on Stone so what are we talking about what was engraving on letters of stone Ten Commandments the law so if the ministry that brought death which was engraving in letters on Stone came with Glory so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its Glory fading though it was will not the ministry of the spirit be even more glorious if a Ministry that condemns men is glorious the law how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness for what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with The surpassing Glory and if what was fading away came with Glory much greater is the glory of that which lasts okay the ministry of righteousness in verse 9 the ministry of the Gospel it’s described as having a glory which excellent or is surpassing this means that it excels or surpasses any other Glory it’s the Pinnacle the highest well we as Americans tend to make a big deal over anything that’s considered the Pinnacle the top the best especially in sports okay those of you who are born prior to 1960 okay so we’re talking about a limited group here you might remember remember the name Mark Spitz okay former American competition swimmer now are you aware that in the 1968 Olympics Mark Spitz won two team gold medals in freestyle relay relays and a silver medal in the 100 meter butterfly no I doubt it what we remember what do you remember about Mark Spitz he won seven gold medals at one point okay at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich I mean there’s an image in the mind of those of us who are rely then it’s the image of the picture on the box of Wheaties The Breakfast of Champions and there he’s standing there in his swim trunks and these seven gold medals all right so what else do you remember do you remember what he did before that no that’s what you remember that was the top okay now for those of you who are rolling their eyes at this ancient history let’s move to the 21st century what do you know about American pharaoh remember that name very popular just last year what was American pharaoh a horse is an American thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown in 2015.
first American Triple Crown winner since 1978 only the 12th in history well does anybody know that he was voted American champion two-year-old male horse in 2014 no you have no idea what he accomplished then cares anymore after he won the Triple Crown see the highest achievement is the one to be celebrated the highest achievement deserves the most Glory and I thought back to Revelation 5 and I wondered how does this relate to the glory of God what is the main problem in all creation that God and God Alone was able to find a solution for it was the problem of sin right no one else okay sin is what marred his creation sin is what separated us from God sin is why the father considered necessary to sacrifice his own son you know in our Humanity it’s impossible for us to fully comprehend the depth and the depravity of our own sin let alone the magnitude of the issue of sin in the universe we just can’t get there our sin isn’t something that covers just a portion of us like the dirt we might see on our faces in a mirror sin can’t be compared to something that even fills us those things are actually small enough for me to try to imagine or try to comprehend but our sin is more like a Grand Canyon sized hole so big that if you’re standing at the precipice of it you can even imagine how that hole could ever be filled what part not all but at least a part of the glory of Jesus Christ is that his blood is sufficient to cover or fill that grand canyon-sized hole I believe that at some point in heaven is our understanding of spiritual things increases and as we begin to understand the actual depravity of sin contrasted with the Holiness of God to a degree that we will never understand here in this earth we will actually Marvel that Jesus blood could cleanse and take care of the sin of even one sinner the glory of Jesus is and will be enhanced by every additional sinner who was saved one after another after another I wonder if one at a time will think there’s not enough blood left to do the job but each additional sinner each additional cleanse Center will enhance our love oh and respect for God and will enhance his glory you know when a Craftsman creates a work of art the glory goes to the one who created it not to the work itself each additional work increases the glory do and heaped upon the Craftsmen and so it is and will be with every additional safe person each additional Soul Redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ brings additional glory to Jesus Christ and then I pondered that and when I thought of it it really brought me up short for my own selfishness and self-centeredness I’m not sure about you but there are times with I’m going through difficult time when I think inwardly please return now Lord I can’t take anymore and eventually I realize the absolute assertive absurdity of that statement of course I can take more of course every one of us can take more God’s grace can enable us not only to endure which is where a lot of us are just content Lord just help me to endure this but God’s grace can enable us not just to endure but to flourish under any condition or circumstance he chooses to allow in our lives when we grasp grasp that truth that his grace will enable us to flourish not just endure under any condition I’m going to be a lot more open to what God is doing in the Bible we never find the phrase even though I used to use it even so come quickly Lord Jesus I realize that in revelation 22 20 Jesus said surely I come quickly but John’s response was amen even so come Lord Jesus well I take that quickly from Jesus words I’m added on to John you know but the adjective that the New Testament does use describing the timing of the Lord’s coming is at hand or near Philippians 4 5 says let your moderation be known unto all men why the Lord is at hand Lord’s near revelation 22 10 and he saith unto me seal not the Prophecies of this book for the time is at hand it’s near well determining when Jesus will return is the father’s business until that happens what’s our business our business is to go to obey his command to go and make disciples All Nations baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded look it up yourself Matthew 28 19 and 20.
you know when I’m more concerned for my own welfare than I am for the Salvation of one more lost soul but I’m no longer a burdened for those people groups who haven’t heard the message of the Gospel that’s when I’m saying or communicating to God consciously or not Lord I care less about Sin you get more Glory than I am but my own temporal Comfort come now because I can’t take anymore as the years go by we can begin to feel some of us haven’t we done our share maybe it’s time for others to carry the burden and we can let up that isn’t true there is no such thing as our fair share as long as the Lord has us here in this earth we as part of the bride of Christ have to make ourselves ready for his return and a big part of making ourselves ready is seeing that as many as can be brought into the fold are brought into the fold why because each additional person saved by the blood of Christ brings more glory to him we know our Salvation is not a result of our own efforts our Salvation is only possible through the work of Christ the master Craftsman every safe soul is to the praise of his glory every saved Soul brings him more glory and praise so I go back to revelation 5.
the song of the living creatures and Elders as recorded in verses 9 and 10.
is then repeated by all the angels in heaven in verse 12 and then in verse 13 is echoed by every creature in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and on the sea and all that is in them what’s he describing all creation every single thing all creation joins in this song and they sing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and Power for ever and ever this song won’t be stopped but Satan would like to see it diminished in First Peter 5 8 we read be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil there’s a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour I’m never sure I don’t know if you’ve ever looked up what that word devour is when something is devoured it’s swallowed up completely overcome no more power no more of any consequence that word devour is actually used in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 11 to describe what happened to Pharaoh’s Army in the Red Sea when they chased the children of Israel they were completely swallowed up well according to First Peter 5 8 this is what Satan wants to do to us he walks about seeking whom he made an hour he wants to see us overcome without power no longer of any consequence well the scripture says that though we were once Darkness we are now light in the Lord and we are commanded to live as children of light Ephesians again our world is described as being in darkness Ephesians 6 12.
and Satan wants to stop any who live in that Darkness from turning to the light Matthew 13 Acts 26 . second Corinthians 4 4 says in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the Glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them every additional person that Satan can keep from salvation is one less Soul saved to enhance the glory of God and when we aren’t committed to living as children of light and actively bringing light into this world we aren’t bringing glory to God in the spring of um sorry in the spring of 1942 I mean who is the founder of new transmission wrote an article because a lot of people were questioning what is this new organization doing and he wrote an article and published in our new uh publication right back then article called the last tribe I want you to consider how much he wrote in 1942 still applies now in 2016.
he wrote the command of Christ has been obeyed only in part The Staggering fact Still Remains that today there are more people being born into this world than are being reached with the gospel yep that’s still true Paul for me went on to say that the failure of the church to carry the gospel to the ends of the Earth is because the church has lost its vision and that it’s become localized meaning that it’s primarily concerned with itself and with local or domestic Outreach I pray that this church is different I believe it is but I can tell you the majority of the churches in North America are exactly where that’s at and it’s becoming more and more true every day the number of missionaries going out it’s dropping fast number of overseas missionaries from North America another will lose another 6 000 this year right churches we have a church that supports us right now he says you know what we’ve decided we’re not going to do traditional missions anymore well we’ll keep supporting you because you know you kind of grandfathered in but we like projects we’d like to be able we’ll give money we’re good at that and some other group can do it who are really concerned with our town well I’m glad they’re concerned with their town I’m glad they’re concerned with New Jersey okay we should not be should not be forsaking that but Jesus said to do what go into all the world he didn’t say just do it for a while until you’re tired of it and then go back home to Jerusalem again why it’s our job Satan will be happy to see that last tribe not reach for another 100 or 200 or Thousand Years because then he continues to have more free reign on this Earth the church in America is more concerned with itself in local issues than ever before Paul Fleming wrote Our objective in prayer is that we might be a channel this is how why Neutron’s mission was raised up our objective into prayer is that we might be a channel through which the Lord might work to reach the last tribe or unevangelized people group wherever they might be so 74 years now so far the purpose of neutral’s mission has not changed our goals are the same you see the gospel brought God’s word taught and discipleship caught in the least reached people groups of the World wherever they might be you know God we will be glorified we will be there around the throne and a loud voice the Nations will sing Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise God wants each one of us to be committed to this task our mission to those who haven’t heard the life-saving message of the Gospel according to Acts 26 18 is to open their eyes and turn them from Darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness and a place among those who are Sanctified by faith in Christ where’s that place that place is among the tribes of Nations who are encircling the throne giving glory to the lamb it’s been very exciting to see the different ways that the Lord is using NTM missionaries to spread the gospel and plant churches among unreached people groups I’m not sure how many of you are able to see some of that slide presentation that was happening between Sunday school and the church service but it was just again a little review of just some of the things that have happened through new transmission from 2012 to 2016.
the number of places where the missionaries have they learn the language and the culture after years of studying and had been able to break down the language and make an alphabet and then create primers and teach the people literacy so they can read and write in their own language and then they can make Bible lessons and then they can teach from creation to Christ and lead people to Salvation and a new church is born and then we’ve got those places where uh after a few years that church that that new fledgling church is interested in bringing that same message to the rest of their tribe and so we had pictures about that and then there was those places where they’re now getting the vision not just our people but those tribes that are near us are next to us around us they need to hear and we want to be a part of that because that’s our job as part of the bride of Christ to see that that continues on and I’m gonna at the end of this we’re gonna see a little video about that and then there’s the places where they’ve after years and years they finished translating the New Testament and has been presented to people I think you say I’ve got God’s word now for myself and my own language which we just take for granted and then pictures of those places where the gospel is getting ready to be presented this year and the places where the New Testament is getting ready to be finished and dedicated this year several years ago missionaries moved into and this is going to be tricky so try to get the two words here into a tribe of people known as the enepog in upon these missionaries after learning the language and culture they presented the gospel and it wasn’t long before tribal Believers from that first Village then learned how to take that and bring it to other distant villages in their same people group just two thousand and I think 14 they took it to the eighth and last Village of the inepong work but around that same time there were in upon believers who were bilingual in e tutang because of marriage who were burned to bring the message back to their own people to their relatives back in that other language group Yi tutang but as they looked at the task I thought We’re Not educated we don’t have the resources to do this we’re just simple Village People and how could we ever bring the gospel to another group but they believed God that God could take them and use them to do that you wanna you know what the resources that every single one of us here in this building today have compared to the tribal people of the enepon our resources dwarf what they have every one of us has been to school it used to be that you know go back a couple hundred years in America we try to give everybody through sixth grade well we try to get everybody at least through High School majority of us have been to college our education our ability to comprehend new Concepts you might think it’s difficult to learn a language I understand that but it’s just because we think oh it’s hard I used to teach mathematics and I can remember students first year of algebra going I don’t know this I’ll never pass and I go I know you don’t know it that’s why you’re here if you knew it you wouldn’t need to be here hey we’ll teach you we’ll train you and at the end I’ll bet you I’ll say at the end of Algebra 1 . let’s look at back at that first lesson you think you can do this one now oh piece of cake why because we took you through it step by step you had the training you needed to bring you to that point you know what every single person here has what you need believe it or not with training to learn another language to learn how to share the gospel because hopefully you’re already doing that in your own language any of them I I want to get too much in the guilt trip here let’s continue on here um this group really felt as if they weren’t skilled or educated enough and they were scared enter Tim and Tiffany Lanier Tim and Tiffany were new missionaries Jay just finished the training here in the United States they went through Missionary Training they went through the language school we have this language School in Camdenton Missouri they finished all that there were new missionaries of the field and as new missionaries they were put into orientation well the way we do orientation there is like okay we want you to go live in an established tribal work with missionaries that are already there you’re going to work you study the national culture and language just in that context of a tribal language but here we’ve got materials for you because while you’re learning the national culture and language for example if it was you went down to Bolivia we’re going to put you in a tribe while you’re learning Spanish and the national culture of Bolivia you can also get exposed to what happens here in a tribe well while Tim and Tiffany were learning the national culture and language of Papua New Guinea okay they were doing their orientation in the in upon work and while they were there they were hearing the prayers of inepond or we need to reach E210 we don’t know how to do it and Tim and Tiffany are saying well when we leave here where does it where is it that the Lord will have us work what new place and as they were leaving they were really becoming burdened for E210 just like the enapong were being burdened for ichu Tang okay I want you to listen to how both the linears and the enepon found the Lord to be sufficient to do things that they never thought they could do so if we could do we turn down the lights we put on the TVs you might not need to the story you will hear is a beautiful one he alone is writing the story it is about his strength his power and His glory and the story will be told through his church come and see the Glorious works of the king foreign so when we had our time of learning the national language and culture here in Papua New Guinea we spent nine weeks in etitong and during that time we began to hear testimony after testimony of the Believers there who were bilingual and had family in tongua and they’re just great desire to take the gospel back to their family and then as we heard these testimonies the Lords began to land our heart a desire to um take part in that it was it was quite a journey we prayed about it a lot there were a lot of obstacles that we saw that the Lord had to help us overcome if this was going to happen and we didn’t know if that was going to happen or not but we decided to trust him enough plenty we saw this as an incredible opportunity to assist and support the local church there to to do something that hasn’t often been possible in PNG and that is to help the local church fulfill the Great Commission by Crossing language barriers and taking the gospel so while we were excited to do this we recognized that it would require a non-traditional approach to church planting one that had many obstacles to overcome to accomplish it many said this local church couldn’t do it that they’re uneducated that this job is too big and too complicated but nonetheless we believe that this is what God was leading us and seemed like was leading them to do we didn’t know it at the time and they didn’t know it but when we left itsutung that first time each of us both the church and our family were praying independently about partnering together to reach the tonguat people we wanted to do everything we could to see if this church was equipped that they were empowered for this task of taking the gospel across language barriers we wanted to see that happen for their further maturing and for God’s glory in that place foreign school this was out of the box it was driven by the church from the strategy of reaching the tongue down to the day-to-day tests and assignments they were given by the Nationals who were teaching them in a time what language every day required this family to lay down expectations and rely on Christ Alone Kim once said I will do whatever it takes even if it means moving at a snail space we will work with the church’s timetable to learn this language and support them in their church planning effort the Lord blesses humility and bless the two time teachers and before the two-year Mark these Believers had brought Tim and Tiffany into the proficient levels of the language and culture there in town Hawaiian when we were far enough along in our language study we developed the tonguat alphabet and we’re ready to put together the tongvat literacy program the etutung church came together in the tangwat bilinguals did an incredible amount of work to see that happen in just a few short days they had wrote all the greatest stories needed for the four primer books and the four graded readers in all they wrote over 100 stories and they saw the materials put together and this helped to ready them for the first classes to begin the literacy classes have been taught entirely by the icheton church from the very beginning foreign so once literacy was finished we got into Bible Lesson writing and translation writing Bible lessons is not a small task it is very big we definitely couldn’t do it in our own space but when we prayed and asked for help God strengthened us and gave us wisdom this work of writing lessons is big but we are just Village People so we did not have a good understanding in how to do this this is what happened often we would start writing a lesson and then our thinking would fall but then God’s spirit would help us and then we’d get wisdom again and we’d go back and continue writing so God chose us Village people who have Believers in him to do this work of writing these lessons as we’ve partnered with the etutong church we’ve had to be very intentional about giving them the front seat rolls and even forcing sometimes them to take positions to take leadership in areas that they want to defer to us to because we’re the white missionaries as Bible translation and lesson writing got underway we began to realize that the task of discipling these guys into this role was consuming a lot of my time and in order to keep up with producing materials for them to be able to teach we needed some help so promise Vaughn joined our team and she’s been a huge blessing in helping continue to help the process of Bible translation continue to progress as we disciple and equip these guys as the ichatang Bible teachers began writing Bible lessons it was a very scary thing for him they didn’t think they could do it they didn’t think that this was something that that was possible by them they’d never sat down for long periods of time to work at a desk or a computer so there was a lot of challenges they were afraid they were really scared of how are they going to do this we can’t do it we’re not educated but they stepped out in faith and saw the Lord meet them there I said you mean you mean you mean our struggle of making this life that’s all because so we continue writing lesson papers and when they were finished the number of papers look like a stack of books some days we would be writing and our house would fall asleep some days we’ll be writing and our backs would be hurting we worked and worked and sometimes thought this work is too hard for us we should just leave it but now God’s spirit said you must do this it will be completed because you yourself in your strength can’t do this you must stand on my strength and do this work God continually encourages Us in that way it was after about 18 months of intensive work on these Bible lessons that they were finally completed and we were ready to go down to tangwa to start teaching at that time man the church was alive with excitement and they were so thrilled to see that the Lord had actually accomplished this through them and they were actually going down to teach to talk about people God’s word so the day finally came when we were able to actually take God’s word in their language and carry it down to tonguat and begin teaching them so the ichatung Bible teachers talked chronologically Through the Bible for four months teaching on God’s character his attributes on sin and Redemption and they quickly realized that they were alienated from God and helpless without somebody to deliver them some of the ladies after the teaching were gathering together thinking and asking what is the road to get back to God how can this problem of sin be fixed and one lady in particular was asking well can we pay money to make ourselves right with God they were thinking of their traditional ways of having feasts and eating together realizing that through all those things that the sin problem wouldn’t be resolved so it was exciting as we went through the New Testament to be able to point to all the prophecies in the Old Testament of the Messiah and what he was going to be like and what he was going to do and as we went through the New Testament we could see each one of those fulfilled and as they saw that they realized that God had a plan and that he was their deliverer and that he was the only one that could save them so as we got to the final lessons uh it was just it was actually very quiet because people were so distraught by what was happening to this one that God had sent the etutong Believers did a drama depicting the Last Supper through to Jesus burial and it was a very convicting time for the people because they saw the story unfold Before Their Eyes acted out and they realized that really really this happened that this is something that God did for us foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign Believers around the world that have been upholding the tonguat people in each time church and our family our team in prayer looking back over the past three years and seeing what the Lord has done looking at the beginning and seeing how this just didn’t seem possible for a lot of reasons but seeing that God is able and he has empowered the people here he’s given us strength time and time again when we felt like we were hitting roadblocks that were going to hinder and it’s been a thrill to us to see him use his church there in ichatung to see him use his local church there to reach the tongaat people has been just a thrill and I think every struggle we’ve gone through has made it all worth it today we Rejoice because he has taken a small band of bilinguals hidden in the Forgotten swamps and valleys of the rainforest of PNG and he has written them into his story he has made them honored characters and privileged vessels who have proclaimed the most important words ever spoken and they have seen Souls transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of our King’s glorious light but the story is still not finished there are many left who still need to hear please pray for the Harvest there still is much to be done uh there’s a lot of different ways and opportunities to help reach the unreached people groups sometimes it’s been as the the new missionary going in there but sometimes it was with Tim and Tiffany and promise instead they joined in with a local church there now you say well why were they needed well one they taught them how to write the lessons Okay but the other thing that was really necessary and often why worst from the West still need it is because though these trauma believers they understand culture and they can learn that and they can learn language and they can talk with they can teach what they’ve been taught difficult part is translating God’s word think how difficult it is for us with the training with the tools that we’ve been have how many versions in English do you have available to you how many concordances how many commentaries and none of those things exist in the tribal languages so that’s another reason why we’re still very much needed to help be part of this team to see that God’s word gets translated um I’m going to just leave one last little challenge here if you’re part of a generation that says yeah somebody else can do it I asked you step out be different from your generation say yeah I know the majority is not but God’s called us throughout history there’s always been a smaller group that’s willing to go out and be a part of that okay and whether he calls you go there or closer to your need to stay here be a part of getting the gospel out okay help see one more Soul save your bring more glory to Jesus Christ let’s pray father we do again Praise You free are we thank you Lauren I just pray you continue to um to use this church or in its community and around the world Lord I do pray that there’d be another one two or more just be willing to step forward from this local body to say I want to be a part of bringing the gospel around the world to people that have never heard it or this church has been so blessed and such good teaching with such breath we do pray that there be those that set forward to Jesus be a part of that can we just ask your blessing upon our time together the rest of this afternoon Lord for the food we’re about to have together Lord we thank you so much for your grace in our own lives to enable us to do any and everything that you’ve called us to We Just Praise You In Jesus Name amen