Sugar Plain Friends Chruch: Good morning. Good to see you here. As I was trying to prepare for today, I went about three different directions and I thought, well, no, I don't think I'll go that way. And then I thought, yeah, I will. Then I thought, No, I won't. But now I am. So Over the past few weeks, I have had discussions with people about some of the things that's going on in the world today and I I came to the place that I realized that the church has pretty much lost its mission. When you stop to think, there was a period of time that we had a lot of missionaries. I I can remember going to yearly meeting and we had missionary Sunday and there would be several that would turn their hearts over to the Lord because they felt they were called to the mission field and ended up becoming missionaries. We don't have that today. We don't have that today. We don't have people who feel the call to spread the gospel. And I got to thinking about that and I I thought what has changed That we have lost this burden for lost souls. And I got to thinking that maybe we're not as concerned about the loss as we should be. So I had to examine my own life and so maybe this is more an examination for me than it is for you. But you can join in and examine as well. There are times that the Lord teaches us lessons from sermons. I I hope once in a while my sermons somebody gets something out of it and they go home and go, Well, that that's gonna help me. That that's gonna be good. then there are times that we we learn at the kitchen table. You're sitting there and y you're discussing things and the Lord reveals things to you. And then there are times that you're reading your Bible and it's like God just opened it up and you you're going, Why didn't I see that before? I've read this many times, but this is the first time that this has really jumped out at me and And and I understand it. I think I shared with you I was in a gospels class and I was reading the book of Romans, which Romans is not gospel, and it was chapter eight, and I was reading through there and I'd read that many times, and it came who shall separate us from the love of God? So tribulation, distress. And I read down through there and I thought and I said out loud, which I I wasn't really paying much attention to what was going on in the class. I went, Wow. And the professor wanted to know what the wow was about. And I said, I was just reading the Bible here. He thought I was in the Gospels. We were studying Luke. And he said, Well, what passage? And I said, Romans eight. And he goes, Well, that's not in the lesson today. Well, it was for me. And I I thought, wow, this is amazing. Because it was the first time I really saw what it meant. What Christ had done. And so then there are times that God puts people in our life. You agree? Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. but God puts those individuals in our life. And I got to thinking about that. And I thought, the people that God had put in our life. I was I was raised in a very conservative home. My dad was a strong anti communist and we went to anti communist rallies and I think Sam was talking about Richard Wormbrand a few Sundays ago. I I don't remember how old I was, but I remember when he came to the United States and he spoke at one of the rallies and it was there. And I was impressed because this is somebody who verified everything I knew about communism. And here's here's I'm young, okay, so I want you to understand that. I was raised that Russians were all communist. If you're a Russian, you're a communist. If you're a communist, you're an enemy. If you're an enemy, we hate you. Simple as that. And that's the way it was. And I had this whole concept of who the Russian people were. And I don't know how it was, but there was a Russian family, became friends with our family. They were Christians, they had fled Russia, came to the United States, and I was amazed that a Russian could be a Christian. Because I didn't think Russians could be Christians. That's just the way I felt. And God put this family in our life and it changed the way I started looking at people. Now, it took me quite a while to get over. If somebody said something about Russia, the first thing popped in my mind, a bunch of communists, you know, and I probably made statements that I shouldn't have made when I was younger. Maybe we ought to just go in and nuke now you probably would never say something like that, but I I probably did several times because I did not I did not see the value of those people. This is what Jesus said in the gospel of Matthew. He said, Ye have heard that it been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. Yeah, that's what I've been taught. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you, persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. That's a whole different prospect of looking at individuals, isn't it? Looking at them through the light and the eyes of Christ. And the older I get, the more I realize how important it is for us to treat people as Christ would. When we look through the eyes of Christ at individuals. We have to see them as lost souls. They're not enemies. They may be considered an enemy, but they're not. Now, I will tell you this: I don't like communism. I still despise the concept of communism. I don't like Islam. I despise the religion of Islam because of what it does. But I can't associate the people because, as the scripture tells us, that Satan has blinded their eyes, and it is our responsibility to pray for these people, that their eyes not be blinded, that they see Christ. And the longer I look at the scripture, the more I see how Christ looks at us. And how we should look at others. One of the major doctrines of the church is forgiveness. You agree? We all talk about forgiveness, don't we? The scripture tells us that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and put us as a joint heir with Jesus Christ. That's pretty good, isn't it? But we don't like forgiveness as long as it's us being forgiven. We don't like to forgive, though. And I find that kind of odd that the main doctrine of Christianity is forgiveness, and yet we don't like to forgive people. We hold grudges, we have bitterness in our heart toward individuals, because we see them as enemies and not as those that Christ died for. And so when we look at What he says about being a neighbor, everybody falls into that category, don't they? I I have a brother who he travels all over the world doing work for embassies and government projects and He spends a lot of time in Muslim countries and He comes back and tells me, he said, you know, they're no different than we are. They're just like we are. He said, they have the same problems, they go through the same worries. And he said, everyone that he has met has been kind to him and treated him well. And I I said, Well, that's not the way I hear it. And he said, But it's true. He spends his vacations when he can in Lebanon, not Lebanon, Indiana, but Lebanon with a Christian family there who they struggle because everybody thinks everybody in Lebanon is Muslim and they're Christian. And they suffer because of that concept. And I I got to thinking about that and I thought. Sometimes it's difficult for us to separate individuals from what they believe. Now Christ died for everyone. Do we agree? When you look at Genesis chapter one, God said, Let us make man in whose image in the image of God. Anyone that has been born into this world is part of the image of God. That's not my theology. That's from God. And the scripture tells us that God does not delight in the death of the sinner. He does not delight in that death. It hurts him. And John 3 16 says. And I think we all know that. For God so loved the world that whosoever, he didn't put a title to a race or a religion. He said, Whosoever would believe on him would be saved. Now Years ago, there were people who came to Christ and God put upon them the burden to spread the gospel to other people. Now I think Sam was talking about missionaries last week. Missionaries that went to countries. Hudson Taylor. Spent seven years before he had the first convert. Seven years. And he was about ready to throw up his hands. And the fellow who was working with him was not a Christian. And Taylor was telling him how important it was to reach the lost. And he said, Well, you've never asked me. And he realized he hadn't because he hadn't seen him through the eyes of being lost, and he brought him to the Lord. Sometimes God brings people into our life that we might be able to show them the way to salvation. Sometimes the people aren't nice people. I have friends who irritate me. I mean irritate. And sometimes I'm not no. Max is laughing. He only irritates me once in a while. I I have people that I say, Lord, why did you put this person in my life? Why? They won't listen to you and they want to argue with you, they make your life miserable, and yet you know they need you. Why? I don't know. I don't know. But God does that because it's important for us to realize that everybody He puts in our life is there for a purpose. Now maybe it's to teach me patience. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe it's to teach me lessons of compassion. I should be more compassionate. And more understanding. Maybe that's why God puts some people in our life. But We miss the whole point when we fail to see them through the eyes of Christ. They are not our enemy. They are not our enemy. They are someone that God has put there for us to lead to Him. We need to focus more upon individuals than we focus upon ourselves. I I used to attend these workshops on counseling. I I don't want to be a counselor, never never had the inkling to be a counselor. Because number one, you tell people what to do and they won't listen to you anyway. And the other thing is it becomes your problem more than it is theirs. So I went to These sessions, drive all the way up to Chicago and set there and listen. But I did learn one thing, and this is what I've learned: that if you focus upon yourself, you're not going to be happy. But when you focus upon others, your life changes. One of the things they would have us to do, and I think I even had that, I've tried that here. is to write a letter to someone to encourage them that maybe you don't like. Now, think about that. How do I write a letter to somebody I don't really like and try to encourage them? It changes my attitude toward them. When you start praying for people, it changes your attitude toward them. And you become concerned about their need. That's what Jesus was saying here. You've heard. Love your neighbor. That's good. But I say, love your enemy. Love the person that you can't get along with. Love that individual. Why? That you might be looked at as children of God. There's a big difference there. And I I think the church has wandered away from the mission of the lost. Maybe it's because we become too political. if you're not my party. You're not going to be a Christian. that's all there is to it. And you're an enemy. I think that whole attitude has become pretty prominent even among Christians today. We have to get away from that. We have to get our eyes back upon Christ and look at individuals through the lens of Jesus Christ. And see them as lost souls, eyes blinded by the God of this world. I don't know who God's placed in your life. I don't know. But He's placed them there, maybe for you to be the witness, the testimony to show them what Christ can do and change their life. We have a lot of people today who call themselves Christians, but they've never had their hearts transformed. They've never had that transforming power that changes them. From someone that they used to be to someone that God can use. We need to get to the place in our life that God can use us and that we have surrendered ourselves to Him and that we see those around us as lost individuals and not enemies to hate, because God does not want anyone to miss out on salvation. Let's bow our heads. Father, we thank you for the promise of salvation that you've given to all of us. And help us, Lord, that our hearts be challenged. To give the message of the gospel to those that we come in contact with, that we may have issues with, that we may not even like. Help us, Lord, that our hearts be changed, that we have the compassion for the lost, that we can see them brought to you. Give us the burden that we need, Lord, to change our lives, to help us that we might be able to bring more into the kingdom. As we go from here, we ask the Holy Spirit guide and direct us and speak to us and show us the way that you would have us go, that we surrender to your will. In thy name we pray. Amen.