World Salt Conference — Paris Reidhead

Till we bow our hearts in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank and praise thee for this privilege of fellowship together in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in that which is closest to thy heart. How grateful we are that we are laborers together with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit in this unfinished task of getting the message of thy love, and thy grace, and the life, and death, and resurrection of thy Son out to those that still sit in darkness, that haven't heard.

And because we're here, and because thou art here, something is going to happen in these 56 hours or so that we share together. Eternity is going to be different for many, because thou hast found us ready and willing to listen to thee, and hear thy voice, and to obey thee.

We plead the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ over and upon us, and each that we influence. We would ask, Father, that thou will have freedom, release, to say to us what thou dost want us to hear.

No two of us are in the same place. No two of us have the same needs. No two of us are in the same place of maturity and growth. And no speaker is able to address himself to so many needs. But thou art God.

Thou art El Shaddai. Thou art the God who is enough. And thou art enough to speak to our hearts this morning, and to say something that will bring eternal glory, and honor, and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we ask for the sense of thy presence. We do stand against every defeated foe that would, in any wise, rob the Lord Jesus of what he would want to do in these few minutes we're going to spend in thy word.

So we thank thee, Father, and praise thee for all that will be accomplished that will bring praise, and honor, and glory to the Lamb that was slain, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Turn, please, to Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

The Bible as a Missionary Book

Oh, you don't need to turn. You know it. I suggest you do it, however, because we're going to see something in it that perhaps you haven't seen before. Before we begin the scripture, I want to give you three basic principles.

Now, you may forget everything else that is said. But please, remember these principles. The first is this. The Bible is a missionary book. Did you understand me? I didn't say the Bible teaches us something about missions.

I didn't say that the Bible has a lot to say about missions. I said the Bible is a missionary book. It's the unfolding love purpose of the eternal God, Father, Son, and Spirit, to gather to Himself a people that should fulfill His ancient purpose.

You see, the Bible tells us that God is love. He's also light, and life, and truth, but He's love. And you understand that love is never complete without an object. Now, we know the Father loves the Son.

The Son, the Father, the Spirit, yes. But we are talking about the triune God, who is love. God is love. From eternity past, Father God has longed for children to whom He could reveal Himself and with whom He could share Himself.

From eternity past, the bridegroom has yearned for a bride to whom He could reveal Himself and with whom He could share Himself in all that He is, in all that He has. And the elder brother has yearned for and longed for brethren.

And so before the world was formed in the council of the Trinity, it was decided that the universe would be made and the world would be made as a scene for God's eternal purpose. And in the fullness of time, He made in His image, in His likeness, man.

Now, we do not know how wherein angels differ from men. We only know this, that the only creature that is described as being made in God's image and likeness is man. What's the difference? Well, I'm not prepared to say because scripture doesn't say.

But it does tell us man is made in God's image. Nor does the scripture say that God loves angels. It does say that He loves man. Because man is made in His image and likeness, and we can only love that which is like us.

How many times you've heard people say, we love our new house? I love that shade of blue. We love our car. I love southern fried chicken. I don't love country fried ham. We use the word love in such loose ways.

The only proper way for love is toward God and toward others made in the image of God. And everything else is a misuse of terms. Because we can only love that which understands our love, needs our love, wants our love, and can love us in return.

So He made a being to be the object of His love. And so the Bible is the unfolding of that sending. Now, the word missionary, what does it mean? Well, it's from a Latin word, mitto, to send. And it describes the sending of God's eternal Son into the world as man to live and to die, to be raised from the dead, that that eternal love purpose might be accomplished.

I say that in a book on arithmetic, as I recall it, there were many things that were used as examples. We used to have problems like this. If a farmer can plow with two horses five acres a day, how many acres can he plow if he has 5 ,010 horses?

You understand? Well, it isn't a book on agriculture. It's an arithmetic book. And the Bible is a missionary book. And it talks about a great many other things. But it's still a missionary book. Now, you must understand that or you'll never understand the Bible.

The Local Church as God's Sending Agency

Now, the second principle is this. The church is a missionary society. The church is the sending unit. The only unit in scripture that is a missionary society in the biblical sense of having authority from the head of the church to send missionaries is the local church.

You say, well, what about World Salt? World Salt is a service organization to the churches. It is not a sending agency. The church is a sending agency. The local church was entrusted by the head with the authority.

There, when Paul and Barnabas were brought before the elders, the elders prayed over them and commissioned them and laid hands on them. And sent them from the church and cared for them while they were gone.

And they came back and reported to the church. It's the church that's the sending agency. And World Salt and others like them are service agencies to assist the church. Because if every church provided everything necessary for all of the missionaries they ought to send, the overhead would become absolutely staggering.

Whereas an agency that can provide that is able to do it effectively to fulfill the principles, the purpose, the plan, the intent of the church which has sent its missionaries and with whom it cooperates.

Missions as the Family Business of Every Believer

So that's the second principle. And the third principle is this. God wants everyone born into his family by being washed in the blood of Christ and begotten of the Holy Spirit to become involved in the family business.

And the family business is missions. And for one to be born into the family of God and to feel that missions is an option is to live in rebellion to the Father. Missions is not an option. Missions is the family business.

The family business of the Godhead and all that are born into the family of God. You must understand that to understand all that God is doing. You see, the night of the resurrection, what was it the Lord Jesus said when he came into the upper room where the disciples were gathered to all save Thomas?

As the Father hath missionaried me, I have missionaried you. As the Father sent me, so send I you. As, a little Greek word, kathos. Thayers in his lexicon says as means just as, accordingly as, in identically the same way, similarly to.

Christ's Mission and the Spirit's Empowering

Now how was the Lord Jesus sent? First, he was begotten by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit overshadowed one cell in the body of Mary and it was quickened, not with male sperm, but by divine light. And that which was born of Mary was Emmanuel, God come in the flesh.

We are told that he's very God of very God, very man of very man, and indwelt by the fullness of the Godhead bodily from the moment of his conception. But having completed that test period of 30 years when he increased in wisdom and knowledge and stature and favor with God and man and set forth his ministry, what happened?

As he was baptized in water, baptism is a symbol of death and burial and resurrection. To what could Christ die? As you and me, to sin and the purpose of sinning? No, not so, for in him was no sin. But what did he have?

He had rights as the eternal son. The angels worshiped him and adored him and obeyed him. And yet with the purpose of grace, he's come into the world clothed with our flesh and our personality and our likeness and all things like unto his brethren.

To what can he die? Well, he can die to the right to his rights as eternal son. The right to be honored in his name becomes a curse word. The right to be obeyed, and he's vilified. The right to be received, and he's despised and he's rejected.

He died to the right to his rights as the eternal son of God, that he might fulfill that purpose for which he had come into the world. And then what happened? The spirit of God came, what? Upon. Did not say in, said upon.

Tremendously important. For had the spirit of God come initially in then, he could never have been viewed as very God of very God. The spirit of God was in him. And the spirit of God came upon him. And everything done by Christ in the three years of his public ministry was done by the Father through the spirit.

He said 47 times in the Gospel of John, I do nothing of myself. I don't speak of myself. The works that I do, the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. He could have done everything he did his son, but if he had, it never could have been said, as he is, so are we in the world.

So he was willing to minister in identically the same manner that we would minister. How? We were born of the spirit. The spirit of God overshadowed us and breathed upon us. And we were awakened and convicted and brought to repentance and exercised faith and were born again of the spirit of God.

And God witnessed to our spirit that we're born again. And then in due course, perhaps instantly, or a few days, or a few months, or in my case, a few years, our hearts were stirred with hunger by the Lord to know him better.

We knew we'd been born of God, but we knew we had never been filled with the spirit of God. And that yearning and longing and hunger for the fullness of Christ drove us all through the barriers that had been set up by teaching and association to the place that we counted all things but as refuge.

We might know him in his fullness. That was your experience. That was mine. And what happened? The spirit of God came up upon us. I used to be told years ago that when you're saved, the spirit of God is with you.

And then when you're filled with it, subsequently the spirit of God is in you. Not so. That's heresy. I rejected it for years because it's not scripture. When you're born again, the spirit of God joins himself to your spirit in a life-giving presence.

And when you are baptized with the spirit, that human divine that's been thus begotten in love is clothed and covered with the Holy Spirit. Why? That it might be as he is, so are we in the world. As the Father sent him, so he sent us.

We're missionaries. Thus it was that after the Holy Ghost has come, what's the word? Epi, upon you. Ye shall be witnesses unto me, either in Jerusalem or in Judea or unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Is that what it says? You didn't even hear that, that heresy that's so commonly held throughout the body of Christ. I repeat it again, see if you can locate the heresy. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you.

Ye shall be witnesses unto me, either in Jerusalem or in Judea or in Samaria or unto the uttermost part of the earth. It isn't, I must be reading from the reverse vision, would you think? Or instead of the revised version.

No, no. That isn't what he said. He said, ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Do you know the difference between either or and both and? I hope you do.

“Both” Jerusalem and the Uttermost Parts of the Earth

My little four-year-old son years and years ago knew the difference. I came back from a missionary deputation trip and my son, Jimmy, was most solicitous and attentive. He never had been before, and so I was not particularly expecting it.

Oh, Daddy, how are you? And he shadowed me just as though he were grown to me. And when I got my things in the house and somewhat unpacked, he said, Daddy, can we go for a walk? Well, what father has been away for a few weeks is going to turn down an invitation to walk with his four-year-old son.

Not certainly, not me. I said, Jim, that's a good idea. Let's go. So we came out of the house and I said, now, Jimmy, which way shall we go? And he said, well, this way. So we turned, went around the house, went down the steps of the street.

Now, we could have gone on a pleasant walk up around among the trees, or we'd have gone a half a block down to a busy thoroughfare in a little shopping district. Which way shall we go, Jimmy? Up here, or?

And he thought for a minute, let's go this way, Daddy. So we turned, came down to the corner where the stoplight was and said, you've got to stop. That light's red. We've got to stop now, Daddy. You can't go across.

I said, oh, you tell me when I can. So we waited. The light turned and said, now we can go. So we crossed. And when you got across the street, you could either go right up to the tunnel under the hill, East Ridge in Chattanooga, or you could go left down among the shopping stores.

So we got over there, and I said, now, Jimmy, which way? And he said, let's go this way, left. And we went about, oh, maybe 150 feet. And he said, Daddy, there's a drugstore. Surprise, surprise. And then he looked up with that cherubic smile and said, Daddy, can I have an ice cream cone?

Oh, right then, I knew I'd been conned by an expert. And I loved it. I said, Jimmy, sure you can have an ice cream cone. Well, before the day of air conditioning, we went in. It was a hot day. And so I ordered an ice cream cone.

I said, pack it in tight, because he's a roller. You know, flips them, and they roll all over. And so she was there trying to get it anchored fairly well. And he saw a wire rack with Hershey's Kisses in a little plastic bag.

And he grabbed it, and it was warm. And he brought it over and said, Daddy, he had a good thing going. It didn't roll. He wasn't going to quit. Daddy, can I have these Hershey's, too? And I knew what he wanted.

His brother, if his brother had been Esau, it wouldn't have been potage. It would have been chocolate candy. His older brother loved it. And he'd trade anything, almost, for it. And Jimmy wanted that chocolate candy, because he wanted to go back and trade his brother, Sonny, out of whatever it was he was after.

And so I had to draw the line somewhere. And I said, Jimmy, by this time, I had the ice cream cone. And I had the candy, too. And I said, you can have either the ice cream cone or the candy. And those little, old, big eyes looked at the ice cream.

Oh, and he just tasted it and looked at the candy. And he knew what he could get from his brother. And he looked back, and he looked there. Just then, a drop of melted ice cream at the back of my hand.

And I didn't want it, and I bought it. Well, I became magnanimous all of a sudden. And I said, Jimmy, just this once, you can have both. And you know, his eyes lighted up, and his face broke into a cherubic smile, and two hands went out.

He could have both. He didn't have to have either or any longer, both hands. Now listen, dear heart, if my four-year-old boy knew the difference between either or or both hands, don't we? Don't we? He didn't say, you will be witnesses unto me, either.

He said both. But you say, how can I? How can I be both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost? How can it happen? I can't go to all these places. That's right. Now, obviously, that meant that there's an error in the Bible, because you can't have.

Is that right? Oh, no. You remember what God said to Abraham? In thee and in thy seed shall what? All nations of the earth be blessed. And everyone that's been born of God is an heir of the promise made to Abraham and has a worldwide ministry through faith.

That's the heir of every believer. I could say more about it, but perhaps another occasion. But what does it mean? All right, this is what it means. If you've got your Bible with you now and you've come this far, why don't you turn to Luke chapter 16 and verse 9?

Giving Money as Sharing One’s Life in Missions

We're answering the question, how can I be both in Jerusalem and in the uttermost heart of the earth? And I'm reading for you a verse that you may think has no relevance to the subject. But I trust you'll wait and let me explain it.

And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitation. What's the mammon of unrighteousness? Well, it's money.

And what is money? Money is the root of all evil. No, indeed it isn't. Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. But money is something high and sacred when rightly viewed.

What is money? Money is fluid life. Money is crystallized intelligence. Money is solidified effort. Money is time. That's what money is. You get a job, and what do you bring to your job? You bring all of your education.

You bring all of your past experience. You bring all of your talent. You bring your entire personality and your time. And they pay you whatever it is that you took the time and the trouble to make your time worth.

That's what money is. Money is life, solidified, crystallized life. If you don't think so, wait and see what happens on payday. What do they put in your hand? A slip of paper or a little envelope with currency?

And what is it? It is what you sold that much of your life for. That's what you sold your life for. And this equals that. This little slip of paper equals that much life. Do you understand now where we're going?

Now what happens? You hear some people like these, our friends, that are going to Brazil. And they have need for additional support. And Brazil is part of the outermost parts of the earth. And you say, God has spoken to my heart.

I'm going to contribute through this church to the support of these missionaries. Now let us suppose, for the sake of my illustration, even though it's illegal, that you earn $1 an hour. That's what you're paid.

And so you have $40 at the end of a week. And you bring $1 each week to contribute to the support of the butlers in Brazil. What have you done? I only gave $100. Now what did you give? You gave one working hour of your week.

But you can only work 40 hours in a week. And there are 168. So you really gave four hours and a few minutes of that week of life. Now in Brazil, the butlers and others are working with the children. And through them, children listen and hear the gospel and are convicted and are brought to Christ.

And then there comes a time when you are increased in your income till you're getting $10 an hour. And you were making it so well when you had $1 four hours of a week in Brazil. So with $10 an hour, you still give $1.

But how much is that? Well, it's 1 10th of four hours. You see? To whom much is given, from them much is required. To get an hour in Brazil now, you must give $10. Not $1, but $10. And so because of God's grace and benefit and blessing, there comes a time when you're making $100 an hour.

If you don't think you would do that, some people do that, go to a psychiatrist in the near future. Or a surgeon. You'll find he gets a lot more than $100 an hour. And so he wants to have you now, getting $100 an hour, want to have an hour each week out of the ministry of Brazil.

Now, how much do you give? Still $10? Oh, no. That's 1 10th of 1 10th. Hardly down there, because it's measurable. To get one hour of share in the ministry in Brazil, you have to give $100. You say, well, from that point of view, I might just as well give $1 $100.

I still get an hour. Oh, yes. From your point of view, that's true. But not from the standpoint of Brazil. Because $100 is going to do a lot more than $1 will for the work in Brazil. But only for you on the credit side of the ledger.

Do you understand? Money is life. Money is life. And one day, you're going to die, as will we all, unless the Lord comes sooner. And when we do, someone is going to be there to receive you. They're going to be right there at the gate.

They're going to look at you, and they're going to say, sister, brother, thank you for leading me to Christ. And you'll recognize them, no problem, as being people, but not some person you knew in time.

Say, well, you're welcome, but I don't remember ever seeing you and ever talking to you. Why do you thank me for leading you to Christ? I've never looked on you before. Oh, that's true. But you see, God, who has a great computer in the sky, just credited me to your account, because you gave the money that brought the butlers to Brazil.

And through them, I heard of Christ. They gave their time, but you gave of your time to make it possible for me to hear. And God said that I was one of the friends made through that money, and that I was to receive you.

You say, that's not what it means. Can you prove it? No, I can't prove it is, but you can't prove it isn't, so I'm going to stand on it till you do, because I like it. I like it, see? Jesus totally, my view of money and my view of working to earn money.

The Responsibility of Those Who Prosper

I was talking to a Christian brother some time ago, and he says, well, you know, I'm going to retire. I'm making so much money, I don't know what to do with it. And I said, you heathen, you. Boy, I'm going to pray for your conversion.

God will save you. He said, well, I'm a Christian. I said, well, you don't talk like one. I was angry. I was thoroughly angry, because I had on my heart, in my mind, and on my desk letters of requests.

I could have spent a million dollars a day for an indefinite period of time for vital needs in the Lord's work. And here's one of our brethren with the gift of making money, saying he's going to quit.

Because he doesn't know what to do with the money. I was ill from it. Because to my mind, he was just slaughtering innocent children and people by his indifference and his ignorance. And then I realized it wasn't his fault.

It was the fault of us that had done it before whom he'd said, that had never understood how God in his grace sanctifies a mammon of unrighteousness to make it the means of getting time in the ends of the earth.

Christy Voss and the Multiplication of Missionary Support

Now, what does it mean? Well, I think of a missionary colleague of mine years ago in the Sudan Territory mission who went out to George, Iowa and Little Baptist Church for a missionary conference of a few days.

He was showing pictures of Africa and talking, had missionaries sharing. The man's name was Christy Voss. Christy was a local farmer. If Christy planted corn on the low ground, it was a wet year and it all wilted.

And if he planted it on the high ground, it was a dry year and it didn't mature. If he had pigs, they got sick and died. He had a garden that gave him enough to eat and he was just barely making interest payments, couldn't pay on the principal.

He was having a tough time. But he loved the Lord, truly loved the Lord. But nothing seemed to go right for Christy. And in that missionary conference, God spoke to his heart. The last night, the last service, Sunday night, Christy and his wife.

Now, Christy stammered. Oh, I don't mean he stammered. He stuttered. I mean, it took him 10 minutes to say his name. He simply could not speak, so it seemed. And when they were at the door, Mr. Street was greeting him, trying to do all the talking as you do, you know.

Well, Christy, it's been so nice to have you. Glad to meet you. Thank you for having me out to your house. I'm so pleased. And he said, finally, he got it out. I want you to stop by my house tomorrow.

Now, that summer, Christy had taken over the lease on a little filling station down at the crossroads. He had two pumps and a little, just a little station. Sold oil, had to get on out there and try to change oil for people.

And Mr. Street thought that what Christy wanted to do was give him a tank full of gas. So he filled it up till it was sloshing. So there wasn't any room for Christy to put a dime's worth of gas in his tank.

And he stopped at the station where Christy and his wife were. And they said, Mr. Street, Christy did the talking. He insisted. My wife and I have decided that we want to support a missionary. And he looked at that place and he knew about Christy and he knew the farm.

And he said, Christy, you can't afford to support your own missionary. God's told us we've got to. He said, we got $1 ,200. In those days, you could support a missionary for $1 ,200 a year, $100 a month.

We got $1 ,200 saved and we'll take care of the first year. Mr. Street said, I'll fix him. He's in his mind. Why, he said, Christy, we couldn't do that. You wouldn't even have to trust God for a year.

No, no, no, no. If we ever sent you a missionary, you'd have to give that $1 ,200 for outfit and passage and then start trusting God from the first month. Because otherwise, it won't be by faith. And without faith, it's impossible to please him.

And so Christy said, well, we'll think about it and I'll write you. So about three weeks later, two weeks later, he got a letter, dear Mr. Street, here's the $1 ,200 for her outfit and passage. Please send her down.

We're going to support her. What could Christy, what could Mr. Street do? He sent the missionary down, was there, met the friends in the church. And this was to be his own missionary, not undertaken, not underwritten by the church.

He was gonna do it every month. They trusted God. They knew where it was coming from, but they got $100 a month. And at the end of the first year, he said, Mr. Street, God has blessed us. We have put in a little store during this year to earn enough money for her.

And God's blessed the store. And we've got several thousand dollars saved. And here's $1 ,200 for outfit and passage. Please send us another missionary. Please send us another missionary. End of the second year, he wrote back and he said, Mr. Street, this has been a great year.

We've put in a bay, we've increased our income, we have savings. Here's the $1 ,200 for outfit and passage. Send us another missionary. And the end of that year, he wrote back and he said, been the greatest year we've ever had.

We've got in two more bays, and I did build a school up here, and I've got more money. We want to build a station and send a missionary. Station costs $5 ,000. Here's the check, $5 ,000, and $1 ,200 for outfit and passage.

So now he's supporting four missionaries. This fellow that couldn't make it. The first missionary came home on furlough. Was a member of Bay Ridge Baptist Church, Brother Klein. They went out there for farewell when she was going back to begin her second term.

During that year, he'd taken on his fifth missionary. Sunday afternoon, they were in the church, Mr. Street and Christy Voss and his wife and girl daughter driven out to be there for the farewell. Just before they were leaving to go to get a little supper for the evening service, Hell Street said, Christy, I'm calling on you for a testimony tonight to this man who took 10 minutes to say his name.

I can't do that, Mr. Street. He said, oh yes, you can. You're going to do it. Even if you get up there for five minutes, you do nothing but stammer, that's all right, Christy. You're going to stand before these people.

They got to hear from you what God's done. And if you can't say it, they still got to see you. There's the one who did it with God's help. Well, the time of the service came, Christy Voss went to the platform and he stood there, bowed his head for a moment and spoke for 15 minutes and never stammered on a syllable.

The Final Call to Go and Send

Listen to your heart. If you were to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in the morning, would you stammer and stutter because you haven't understood the difference between both and and either or, because you haven't realized that the Bible is a missionary book.

The church is a missionary society and everybody that's born into the family of God is to have a worldwide ministry with Christ through faith. Oh, I think there'd be a lot of stuttering and a lot of stammering if we were to stand before him in the morning.

But it's still time and it's not too late. Wise men want to find out the worst about themselves while there's still time enough to do something about it. There's still time enough for you to look into his face and say, Lord, what will thou have me to do?

What will you have me to do? For some it's going to be to go and for others it's going to be to send both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the outermost part of the earth. That's missions. Here's a company of men and women, about a third as many as there were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.

And that company filled with thy spirit were enough to change the world for Christ. But they didn't have airplanes and telephone and radio and all the means we have. And we still have the Holy Spirit whose power is not diminished.

And the Lord Jesus Christ who still has all authority in heaven and earth. Living father in a day when there's been a renewal of the gifts and enablings and anointings of the Holy Spirit. What this company, what this church ought to do.

Why ministry for Christ? Because all thou art and because of all thou hast done for us. And so we plead the blood of Christ over and upon us. Not only those that are here but every home in this fellowship.

And all of those that in the days and months that will come that will understand the nature of this relationship we have to the Lord Jesus Christ. And father we thank you for the pastors and their burden and vision and for the people hosting this conference.

And for those that are here as missionary because the missionaries are here Lord. We're believing thee that their support and needs will be fully met. Either by this church or others but because of our gathering here these few brief hours.

And father for every person here might they hear each in his own heart the voice of the Lord Jesus. Hold in the family business then there's only one who's able to direct us as members of the family. And that's the one whom thou has given authority the Lord Jesus Christ.

To say to one go to another stay but each in his place. This is where the Lord Jesus wants me. To that end Lord seal this time in our consideration. And might it be that miracles are going to take place because we've dared to believe they and obey they in Jesus name and for his sake we ask it.

Amen.