(Apostolic Vision) the Kingdom Mandate — Dale Heisey

We want to greet you in the name of Jesus. I am thankful to see this group has gathered tonight on a Friday night and there's those of you have traveled a long distance to come here. We have brothers and sisters here from the state of Washington.

They're from Pennsylvania. They're from all over. I don't know where all you have come from to be here tonight and we welcome you here and wish God's blessing upon you here. And I just wondered if anyone thought this evening what we are doing here.

And I asked that question another way. What did you expect God to do here tonight? What are these meetings for? What do you expect a preacher to say when he comes to your congregation to speak? What is he supposed to do?

And as we heard last night, the only reason for this service, the only reason for this sermon, the only reason for this gathering together is to perfect the saints for the work of their ministering. And that will be certainly evident again tonight.

And if you thought that I was going to do the work or if you thought that God was going to do it all tonight, if you thought that the needs of your communities were going to be met because there was a service at this congregation tonight, if you thought that the work was finished because we were gathered here tonight, then we are not understanding the mind of God because the work that God wants to do, much of the work that God wants to do will not be done here.

Much of the work that God wants done will not be done here. Much of the work that God wants done must be done out there. And there are two letters in the gospel mandate, in the kingdom mandate. There are just two letters that are so very important and they form a very small word.

The Kingdom Mandate Requires Going

And the word is not come. The word is go. And it's go. And it's one that goes. And if we don't go, then nothing happens until we go. And so the gospel mandate is go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel.

And it's not just here where this is going to happen. Here we're equipping the church to go. And that is probably the greatest difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament of your Bible.

In the Old Testament, if you wanted to become a Christian, you wanted to become part of the people of God, you wanted to be identified with the Israelite nation, with the covenant people. You had to come and become part of them.

You had to come to them. You had to come to the tabernacle. You had to come to the temple. You had to come to where they were. You had to leave Moab. You had to cross the Jordan River and go into Bethlehem, Judah or Ephrathah.

You had to come if you wanted to be part of the people of God. You had to leave where you were and come. In the New Testament, it's different. In the Old Testament, the needy souls, the searching souls had to come and find the church.

In the New Testament, the church goes and finds the lost. It's not a matter of seeing how many of them we can bring. It's a matter of seeing how many of them we can find. We must go. That is the gospel mandate.

And I think that some of you have been slightly edgy and somewhat afraid that I was going to bring a series of messages in your pulpit, taking a few cracked shots from a Central American point of view at the affluence of the Willamette Valley.

I think some of you were afraid that with the background we have and the things we live with and the lifestyle we have there, that we might come up here and focus on some of that and in some way or another make you uncomfortable in that area of life.

And I want you to know that it is not in my heart to do that. But it is in my heart to give you tonight the answer for materialism. And it is not sell 200 cows and buy 20. It's not tear down a 100-foot silo and build a 30-foot silo.

The answer is not. Don't farm 200 acres of grass seed, wherever it is. Farm 25. That is not the answer. It's not sell your van and buy a bicycle. We had a man in our congregation who had a bicycle. He had a generator in the front tire and a generator in the back wheel.

He had mirrors on every side and reflectors over this whole thing. He had everything on the bicycle chromed. He had all the gadgets and extras you could put on the bicycle. I didn't know you could put that much stuff on a bicycle and still peddle the thing.

And he was prouder of his bicycle than some people would be of a Rolls Royce. And so materialism does not stop or start with size or quantity or numbers or dollar signs or how many zeros on the front side of the decimal point.

That is not where materialism is. Materialism is nothing more than being in the world with the wrong focus. With your eyes, my eyes on the wrong thing. And so I want to talk about where Jesus tells us our attention should be placed.

And I will not spare you this evening. I want to be fair with the scriptures tonight. But before I go any further, I want to ask you a question. I was at a very early age called to the ministry in a church very, very far from here.

It was in the state of Vermont. That's about as far from here as you can get and still be in the continental United States. And sitting in a minister's meeting, someone said that they had heard that there was someone who would like to have a meeting in which they invite all the members in the at that point, it was a Mennonite church who had not been raised in that way, who came into this church as a result of the witness of others.

And they would like to have a meeting and discuss things and see how these people who have come in among us look at our church, our doctrine, our practice, our church life, our testimony. And then someone said, well, that would be a very interesting meeting, but I would like to also be in that meeting.

And then they said, well, let's do this. Let's invite also to that meeting everyone who has won somebody to the church who was not part of the fellowship and brought them in. Let's also invite those people who have been effective in bringing such souls into the church.

Let us also invite them to this meeting. And somebody said, I would still like to be invited to the meeting. And I would ask you something. When is the last time you led a soul to Christ? Well, you look at me.

What am I supposed to say now? When is the last time you led a soul to Christ? All right. Maybe that was the wrong question, it must be. I'll ask another one. When was the last time you spoke to someone about Christ?

When was the last time? Now, the brother read something very important in the devotions. He said, everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not. And we think that means apparel, veil, ordinances.

Do these sayings of mine. No oaths. Do these sayings of mine. No Iraqi war. These sayings of mine. No jury duty. These sayings of mine. Let's open our Bibles tonight to the sayings of Jesus. And let us find out this evening if we are hearing the sayings of Christ and doing them.

Let us see if we are hearing the sayings of Christ and doing them. That is what I'd like to see tonight. Matthew chapter 4. As I begin reading these series of verses, and we're going to read several passages of Scripture, mostly from the book of Matthew.

Not all, but mostly from the book of Matthew tonight, just for order. And I'd like to ask you something again. How many of you today, now please, please, how many of you today in your prayers prayed for a lost soul for whom you have been diligently praying and whom you greatly desire to see won to Jesus?

How many of you have in your community, in your neighborhood, someplace within your realm of contact and influence, a soul that is lost? And you pray for this person. And you make contacts with this person.

You stop by to see this person. And you're interested in helping this person. And you just simply want to be available to that person. And you keep on searching the heart of God. And you keep on searching the face of God.

And you're seeing what God is doing in the life of this person. You're praying for them. And day by day, you pray for them. And as you pray, you say, Lord, show me. What are you doing in that person's life?

And then one thing happens. And you say, thank you, Lord. You're working there. And you keep praying. And you stop by and see that person and give them a word of encouragement. And you keep on praying.

How many of you today prayed for some lost soul for whom you are diligently involved in seeking to win them to Jesus? Did we do that today? Do we have people like that constantly on our hearts? Before I left home, I had the congregation together.

And I gave the congregation six names. I gave the congregation six names. Six names of people for whom we are praying. And I was thinking that at least maybe one or two of those six people would probably be about ready to make a decision for Christ in the two weeks that I was away.

And I told the congregation, please keep your heart on these six people. Please be available. Please have your heart open to these six people. Because I think that maybe some of them would be ready during these two weeks when I'm not here.

I don't have to be here. You can lead them to Jesus. You can take up this work. And so I gave them six that I have been working with. And as I stand here tonight, if they were sitting in this audience, I would like to put an urgency upon you.

Do you have a soul in your community? Is there one on your list? Is there someone for whom you are daily praying? Is there someone for whom you prayed today? What are we doing with the words of Jesus?

He that heareth the sayings of mine, and doeth them, or doeth them not. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

And what is the will of your Father in heaven concerning the lost souls of men? What is the will of God? We thought that meant no life insurance. We thought that meant. And we have a tremendous list. But chapter 4, the Matthew's Gospel, verse 19,.

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. That was the early heart of Jesus. Those are the first words he said. The first words he said. To the first ones he called to follow him.

I will make you dairy farmers, fishers of men. Nothing wrong with being a dairy farmer. There were cows milked at our place today, unless something drastically happened that I have not heard about. We have, I think, someone milked seven Jersey cows at our house today.

Probably in the morning and in the evening. There's nothing wrong with milking cows. I will make you fishers of men. Chapter 5, verse 14,. You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The Church as Light in a Dark World

And along with this concept of light, along with this idea of Jesus, that we are the light in the world. We are light. We're not a lantern. We're a light. And no one is drawn in the darkness to a lantern.

The lantern could be ever so pretty and ornate and trimmed in gold, a twenty-four carat. It can be one beautiful masterpiece. It can be wrought iron. No one in the darkness, no one in the storm is drawn to the lantern.

They're only drawn to the light. And you know what? In the darkness, you can't even see the lantern. You only see the light. In this world where we live, where is the light? In the Willamette Valley. And if somebody would be traveling down through the darkness of the sin-cursed valley in which we live, this state of Oregon in which we live, or Washington, or Pennsylvania down there.

If somebody was traveling through the darkness and looking out across the landscape, and looking out across the horizon, looking out across this beautiful valley, and looking for a light, to whom would that person be drawn?

Now, I don't know if it's wise to keep on interrupting you with more questions, but I just have to ask you another one. When was the last time somebody came up to you and said, please, excuse me, I'm embarrassed.

I feel embarrassed to ask you. I feel embarrassed. But I think you're a Christian. I can tell you're a Christian. I think you're a Christian. I have a great need. Can you help me? We have a city of about twenty thousand people an hour and a half away from our house.

I was walking down the sidewalk in that city. It was business. I was just doing the things I had to do. Maybe buying a car part. I don't know what I was doing there. But walking down the street. I was minding my own business.

I wasn't even thinking about witnessing. I think that's a sin. But I wasn't even thinking about witnessing. I was just thinking about getting my job done. That's the way we often are. We have to get those things done.

Make that deposit in the bank, stop by and pick up those things at the pharmacy, go over here and stop by the mailbox and then head back the long road to home. We try to get this stuff done. We do that about every day.

We run, catch this, do that, make that phone call and take care of this. And we don't think about the fact that there are people all along the way. We don't realize what those people are there for and why we are here.

Because we're a light to the world. And I was walking down the sidewalk. A man came running out of a business. Came running out from this lot over here, crossed the busy street, ran over to me and got a hold of me.

And I was startled. I mean, I wasn't expecting that. He said, Sir, Sir, I'm in serious trouble. I said, please. But this time he had my attention. I said, tell me. He said, last night it happened. My wife left me and I don't know what to do.

Can you pray for me and my wife? I didn't know who the man was. You're the what? If someone's looking for light, someone's in darkness and needs light, someone needs help, would they look for you? Would they stop you and look for you?

If you just keep your hand to Matthew, I'll read some verses about light that you might find interesting. Just stay there, Matthew. I'll read these to you and then we'll run back to Matthew again. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for the salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Beautiful teaching there that Paul and Barnabas are giving on their first missionary journey. That was in Acts 13. And then in Philippians chapter 2, we have words that are just about known by memory to most of you.

And they sound like this. That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I may not run in vain, neither labor in vain.

We are the light to the world. But now Matthew chapter 10. Matthew 10, verses 6 through 8. But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils freely, ye have received, freely give. We can look at verse 27 in that chapter. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light. And what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

Verses 32 and 33. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. And whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

That sounds like what the brother read in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7. Matthew 18, verse 10. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do as behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray? He doth not leave the ninety and nine, and go up into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray.

And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Well then tell me, what is the will of your Father which is in heaven? Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

And you can say, well, Brother Dale, the will of our Father is more than evangelism. But the will of our Father is the salvation of the lost. And my question is, is that honestly tonight in your life a focus?

Is that something you plan for? Is that something you get out of bed and plan to do? Is that something you have on your schedule? You've got that in your agenda. You've got that in your date book. You've got that thing written down.

Today, today we go and look. Today we go and search. Today I make that phone call. Today I stop by that store. Today I go by that house. Today, today I search for that soul. Is it part of your agenda?

I know spraying that field is part of the agenda. Fixing that tire is part of the agenda. Get that vacuum pump fixed. Getting that hydraulic pump going is part of the agenda. It's got to be done. I know getting so many bags of seed out today.

I know getting that truck loaded. I know getting that diesel engine fixed. It's part of the agenda. Did we plan to save souls? Do we plan to win someone for Jesus? Do we plan to fill this church with needy lives?

Do we plan to bring them in here? Do we plan to visit the neighbors? Is it part of our purpose? It is the will of God. And now listen, if you were the child of God, you would have the same desire as your heavenly Father has.

If you were filled with the spirit of God, the spirit of burning, the spirit of jealousy, the spirit of a jealous God, the spirit of loving God, the spirit of a merciful God, why wouldn't that same spirit move us to save souls for Christ?

Readiness, Testimony, and the Kingdom of Heaven

Why aren't we interested in the souls of men? Chapter 25, verse 1. You may never have seen evangelism in this passage, but I'd like you to see the gospel mandate, the kingdom mandate in this passage here.

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom, and five of them were wise and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept, and at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go you out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.

But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest they be not enough for us and for you. They go you rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, but the door was shut.

And it came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. For the answer said of them, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour, when the Son of Man cometh.

There's a mandate here. If that lantern is not lit, if there's not fire in that lantern, there's something, something has happened to the testimony of the church. The lamp, the lamp is maybe your profession, but the fire is your testimony, the true testimony.

The lamp might be what you have to say about it. The lantern might be what you think about it. The lantern might be the image you're trying to portray in the whole situation. But the fire in the lantern is the truth of your testimony.

It's what the world knows about you and I. The light in that lantern is what the world sees. It's what the world knows. When Christ says he does not know us, he does not know those who are not a light in this world.

It is a serious point to contemplate. And when we consider later on in this chapter, the parable of the talents, it's the same thing. The gifts that God gave us were for one purpose. And I don't expect to pass along a lot of financial things to my children.

I don't expect to have a lot of acres to, for them to inherit. I don't expect to have many accounts that they will need to distribute. If there's anything that I want to give to my children, it is just a little picture of a father's heart on this subject.

And I want to ask you, is the saving souls a part of your daily agenda? When's the last time that you left the house, turned the ignition of that vehicle and it went speeding out the driveway and your only purpose was to seek a soul?

That's why you were going. Many, many years ago at a conservative teachers institute in Minerva, Ohio, Brother Lester Showalter said that there are very few people who end up being rich who did not plan to be.

And since I've been here, I've had one young man after another tell me that they know that their focus was accumulation. I'm going to be rich. It can happen. I know how to make it happen and it's going to happen.

And that young brother said, he was a young school teacher at that time. He said, there are very few people in this world who are rich that did not plan to be. And I want to say one thing. There are very few people, whoever led a soul to Christ, who did not plan to do it.

And I want to ask you something. If you put those two things side by side and tell me what your focus is. Put those two things side by side and tell me what is the focus of your life? Now, I'm going to answer the question.

I'm very, very sorry, but I'm going to answer the question. If you can't answer which of the two is your focus, I want you to know that every one of your children can answer. Every one of your children know the answer to that question.

Every one of your children know which of those two is your focus. And all of your neighbors know it. Everyone that drives past knows it. That the people easily know it. They're not fooled. They're not deceived by it.

Everyone else knows it. And if you and I don't know which of those two things is our focus, the rest of those people who know us are well aware which is our focus. The material thing. The soul wing thing.

The people know what our focus is. And I will tell you that the answer to materialism is a change of focus. Nothing else is necessary. A change of focus. Chapter 28 of Matthew. The kingdom mandate to win the loss for Jesus.

Verse 18 says,. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Now what for? What is this power for? What is this power for? Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. Amen. And when you pick up this same ascension passage in the first chapter of Acts, and you come running down through those verses 1 through 5 and 6 and 7, and then you come into verse 8.

What does verse 8 say? And ye shall receive what? Power. After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto me. Now that's the heart of God. Those are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If any man hear these sayings of mine, then doeth it. For if any man hear these sayings of mine, and doeth them not. These are the sayings of Jesus that we've read. And I've tried this evening to limit my reading basically to words that Jesus said just in one gospel, the gospel of Matthew.

We say we're scriptural. We believe in two kingdoms. We believe in separation of the world. We don't smoke. We don't chew. We don't dance. We don't gamble. We don't swear oaths. We don't vote. We don't sue.

We don't join the armed forces. We don't watch TV. We don't buy white wool tires. We don't have flowers on the aprons. We don't have the one to dress. We don't wear corsages. We don't wear neckties or wedding bands or crass rings.

We don't join the Rotary Club or the Lions Club or the Freemasons. We have a Bible reason for each don't that we have. But I ask you something. Is that the kingdom of God? You know, do not. Do not. Or like brakes on a truck or a car.

It's unsafe to drive one mile without brakes. It's unsafe to pull out of your driveway without brakes. If all you have is brakes, you'd never deliver a load of grass seeds. You'd never get anywhere if all you have is brakes.

Our don'ts do not prove our biblical obedience. Any more than holding on to brakes proves that we're a good driver. You can see a child sitting behind the steering wheel. He hardly has to look over into the steering wheel.

He's sitting there and he's got his foot way down and holding the brake on. He can do that all day long. It doesn't prove a thing. Hold that brake on all day. It doesn't prove anything. And so what we don't do is not what makes us Christian.

It's what we are. The law of the kingdom is go and tell and witness and fish and preach and sow the seed and harvest and confront the darkness and penetrate that darkness. And the Christian life is not a question of isolation and installation.

How far away we can get from the centers of traffic? How far away can we get from the centers of commerce? How far we can get from the cities? How far away can we get from Los Angeles? How far we get from Seattle?

How far we get back in the country someplace? Way back in the lane somewhere? It's not isolation, installation, but it's confrontation and penetration. That is the kingdom of God. Light penetrating darkness.

The lanterns are not enough. We need light. The ultimate evidence of separation from the world. The ultimate evidence of separation from the world is not how broad the brim on the hat. The ultimate evidence of separation from the world is the power and unction and vision and commitment to save dying sinners from the world.

And bring them into the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the ultimate, the ultimate proof of separation from this world. And we're involved in a warfare. And we're in enemy territory. And we cannot hold the brakes on all the time.

You know, what happens if you're just sitting there holding the brakes and never fire a shot? There's no war ever won like that. The brakes are held. But nothing was done. I want to warn us about that tonight.

Are we saving the souls of men? I'm well aware of the fact that you parents, and you've talked to me about it since I've been here, are concerned about the future of your young people. You're concerned about the trends.

You're concerned about the influences. You're concerned about the fellowship meetings, the effect that it has on their youth. In our constituents of churches, we have a grave concern about the affluence and what it's doing to our youth.

They have no idea how much idle time they have. They have no idea how much money they're spending on themselves. They have no idea how much gas they're burning through the exhaust pipe. They have no idea how they're using their time.

They have no idea the trinkets and worthless stuff that they're buying. They have no idea how much money it takes to keep them going. It takes as much money to keep some of the young people going in this country as it does several families where we live in a year.

We have no idea. But the answer to all this stuff is not throw away the bad mittens set. The answer is not destroy the volleyball net. The answer is change the focus into the kingdom mandate. Our victory over this world is the measure of our testimony.

Light is testimony. Our testimony is our light. I'm going to read some verses in Luke chapter 12. Verses 35 to 40. Let your loins be girded about, and the lights burning. Ye yourselves, like unto men, to wait for the Lord when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Blessed are the servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them. And peace shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them.

So blessed are those servants. And just know that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and would have suffered his house be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Separation from the World Means Mission, Not Isolation

Where is the light in this world of darkness, and lostness, and blindness, and without Christ the night, and alienated from God, and hopeless, and dying, and dazzling in the lust, and pride, and vanity of America?

Where is the light in the midst of all of this? And I believe in separation from the world. There's no possible way to be in this world, or be part of this world, and then be saved from this world. There's no possible way to live like the world, and eat like the world, and dress like the world, and buy like the world, and spend like the world, and do what the world does, and be involved in the world's things, and then suddenly when the world is destroyed, not be destroyed, but the world not be plumbed full with this.

There's no line of logic that would allow you to think like that. I believe in separation from the world. But separation is not so much the measure of our uniqueness. It is the measure of our love and our testimony.

That is what separation from the world is. And we have heard the gospel call, come out from among them. But I ask you, have we heard the call, go ye therefore in among them? And we come out from them in their attitude.

We come out from them in values. We come out from them in their priorities. We come out from them in their focus of what they're looking for. And then we go in among them with the only light that will save them.

That is the way we're to live in this world. That's the only safe way to live here. And you can go to town, and the sights are there. You can't help but seeing it. I recently had a young lady sitting in my living room.

My wife was there with me. I wasn't there alone. She was improperly dressed. She didn't have enough of a skirt on to cover what it should have covered. Her blouse did an improper job taking care of that part.

But I had one interest while I was there. Helping that young lady who came from the country of Sweden to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so I spoke to her. I read verses to her. I tried to reach her.