Romans 15-22-32 is our text for this week, boy, we're closing in on the end of this Roman study. And I've decided that next week we're going to start just looking at names in the 16th chapter. And I'm going to take as long as generally I skip over those names or just pick out one or two. But I've been studying those names in the 16th chapter of Romans, and what we're going to do next week is start down the list. And I'm just going to take as long as it takes to go over all those names, because I met some wonderful people, and I want to introduce those people to you. And I don't know how long that's going to take, but in two or three weeks we're going to be finished maybe four or five weeks. We're going to be finished with a book of Romans, and then we're going to turn to the older testament. We're going to look at my friend Isaiah the prophet. You're going to love that book too, in fact. You know, trouble with the Bible. If you're a Bible teacher, you can hardly wait to share stuff you're learning about something new. And sometimes you have a tendency to jump ahead for you to get to it. So at any rate, we're up to Romans 15, 22, through 32. That's what we do on key life. We study the Bible. And then we pray sometimes too. Let's do that now. Father, we're glad for another week. We're glad for your promise of faithfulness to never leave us alone to come alongside. Father, sometimes we're not sure you're there. Sometimes it feels like you're away on vacation. Sometimes we can't hear your voice. Father, teach us to love you and trust you and to never doubt in the dark what you taught us in the light. Father, you know everybody listening to this broadcast. And you know some folks that are going through a very tough time. Father, come alongside. Give them a sense of your presence. Remind them that you love them and remind them that they're not home yet. Father, we do belong to you. You found us. You created us. You lost us. You bought us back and now we're yours. It is your property. Father, we trust you. We're not good and we're not together but we're yours. Father, we praise you and worship you not just because of all the good things that you've done and you've done so much more than what we deserve. Father, we praise you because you're God and you're worthy of our praise. And now, Father, as we study your word on key life, we pray for the one who teaches that you would forgive him his sins for they are many. We would see Jesus and him only and we pray in Jesus' name. I'm in. Okay, this week we're continuing with our study of Romans. Now, if you will, turn to the 15th chapter of Romans, if you're a place where you can get a Bible versus 20 through 32. While you're finding that, let's look at what we saw last week. Romans 15, 16 through 21. If you were listening, you know we went down two side roads. We defined and illustrated the word sanctified chapter 15 verse 16 B. I'm a saint and you're a saint of your Christian. How about that sportsman? And then secondly, we noted to never give up on the people that you thought were hoopless. That's chapter 15 verse 21. Then we saw where Paul found meaning. He found meaning on the size of his cause, 15, 16, the pride of his occupation, 15, 17. The fulfillment of his task, 15, 19, the singularity of his vision, 15, 20, and in the presentation of his work, 15, 16. Now we're ready to go to the text for this week. Romans 15, 22 through 32, where my friend, the Apostle Paul, writes his followers. For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. But now no longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey. And to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. But now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia are a kea to make a certain contribution for the four among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed and they are their debtors. For the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things. Their duty is also to minister to them in material things. Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me and your prayers to God for me. That I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. That I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all, amen. Now before we turn to the main thrust of that text, owning division, I want to go down two or three side roads. Side road number one, note if you will, that walking with Christ is not without problems. If at first you don't succeed, you're about normal. Romans 15, 22, for this reason I have been much hindered from coming to you, but now no longer having a place in these parts. Romans 15, 31, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe. My friend John DeBrine always says, the Christian faith is not power without pressure, it's power under pressure. Some of you guys are going through a difficult time, and you're asking what happened. You're supposed to be a Christian, and things like this aren't supposed to happen to Christians. You were told that everything is going to be joy and peace and light, and it's not that at all. Sometimes, as somebody wrote me last week, sometimes you feel you're worse than you were before, and it hurts, and it hurts really bad. And they keep telling you, if you just have enough faith, it'll get better. You keep trying to have much faith, and it's not getting any better, and you're wondering what you've done wrong. Well, you didn't do anything wrong. But he lied to you at the beginning. You're not home yet. A friend of mine gave me a great line the other day. Let me give it to you. If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Isn't that wonderful? If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. I've said it a hundred times, and I'll probably say it a hundred more before I'm dead. I believe that every time a pagan gets cancer, a Christian gets cancer, so the world can see the difference. Every time a pagan goes through a marriage problem, a Christian goes through a marriage problem, so the world can see the difference. I believe that every time a pagan has a business failure, a Christian has a business failure, so the world can see the difference. No matter what anybody told you, sometimes being a Christian is hard and painful, and very tiring. Sometimes you have the same thing happening to you that happens to a pagan. And if you signed on for something else, then you've made a horrible mistake. Now, I say to God it doesn't listen to our prayers, that he doesn't care, and he loves to make us miserable, of course not. But I am saying that you shouldn't expect to be an outsider of the human race, Christians bleed to. So that's a fine advertisement for the first Christian faith, a wine of world, when I want to be a Christian. You think I'm a fruitcake? Let me tell you that you might know him. Listen to me, it's worth it. It's worth it all, that you might know him. Sometimes on an airplane that's going through turbulence are on a lonely road when I'm driving to a speaking gate. Or in a lonely hotel room. After a hard day of recording, I say, Father, if you'd told me about all this stuff, I wouldn't have come along. And then he'll say, are you going to leave? And I'll say, well, if I could, I would, but I don't have any other place to go. Then I think about him, and I remember that it's worth it. The point, Christian, the reason you were going through a difficult time isn't because God is ticked you. Or because you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny, or because you're being judged for some horrible sin you committed when you were a little boy or a little girl. You're going through a hard time because we live in a hard world, and besides you aren't home yet. Paul had all kinds of problems, so did Jesus. You won't be the exception, so welcome to the club. Inside road number two, note the importance of things that happen on the way to some other place. Romans 15, 24. Whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you for I hope to see you on my journey. And to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. Now, I don't want to make too much out of this, but if you ever been to those conventions where everybody's looking for somebody important. You know, they look at your name tag and they think, now, is this somebody important, somebody ought to get next to somebody I don't know? And then they say, after looking at me, nah, no way anybody looks that way, could be important. And then they say, excuse me, Dean Asages in the Secretaries of State under Truman, and one of the authors of the Truman doctrine, and the Marshall Plan was rather frustrated once when an elderly lady came up to him in the lobby of Ota and said, pardon me, I'm embarrassed. The zipper on my dress is stuck, and I'm doing it a meeting. Could you please help me out? The zipper was stuck halfway down her back. And Asheson was required to undo it completely, averting his eyes as best he could before pulling it back up to the top. The lady thanked him profusely. I think that I should tell you, she said, that I am vice president of the daughters of the American revolution. And Asheson said, never to loss for words. In my dear madam, what a moment ago was a rare privilege. Now appears to have been a really great honor. Most of us are looking for really great honorable people we can spend time with. As a result, miss some wonderful relationships and friendship. Listen, almost everything in my life of any importance I found on the way to something else. You say, Steve, would you say that again? Yeah, because I like you almost everything in my life of any importance I found on the way to someplace else. One of the things I hear a lot from my students at Reform Seminary is that they are preparing for a ministry. And I always tell them that they're missing a lot of living and ministry by looking to the future when God's doing a lot of neat stuff right now. I like it. I went to a museum recently. We drove to St. Petersburg here in Florida and spent the night and then we went to the museum. The treasures of St. Petersburg and Russia was wonderful. I thought when we did it, man, I got a lot of stuff to do. I don't have time for this. I'm glad I went because the stuff I was going to do wasn't that important. And the time with Anna and going to a museum was a delight. Life is like that. Somebody said life isn't a problem to be solved. It is a life to be lived. That's good. On the way to church, don't forget the man by the side of the road. On the way to doing some big things for God, don't miss the little things like the smell of flowers and the laughter of a child. On the way to work, don't miss the beauty of God's creation. When our key life building was in downtown Miami, I had to drive for about an hour to work. We lived in the suburbs. Well, we lived in the suburbs of the suburbs. I hated it. I mean, I loved living there. I just hated the long drive. There was heavy traffic, all kinds of twists on the road. It was a waste of time. I couldn't read without killing myself and I refused to get a car phone. Then one day, I thought, how often have I asked for just one hour of peace? And here I've got it every morning and every evening. You know what I did? I stopped at McDonald's. I'm a connoisseur of good food. I got up one of those bacon egg and cheese biscuits every morning. And I got a cup of coffee and I just sat back and enjoyed the drive. I'd pray for the people on the road and sing him and listen to the radio and think and be quiet. Sometimes, I just do nothing but enjoy the drive. And that became one of the most pleasant times of my day. That, of course, is an illustration or if you will, a metaphor of life. A lot of us in our efforts to get to work, miss the drive. So today, don't clean up the house, read a book and spend some time with your children. I know that your grass is about as high as an elephant's eye. But don't mow the lawn, enjoy just sitting around, just hanging out. Instead of doing some great things for God, do a couple of little things for your wife or your husband. Because a lot of good stuff happens on the way to someplace else. There's a great danger in missing it. Make your plans very loosely. Why is that? Because you might miss something important. Like your boy or your girl growing up, like meeting the best friend of your life, like a milkshake, maybe a museum. I've got one more side road and then we'll get to the main thrust of the text. Notice if you will that God is about peace, Romans 1533. Now the God of peace shall own be with you all. As some of you know, I'm working on a book on prayer. And I've been asked to do that a hundred times. So why am I doing a book on prayer? Because I'm so spiritual, you've got to be kidding. Because I'm a contemplative of the first order, no way. I'm doing a book on prayer because God has taught me to come to him and that before he's thrown I'll find peace. And I want to tell people about it. Do you live a peaceful life? Listen, contentment is for dead people and gals not human beings. It's hard to find peace when you've got to wash the dishes, to go to work, to get through a schedule. Let me tell you where you'll find it. You'll find it with him. You know, whenever I talk like this, I get the feeling when I listen to myself that I sound super spiritual. Folks, I'm not super spiritual. Let me tell you something. Prayers become my soft place. It's the only place where I can say what I really think. Express anger when I'm angry. Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about what I am and what I've done. I know I'll be accepted and loved no matter what. You know what that comes to? It comes to peace. A sense of there being a calm in the storm, a safe harbor, a quiet place in the midst of everything that simply isn't very quiet. We used to live down on Cape Cod and nor easters were something else. They would blow in those storms. There was a jetty that stuck out in the bay near where our church was and sometimes I walk out in the middle of the storm and look at the waves, hitting the rocks. And remember that just a few feet under the waves, it was as calm as the summer day. Scripture says, Isaiah 25-3, you will keep him in perfect peace. Whose mind is stayed on you because he trust in you. Let's others really don't believe that. Well, we believe it as a proposition and if God said it, we believe it in that settles. But most of us don't take the time to go to the place of peace before the throne of God. If you ever notice that a child won't cry until there's somebody to hear. Next time a little boy, a little girl falls and scrapes a knee. There will be a moment of silence in the parents' arms and then the wailing. I don't want to cry unless there's somebody to hear. Before him there's somebody to hear. There's perfect peace there. When our children were growing up we always had a house full of peace. I'm not big on teenagers but they were always there. You know what young man said to Anna? The reason we like coming here is that it's so peaceful. Well, the reason I like going to the fathers is because it's so peaceful. Take some time. Just be still. Just sit in his presence and you'll know the peace. I don't know how people survive without that time with him. Now let's turn to the main thrust of the text for this week, owning the vision. In John Jake's Revolutionary War novels, Philip is being taught how to use a brown best and he's shown how to place the powder and where to put the shot, how to pack it. And then the person who's teaching says, look, when you pull the trigger, close your eyes. You could go blind. And then Philip says he doesn't understand how you can hit anything with your eyes closed. And he's told him in a line of British infantrymen, all close their eyes and pull the trigger together, they destroy anything in front of them. During the civil rights movement somebody said, if you aren't a part of the solution, then you're a part of the problem. Well, that's true biblically, too. I believe that the problem with the churches that too many of us are spectators and don't realize the importance of being together is the army of God. There aren't any spectators in the body of Christ. Or there shouldn't be. If you aren't on the field, then you aren't in the game. Every Christian should own the vision. You say, Steve, are you saying that I have to be a preacher or a missionary? Of course not. I mean, if all of you were preachers, then I wouldn't have a job. But I am saying that the body Christ is not made up of unworking parts. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13. He says, and I'm starting at the 12th verse of that 13th chapter. As the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into the body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. And if the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I am not of the body. It is therefore not of the body. And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members each one of them in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members yet one body. Now among other things, that text says that there are no spectators. If you aren't a part of the solution, you're a part of the problem. So let's turn to the text and talk about owning the vision. I want you to note that Paul had a desire to share the vision. Romans 15-22, for this reason I also had been much hindered from coming to you. Romans 15-30, now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me and prayers to God for me. And give you a principle. If you know someone who has a vision or a mission from God, and nobody else shares that vision or that mission, they didn't get it from God. Or maybe I should say they probably didn't get it from God. And give it to you again. If you know someone who has a vision or a mission from God, and nobody else shares that vision or that mission, they probably didn't get it from God. As you know, my ministry is about grace. I've been called to tell people that God isn't mad at them. For a long time, I thought I was the only one who had that vision. I was being criticized horribly for some of the things I was teaching. One evening at a conference for which I was speaking, and after some particularly difficult things have been said to me, I'm held down by that bed and said, Lord, you know my heart. I have no desire to mess people up, especially your people. And it frightens me that I may be doing that. A lot of people say that I am. So, Father, I'm not going to teach this stuff anymore without a sign, without some kind of indication that you've spoken this message to others. Now, that was presumptuous prayer. I was saying that if God didn't help out, I was going to take my marbles and go home. But God sometimes condescends to answer actually prayer. In fact, God condescends to do everything for us. You don't have to be sophisticated or make sure that everything you say is theologically correct. God has this built-in filter. But on that particular occasion, He answered my prayer. You know what happened? At the next morning session after I'd taught a young man came up to me and said, Steve, I like what you teach. And I said, thank you. I'm glad I thought it was part of the Christian liturgy. And then He said, but I want you to know something I've heard it before. And I said, what? He said, I've heard it before. And I said, what do you mean that you've heard it before? And He said, Jack Miller has been teaching that stuff for years. Now, Jack Miller is one of my heroes, a professor at the time at Westminster Seminary. A world-harvest mission a man who has touched many lives. The young man who told me that didn't understand the Toyota jump I gave him. But he was God's answer to my presumptuous prayer. Why was that important to me? I'll tell you, because if you know someone who has a vision or a mission from God, and he or she is the only one with the vision or the mission, it probably didn't come from God. Pat Arnold, who's a dear friend of mine, and the former chief honcho of world teams, said something to me one time that was quite relevant. He said, Steve, if the shepherd has no sheep, he's not a shepherd. One of the reasons we get so bamboozled by religious gurus is that we really believe that God would give a brand-new revelation to an individual, and that he would stand up and say, I'm your leader, follow me. You've heard the saying, and I don't know where I got it, maybe Buddha. He who is wise and doesn't know, he's wise, is asleep, y'all to wake him up. He who is not wise, and thinks he is wise, is a fool, shun him. He who is not wise, and knows he is not. Wise is a student, teach him, he who is wise, and knows he is wise, is a teacher, follow him. Well, I would add one more thing to that. He or she who is wise knows he or she is wise, and everybody knows he or she is wise, is a teacher, follow him or her. All knew the importance of sharing the vision, because in the sharing of it, his vision was confirmed. Now I'll give you a second point. No, not only that Paul had a desire to share the vision that God had given to him, Paul also had a desire to explain the vision, Romans 15, 25, through 26. But now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, for it pleased those from Macedonia and the Kaya to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors, for if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. Now that's not a complete explanation. But it follows along what Paul does in all of his letters as he explains what God has called him to do. You've heard, of course, about the factory owner who wanted 100% of his employees to give to the United Way and everybody gave except one man who was a holdout. They tried everything to get him to give, and he wouldn't do it. And finally, the owner boss called the man into his office and said, listen, I'm going to have 100% participation in the United Way. I can have it one of two ways. If you're not here, there will be 100% participation. If you give, there will be 100% participation. So make up your mind. The employee replied, I'll give. Nobody ever explained it to me until now. I teach communications to students at Reformed Seminary. You know why I do that? Because no matter how good your ideas are, no matter how well you understand the Bible, no matter what your experience with God is, if you can't explain it to others, in a way they can understand you shouldn't even bother. Recently, in a communication lab class, I had students present a controversial program for the rest of the class. And the rest of the class played the part of the official board of the session or the board of deacons in the church. Nothing's sometimes. It got so real when the students in the class were playing the role of naysayers that my stomach turned over, and I realized another reason. I was glad I'm no longer a pastor. Communication is very important. People are always thinking that God's people don't care about the poor. I don't believe that. I don't know what to do about it. When the vision is explained, and some kind of methodology is given that works, I believe that God's people lack. The problem is in communication. Paul not only had a vision. He was able to communicate and explain that vision to other people. Then thirdly, note not only that Paul had a desire to share the vision, a desire to explain the vision. Paul also had a desire to spread the vision around because the load was heavy. Romans 15, 30 to 31. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. Now I don't believe that any man or woman can do what God would have him or her to do without others sharing the vision. One time Isaac Newton asked a friend to come to lunch with him, but Newton forgot about the invitation. And he prepared a meal only for himself. When the friend got to Newton's house, he noted the plate full of food, and thinking that Newton had been called away, but it left the food for him proceeded to eat everything on the plate. When Newton came into the room and noticed that the plate was empty, he said, I declare. If it were not for that empty plate, I would say that I had not eaten. You see, there's a reality in our lives that when things happen, we were the only one responsible. I went spoke for Billy Graham Crusade in North Carolina. My brother, who was in the district attorney, said, don't mess it up here, brother. You can make a fool of yourself and Florida, but this is not a territory. Now I really made me feel good about what I was going to do. But let me tell you something that I noticed that that crusade cliff barrels makes it happen. The entire team prepared for Mr. Graham's preaching, there are thousands of details that I have to be attended to by hundreds of people before Mr. Graham speaks the gospel. That's why it's called the Billy Graham, a evangelistic association, same with art. Listen, the Christian faith is hard. I mean, by told you it wasn't art. You didn't know what they were talking about. There's a lusty, materialistic paganism in this country that's out to eat our lunch. You don't go to church because the preacher is good or the music is wonderful. You go because you simply can't do this thing and survive by yourself. You know the story about the famous organist who performed on an organ the first half of his concert received a standing ovation. During the intermission, the little boy who worked the bellows said to the organist, we did good, didn't we? And the organist said, looking down his arrogant, knows what do you mean we? Then the intermission was over and the organist went back to the organ to do the second half of the performance. When he struck the keys, nothing happened. In the silence, the little boy looked out behind the curtain and said, are we ready to begin. You may not like me, but you need me. I may not like you, but I need you. The reason God requires a sharing of the vision is because visions are held by one person don't have enough fire power to do any good. Number of years ago, I had this vision and I used the word very carefully to do this right here in the ministry and to establish key life. And you know what I did first? We were sending out maybe a hundred thousand tapes a year through a tape ministry that church I was serving. And I wrote everybody who took those tapes and I said, look, enough people on ego trips trying to build in buyers without adding one more and you know that I'm capable of doing that. Now, I want you to let me know if you think this is something we ought to do. A number of people have approached me and my background is in broadcasting to do a radio program. Now, you let me know what you think about that. And not only do I want you to let me know what you think, I want you to let me know if you'll stand with me in this thing financially and with your prayers. Like I've got letters from all over the country from people who said Steve, I share that with you. I want you to know I'm going to help you with it or I'm going to stand with you with that particular vision. And you know, people have done that from the very beginning. And then, you know, I thought what I'll do is just get a tape recorder and turn on a microphone and open the Bible and teach when it doesn't work that way. I mean, if I'd known all the stuff that one has to do in order to do this kind of thing, I probably wouldn't have done it. But then God started bringing along other people to help me. Bonnie, a painter who handles the letters that come into the key life headquarters here in Orlando. Man, she has such compassion for the people who write. We had a friend who's had a husband who died and we've never met this person, who's been writing us. And Bonnie found out about it. And she got a card and everybody on the staff prayed for them and then we signed this card and sent it to these people that we've never met. Because Bonnie loves people and she really cares. Richard Farmer. Richard Farmer is our vice president and chief honcho at key life. The man is a whiz. He does more stuff than you can possibly believe in. And then Kathy Wyatt, she's dynamite. She'd been with me 19 years. She travels around the country setting up all kinds of events and she handles a lot of stuff for me that I simply can't do for myself. And then Robin Demurga, she's my daughter and she isn't on the staff because she's my daughter. She's on the staff because she's a wonderful editor and she edits the newsletter and she produces the broadcast. And then Anna, my wife, answers a whole bunch of letters and we have volunteers all over the place. And then the guys at the Ambassador Agency in California who tell me stuff that I need to do their radio stations all over the country and people I've met in so many cities. Now I want you to know, I want you to know you can do this kind of stuff by yourself. You can do anything for Christ by yourself and so it's very important that if God tells you to do something you get a brother or sister to come along beside you and do it with you. I was a pastor in a church for a number of years and we had this rule about people who had visions about what God was going to call them to do. And they expected the church to start a program. We started so many programs that bomb but we finally decided we're not going to do this anymore unless the people are there to do it. And so whenever anybody said I want to do this ministry, we promised them we would announce it twice from the pulpit. We would put it in the newsletter of the church and we would set a time of meeting and we would define how many people would have to share the vision. If that many people didn't show up, then it wasn't from God. And that was quite wise to be perfectly honest with you. Now let me go to another point because it's working fourthly. Note not only that Paul had a desire to share the vision to explain the vision, to spread the vision, Paul had a desire to celebrate the vision. Romans 1524, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you for I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way there by you. At first I may enjoy your company for a while. Romans 1532, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. Now while I'm recording this, one of our staff members, Danny Velker, who handles getting out all kinds of orders and stuff here, Danny is out in Washington State climbing a mountain. Now we've get it him about it. I told him, I said, Danny, if you fall off that mountain and die, I'll come and get you. And I will be really angry, so you'd be very careful. And we've watched as Danny would walk, I don't have many miles away, he lives from the headquarters of key life, but he walks sometimes so he begins to prepare himself. Danny's bought all this packs of stuff and he carries it on his back so he can begin to train for climbing this mountain. He's got three guides and he tells us it's real saving. We've all gone, are you crazy, Danny? But let me tell you something, all of his life, he's wanted to do this. I mean he's wanted to climb a mountain that most people can get up. He wants to ballet, he wants to do the stuff that you do that people get killed doing. Well let me tell you something, as he shared his excitement about what God has called him to do for the fun of it. The rest of us at key life have had a wonderful time. We vicariously enjoyed that. Celebrating the vision of your brother, you know something participating in a vision from God is always a joyous experience. Now I want to take Danny's experience and that microcosm and make it into a macrocosm. If God called somebody to do something, it isn't so that they'll be miserable. It's so that the brothers and the sisters can look around and say you know God's called him or her to do that. Let's participate and let's have a party. A vision that can't be celebrated, dear friend, is not a vision that is from God. A few weeks ago we had our by yearly faculty retreat for Reformed Theological Seminary. We had three campuses, one in Jackson and one in Charlotte and then one in Orlando. Now dear friend, that is a lot of professors but every other year we get together. And it was a wonderful time. We were at Galloway Gardens in Georgia. Now to be honest with you, the faculty things that happened weren't that great. Can we talk if I die? And somebody calls a faculty meeting, I'll know where I am and it won't be heaven. But there was a shared vision and the most prominent thing about the whole time was the laughter and the celebration. Why is that? Because participating in a vision from God is always a joyous experience. We were all there because we all had a vision for training young men and women for ministry. We were all there sharing in a common vision. When our president, Luther Whitlock, talked to us about what God was doing in the other campuses. There was a sense of rightness, an excitement of celebration as we praise God for what he was doing through the seminary. So I would suggest that when you get together with other Christians about something that God has told you guys to do, laugh a lot, don't be so serious, don't take anything serious except God. And then he laughs, the Bible says to, there ought to be a sense of... You know, that's why I like going to charismatic churches. Now I'm not charismatic. I haven't spoken in, I told you before that our daughter was healed because of Pentecostal charismatic people prayed for. So I don't make fun of them in thunderstorms. But I'm not a charismatic. I'm a Presbyterian. We don't raise our hands any higher than our belts. But let me tell you something. There's this kind of thing when you go to those kind of churches where everybody's glad to be together. And it's sort of like, let's have a party. And the first time I went, I was offended. I mean, I thought this is not worship according to the regular difference. I mean, the Puritans didn't do it this way. And then I realized these people were genuinely happy to be together and to be sharing in a vision for doing something for God. We ought to all be that way. Now, fifthly, not only did Paul have a desire to share the vision to explain the vision, to spread the vision, and to celebrate the vision, he had a desire to complete the vision. Romans 1528, therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them the fruit, I shall go by way of you to explain. Somebody said, I've been rich and I've been poor and rich is better. That's a truism. You've also heard it is better to fail at a great effort than it is to succeed in an inferior one. I suspect that's true, too. But many days and it's better to succeed in a great effort than it is to fail in a great effort. There's something that is really good about completing a task, about seeing God work, about seeing God do something in the lives of people. Who is the Christian who was debating the atheist and the Christian issue to challenge tomorrow? You come and bring the people whose lives have been changed by your unbelief, and I'll bring 100 people who have been changed by Jesus Christ and then will debate. Of course, the atheist didn't show. Back when there was the song, We Are the World, do you remember that? These artists got together and they recorded We Are the World. It's kind of a catchy tune and then they tried to raise money for hunger in the world. That was recorded by recording artists and the prophets were given to the hungry of the world. I was on a talk show while the host was an atheist. He had participated in the campaign and it raised some $20,000 for the poor. He said that it demonstrated that Christians weren't any different than pagans, and I said, Listen, you don't get a rip about the poor. Our church gives more than a month just our little church to the hurting in the world than you give in this whole campaign. Has your unbelief ever built a hospital or had a campaign for literacy? Long after you pagans had gone home, the Christians, the people of God will still be there feeding the hungry, helping the poor and reaching out to the hurting. And I'll tell you something else, we don't have to have some record of a ditty played in our ears in order to get us to do it. Something satisfying about saying something like that. I repented later on, but it did feel good. I was at a church recently where whenever someone received Christ, the congregation applauded and it was wonderful feeling. They were celebrating what God was doing, but they were also seeing the completion of that because God had promised. He who begins a good work in you will bring it to completion. And let me tell you something, God is going to bring this name full circle, he's going to complete it, and that's a part of the vision. Sixthly and finally, not only did Paul have a desire to share the vision to explain the vision, to spread the vision, to celebrate the vision, to complete the vision, he had a desire to consummate the vision. Now we must go to another text to see this, but let's check it out. Olympians 3, 14, through 15A, I pressed toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore led us, as many as our mature have this mind. What am I talking about? I'm not talking about just the completion of the vision, seeing people come to know Christ and grow in Christ and be a blessing to the community. I'm talking about when we all get home. I find it difficult to get excited about any vision except God's vision. You know what? Because every vision other than His will die when those who hold the vision die. You go to the ruins of the world of Perth and on, the Pyramids, the Amplitheater, and you will see the dust of broken dreams and failed vision. But if you hold the vision that God gives, you know how this thing's going to work out. You know that someday you're going to be home, and we'll share the war stories that come from the vision around the throne, and we will laugh and laugh and laugh. You think about that? I'm in.