This sermon emphasizes the importance of risking everything for the mission of God, highlighting the dedication and sacrifice of believers in different parts of the world who prioritize the Word of God and the spread of His glory over their own comfort and safety. It challenges listeners to consider whether they are willing to risk it all for the sake of the Gospel and to choose devotion over mere religious practice.

That's what I did. I laughed. I said that would take a long time. They said, we'll do it. These are farmers. They left their fields completely unattended. And for the next week and a half, we walked from Genesis to Malachi. I want you to imagine trying to teach the book of Song of Solomon to a group of Asian believers and just praying that they don't ask any questions. What does this mean? Doesn't matter. Move on. Next book. Next, next book. We got into the next to the last day. We had one day left. We finished up in Malachi. I got there the next morning. I didn't know what to teach. We'd been through Habakkuk. What else is there to cover? I walk in, trying to think about what to teach. I started teaching something and about 30 minutes in, a guy in the back raised his hand. He said, we've got a problem. I said, what's the problem? He said, you have given us all the books of the Old Testament, but you have not taught us all the books of the New Testament. I said, we've got one day. He said, I know. I said, all right. For the next 11 hours, we walked from Matthew to Revelation. They love the word. It means something to them. They risk their lives for it. Imagine going, not to an all-day training in the word. Imagine going to a worship service. They tell you to put a dark jacket on and dark pants, and you get into the back of a car, and they drive you into this village late at night. You get out in the darkness of night, and an Asian believer meets you there at the door, and you go down this little path as you're following their footsteps with your hood over your head. You're around the corner into this small room, nowhere near the size of this stage. Sixty believers crammed in on little stools, one little light bulb hanging in the middle, ready to worship and study the word at the risk of their lives. And we get that picture. They're sitting on the floor, one little light bulb. What can we do, Dave? Can we take up an offering? Can we send something to help them? Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you tonight that the Holy Spirit of God is doing just fine in that country without all of the resources we surround ourselves with. Somewhere along the way, they have gotten the idea that the word of God under the Spirit of God is enough to accomplish the mission of God, and they are right. They're right. We clap, but do we believe? When I was preparing to go to the Sudan, where thousands and thousands of our brothers and sisters have been killed in persecution of genocidal proportions over the last 20 years, I received a bad-to-state paper in the mail, and there were two articles on the front, side by side. On the left, it said, First Baptist Church, fill in the blank, celebrates new $23 million building. And this two- or three-page article talked about all the great things in that building. On the right, the headline was, Baptist Relief Helps Sudanese Refugees. It talked about how 350,000 refugees at that point in Sudan, Western Sudan, were dying of malnutrition and may not make it to the end of the year unless they get food or water. 350,000 of them. And it got to the end, and it said, Baptists had raised money to send to the Sudanese refugees. I thought this was great until I read that last sentence in the article. Remember, on the left, First Baptist Church celebrates new $23 million building. On the right, Baptists have raised $5,000 to send to refugees in Sudan. $5,000 is not enough to get a plane into Sudan, much less one drop of water. This is not an indictment of that church, and it's not an indictment of church buildings. It is an indictment of us. We have prioritized our comforts over the needs of the world around us, and we need to repent. We need to repent and risk it all. Like our brothers and sisters in Cuba, India, China, Middle East, Central Asia, who are giving their lives. Why? Why should we risk everything? Why are our brothers and sisters risking everything? Don't miss verse 14. Four. Here's why. Four. Here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. We see this over and over again in the end of the book of Hebrews. They were longing for another country, a heavenly one. They did not count this world their home. This is why we risk everything, because we are not living any longer for the comforts of the United States of America. We are living for another country. And we long to see His glory. We want, we desire to see His glory more than we desire our own safety and our own lives and our own comforts. This is why we go. This is why we go to every corner and every inner city in the United States, because there are hundreds of millions of people in this country who right now are headed to a Christless eternity, and we long for them to see the glory of God. This is why we go to Africa, because there's 300, 3,000 tribes. They are animistic religions, completely devoid of God. And there is a God who is worthy of every single one of their glory. It's why we go to Japan and Laos and Vietnam, because there's 350 million Buddhists in those countries who are following Buddhist rules and Buddhist regulations, and Buddha is not worthy of their glory. Jesus is worthy of their glory. It's why we go to India and Pakistan and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and Nepal, because there's 950 million Hindus in those countries that are following more gods than you or I can even imagine. And there is only one God who is worthy of every single one of their glory, and His name is Jesus. It's why we go to China and Laos and North Korea and Cuba, communist nations that have grown up in an atheistic philosophy that completely deny the existence of God, because there is a God, and He is worthy of all their glory. It's why we go to the tough places. It's why we go to the Middle East, because there are 1.3 billion Muslims who are fasting and giving alms and making holy pilgrimages to Mecca and praying five times a day to a false god. And Jesus has died on the cross, rose from the grave, ascended to the Father in heaven, and He alone is worthy of all their glory. He is worthy. This is why we go. Mark it down. Mark it down. Brothers and sisters, God will make His glory known, regardless of whether or not we risk everything. He does not need you, and He does not need me. He does not need your church, and He doesn't need my church. He doesn't need this seminary or that seminary. He doesn't need this state convention or that state convention. He does not need the North American Mission Board or the International Mission Board. The reality is the entire Southern Baptist Convention could drop dead and turn to dust, and God will still make a great name for Himself among the nations. The question we have with the glory of God in our hearts and the mammoth needs of a lost and dying world in front of us and a mission to make the glory of God known in that world is, are we going to die in our religion or are we going to die in our devotion? God, may Your grace enable us to choose the latter. We hope that you have found this presentation helpful to you and your ministry. For more copies of this and other presentations from the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention, please contact SBC Tapes at 817-656-1258 or on the web at sbctapes.com. And now, on behalf of Dr. Ed Litton, President of the 2009 Pastors Conference, thank you for your support.