Pre-launch
Sermon Transcript
I just want to thank Pastor Stucky again for allowing us to have this event and for brother Christian and sister for opening up their home to us once again.
Now, please bear with me because my throat is not doing so well this morning. So hopefully I don't lose my voice halfway through the sermon, but I'll try not to be too loud. So we read this morning in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. So we'll start there this morning. And the title of my sermon is Excuses for not Soulwinning.
It's looking there at 2 Corinthians 5. Let's read from verse 18. And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and have given unto us the ministry of reconciliation.
So first of all, let's understand that we have been given a certain ministry. We have been given the task of soulwinning, of preaching the gospel. See, reconciliation means to restore somebody to a right relationship. So, this ministry of reconciliation is us going out preaching the gospel and getting people right with God through their faith in him.
To which that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses onto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did precede you by us. We pray you in Christ’s stead be you reconciled to God. You see, God has made us his ambassadors. He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. We are his representatives here on this world. We are called to do the great commission to go into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. So the Bible says, you know, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God.
That's the ministry of reconciliation and we are his ambassadors to do this and God has called us and you know Jesus said I've chosen you and I've ordained you that you should go and bear fruit. He has chosen us to be his ambassadors ordained us to be his ambassadors to go and bring forth fruit which is to win souls unto Christ. Jesus said as my father have sent me so are you. That ministry that Jesus had to come to reconcile the world, he's given that ministry now to us to go and reconcile the world unto him. See, that is our calling. God has specifically called us to this task. But does everybody obey this call? Is everybody out sewing? That's a saved Christian.
No. A lot of people have excuses for why they don't go soulwinning. But we're going to look at some men of God in the Bible who were called to deliver a message and to be God's ambassadors. and we're going to see what excuses they made, how we can overcome them.
Example 1 - Moses
So, if you'll turn back to Exodus with me, Exodus, we're going to look at how Moses responded to God's call. Exodus chapter 3.
Exodus chapter 3 and let's read from verse 9. Thou therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me, and I've also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, children of Israel, out of Egypt. So, we all know the story. This burning bush, God is telling Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and to my people, and tell them to let my people go." What does Moses say? And Moses said unto God, "Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" So his first response is, "Who am I? Why are you choosing me? I'm nobody special. Why me? I'm just somebody who's out in the wilderness with the sheep being a shepherd." And a lot of Christians might think, who am I that God wants me to go into sinning? I'm just the average Joe Christian, you know? I'm nobody special. I'm not some, you know, Apostle Paul or some learned man or really eloquent man.
But God is calling us and everybody. We need to understand who we are to Christ. We are not just somebody anymore. We are a child of God. We have been saved by God. We have been we are his elect. We are chosen, his chosen people, his royal priesthood. You know, in Revelation, Jesus said, "I've made you kings and priests." You know, God has a really high view of who we are to him. And he has chosen us and ordained us to be his ambassadors. Let's remember that God is not calling us. And you know, we're not fit for the job. God knows what he's doing. He knew what he's doing when he talked to Moses. He knew what Moses was capable of, even if he didn't know it himself. Let's continue reading. I love God's response here. And he said, "Certainly, I will be with thee. Certainly, I'll be with thee." Amen. If God is calling us to do something, he's not just sending us off by ourselves to do it by ourselves. He says, "Certainly, I will be with thee."
God goes with us and empowers us and gives us the ability to do what he has given us to do. Now, what does this look like for us? Because Jesus is not actually with us. But Jesus said when he went, "But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father said in my name, shall teach you all things and shall bring these things to remembrance whatsoever I've said unto you." So Jesus promised when he left he wouldn't leave us alone but he would send the comforter to come with us and to be with us. And of course when Jesus rose again he breathed on them and he said receive ye the Holy Ghost. So we have the Holy Ghost with us indwelling us as saved Christians and he will help us in our work to fulfill this mission. But also God promises the filling of the Holy Ghost. The power of the Holy Spirit coming upon us. The purpose of that power is to empower us to be his ambassadors, to be his witnesses.
We see in Acts one where Jesus tells the apostles, you know, ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Why? And you shall be witnesses to me. So the power of the Holy Ghost is so that we can be witnesses. As God said, certainly I will be with thee. And later on in Acts, when they prayed, the place was shaken where they assembled together. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. The purpose of being filled with the Holy Ghost is to speak the word of boldness to be witnesses to preach. Isaiah prophesied and said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek." That's preaching the gospel.
See, we have been anointed. We have been ordained as ambassadors and the spirit of the lord is upon us so that we can fulfill that task that we've been given to do as soul winners as ambassadors for Christ. God said certainly I will be with thee. God has called us. He will be with us to do it. We not doing this alone. How do you get filled with the spirit? Well, you know, sing to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Read the word. Walk in the spirit. You know, pray for it. If you ask, you'll receive. you know there in the upper house on the day of Pentecost they were praying they were waiting for the Holy Ghost they were praying for the power and you know if you preach the gospel God said I will be with you so if you go and do the mission and die out soul so winning you know that's a good way to get yourself filled with the spirit as well so let's continue back in Exodus 4:10
you know this wasn't enough to Moses for God to say I'll be with thee he had to come up with another excuse Moses said unto the Lord oh my lord I am not eloquent Neither hereto for nor since thou has spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow as speech and of a slow tongue. Now, this is another excuse that people have. Well, I'm not really good at speaking. I'm an introvert. I stumble. I stutter. I I'm afraid to go out and actually speak to people because I'm not really good at that. And I understand what it's like. I'm more of an introverted person. I'm not really, you know, much of a talker. when you go out, you know, through the power of the Holy Ghost, he gives us the boldness to be able to speak. Amen.
Now, was Moses really even that bad of a speaker? Because in Acts chapter 7, you can turn there if you want, but keep your place in Exodus. Acts chapter 7 when Steven is preaching and he's recounting a lot of the events in the Old Testament. Acts 7:20. This is what he says about Moses. In which time Moses was born and was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house 3 months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him his for own son. Right? So this is before the burning bush. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. So does it sound like he was really just not eloquent? He's not really a good speaker. He just had a bit of a low view of himself. And maybe 40 years in the wilderness, he kind of forgot that was my old life. I'm not really like that anymore.
But look, being eloquent and having excellency of speech is not really what sewing is about. It's not really what God's actually looking for in us. It's about the power of God and the words that we speak. You know, I'm not up here giving some really eloquent speech at the moment that people hundred years from now are going to be quoting, right? That's not the point of our preaching. And you know, Paul was one of the most probably the most famous person in the New Testament. He wrote a lot of the scripture. You know, Paul said, "I came not excellency of speech." You know, people wrote about Paul that yeah, his letters were wavy and powerful, but his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible. You know, Paul said, "But I though I've been rude in speech but not in knowledge." So, did Paul really sound like he was a great speaker? I was really eloquent guy even though he was learned and smart, it doesn't sound like, you know, he was that great of a speaker. That's not what it's all about.
So, what does God respond here? So, back to Exodus 4, let's look at verse 11. And the Lord said, "Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb or the deaf or the seeing or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Look, God has made you the way that you are with your abilities and your gifts. God knows exactly what you're like when he's called you to be an ambassador. He is the one who's going to empower you to overcome these things and to be with your mouth and to help you to speak boldly. And look, that's what he did with these prophets and holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Wasn't them coming up with these themes. The Holy Spirit was working through them.
Now, Exodus, let's look at uh verse 12 there. Now, go therefore, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what you shall say. Again, it's the Holy Spirit being with us. And then Moses just says, and he said, "Oh my Lord, send I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou would send." What's he saying? He's saying, "Just send somebody else." Look, I'm not your guy. Don't send me. Just send somebody else. And the start of verse 14 there, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. Look, God can put up with your excuses. You know, who am I? I'm not really a good speaker. And he's saying, look, I'll be with thee. I'll be with your mouth. I'll help you. God can work with you. Whatever weaknesses you have, whatever deficiencies you have, but when you say no, just send somebody else. That's what really gets God angry. You see, we are called to be ambassadors. It's our individual responsibility to be soul winners. And look, a lot of churches have this mentality. A lot of Christians have this mentality today. They sit in churches and they think, "Well, I pay my tithe and I give my money to this missionary and he's doing the soulwinning for me." They're like outsourcing their soulwinning ability or, you know, that's just the pastor's job to preach to people. That's not my job to be able to do this. Look, nothing is this is what gets God really, really angry. And we see in Revelation, he's anger churches like the church of Ephesus for losing their first love and not doing the first word. You know, a church can lose their camel stick. They can lose their anointing for not preaching. It is each person's individual responsibility to be a soul winner, to preach the word of God, to have this ministry of reconciliation.
And what does God say? God is still long-suffering even though he's angry. He said to Moses, "Is not Aaron the Levite, thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, and when he seeth thee, he'll be glad in his heart." What's he saying, "Moses, you still have to go. Just be a silent partner. Take someone who actually can talk to come with you, but you still have to go. You're not getting off the hook. Even though you don't want to speak, go with a talker. Go with somebody. And you know, we send people out two by two. And if someone can't speak, if they are a silent partner, we pair them up with a talker, but you still have to go. You know, going two by two is a biblical principle. You know, Jesus sent 70 out two by two. We see Paul always took somebody with him whether it was Barnabas or Silas and then then Barnabas took Mark with him after they separated. So we can see this is a biblical example of us going two by two and it's a great way to be able to learn and to get introduced to soul and English. This is not an excuse to say you can't talk. God saying no just take somebody else with you and just go. Now let's follow the story through. So turn to Exodus 5.
Exodus 5:1. And afterwards, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." Now, it says Moses and Aaron, but Aaron's the one actually doing the talking here. Look at Exodus 7, just another page over. Exodus 7:1, "And the Lord said unto Moses, see, I have made thee God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet." Again, it's Aaron doing the speaking. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Ferris. Here's Aaron doing the speaking. And then for the sake of time, we won't read everything, but you see Aaron's, it's Aaron's rod that's becoming a serpent. It's Aaron's rod that's turning the water into blood. See, Aaron's the one doing the soul winning. Moses is just a silent partner. Got to Exodus 8. Look at verse 5. And the Lord spake unto Moses, say unto Aaron, "Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the streams." Verse 8. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Entreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice unto the Lord." And Moses said unto Pharaoh, "And Moses said," Amen. Now Moses is starting to get some confidence, and he's starting to speak up. Verse 16, "And the Lord said unto Moses, say unto Aaron, stretch forth thy rod." Okay, Aaron's still doing the miracles, but Moses is getting that confidence to speak. Verse 25. And Pharaoh called for Moses. Aaron said, "Go ye sacrifice to your God in the land." And Moses said, verse 29, "And Moses said, Exodus 98, that Moses sprinkle it towards heaven." Now Moses, he's starting to do the miracles. And verse 23 there, and Moses stretched forth his rod. So now we see Moses has gone from the silent partner to being the talker and doing the miracles. And of course, we know the rest of the story. He leads the people of Israel out of Egypt into the promised land. So the goal for the silent partner is to sit there and to learn to build confidence to see people getting saved, see the talker talking to people. Oh, it's not that scary. It's actually not that intimidating. And then as you learn to do it, then the silent partner should start speaking and then become the talker themselves.
So what have we seen? Moses said, "Who am I?" Well, look, you are chosen by God. He specifically has chosen you for a work. He has pre-prepared a work for you to do. You can't talk. Well, go a silent partner until he can send somebody else. No, it's your personal responsibility. Nothing will make God angrier than just to disobey his command.
Example 2 - Jeremiah
Flip over to Jeremiah chapter 1. Let's see how Jeremiah responded to his call to be a prophet. Jeremiah chapter 1.
Jeremiah chapter 1 starting from verse 4. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. So again, Moses said, "Who am I?" Well, Jeremiah, God knows who he is. God knew him before he fall into this valley. He knew exactly what he was asking of him. And he has ordained thee a prophet. What did Jesus say? I've ordained you to go forth and bring forth fruit. We are ordained. We are called as ambassadors. We have been given a ministry of reconciliation. And we are ourselves prophets to all nations. We are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
What does Jeremiah say? Then said, "I are Lord, behold, I cannot speak." Oh, it sounds just like Moses. But instead of not being eloquent, for I am a child, he says. I'm young. I'm too young for this calling. And look, we don't know how old Jeremiah was, but it sounds like he was quite young. Now, there aren't a lot of young people here, but there are some children, and praise God that they come out sinning with us, and they can grow up learning how to go soulwinning. So, being young is not an excuse to not go sowing. And you know, Paul even said to Timothy, "Let no man despise thy youth. Be thou an example of the believers." Look, no matter how young you are, you can be an example to others with your works. Now, in Acts 2, the prophet Joel is quoted and it says, "It shall come to pass in the last days, sayeth the Lord, I'll pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Look, that's young people. And young men shall see vision visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days my spirit and they shall prophesy. Look, it's the sons and the daughters, it's the handmaidens, it's the young men are able to preach because the Holy Spirit is upon them and they can preach the gospel just as much as anybody else. Amen. In Acts 21, the Bible says about Philip's daughters in the same way had four daughters, virgins which did prophesy. Now, if there's daughters being virgins, they're probably young because they would get married younger in those days. So there's four young women virgins and they did prophesy because they were preaching the gospel. Look, it doesn't matter how old you are, you can preach the gospel. Really, the gospel is not that complicated. You actually have to receive it as a child. So how much more can a child preach it? You know, even to other children or to adults. It's not that complicated. But you might say, "Well, I'm old. I'm not physically young, but maybe I'm spiritually young. Maybe I'm a babe in Christ. Oh, I've just been saved. I've not go soulwinning yet. I don't know enough. I haven't been a Christian long enough. But this is not the Bible teaches. Bible says, think about this. Bible says we are the light of the world. Right now, when you light a candle, does it give its light right away or when it's halfway burned down? It gives it right away. Right? As soon as you are saved, you are a light. You can be a light to others. A lot of people just want to hide their light under a bushel, but that light is there. The moment you got saved, you can be a light unto the world. And look, soulwinning, the Bible says it's the first work. It's the first love. It's the first thing you should be doing after you get saved. It's telling other people about Jesus, about preaching the gospel. And we see plenty of biblical examples about, you know, this being the first thing that people did. The woman at the well, you know, she said, "Come see a man which told me all the things which I ever did." She left her water pot right away, went into the city and told people, "Look, this is the Christ." and many Samaritans of the city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified he told me all that I ever did. So right away she's telling people about Jesus Christ. You know the man had legion. The Bible says when he departed he began to publish into capitalist all the great things God done with him. Right away he went out publishing which means he's telling everybody what Jesus Christ has done for him. Look, God is not looking for the most qualified person, the greatest person, the most eloquent person, the most mature Christian to do his his will. Turn with me to First Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. God is not looking for the smartest people, the greatest people, the people who you would expect him to use the most. That's not who God wants to use. Bible says 1 Corinthians 1:1 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words. So where Moses said I can't speak more eloquent Jeremiah said I can't speak from a child. God's not looking for you to speak the wisdom of words the eloquent speech the great you know orations of of people in the past. He's not looking for that lest the cross of Christ be of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. Look, what you preach is going to be foolishness to the lost anyway. Whether you think you sound really good or you don't sound really good, but it's us which are saved is the power of God. See, it's through the power of God that people are going to get saved. Not through your wise words and you through your great speech. You can stumble and stutter and mumble through it. And the power of God is what's going to get people saved, not your speaking. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I'll bring to nothing the understanding of the pro. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the spirit of this world? Hath God have not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? After that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom you not God please God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Jump down to verse 26. But you see your calling, brethren, how are that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Look, if you think I'm not good enough to go soulwinning, you're exactly the person God wants to send soulwinning. the person who's not the greatest, the wisest, the smartest, the most eloquent. God wants to use you. He wants the humble people. So don't use that as an excuse to hold you back from soulwinning. Use that to be able to glorify God. Verse 27, but God chosen the foolish things of this world to confound. And God has chosen the weak things of this world to confound things that are mighty and the base things of the world and things which are despised have God chosen gay the things which are not to bring not to not things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence. Look amen that you're inadequate. God gets the glory when he uses you. When you go out and you think you're not good enough, but then you see the power of God and the preaching. Amen. God gets the glory. You don't get the glory. Is he not many mighty accord? But of him are ye in Christ Jesus of whom God is made unto the wisdom and righteousness of sanctification and redemption according as is written. He that glorifying God. Let's continue in chapter two. And I brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God. I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith shall not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter 1. Let's continue.
We'll pick up from verse 7. But the Lord said unto me, "Say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, that shall thou speak." Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, say the Lord. Now, this is another reason why people don't go sewing. They're afraid of men's faces. They're worried about what's this guy going to think of me? Who's going to reject me? He's going to shout at me. He's going to slam the door in my face. Oh, you look scary. And look, I will admit the first time I went saw wedding, it was scary. I was hoping that first door I knocked, no one would answer. And no one answered it. Praise God. But look, as you go on, you get used to it. And as you go out, the Holy Spirit empowers you and emboldens you. And as God says, I will deliver thee. Look, whatever happens, don't fear what man shall do unto you. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Don't be afraid of what men are going to think of you. Cuz I tell you what, they're not going to be most people aren't going to be happy that you knocked on their door. Most people are not going to be pleased to see you at their door. Now, some will. Some people will get saved. And praise God for that, but our job as soul winners and ambassadors is not to be men pleasers. We're not going to please everybody. We're not going to be popular. We're not going to be famous. God's telling Jeremiah, you know, don't be afraid of their faces. When we go out, sometimes we knock doors. Sometimes you're in the mall or the park and you can see people's faces before you go up to them and that's even more terrifying. But don't be afraid of their faces. Don't fear man. Rather fear God if you don't go soul and the anger of the Lord is hidden against you. That's right. But don't fear men.
Let's just jump uh across to verse 17 for a moment. Jeremiah 11:17. Thou therefore g up off thy loins and arise and speak unto them all that I command thee. Be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confoundly before them. For behold, I have made thee to this day defense city and an iron pillar and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against me. But I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. Look, they shall fight against thee. you serve the Lord and if you're soulwinning and doing things for God, there will be trials and tribulations. People will attack us or be upset at us. But the Lord has promised that he will be with us and that he will keep us. He will protect us through it all. Now, let's jump back to verse eight. Let's continue. Be not afraid of their faces. I'm with you to deliver thee. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, "Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth." And a similar thing he said to Moses and even said to Isaiah, "Look, God has put his words in our mouth. He has given us the words that we ought to speak, right? We don't speak with our own wisdom, but we have the words of God. He has given us the word of reconciliation." You know, you might not be eloquent in your speech. The Bible's pretty eloquent. You know, these the King James Bible, these verses that sound pretty nice. So the more we use our Bible verses in our solid presentation, it's probably going to be more eloquent anyway, right? But these are the words that we are supposed to use. We're not coming and we're not convincing people by debate and philosophy and our great argumentation that they should believe in Christ. We're using the word of God, Bible verses to preach to them. And faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God anyway. So there's no power in our words. Doesn't matter if you're stumbling or mumbling or umming and ahhing through it all. It's the power of God, the word of God that's going to be getting through to them, not how you sound. And flip over to Jeremiah chapter 15 for a moment. Jeremiah 15 and verse 16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them. And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by thy name, the Lord God of hosts. The God put the words in Jeremiah's mouth. He's not forcing it in your mouth. He's given it to you here. But the Bible saying, eat them. You know, consume them. Consume the word of God. Put it in your mouth. It's sweet as honey on your lips. Consume the word of God and use this when you go out soulwinning. And that Holy Ghost will bring these things to remembrance. It will embolden you and empower and help you as you go and preach the word. And look, we use the Romans road. We use Paul's argumentation when we preach to people. We're not making up our own, you know, kind of debate and setting up our own argumentation. We're just using what the Bible says already. You know, the Bible is pretty clear. You know, if all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. For God committh his love toward us, though we yet sin as Christ died for us. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life for Jesus Christ our Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And look, we use more verses than that to expound that out, but we're just we're just following the Bible's plan of salvation. It's not about you making up your own eloquent speech and having to write this whole thing down to be able to convince you, but it's through the power of God. So, what did Jeremiah say? He said, "I'm a child. I'm too young. I'm not worthy to be used." But look, no matter how young you are, either physically or in the faith, God can and wants to use you. You're not afraid of their faces. Don't worry about what man's going to think about you when you're out soulwinning. I wonder what they think because there a lot of people are not going to be happy with you coming to them anyway. And God has given us his word to preach. So let's use that word.
So we've seen Moses, we've seen Jeremiah.
Example 3 - Jonah
Let's look at Jonah. Flip over to Jonah chapter one in the minor prophets there. Jonah by now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amitiah saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarses from the presence of the Lord and went down to Jaba. He found a ship going to Tarses. So he paid the fair thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarses from the presence of the Lord. Now what was Jonah's excuse to God? He didn't even give one. He just said, "No, I'm not going." And he ran the other direction. And unfortunately, a lot of Christians today, they just don't want to go solving. They might not tell you why or express why or know why. They just don't want to do it. And they find a way not to do it. Now, I'm not going to read the whole story, but we all know what happens to Jonah. He gets thrown off a ship and he gets eaten by a whale. God chastised Jonah for not preaching the word, for not delivering the message. And if you Christian, you've heard the call to soulwinning. You understand that you're an ambassador and you just don't do it. God will chastise you. Whom the Lord loveth, he chast every son whom you receive. If you're disobedient to the call to preach the gospel, you might just get chastised by the Lord. Praise God. He gives us second chances. We'll pick up from chapter 3. And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, "So God asks him again." He's not done with him. He comes back to him again. He should have just gone the first time, but not everybody learns right away. Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. And Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey. And he cried and said, "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. For the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them, even to the least of them." So Jonah comes to Nineveh and he preaches and amen people believe the message and they turn to God.
But was Jonah's attitude right when he came and preached there? No. Just look at chapter 4:1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry. Look, Jonah did not have the right attitude when he was preaching. Even though he has been chastised, he knows to do it. He's there, he's doing it, he doesn't have the right attitude. A lot of Christians can think, well, my heart's not really into it to go soulwinning. I'm not going to go because my heart's not right. I should be, you know, in a right place to do it. But that's not biblical. We need to obey God's commandments whether we feel like it or not. You know, we go to church whether we feel like it or not. We need to obey God. And look, honestly, not every time I go out sewing am I super excited about going out soling that day. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe something's happened and I'm not really into it. But you know what? Once you do it and you get into it and you go it, I never regret having gone sol. And at the end of it, I always feel, you know, filled with the spirit and happy and glad that I've done it.
Turn over to Philippians chapter 1 for a moment. Keep your place there in Jonah. Go to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1, let's look from verse 14. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing comforted by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife. Some also of good will, but one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. Some people are not preaching Christ for the right reasons. Their heart's not in it. Their attitude's not right. There's some other thing going on. Maybe they're trying to compete with somebody or keep up appearances or, you know, whatever it may be. But what does Paul say from verse 18? What then? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and therein do I rejoice. Yay. And will rejoice. Look, as long as Christ being preached, Amen. Amen. You know, if you're not looking forward to that sinning time, you still got to go. God's still commanding us to go. And hopefully your attitude will get right by the end of it. But praise God, you know, Christ is being preached. Let's flip back to Jonah. Flip back to Jonah. four and he prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee, oh Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore, I fled before unto Tarses. So now Jonah is giving us the reason, telling God the reason that he actually fled in the first place. For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent repentest thee of the evil. Why didn't Jonah want to go preach to the Ninevites? He hated them. They were the heathen. They were the enemies. They were wicked. He didn't want to see them get saved. Therefore, he didn't go and preach to them.
Now, you might think, who would have this wicked attitude today that they wouldn't want to see somebody saved or preach to the lost? Well, maybe somebody won't, you know, directly say they have that attitude. But even into the New Testament, we see the Jews kind of having this attitude where they actually don't want to go out and preach to the heathen, to the Gentiles, because, oh, they're not the Jews. They're wicked. They're, you know, filthy people. They're unclean. Flip over to Acts chapter 1, we see, you know, the woman at the well said to Jesus, "The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." You know, there were certain people the Jews just didn't want to have anything to do with. It's Acts chapter 1, uh, look at verse 8. But you shall receive power for the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and utmost part of the earth. So yes, they started in Jerusalem, but that was supposed to branch out and preach to the whole earth, to everybody, Jews and Gentiles. Flip over to chapter 8, but by chapter 8, they're still in Jerusalem. Chapter 8, verse one. Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was great persecution against the church which is at Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. So if they're staying in Jerusalem, they're not spreading out. God has to send persecution. It's like Jonah, he doesn't want to preach the Ninevites. God has to send chastisement and persecution upon him to actually get him back on the right path. Look at verse four. Therefore, they were scattered abroad and went everywhere preaching the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached unto them. So through this persecution and chastisement, the people actually got out and preached in other places and to other people. Then of course, well, it says there back in verse one, except the apostles. The apostles are still in Jerusalem. So what does God do in chapter 9? He's actually calling the new apostle. He has to go then and call Saul as one out of due time as an apostle unto the Gentiles because the apostles he already had were not going unto the Gentiles. And then later on he has to show Peter a vision specifically that the Gentiles are not unclean that they can receive the Holy Ghost too and that they can preach too. See the Jews had this idea. They didn't want to preach to the the heathen to go out into the world. They wanted them to come and join them and to live like them and to get circumcised and join the nation of Israel. And yeah, in the Old Testament, they should have joined the nation of Israel, but they're also supposed to be a light to go and reach the Gentiles. So, even in the New Testament, we see when the Gentiles get saved, they want them to then live as do the Jews. They still have this attitude that it's all about them and the Jews and and their people. And you would think, well, that that doesn't exist today anymore. But a lot of Baptist churches seem to have this mentality that they don't actually want to go out to reach people. They want to bring people in and oh, you come to church, you kind of be like us and we'll give you the gospel if you come to us. But they don't want to go out actually see the lost saved themselves and to leave their little Jerusalem and to go out into all the world. They just want to bring people in. It's the same kind of mentality over and over again. And it leads to people not sewing because they, you know, you have to be like me kind of before you have to be willing to come to church before I'm going to preach the gospel. And some Christians also have this attitude, you know, with their own family. They love their family so much. They just want to preach to their family and their friends. And a lot of Baptist churches will talk about, well, the mission field is your family and your friends. And they love them so much. And yet, we should preach to our family and friends, but not at the exclusion of everybody else. You know, we hear these churches all the time. You know, people pray for my, you know, whoever it is, my relative, my friend, and they really have this love to see their family saved and their friends saved, but there isn't that same love to see the lost and the heathen saved because, well, I don't know them. I don't really care about them. They won't say that, but really, that's what their actions are. They don't care about the lost. They just care about their people and about their family. And It's a strange position to have because you the Bible says a prophet's not without honor but in his own country and it said about Jesus neither his brethren did believe in him. So even Jesus when he was alive he had a hard time actually reaching his family. They're some of the hardest people to reach. You know the Jews that were some of the hardest people to reach as well. It's the lost and other everybody else that's going to be a lot easier to reach. And as a soulwinner we need to be going into all the world and preaching the gospel. And look, it's good to practice on other strangers and that'll make you better, more equipped to then be able to preach to your family. And look, you can do both. Paul, he was the apostle to the Gentiles, but when he went into the city, he would go to the Jews in the synagogue and preach to them. And we know Paul had a real burden to see the Jews saved. So, you can still reach your family. You know, if you think of your circle kind of like Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, you can reach your family and your friends and everybody else, but you need to get out to the rest of the world as well. A lot of people are focused, you know, on getting their family, their loved ones, their people saved. This means you just don't have love for your neighbor. You're lost. We ought to have love other people. This is what the whole the Good Samaritan story was about. You know, how do you love your neighbor when there's a man and he's he's beaten and he's lying on the road and that's the lost and they're lost in their sins and they're dying in their sins and the people who you would expect to reach him, you know, the priest and the Levite, the religious people, they just walk by. I don't know this guy. He's not my family. He's not in my, you know, tribe or whatever it is. I'm just going to leave him there. He's some heathen person. And that's what a lot of Christians are actually doing. There's these people out there dying and they're just walking past not caring about his people. But the good Samaritan comes and he actually has compassion on this person and and gets him, you know, saved really is the, you know, it's physical salvation, but picturing spiritual salvation. So, how do you love your neighbor? How do you love the lost? You actually need to go to the people who are dying and destitute and give them the gospel and get them saved.
So just like in the Old Testament, you know, the Jews weren't bringing forth fruit. They weren't adequately doing the ministry that they were given to be a light unto the world to the Gentiles. So what did God had to do? He had to take the nation from them and give it to another nation, bring forth the fruits thereof. You know, the apostles weren't doing their job to go out to all the world. God had to actually call another apostle out of due time to go and do this work. and turn to Acts 26. We're going to look at Paul for for example, but because the Baptist churches today, they're not reaching the world the same way that they used to. That's why we're here. God has to call a new generation of soul winners out to actually do this job to preach the gospel. Look, we wouldn't need to be here. If the other Baptist churches were actually doing the great commission and preaching the gospel, there wouldn't be a need for us to be here today. But when the old generation fails, God needs to call up something new to go and deliver his message.
So in Acts 26, we've seen some of the bad examples of people responding to God's call. We'll just finish up with the good example and how we should be reacting to God's call. So let's look from verse 13. At midday, O king, I saw away a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me, and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It's hard for thee to keep against priests. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest? For rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, and whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins, an inheritance among them, which is sanctified by faith that is in me. Look, that's the same calling that we have that Paul was given to open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light that they may receive the forgiveness of sin. That's the ministry of reconciliation that we've been called to. God has called us the same way he called Paul. Look at verse 19. I love his response. He says to King Gripper, whereupon, oh King of Gripper, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Would to God we could all say that I was not disobedient to the call to preach the gospel. I was not disobedient to the ministry that was given unto us of reconciliation to go into all the world. I was not disobedient. Let's turn to Matthew 21. Matthew 21. Finish up here. Matthew 21 28. There's a parable here talking about two sons. Certain man had two sons. Matthew 21:28. He came to the first and said, "Son, go work today in my vineyard and work in the vineyard." This is picturing the harvest of souls, preaching the gospel, going out into all the world. And he adds said, "I will not." But afterward, he repented and went. Look, there are some people who at first when they hear the call to go sinning, they said, "No, I'm not going to go." Moses said, "No, send somebody else." Jeremiah said, "No, I'm just a child. I'm not really the one you want to send." Jonah, he definitely said, "I would not go." But afterward, they repented and they went, "Look, if in the past you've had excuses, you've had reasons to not go soulwinning, whatever it may be, and there's way more excuses than I've covered today, whatever those excuses have been in the past, it's time to repent and go and work today." And he came to the second son and said, "Likewise." And he answered and said, "I go, sir, and went not." Look, there's a lot of people today in Baptist churches, in IFB churches, whatever it may be. Oh, yeah. I love soulwinning. That's great. You guys are going soulwinning. Oh, we're soulwinning on Saturday. I'm going to come with you. I'm going to be there. They're not there. The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few. There's a lot of people who say they'll go and they're really enthusiastic about it, but when push comes to shove, they're not there. Wither of the twain do the will of the father. Verse 31, they said unto him the first. Obviously, the one who does it is the one doing the will of the father, you know. Doesn't matter what you've said in the past. Let's do the will of the path. Let's actually go out and do it. But rather, let's be like none of these two sons. Let's be like Paul who says he'll go and go is not disobedient unto the calling.
Look, that's the end of my notes, but just think about whatever excuses you have in the past. When you're standing before Christ in the judgment, the judgment seat of Christ when he's handing out your rewards, you know, whatever excuse you have or whatever reason you've had for not sowing, is that really going to stand up at the judgment day when you say to Jesus, "Well, I didn't go soulwinnig, Lord. I knew I should have, but I didn't go because, you know, I just don't like the sun too much. I don't like being outside. I don't think I'm really that good a speaker. You know, are these things really going to stand up on that day? Are you really going to say that excuse to somebody burning in hell? Sorry, I didn't go out and reach you because I just didn't feel like it that day because I just was too scared. I was scared of their faces. I was afraid someone would reject me, Christ, so I didn't want to serve you. Look, whatever our excuses are, they just don't stand up before God. God has called us. He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. He wants us to go and do it and we need to go and do it because people are dying out there in the world and if we don't go, if we hide our life, our gospel be hid those who are lost.
Let's pray.
Father God, we just thank you Lord for this word that you've given us. This word which has called us, which has made us ambassadors, and that that you've given us the ministry of reconciliation. Lord, we just thank you, Lord, that you have promised us, certainly I will be with thee. Thank you, Lord, that we don't have to do this alone. That you're going to go with us and empower us and embolden us, Lord. And just help us that whatever things may hold us back even now or in the future from soulwinning, Lord, that you'll just help us to overcome those excuses, those objections, those reasons for not sowing, Lord. Amen. And we just pray that you'll be able to bring more laborers into the harvest, Lord, and just help us to be able to get people saved and do great work for you, Lord. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.