Soulwinning in Melbourne

So I want to just thank everyone for coming today. I also want to thank Pastor Stucky — for those who do not know him, he is the pastor of Verity Baptist Church in Manila and also has a church in Pampanga. In the Philippines there are a multitude of churches that are run by Pastor Stucky, as well as one in Warsaw, Poland. He is the one who has been talking to me and actually inspired this event. He is just doing a great work there in the Philippines. We are seeing multitudes of people get saved and we are really grateful for the work he is doing there and for inspiring this event as well.

I want you to turn to Hebrews 10:24. He asked me to preach a sermon before we go out soul-winning. "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." When we hear about being provoked, it is usually to bad things — people provoke us to anger. But this time it is saying we have to consider one another to provoke unto love and unto good works. Is soul-winning a good work? Is it loving? We know it is. Loving our neighbour as ourselves is a loving thing to do. We are commanded to first consider, and then we are commanded to provoke. And Pastor Stucky is the one who says, hey, we need to get out there. My wife and I were there for about a year and a half and we are really grateful for all the work God did through us there. What I really appreciated about Pastor Stucky is that he made soul-winning a priority and he actually taught us to go and be confrontational. Confrontational soul-winning — the purpose of that is going out there and purposely talking to people. Not just hoping for an opportunity, but actually purposely seeking and saving those that are lost, just as Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost.

Point 1: Why We Preach the Gospel

Why do we preach the gospel? Why do we go? It is because we are sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. Even Paul said, a necessity is laid upon me — I have to do this.

Romans 5:5: "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." It is the love of God that instils that love in us. When we walk in the spirit we are not going to fulfil the lust of the flesh. When you walk in the spirit you are going to have that love which is part of the fruit of the spirit, and you are going to have it for people when you go out there. The flesh does not want us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Being in the flesh, you are not going to be thinking about going and preaching the gospel. We care about people because we love God's commandments and we want to love him because he first loved us and gave himself for us. This is how we love Jesus Christ — by doing what he said.

Luke 6:46: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" He told us to preach the gospel. He is saying, why do you even give me a title without actually doing the things I commanded you to do?

Mark 16:15: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." That is part of a commandment of the Lord. It is part of the great commission. People might say, well, this is Jesus sending his disciples. But the Bible also says we ought to walk as Jesus walked. He came to seek and to save those that are lost — that was one of the purposes of why Jesus came.

1 Corinthians 10:33: "Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." Paul's target was to see people get saved. His own profit was not what mattered — it was the profit of others, that they could be saved. And look at the next verse in chapter 11: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." It is not just for the disciples. It was even for the Corinthian church. God through Paul is actually telling them, hey, follow me — I do not seek my own profit, I actually seek the profit of many that they could be saved. Follow me. It is not just Jesus saying follow him, it is Paul saying follow him. And then it is people like pastor Stucky and brother Brydon who have a desire to see the doors in Fawkner get knocked — you see their vision and you can follow it.

Romans 15:20: "Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation." We ought to strive to preach the gospel. Not in church — that is already somebody else's foundation. We are going to be preaching the gospel outside of church. Going door-knocking to places that have not been reached, to people that are probably deceived in a false religion. Paul and the apostles are no longer around. This is our generation. This is our time to go preach the gospel and tell people about the great salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The story of Jonah from our Bible reading is a great picture of the attitude that can hinder us. God tells Jonah to go and he goes in a different direction. He did not really care too much for the lost. The reason he did not care was because he cared about his comfort. He knew God loved people — we all know John 3:16 — but he actually did not want to go.

Jonah 4:9: "And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death." He is getting really angry about the shade that came up to shelter him from the sun. He even wants to die. Then said the Lord: "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?" Over a hundred thousand people in Nineveh, and Jonah is caring about his shade. He is caring about his comfort.

We can often be like Jonah. We can be that person who cares more about the temporary things in life than the eternal things. God actually laboured to create mankind. God formed us in our mother's womb. He cares for the things he laboured for. And he is trying to tell Jonah — hey, you should care as well about what I care about. But you seem to care about the things you have not even laboured for. Those are the things you prioritise. The most common reason why people do not serve God is because they just serve themselves. And I know we are busy, but God has given us time. He has given us time to work. The Bible says six days shalt thou labour. But God also wants us to care about what he cares about.

2 Timothy 2:3–4: "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." We have been called to be soldiers. What does a soldier do? He fights. And what are we fighting against? We are fighting against the enemy, the devil.

2 Corinthians 4:3–4: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." The god of this world blinds people who do not believe. That is his purpose. He deceives people. Revelation 20:10 tells us the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire. That is his purpose — to deceive.

Luke 8:11–12: "The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." The devil is right there when you are preaching the gospel, just ready to take away that seed you have just planted. Just ready to take it away the moment you have told someone that salvation is by faith and it is a free gift. That is what the devil wants to stop us from doing — preaching the gospel. The one thing he wants to prevent is people believing and being saved.

"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." Our feet are beautiful when we are going out there preaching the gospel. Jesus used his feet to go and to seek and to save those that are lost, and we follow in his footsteps.

Point 2: Australia Needs Labourers

Matthew 9:35–38: "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." We need to actually have that compassion for people that are not saved. Many people are on their way to hell. God wants us to pray, and God wants people to go and preach the gospel. If a lot of you came to the last event with Pastor Kevin, there were 29 salvations. That gave me a lot of courage that there is actually a lot of work that can be done here — there are just few labourers.

Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." How many people want to be happy in this life? The Bible says if you keep God's law, you are actually going to be happy. And can we find something in the law about preaching the gospel? Well, loving your neighbour as yourself — it is one of the great commandments. That is something in the law that once you do it, you are actually going to be happy. Everyone who has gone out preaching the gospel can vouch that they do not regret it. The Bible says he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Proverbs 3:27: "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it." We are withholding the truth of the gospel from people when we actually have the ability to go. We are probably afraid. That is why we need to pray for boldness. That is why before we go out preaching the gospel we have somebody praying — God, fill us with your spirit, give us utterance, give us boldness to preach the gospel. Because it is still nerve-wracking. That is why you pray and you need that filling of the Holy Ghost. You need to be walking in the spirit to go out and not hide the gospel.

Just quickly — some statistics. Only 7% of Australians attend church. In 2021, 43.9% of Australians identified as Christian, down from 61% in 2011. Australia is reportedly 40% atheist today, while America is around 20%. There is a lot of atheism here. And unfortunately, many of those who are seeking spiritual answers are bumping into Catholicism, Pentecostalism, or the charismatic movement — which can be even more dangerous than no religion at all, because those people have already had some type of experience and they become less receptive. They have tried to escape God's wrath by getting rid of some of their sin, letting down their load — but it just is not enough. You need the death of Jesus Christ.

We are also blessed here in Australia with religious liberty. The Australian Constitution prohibits the government from interfering with the freedom of religion. We need to take advantage of that and work while the night is coming — because the night will come. There will be a time when persecution is far greater, and we need to make the most of the time when the doors are open. And it is an English-speaking country. You are very rarely going to have the problem of not being understood when you are sharing the gospel. 72% of the population speak only English in the home. God has given us that ability — we know the language and we are saved. That is why we need to go.

And Melbourne is also uniquely placed in terms of the nations already being here. Hindus, Muslims, people from backgrounds we might think are unreachable — they are right here. I am not travelling to Afghanistan. I am not travelling to Saudi Arabia. But they are coming here to us. You can actually reach them with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they could reach their family back home as well. That is an amazing opportunity.

Point 3: The Word of God Saves

Do people get saved by seeing miracles, or do they get saved by the word of God? The sower plants the seed, and that seed is the word of God. That is what we are going out with. We are going out with the Bible.

Luke 16:27–31: "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." The rich man in hell does not want his family to come to this place of torment. He thinks a miracle — somebody coming back from the dead — will change their minds. But Abraham says, let them hear Moses and the prophets. Let them hear what is written. Even if someone comes back from the dead, they are not going to be persuaded. We saw this with Jesus himself — he came back from the dead and they still hated him, still hated his disciples. It is not the miracles and signs that make people believe. It is the word of God that has power.

Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." We are not ashamed of this Bible. This is the power of God. The gospel is God's power to save people if they believe it.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." This is the gospel — the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not a sign. It is the gospel that saves people, and it is laid out in the word of God.

Jeremiah 48:10: "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." We have to use the weapon God gave us. We are not just to hold it and admire it — we are to go out and use it in battle. The sword is the word of God. And when you use it, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. When you use it on people's false doctrine and false beliefs, it cuts right through. That is how people get saved. That is what Abraham said from heaven — your brethren need to hear the Bible. We need to take the Bible to people, and that is what is going to get them saved.

Point 4: Why Melbourne

Jesus sent us to go into all the world. This is where God has put us. This is where we are located.

Comparisons between Australia and America: 67% of the US population identifies as Christian, down from 85% in 1990. In Australia, 43.9% identified as Christian in 2021, down from 61% in 2011. Australia is reportedly 40% atheist compared to around 20% in America. This is why in some ways Australia reminds you of Nineveh — they could not discern between their left hand and their right hand. But I believe people can change their minds when they are confronted with the Bible. Even with atheists — they say they do not believe the Bible, so I like to say, let us just hypothetically say the Bible is true. Let me just show you. And you know what? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. They start off atheist and you start showing them from the Bible and then out of nowhere they are saying, I need that. I need the salvation you are talking about. And they get saved.

Within a 20-minute radius of where we are — Endeavour Hills, Cranbourne, Hallam, Berwick, and about 13 different locations — there are approximately 117,000 houses and over 300,000 people, based on the 2021 census. God cared for the over 120,000 people in Nineveh. God cares about the over 300,000 souls in our immediate area just as much. And how many of those houses do you think have been knocked by a soul-winner? The Jehovah's Witnesses are faithful to go and preach their damnable heresies. The Mormons are out there. Why should we be shy? Very few people have heard the real gospel. It took me about 25 years of my life to actually hear it. I used to read John 3:16 and had no idea what it meant. That is why it is so important that a saved person actually goes and explains what the Bible means. Just like the Ethiopian eunuch said, how can I understand except some man guide me? We are the ones God has given the ministry of reconciliation. We are the ones that go out and actually show people how they can be saved.

Point 5: Soul-Winning Vision

Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." We ought to have a big vision for our lives regarding soul-winning. It should be something that characterises our lives.

Mark 4:20: "And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred." Is that referring to how many people you could get saved in a year? A tree produces fruit about once a year. Getting 30 people saved in a year might sound unthinkable, but even in a place like Melbourne you can get those numbers if you are faithfully going out there. If you are going out with Brother Brighton's group every fortnight and coming out with our group every Sunday — I do not think it is impossible to get 30 people saved in a year's time. And the Bible says, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." Getting people saved glorifies God. You might get 60, you might even get a hundred. I would not expect God to put something in the Bible that is not attainable.

The parable of the sower in Mark 4 explains why people do not reach these numbers.

Mark 4:14–20: "The sower soweth the word." The first category — by the wayside — are those who hear, but Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word. They just do not believe. The second category — stony ground — are those who receive the word with gladness but have no root, and when affliction and persecution arise for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Unfortunately, some people are hindered by this. The third category — thorns — are those who hear the word, but "the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." It is the same with Jonah. He just had other things he cared about — comfort, other priorities. We have to seek first the kingdom of God. These things stop people from bearing that fruit and from having that eternal reward one day. And the last is the good ground — "such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred." This is what God wants us to be. It is achieved by waking up every day walking in the spirit, reading your Bible, growing in the things of God. Satan is going to be attacking you. You are going to have to put on the whole armour of God and go out there with your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Proverbs 11:30: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life: and he that winneth souls is wise." This is the wisest thing you could do. Jesus went to the disciples and said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And it says straightway they left their nets and followed him. If you have a desire to preach the gospel, you can leave the things you were planning and go follow people like Brother Brighton, Phil, and all the other brethren that are going out there preaching the gospel. Start as a silent partner. Listen to how they do it. Get familiar with the verses they use. After a couple of months of just listening, you can join in. That is how you become a fisher of men. Do not get intimidated if at the beginning you do not have all the answers. Just go out with somebody who is talking, be a silent partner for as long as you are comfortable, and when you are ready, give it a go.

I pray God would help all of us to take this seriously. And praise God for Pastor Stucky — he is the one who inspired this whole event and provoked us unto love and to good works.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for the great weather you have given us. I pray that people will be motivated to go out and preach the gospel faithfully and to gather that fruit unto everlasting life. Thank you for all your blessings. Bless the fellowship afterwards and the food we are going to have. Bless us as we go out and preach the gospel. Help us to get many people saved. Fill us with your spirit. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.