you
all right welcome to pure words Baptist Church this time we'll get started with
our singing we'll turn to song 15 lead me to Calvary song number 15 and your
hymnals lead me to Calvary song 1 5 lead me to Calvary on the first King of my
life I crown thee now thine shall the glory be lest I forget thine for crown
brow lead me to Calvary lest I forget gets a money lest I forget thine agony
lest I forget thy love for me lead me to Calvary
show to me where thou was slain tenderly more dead web angels in robes of
light array guarded the wilds now slept lest I forget gets a money lest I forget
thine agony lest I forget thy love for me lead me to Calvary let me like Mary
through the gloom come with a gift to thee show to me now the empty to lead me
to Calvary lest I forget gets a money lest I forget thine agony lest I forget
thy love for me lead me to Calvary on the last may I be willing Lord to bear
daily my cross for thee even my cup of grief to share thou hast borne all for
me lest I forget gets a money lest I forget thine agony lest I forget thy
love for me lead me to Calvary all right brother Samson will you open us in a
prayer
amen all right for our next song we'll go to song 232 tell me the story of
Jesus song 232 tell me the story of Jesus song 232 tell me the story of
Jesus on the first tell me the story of Jesus right on my heart every word tell
me the story most precious sweeter than ever was heard tell how the angels in
chorus sang as they welcomed his birth glory to God in the highest peace and
tidings to earth tell me the story of Jesus right on my heart every word tell
me the story most precious sweeter than ever was heard fasting alone in the
desert tell of the days that are past how for our sins he was tempted yet was
triumphant at last tell of the years of his labor tell of the sorrow he bore he
was despised homeless rejected and poor tell me the story of Jesus right on my
heart every word tell me the story most precious sweeter than ever was heard
tell of the cross where they nailed him writhing in anguish and pain tell of the
grave where they laid him tell how he lived
love in that story so tender clearer than ever I see stay let me weep while
you whisper love say the ransom for me tell me the story of Jesus right on my
heart every word tell me the story most precious sweetest than ever was heard
amen at this time we'll go through our announcements I believe we have a couple
more excuse me bulletins there in the back you don't have one go and raise
your hand we have their verse of the week for our memory verse Romans 8 6 for
to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life peace and
life we have there on the left our service times 10 30 a.m. on Sundays 5
30 p.m. on Sundays and our Thursday night Bible study we've taken a break
through the book of Acts I believe you guys been going through with Pastor
Shelley actually we're gonna be preaching the book of Acts but it's not
a Bible study okay it's just a random sermon in the book of Acts we have there
are so many times as well with the phone numbers of the prospective leaders for
that and at this time let's go and get a count do we have any salvations from
Monday through Thursday I know we have one tonight besides the one tonight okay
one tonight perfect all right so there we have our memory passage there and you
guys you guys do the ice cream right if your words okay good if you quote it to
an adult you get ice creams make sure you stick up with that also make sure
you're continuing to be in prayer for our expectant mothers here pure words
and for all the prayer requests that come in throughout the week make sure if
you have any of those to send that in to the email address and make sure to put
that on the list some upcoming events something not on the bulletin if you
want to make a really long drive to Oklahoma this weekend it's worth it
pastor Thompson's going up there to preach so for some reason you want a
little getaway to Oklahoma this is the weekend to do it I'm gonna be flying to
Boise tomorrow pastor Shelley's preaching at shield of faith tomorrow
and then we're flying back the next day and then driving Oklahoma City the next
day and we're like we're going all over America it's gonna be a little crazy so
pray for us for a travel safety and we don't get sick or anything like that
then after that the men's conference May 20th through the 22nd and I saw you
guys had the signup sheet looking forward to that also May 16th you want a
getaway but a little less of a drive you want to go to Dallas Fort Worth pastor
Joe Jones is gonna be preaching up at steadfast Baptist Church on May 16th
from shield of faith Baptist Church so if you never heard him preach great
preacher he was sent out by pastor Roger Jimenez and started a church where I'm
from in Boise so that's gonna be a lot of fun having him there and then as
always send in your prayer request to pure words Baptist at gmail.com and at
this time we'll go to our third song song 363 wonderful words of life song
363 wonderful words of life song 363 wonderful words of life on the first
sing them over again to me wonderful words of life let me more of their
beauty see wonderful words of life words of life and beauty teach me faith
and duty beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life beautiful words
wonderful words wonderful words of life Christ the Blessed One gives to all
wonderful words of life sinner lives to the loving call wonderful words of life
also freely given wooing us to heaven beautiful words wonderful words
wonderful words of life beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life
sweetly echo the gospel call wonderful words of life offer pardon and peace to
all wonderful words of life Jesus only Savior sanctify forever beautiful words
wonderful words wonderful words of life beautiful words wonderful words
wonderful words of life good singing this time please turn your Bibles to acts
chapter 17 brother Samson will come read for us acts chapter 17
Acts chapter 17 and the Bible reads now when they had passed through
ethnophilus and off and Apollonia they came to thessalonica thessalonica where
was a synagogue of the Jews and Paul as his manner was went in unto them and
three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures opening and
alleging the Christ must need have suffered and risen again from the dead
and this is the and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ and some of
them believed and consorted with Paul at Silas and of the devout Greeks a great
multitude and of the chief woman not a few but the Jews which believe not moved
with envy took unto them certain lewd fellows of the basers sort and gathered
a company and set all the city on an uproar and saluted the house of Jason
and besought to bring them out to the people and when they found them not they
drew Jason and certain brethren unto rulers the city crying these that have
turned the world upside down are coming hither also whom Jason hath received and
these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another King
one Jesus and they troubled the people and the rulers of the city when they
heard these things and when they had taken security of Jason and of the other
they let them go and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by
night unto Bira in whom thither went on into the synagogue of the Jews these
weren't more noble than those and that's an alike that's an alika and they
received the word with the all readiness of mine and searched the scriptures
daily whether those things were so therefore many of them believed also of
honorable women which were Greeks and of men not a few but when the Jews of
Thessalonika he had knowledge the Word of God was preached of Paul at
Bira and they came thither also and stirred up the people and then
immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea but Silas
and Timotheus abode still there still and they had that conducted Paul brought
him unto Athens receiving commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to
him with all speed they departed now while Paul waited for them at Athens his
spirit was stirred in him and when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry
therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout
persons in the market daily with them that met with him and then certain
philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him and some said
what will this babbler say so other some he seemed it to be a seller for of the
strange gods because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection and they
took him and brought him unto Europa saying may we know that this new
doctrine where of thou speakest for thou bringest certain strange things to our
ears we would know therefore that these things mean for all the Athens and
strangers which were there spent their time and nothing else but either to tell
or to hear some new thing then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said
ye men of Athens I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious for as I
passed by and behold your devotions I found an altar with this unknown with
this inscription to the unknown God whom therefore ye ignorantly worship him
declare I unto you God that made the world and all the things therein seeing
that he is the Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in the temples made with
hands neither is worship with hands as though he had needed anything seeing the
given to all life and breath and all things and hath made of one blood and
all nations of men for to dwell on on all the face of the earth and hath
determined the times before appointed and of the bounds of their inhabitation
and they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after him and find him
though he be not far from every one of us for in him we live and move and have
our being as certain also of your own poets have said who we are also his
offspring for as much then as we are the offspring of God we also not to think
that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone or graven by art a man's
device and the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day in which we will judge
the world and righteousness by that man who he hath ordained where of he hath
given assurance unto all men that he hath raised him from the dead and when
they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked and others said we will
hear the again of this matter so Paul departed from among them how be it
certain men clave unto him believed among the witch was decided Dionysius
there a rope of the gate and a woman named Demarius and others with them
every word of prayer dear God thank you for this evening Lord we thank you for
everyone here we thank you for dealing coming down for us to preach for us
won't pray once again that you feel with your spirit Jesus name amen all right
well I'm happy to be here again see you all thank you pastor Shelley for allowing
me to have another opportunity to preach and I'm excited for next week as well
Lord willing I'm gonna be here Thursday and then that Sunday as well but last
time I thought that I got like the most sick I'd ever been in my life so I don't
know if it's the water in Houston or what I got to be careful I guess around
here but looking forward to it again for sure and tonight we're in Acts chapter
number 17 and let's read verses 1 & 2 the Bible says now when they had passed
through and football and Paula sorry am Phyllis and Apollonia they came to
Thessalonica where was the synagogue of the Jews and Paul as his manner was went
in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures
the time my sermon is five attributes of an effective soul winner five attributes
of an effective soul winner in Acts chapter 17 is a great chapter of many
great exploits being done for the Lord you see Paul preaching the gospel in two
different places in this chapter and really what I want to do is I want to
break down some attributes that the Apostle Paul had when he was preaching
the gospel and other great men of God in the Bible and just get a few principles
that we can learn of what effective soul winners look like some things that
they do some attributes about themselves that make them very effective soul
winners so let's read verse number two again where it says in Paul and notice
this it says as his manner was went in unto them and three Sabbath day reasoned
with them out of the scriptures the first thing I want you to notice is that
an effective soul winner makes soul winning a habit if you notice there in
verse number two it says Paul as his manner was so this was not something
that Paul thought man am I gonna go to the synagogue and reason with him today
am I gonna go to the synagogue and preach the gospel no this is just
something that was what Paul did it was just his manner it was just his way of
life it was who Paul was as a person you know people want to talk about lifestyle
evangelism you know this is lifestyle evangelism on a different level this is
your whole lifestyle is evangelism is what the Apostle Paul's life was and so
it was his whole manner it was his whole habit was preaching the gospel and go
ahead and turn a few pages to the right in Acts chapter number 20 I'll show you
another scripture that proves that in Acts chapter 20 look at verse 18 it says
and when they were come to him he said unto them this verse 18 acts 20 you know
from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you
and then look at this at all seasons so he's talking to the elders that are at
Ephesus and he's letting them know hey this is the manner that I've been with
you at all seasons so we see the Apostle Paul he is a man of habit he is a man
that has a manner about him and just like in Acts 17 his manner was to preach
now he's about to tell the the elders at Ephesus what his manner is like now the
dictionary.com definition of manner is a way of doing being done or happening a
mode of action occurrence etc or the prevailing customs ways of living and
habits of a people and that's what we're talking about is that how an effective
soul winner makes soul winning a habit and that's exactly what Paul did look at
verse 19 of Acts chapter 20 so he's saying you know what manner I've been
with you at all seasons what has he been doing serving the Lord with all
humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying
in wait of the Jews and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you
but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ so what was Paul's manner how has he been
at all seasons as he's declaring under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit what
is his lifestyle been well it's been going from house to house every day and
it's been from testifying to the Jews and Greeks all the counsel of God so
Paul's manner just like in Acts chapter 17 and 20 tells us soul winning was a
habit for him no wonder he let the whole world on fire with the gospel I mean
this guy was obsessed with soul winning he was doing it every day he had made
this a habit you know I wonder if you and I can say you've known my manner how
I've been with you at all seasons that I am I am a soul winner I I preach the
gospel can we honestly say that you know god willing some if not all of us in
this church can that's the goal is that all of us our lifestyle our manner about
us is that we are soul winners you know and that's that's the goal that's where
we want to be that is absolutely where Paul's Paul was that in his life where
he could honestly say to the elders at Ephesus you know my manner that I am a
soul winner go to Luke chapter number four and we'll see that Jesus he had
this same attribute where he was a man of habit he had a manner about him or a
custom about him Luke chapter number four and start reading in verse number
16 and he came to Nazareth Nazareth where he had been brought up and look at
this as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood
up for to read so what was Jesus he had this habit he had this manner he had
this custom that on the Sabbath day he would go into the synagogue and he would
read now what does he go read it says there in verse 17 and there was
delivered unto him the book of the Prophet Isaiah and when he had opened
the book he found the place where it was written the spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he hath sent me
to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord so he reads this passage in Isaiah and
then what does he do and he closed the book and gave it again to the minister
and sat down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened
on him and he began to say unto them this day is this scripture fulfilled in
your ears it's a pretty awesome passage of scripture just imagining the Lord
Jesus Christ getting up as his custom is as his manner is as his habit is every
Sabbath day he's reading the scriptures in the synagogue and he reads in the
prophet Isaiah he closes the book sits down everyone's staring at him he says
this day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears I mean that's just so powerful
and what's the scripture fulfilled preaching the gospel to the poor so you
know what that tells me it tells me that Jesus his custom his habit his manner of
life was to preach the gospel he had made soul winning a habit in his life
and this is something that you'll see with almost all the effect of soul
winners in the Bible of course you have Jonah okay he exactly he didn't have so
winning as his habit he was like trying to run away from solely but he was still
effective but as him as a majority you see soul winners in the Bible that are
really effective they make so many a habit it's their manner of life it's who
they are it is their lifestyle let's go to Matthew chapter 28 we'll get there in
a little bit but I have this article from psychology today and it's called
building healthy habits it says are you struggling to build healthy habits let's
face it despite our best intentions maintaining our well-being in a busy
world can be challenging but did you know that studies have found that it's
not necessarily more willpower you need to stick with your habits but three
simple hacks that can make your habits a far more enjoyable experience so this
article is gonna give us three tips on what they found helps people develop
healthy habits because there's good and bad habits right I mean people smoke
people do all sorts of you know gambling everyone's gonna have habits we want to
make sure we have good habits what better of a habit than soul winning I
mean that's gonna make you an effective soul winner right there so first off it
explains it says habits develop from what you do rather than from your
decisions or what you think now that's interesting because we think that we're
in control and our mind tells us what to do but really a lot of times it's just
we're just on autopilot a lot of times smokers are not thinking shall I buy
this next pack of cigarettes it's like no they're just buying it they're just
buying it for 20 30 years it's like and they could be that same way with good
habits as well where you're not necessarily thinking about it you're
just doing it how do you do that number one it says number one shape your
context context refers to everything in the world surrounding you except
yourself it includes the location you are in the people you are with the time
of day and even the actions you perform so just as professional chefs set up
their kitchens before they start cooking by gathering implements and prepping
food to make it easier to cook a meal you can organize your context to make it
easy to want to do and repeat the same thing for example if you want to create
a habit of having a healthy lunch break away from your desk each day ask a buddy
to share your lunch hour and prompt you to leave your desk or go eat at a place
that offers healthy food and it goes on and on and on so it says the first thing
you need to do is is to shape your context your surroundings what are you
trying to accomplish so what's the context for a local New Testament Church
isn't it to preach the gospel isn't it the Great Commission you're there in
Matthew 28 look at verse 19 go ye therefore and teach all nations
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost
verse 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you and
lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world amen so we know our
goal we know the the mark that we need to hit we need to evangelize the whole
world that should be every single person's goal in here that's the goal of
pure words Baptist Church is to preach the gospel to everyone so now according
to this you know outline the first thing you need to do is make it easy for
yourself to actually go out and do that goal make every takeaway every obstacle
possible to where your goal of going soul winning is met so how can you do
that you know practically speaking don't schedule anything that conflicts with a
soul winning time or even before that pick a time that you want to be your
soul winning time say hey I want to be Saturday is my day for me my favorite
day to go soul winning is Saturday if I could pick one day to go if I can only
go to one that's the one I really like to hit I feel like it's when people are
most willing to talk to you and hopefully they can come to church the
next day so Saturday is my day so I don't schedule anything Saturday morning
you know if something comes up with work it comes up but there's nothing that I
purposely schedule Saturday morning what is that that's called shaping your
context and you know another thing you could do to make it easy carpool with a
friend if you know someone's going to your soul winning time go carpooling
with them ask them if they'll be your soul winning partner set yourself up for
success set your clothes out the night before whatever you have to do think
about your context and don't let anything get in the way of that goal
number two it says invest in repetition so you've set your context you know your
goal is invest in repetition repeating an action increases its accessibility
and salience so that if you're in the same context again that action quickly
comes to mind so a habit will only build if you're consistent it's not enough to
do it a few times in fact studies suggest that it may take six to nine
months to build a habit this can mean that over time there's a risk that you
may find the habit experience less rewarding so keep habits for the things
you really want to structure into your life and for the things that you want to
experience and appreciate each time so then this is the hard part of building
healthy habits it's all about repetition and people sometimes wonder man you know
I go soul winning for a couple months and then I fall off the wagon I get
backslidden I go for a couple months and I fall off and I get backslidden it's I
mean this thing is saying that you need to do it for about six to nine months to
build a consistent habit but you know I'm preaching to the choir here on
Thursday night people that come to church on Thursday night usually have a
habit of going to church right so you've built some habits in your Christian life
it's usually not the people that come to church on Thursday nights that are like
am I gonna go to church I don't know no it's usually the people that are die
hard that are plugged into church that are steadfast Christians that are gonna
be showing up on a Thursday night and so you already know in some way of your
life how to make a habit you have to do the same thing with soul winning you
can't just go so winning once a month and then expect yourself to be a good
soul winner it's not gonna happen you can't just go you know when the weather
is nice in the time of year you know which whenever that is in Houston let me
know it's too hot today today is great right you can't use you can't make your
schedule like that you have to be very very consistent and that's why I think
the best time to do this is the first year of a Christian salvation when
they're on fire when they want to be soul winning that is the best time to
build your habits that are gonna carry you through the rest of your Christian
life because if you do that when you are motivated you're more likely to get that
repetition and when you get that repetition you get that habit built in
like this is saying you run the risk that you may find the habit experience
less rewarding so it's really hard when you've been a lukewarm Christian for 15
years and now you're gonna try to become a soul winner every week that's a lot
harder than when you just get saved and you're on fire you're excited about the
Lord you're excited about salvation you're wanting to tell people about it
instinctively hey that's the time to build those habits and by the way that's
the time to build those habits in your converts that's the time to build those
habits in your children right as they get saved if you're trying to help
someone along and disciple them right as that they get saved that's the best time
to get them plugged in to reading their Bible to praying to going to church and
to soul winning which is our context that we're talking about tonight I'll
read for you acts 542 it says and once a month in the temple no it says and daily
in the temple and in every house they cease not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ you want to know why the Apostles why Paul why Peter why these men were
such effective soul winners it's because daily in the temple and in every house
they see not to teach and preach Jesus Christ hey I guarantee you your
soul-winning presentation would be rock-solid if you preached every single
day right now obviously that's not gonna be everyone these were apostles these
people their full-time job was preaching the gospel this new religion basically
the Lord Jesus Christ had just risen from the dead we got to tell the whole
world about it and they succeeded at that why because daily because daily
they made it a habit it became their manner and even if you can't go
soul-winning every single day obviously you could be looking for opportunities
in your life to preach the gospel every single day hey and at least hopefully
you can go once a week at least you can make it a habit to where you can say hey
it's my manner it's my way of life of being a soul winner and I'm not talking
when you're nine months pregnant or or one week postpartum I'm not talking
about anything like that you know people people go too crazy but it should
be your lifestyle of being a soul winner not well I'm a woman so I don't need to
go soul-winning you know that's just not my what I'm called to do no God has
called every single person to be a soul winner man woman boy girl every single
person has the Great Commission to them and so we all should have that goal we
should all set that context and we should all invest in that repetition so
the third thing it says to do it says number three to build healthy habits rev
up rewards it says context will smooth the way and repetition will jumpstart
the engine but if you aren't even getting a minor rewards for your efforts
along the way you won't get a habit to start operating on its own to have a
role in habit formation rewards have to be bigger and better than you would
normally experience this is why we give ice cream to the kids for memorizing
scripture because you want to trigger that reward for their habit that they're
building and think about it if a child starting at age 5 age 6 whenever they
could really start memorizing scripture if they do that every week until they're
18 you think they're gonna have a habit built of memorizing scripture absolutely
every single week they're quoting a verse of the Bible I mean that is tons
of verses that they're gonna be memorizing and then what when they turn
18 and the ice cream goes away are they just gonna stop no train up a child in
the way he should go and when he's old he shall not depart from it right so
when they're young give them that incentive give them the ice cream for
the memorizing scripture that's great because we want to build those habits
but even for us as adults if we get saved later in life we're trying to
build a habit of soul-winning if we don't already have it there's nothing
wrong with rewarding yourself for that there's nothing wrong with saying hey
kids if we go soul-winning we're going out to lunch today after after
soul-winning hey if you want to go soul-winning with me I'll get you a
coffee after soul-winning I'll get you ice cream after soul-winning there's
nothing wrong with doing that that is providing that incentive to build that
habit and that's something that you should do with your kids with your wife
whoever you're discipling or even with yourself you know you put in the work to
get this a habit built into your life if you want to be an effective
soul-winner let's go back to Acts chapter number 17 Acts chapter 17 let's
look at verse 2 again it says and Paul as his manner was went in unto them and
three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures number two tonight
an effective soul-winner uses the scripture an effective soul-winner uses
the scripture notice not only was it his manner of life but he went in and he
reasoned with him in the synagogue out of the scriptures and you say this is
this is too basic brother Dylan you don't need to talk about we know to go
soul-winning with scripture well you know a lot of people don't know this
actually because I've seen people go soul-winning without a Bible I've seen
people just show up with the invite and they're just gonna tell them in their
words what salvation is it's like no a good soul-winner needs to be using the
scripture and there's lots of bad methods of evangelism out there today
you have lifestyle evangelism which isn't what I was talking about earlier
some people teach a different form of lifestyle evangelism where they teach
basically if you just let your light shine and you're just happy and and
people can just see that God loves you and they're just gonna want to get saved
by your lifestyle okay that that isn't real that doesn't happen that's not how
you're gonna get the gospel out to every creature it's a bad form of evangelism
and another way you see often in like the NIV new evangelical type churches is
testimony they'll basically invite a bunch of unsafe people in and then
someone will give this really moving testimony about I was a prostitute but
God dragged me out of the depths I was a drunk I was this this and that and the
other and basically it's just them giving you know telling you every wicked
thing they've ever done and how Jesus cleaned them up basically which isn't
even the gospel Bible says that we're saved by his life not by our life so the
only testimony I want to focus on is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ
anyways but that's not what the Bible says is what is what brings people to
salvation that's not what the Bible says has the power to get people saved go to
first Peter chapter number one first Peter chapter one and look at verse
number 23 when you get there first Peter chapter 1 verse 23 says being
born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God
which liveth and abideth forever for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of
man as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower thereof
falleth away but the word of the Lord endureth forever and this is the word by
which the gospel is preached unto you so the Bible says that we're born again not
of incorruptible seed or not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible
and by that word the gospel is preached unto us so what saves the Word of God or
the gospel both because the gospel is preached to you by the Word of God and
the only way you're gonna get someone saved is if you're actually using
scripture you cannot get someone saved by just explaining in your own words the
Romans wrote you can't just walk up to someone and say you know we're all
sinners we all deserve hell Jesus died for our sins he's God he rose again from
the dead all you have to believe in him and once saved you're always saved do
you want to pray that that does not get anyone saved the power of the Word of
God is the Word of God you have to get people saved with the scripture and this
is what you see good soul winners in the Bible doing we just saw it in Acts
chapter 17 he's reasoning with them in the synagogue out of the strip out of
the scriptures look at 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and if you want to put a
bookmark here we're gonna come back here later in the sermon 1st Corinthians 15
look at verse number 1 it says moreover brethren I declare unto you the gospel
he's preaching gospel which I preached unto you which also you have received
and wherein you stand by which also you are saved if you keep in memory that
which I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain 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 so in two places what do we
see Paul doing using the scripture to get people saved you know this is why
you got to bring your Bible out soul winning okay not just like a lot a lot
of these old IP churches do where they show up with a tract and there's a
couple verses on the back and knock on the door like read off the track no
bring your sword bring the sword of the Spirit to the spiritual warfare that
we're going out and engaging in we need to get the Word of God to people go to
Romans chapter number 10 Romans chapter number 10 Romans chapter 10 describes
the process by which someone gets saved look at verse 13 for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved now that is true how does the
person get to the point though where they want to call upon the name of Lord
it says in verse 14 how then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how
shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be
sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace and bring glad tidings of good things then it says in verse number 17
so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God so how does
someone get saved by calling upon the name of the Lord how do they call upon
the name of Lord by believing well how do they believe by hearing it how do
they hear it by a preacher what is the preacher preaching the Word of God faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God these preachers that go out
and just give their testimony their stupid lifestyle evangelism it gets no
one saved it does nothing whatsoever and you don't see a single soul winner in
the Bible just letting their light shine of their lifestyle and that's just
somehow magically getting someone saved by osmosis no they're reasoning with
them out of the scriptures they're showing them that Jesus was buried that
he died that he rose again according to the scriptures and that is what a soul
winning Church does that's what makes us different than a lot of people a lot of
people you know a lot of churches don't even go soul winning anymore that's
because they lost this they lost that the power of God is not in your fancy
building the power of God is not in your excellent music program the power of God
is in the Bible the power of God is when you go out and you reach someone with
the words of life beautiful words wonderful words of life not wonderful
words of Dylan not wonderful words of Jeffrey not one of the words of any of
us it's the words of God that saves people and that is what we need to be
using if we want to be effective soul winners we're here in Romans chapter 10
look at verse number 18 it says but I say have they not heard yes verily their
sound went into all the earth and their words unto the end of the world but I
say did not Israel no first Moses saith I will provoke you to jealousy by them
that are no people and by a foolish nation I will anger you but his eyes is
very bold and saith I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me you want to know why Isaiah was an effective
preacher an effective prophet is because he was preaching the words of God and he
was going to people that weren't asking for him that's what soul winning is
we're going to people who weren't asking us to knock on their door that day we're
just showing up uninvited and we're giving them something that they don't
even think they need they don't even think they want we're not asked of them
we're not sought of them but what are we giving them the Word of God churches are
doing this completely opposite they're they're only wanting people that want to
come into church they want to fill up their altar full of people that come
down the aisle people that are seeking after church after God and then they
don't even give them the gospel you know they don't even read them the scripture
and it's like everything's completely backwards the the state of churches in
our nation is just getting worse and worse and the reason why is because
we're getting farther away from what the Word of God says but we if we want to
be effective soul winners we need to be preaching the words of God go to Acts
chapter number eight we'll get another example of a soul winner doing just
this using the scripture to get someone saved Acts chapter 8 you have the story
of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch and for sake of time we'll start reading in
verse number 30 it says and Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the
Prophet Isaiah and said understandest thou what thou readest and he said how
can I accept some man should guide me and of course we know that the Bible
says that the Word of God is spiritually discerned you have to be saved to
understand the Bible so of course this unsaved man he is seeking after God but
he doesn't understand what he's reading because the the unsaved mind cannot
understand the spiritual truths of the Bible and he asked him how can I accept
some man should guide me and he desired Philip that he would come up and sit
with him the place of the scripture where he read was this he was led as a
sheep to the slaughter and like a dumb lamb before his shearer and so open he
not his mouth in his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall
declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth in the eunuch
answered Philip and said I pray thee of whom speak at the Prophet this of
himself or of some other man so the Ethiopian eunuch he's reading in the
book of Isaiah and he's coming to this portion of scripture which is a
beautiful scripture that's foreshadowing the Lord Jesus Christ and he's saying
what is this about is this about Isaiah he's like is this scripture how is this
Isaiah this has to do with him or is he speaking of another man he has no clue
and it's like you can tell this guy's unsaved when you're reading Isaiah and
it's like who's this about it's like Jesus you know everyone should know that
but of course he's unsaved so he doesn't in verse 35 then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus Philip did not
open his mouth and give his testimony Philip did not open his mouth and
say look at my wonderful life and how well behaved my children are no he just
began with the scripture and preached on him Jesus why because faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the Word of God not by anything else hey I'm sure Philip
had a great testimony I mean he's a man of God he's used in the Bible we're
reading about him in the eternal word of God I'm sure he has a great testimony if
it could have saved I'm sure he would have done it but the only thing that
could save this Ethiopian eunuch was the scripture and it be being expounded by a
saved person so out soul winning hey the illustrations are great the stories
are great make sure you use illustrations to know that people
understand what you're saying but don't only use those things don't only use
your own words when you're out soul winning the meat and potato needs to be
the scripture you need to be turning to a lot of scripture when you're preaching
some of the gospel you should have a lot of scripture you know I recommend in the
back of your Bible writing a bunch of stuff on on different doctrines you may
encounter doctrines about Mary doctrines about Jehovah doctrines about hell
doctrines about repentance doctrines about whatever you may face when you
run into people out soul winning you need to have a lot of scripture to back
up what you believe because that's the power that's what's going to change
people that's what's going to get people out of the chains of darkness you know
being captive by the devil is the words of God that's the only thing that's
going to help them and that's what's going to make you an effective soul
winner go back to Acts chapter number 18 17 sorry
Acts chapter 17 so far we've seen an effective soul winner make so winning a
habit and an effective soul winner preaches the Word of God what else do
they do look at verse number three again it says opening and alleging that Christ
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I
preach unto you is Christ number three an effective soul winner preaches the
gospel an effective soul winner preaches the gospel what is it that Paul
is focusing on he's focusing on the death the burial and the resurrection of
Jesus Christ now surprisingly throughout my years of
soul-winning something that's really really common I see people do is they
preach the whole gospel and they don't talk about the death of burial
resurrection of Jesus Christ they don't talk about his birth they don't talk
about the fact that he's God they don't talk about the fact that he's the Son of
God they don't talk about any of it they're just like they're so focused on
okay the doctrine believe believe believe only faith alone faith alone
okay you can't lose your salvation you can't lose salvation it's like who are
we believing in I mean who are we believing on right now who can't I lose
my salvation from hey we have to focus on the gospel we have to actually be
preaching the gospel that's what has power is what Jesus Christ did for us
and of course we need to make sure they believe faith alone of course we need to
make sure that they believe once you're saved you're always saved but you know
what you should do first before you explain any of that preach the gospel
preach the gospel I'll read for you Romans 10 9 it says that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation you have to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead in order to
be saved if you don't believe in the resurrection you're not saved if you
don't believe that Jesus is God you are not saved if you don't believe that
Jesus was sinless you are not saved you must be preaching these things to people
and I think the reason why this happens a lot of time is a lot of times people
don't start the gospel at the very beginning sometimes you'll run into a
person you'll say hey can I show you one verse or they'll say you know I think
you have to repent of your sins to be saved and you'll say something like well
can I show you the Bible where it actually says that it's not repent of
your sins it's actually faith alone and maybe you're starting your gospel in a
place you don't usually start in I think that's where most people get
messed up is they start in a weird place and then all of a sudden they forget to
circle back and so what I think the best thing to do is if you ask a person can I
show you one verse you know to basically just prove whatever they said as soon as
you're done with that verse ask them if you could show them another verse and
then just start at the beginning again just be like okay you know before we
move on I just want to make sure on the same page on a few things Romans 3 23
for all sin and come short of the glory of God that way you're not gonna forget
oh did I did I hit this part my gospel did I hit this part it's like sin hell
gospel faith alone you can never lose it call upon the name of the Lord if you
follow that order every single time you're never gonna forget one of those
steps but if you're having to start in weird points in your gospel you know the
best way and sometimes you can't do this but the best way is just get it back to
the beginning as quickly as you can go to Acts chapter number two and we'll see
that the Apostle Peter and also King David preached the resurrection of Jesus
Christ they preached the gospel acts 222 it says he men of Israel hear these
words this is Peter speaking Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as he
yourselves also know he's talking about Jesus's life his wonders his miracles I
think you should preach that stuff when you're preaching the gospel number
23 him being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain there's the
crucifixion whom God hath raised up there's the resurrection having lose the
pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holding from
it there's the pains of death that's him being in hell and one thing I want
people to really focus on is you can see the passion that Peter is preaching with
he is really just you know pleading with these people to understand the
gospel and I think sometimes what soul winners do is instead of preaching the
gospel they read the gospel they're like so Jesus died and then Jesus went to hell
and he rose again three days after that it's like that is not preaching the
gospel okay reach the gospel you should be very emphatic and and and really just
trying to show these people the truth you know when I when I talk about Jesus
I get done with sin I get done with them deserving hell and I make I start
with a virgin birth you know have you heard that Jesus Christ was born of the
Virgin Mary and most people 99% of people say yes so I don't have to spend
a lot of time on that and I'll be like yes that's right and because of that I
mean that's a miracle he had no earthly father he only had an earthly mother and
so because of that he was 100% man just like me and you but he's also 100% God
in the flesh do you believe that Jesus is God boom you're knocking off some
important doctrines that they need to understand right that Jesus is sinless
and then I tell him you know Jesus lived his whole life and he never sinned one
time maybe quote 2nd Corinthians 5 21 to them and say you know when he was 30
years old about that age he started his ministry and he did a lot of amazing
miracles he raised people from the dead he healed the blind he healed the
lepers he did all these amazing things he walked on water have you heard of
some of those miracles they're like yes what are you doing you're preaching the
gospel you're preaching all the America why did Jesus do all those miracles
to testify that he's the Son of God to testify that he's God in the flesh you
know they're useful tools in preaching the gospel talk about those things real
quick and if they know the story of Jesus which we're in Texas most people
do you don't have to spend a lot of time on it but hit those things and then be
like say yeah you know but the most important thing he did was he preached
the Word of God and because of that the Jews hated him they crucified him they
killed him on the cross you know the Bible says that his face was marred more
than any man he was almost unrecognizable he was beat so bad they
ripped his beard out of his face they spit in his face they put a crown of
thorns on his head he was bleeding he was in agony he was in pain he was
praying to God you need to actually tell them about these things and and get them
to know what Christ actually did for them that he actually did all those
things for them and that's powerful to people when you preach what Christ did
and then you tell them he died on the cross they pierced his side they put the
nails through his hands and his feet and they buried him in the tomb you know
where his soul went when he was buried in the tomb do you think he went to
heaven or hell and they'll always say heaven and you say well actually the
Bible says we're right here in Acts chapter 2 look at verse number 31 he's
seeing this before now this is David preaching this Peter's quoting David
he's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was
not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption this Jesus have God
raised up wherever we're all witnesses it's also very powerful to tell people
that after Jesus Christ died that he actually went to hell and paid for our
sins for us and took our punishment that we deserve that's powerful to know that
God loved us so much that not only did he die a gruesome death on the cross
but he actually experienced the pains of death which he was loose from eventually
but sorry manly Perry he was in pain in hell that's what the Bible teaches and
you know what that's not a blasphemous thing to say that's not a bad thing to
say that actually causes people to appreciate how much God loves them how
much Jesus Christ did for us and when you're preaching this to people this is
going to move people and caught the Word of God is going to cause faith in their
hearts a lot better than you going yeah he died he buried he was he's
resurrected moving on so faith alone faith alone faith alone faith alone no
you'll get there you want to hammer faith alone but make sure you you put in
their heart what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us that is powerful that's what
got me saved knowing what Christ did for me that's what got all of us saved
anyone who's ever saved knows what Christ did but it's a really silly thing
when when soul winners just skip the gospel the power is in the gospel go
back to Acts chapter 17 Acts chapter 17 really quickly and we'll see he was in
another city in this chapter he was in Athens preaching in Mars Hill and look
at verse number 29 let's see him focusing on this for as much then as we
are the offspring of God we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device in the times of this
ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent
because he had the point of the day in the which he will judge the world in
righteousness that by man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead and when they heard of the
resurrection of the dead some mocked and others said we will hear the again
of this matter so in Acts chapter 17 first he's in Thessalonica he preaches
to them he's he's using the scriptures and what is he focusing on opening and
alleging that Christ must knees have risen from the dead he's focusing on the
resurrection then he goes to Athens in the same chapter and what is he
preaching the resurrection he's preaching the gospel Paul was a great
soul winner why because he focused on the gospel you know that's the only
thing that he was focusing on Acts chapter number 26 actually for sake of
time we'll skip that and go back to 1st Corinthians 15 I told you we'd come back
here 1st Corinthians 15 we already saw how at the beginning of the chapter he
said that he preached to them how that Christ died was buried and rose again
the third day according to the scriptures later on in the chapter he
talks about why this is so important look at verse number 12 of 1st Corinthians
15 now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among
you that there is no resurrection of the dead but if there be no resurrection of
the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our
preaching vain and your faith is vain also yea and we are found false
witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up
Christ whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not for if the dead
rise not then is Christ not raised and of Christ be not raised then your faith
is vain and you are yet in your sins if someone has faith in Christ but they
don't believe he rose again from the dead that's a vain faith and they're yet
in their sins you know and a lot of people deny the resurrection and some
people are just ignorant of the resurrection but regardless your excuse
for not believing the resurrection if you don't believe it you're not safe
you're not in your you are still in your sins so if you're preaching someone the
gospel and you skip over that point don't count it as a salvation because
you don't know if they already knew about that or not chances are like I
said a lot of people you run into here you don't have to spend a ton of time on
each of these points they know the gospel but it's still important for us
to be emphasizing that and making sure and if they don't know it spend as much
time as needed they don't know the virgin birth turn to Matthew 1 they
don't know these things turn there and preach them it is what gets people say
go back to Acts 17 and I'll read for you Romans 1 16 says for I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek that is what the power is
in is in the gospel of Jesus Christ now acts 17 let's look at verse 3 again
opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from
the dead so he's focusing with the scriptures he's focusing on the gospel
but then pay attention this last part it says and that this Jesus whom I preach
unto you is Christ and number four an effective soul winner explains who Jesus
is not just what Jesus did that's what the gospel is that's very important all
the things we just talked about but also explains who the Lord Jesus Christ is he
talks about how he's resurrected from the dead he says this Jesus that I
preached unto you he is Christ he is the Messiah it is important to know that in
Acts chapter 18 look at verse number 24 it says we read about a man named
Apollos it says in a certain Jew named Apollos born at Alexandria an eloquent
man and mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus this man was instructed in the
way of the Lord being fervent in spirit he spake and taught diligently the
things of the Lord knowing only the baptism of John and he began to speak
boldly in the synagogue whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard they took him
unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly when he was
disposed to pass into Aquila the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples
to receive him who when he was come helped them much which had believed
through grace for he mightily convinced the Jews and that publicly showing by
the scriptures that Jesus was Christ so Apollos he only knew the baptism of John
but the baptism of John was the baptism of repentance which acts 19 describes as
believing on Christ so the Apollos here was preaching something good he was
preaching the gospel but what was he doing he was showing by the scriptures
that Jesus was Christ now what does Christ mean in the Bible go to John
chapter number one and the Bible defines to us what this means and we'll see why
this is very important for us to preach and for people to understand in order
for them to get saved verse number 34 of John so John the Baptist says and I
saw and bear record that this is the Son of God so here's another great soul
winner John the Baptist and what is he doing he's explaining who Jesus is is he
not he's saying I'm bearing record this is the Son of God so there's another
example of someone explaining who Jesus is look at verse 35 again the next day
after John stood in two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he
walked he saith behold the Lamb of God and the two disciples heard him speak
and they followed Jesus then Jesus turned and saw them following and saith
unto them what seek ye they saith unto him rabbi which is to say which is being
interpreted master where dwellest thou he saith unto them come and see they
came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day for it was about the
tenth hour and one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was
Andrew Simon Peters brother he first findeth his own brother Simon this is a
good picture of soul winning he found Jesus and he's gonna go tell his brother
and saith unto him we have found the Messiah's which being interpreted is the
Christ and he brought him to Jesus so Andrew he's explaining who Jesus is he
is the Messiah which is the Christ so those terms are interchangeable in the
Bible it just means the Savior he is the Christ he is what the Old Testament was
prophesying of that redemptive Savior that was coming and so what do effective
soul winners do they explain who Jesus is that hey Jesus is the Son of God
Jesus is God in the flesh Jesus Christ is the Messiah Jesus Christ is the
Christ they have to understand that and we need to make sure that people
understand that let's keep reading and he brought him to Jesus verse 42 and
when Jesus beheld him he said thou art Simon the son of Jonah thou shalt be
called Cephas which is by interpretation a stone the day following Jesus would go
forth into Galilee and findeth Philip and saith unto him follow me now Philip
was of Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter Philip findeth Nathaniel so now
he's gonna go tell someone and say it unto him we have found him of whom Moses
in the law and the prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph he's
saying hey this is who Moses was writing about this is who all the all the
prophets were writing about you know chew on that verse for a while
dispensationalists saying that you know the the Savior is a new plan you know
going to the Gentiles is a new plan it's like no Moses was writing of Jesus
Christ he was always the plan he was always plan a he was always salvation
through Jesus Christ that's why they were reading the Bible and when he came
they're like wow this is who Moses was talking about you have to explain who
Jesus is the Christ the Messiah the Son of God I'll read for you you could say
there I'll read for you first John 5 1 it says whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God you must believe that and everyone that loveth
him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him verse 10 I'll read he
that believeth on the Son of God hath a witness in himself but he that believeth
not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his son and this is the record that God have given to us eternal life and
this life is in his son he that hath the son hath life and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life how much can this chapter be hammering in that you
must believe Jesus is the Christ you must believe he is the Son of God hey
the record that God gave that record is of his son you must have that record
that's why the people who believe in oneness Pentecostalism they deny the
eternal sonship of Christ they believe that God is just one person guess what
they're denying the record they are denying eternal life they are not saved
because this life is in his son you must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God you know and even Jesus himself even Jesus himself when he was soul winning
when he was preaching he explained who he was let's go to John chapter number
4 John chapter number 4 you should be really close John 4 look at verse 21 he's
preaching to the woman at the well and he says Jesus saith unto her woman
believe me the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor yet
at Jerusalem worship the Father you worship you know not what we know what
we worship for salvation is of the Jews but the hour cometh and now is when the
true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father
seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth the woman saith unto him I know that
Messiah's cometh which is called Christ that's who you need to believe on to be
saved when he has come he will tell us all things Jesus saith unto her I that
speak unto thee am he so even Jesus gave us that example where he himself is
explaining I am the Christ I am the Messiah that is super important for
people to understand flip the cup of the page a couple pages to John chapter 9
John chapter 9 and he says the same thing to a blind man that he had healed
look at verse 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out and when he had found
him he said unto them dost thou believe on the Son of God he answered and said
who is he Lord that I might believe on him and Jesus said unto him thou hast
both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee so what is he saying I'm the
Son of God so don't skip this in your sowing presentation don't only hammer
faith alone don't only hammer eternal security definitely hammer all those
things but make sure they know what Jesus did and who Jesus is if you miss
those things then that person is not gonna get saved unless they already have
perfect knowledge of all those things anyways unless they maybe grew up in
church and they already know those things which you do run into those
people but I'm saying this you'll be a much more effective soul winner if you
check those things and not just leave those things to chance that they already
know make sure that they believe those things we're almost done here tonight
but go back to Acts chapter 17 the last thing let's read verse number three says
opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from
the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ and some of
them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks a
great multitude and of the chief women not a few so the result of Paul
preaching the gospel the result we all want lots of people getting saved but
that was not the only result that he got for preaching the gospel look at verse
number five it says but the Jews whenever you see that phrase it's about
to get bad in the Bible but the Jews which believed not moved with envy took
unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort and gathered a company and
set all the city on an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought
to bring them out to the people number five is this night an effective soul
winner does not let persecution stop them an effective soul winner does not
let persecution stop them because I'm here to tell you if you preach the
gospel you will encounter persecution it's just a matter of time now for most
of us living in 2021 in the United States of America especially in Texas
the most you're usually gonna run into is some Karen that's upset that you're
preaching the Bible some apartment manager that's upset someone maybe calls
the cops or something like that but that's not the type of persecution that
the Apostle Paul is facing the guy was stoned multiple times the guy was beaten
with rods multiple times he was shipwrecked I mean they were trying to
kill him everywhere he went but never did the Apostle Paul stop preaching the
gospel never did he let that persecution stop him second Timothy 3 12 I'll read
for you yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution
you know even though we don't see a lot of persecution right now for preaching
the gospel today doesn't mean we won't see that in a year from now doesn't mean
that America won't be very different in five years from now ten years from now
you should prepare your mind right now that you will not allow persecution to
stop you from doing the work of God now Matthew chapter 10 turn to Matthew
chapter 10 and I'll get there in a second but I'll read for you in Acts
chapter 17 verse 8 so after after the Jews are gathering these people against
them they're stirring people up lewd fellows of the baser sort here's what
happens and they troubled the people of the rulers of the city when they had
heard these things and when they had taken security of Jason and of the other
they let them go and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by
night unto Berea who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews these
were more noble than those in Thessalonica and that they received the
word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whither
those whether those things were so therefore many of them believed also of
honorable women which were Greeks and of men not a few so what happens he's in
Thessalonica he gets persecuted he has to flee to Berea and when he gets into
Brea what does he do well since the Apostle Paul has a manner of preaching
the gospel he immediately goes to the synagogue and starts preaching the
gospel because that's his manner and what does he do well he uses the
scriptures he explains who Jesus is he explains who Jesus was he mightily
convinces them with the scripture and then what happens multitudes believe not
only that the Bible says these were more noble the people in Berea were more
noble than the Christians in in Thessalonica because they received the
Word of God with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily and a
great multitude got saved so what happened Paul gets persecuted and he
ends up just going to a place where he gets more people saved anyways and
people who are more receptive better people so persecution often is just God
sending us to people that are more receptive and we don't understand that
when it's happening Paul's like man why am I getting persecuted but he goes to
this next city and there's tons of people are getting saved and they're
just receptive to the Word of God they're just receiving the Word of God
with all readiness of mind and so we don't we don't see what how God is
working on the other side of things but we have to have the faith to realize
that God said all that live in godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution
and hey there's a reason for that God is using that for his will and ends up
being a great thing happening many people get saved makes me think of a
pastor Mihai with with all these sodomites that were protesting him in
El Monte and they wanted him out of the city of El Monte and they're persecuting
him super hard they're stealing his van they're stalking his family doing all
those horrible things to them blow up their church building and oh yeah they
succeeded right their church buildings no longer in El Monte well whatever city
they're in now I bet you anything that more people are gonna get saved there
than would have gotten saved at El Monte maybe that's why God allowed it to
happen maybe the people of whatever city they're in now you know are more noble
than those at El Monte because they receive the word with all readiness of
mind maybe that's why God allowed that to happen and hey so what if El Monte
California judges themselves you know unworthy of eternal life that's on them
but pastor Mihai and First Works Baptist Church they're being a great example
because they're being like Paul they're just going to the next city and what are
they doing preaching the gospel as their manner was before nothing changed with
them you know what changed hopefully they get some more receptive people to
preach the gospel to maybe that's what changed would be would be to God that
that would be the case Matthew chapter 10 look at verse 22 Jesus said and he
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake but he that endureth the end shall
be saved but when they persecute you in this city flee ye into another for
verily I say unto you you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the
Son of Man be come this is a biblical principle anyways Jesus says if you get
persecuted in this city go to the next hey if El Monte is unworthy of eternal
life you know shake the dust off your feet and move on to the next one that's
what Jesus Christ taught and you know what all things work together for good
to them that love God and so you know what I know for sure that things are
gonna be working good for el for first works Baptist Church it works good for
Paul it works good for the kingdom of God more people got saved people who are
more receptive to the Bible anyways so remember that put that deep in your
heart now so that when you're in the the fires of the trial of persecution and
you know you have all these emotions running through your head you could
realize hey God used persecution in the Bible so that more people get saved
Jesus said flee to another city you know God is going to use this for good
settle that faith deep in your heart now settle that firm foundation now so that
you can be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord when
that trial comes that's what's gonna make you an effective soul winner
because you know the the Christian life is measured in decades better is the
person that wins ten people to the Lord every year for the rest of their life
then one person who's on fire gets a hundred people saved in a year little
persecution comes in their life and they quit you know it's better to just settle
that deep in your heart now and get that rock-solid foundation so that when
trials and temptations come you can stand strong and you can be steadfast in
the faith Matthew we'll just skip this for lack of time you know in conclusion
here let's go back to our sermon text in in Acts chapter 17 this will be the last
verse that we turn to Acts chapter 17 I skipped a few verses here because I
want to show you this is the result of effective soul winners look at verse
number four some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the
devout Greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few so you get one
result soul saved number two but the Jews which believe not moved with envy
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort and gathered a company
and set all the city on an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought
to bring them out to the people number two you see persecution and when they
found them not they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the
city crying I'll pay attention to this phrase these that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also and you know what the the end result of effective
soul winning is you know what the result would be if every single person in
pure words Baptist Church would decide to put these principles into effect and
to become an effective soul winner is that this city would be turned upside
down with the gospel of Jesus Christ and if every single church in America would
get a vision for soul winning and they would focus on sharpening up their soul
winning and that they would want to become better soul winners you would see
this nation turn upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ you would see
this whole world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ it happened
before we're reading about it right here and you know that could be said of the
soldiers in this room if we would just make sure that so many becomes a habit
if we would just make sure that we use the scriptures if we would just make
sure that we focus on the gospel and if we would just make sure that we don't
allow persecution to stop us in that work then pure words Baptist Church can
turn the world upside down with the gospel it's closing a word of prayer
Lord thank you so much this day and thank you for the scriptures Lord and I
just pray that every single person in here would become a better soul winner
and that by your help Lord that we could become a church just full of
excellent soul winners that are very effective in their gospel presentations
and that this church would be able to get many many people saved as a result
of it Lord and that it could be said of pure words Baptist Church that this
church has turned the world upside down and in Jesus name we pray amen
alright for our last song here we're gonna go to song 228 you have to help me
sing it out and lose my voice a little bit here so 228 I love to tell the story
song 228 I love to tell the story 228 on the first I love to tell the story of
things of Jesus on his glory of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story
because I know it is true it satisfies my longings like nothing else can do I
love to tell the story 12 be my theme and glory to tell the old old story of
Jesus and his love I love to tell the story more wonderful it seems then all
the golden fancies of all our golden dreams I love to tell the story it did
so much for me and that is just the reason I tell it now to thee I love to
tell the story 12 be my theme and glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and
his love I love to tell the story to repeat what seems each time I tell it
more wonderfully sweet I love to tell the story for some have never heard the
message of salvation from God's own Holy Word I love to tell the story 12 be my
theme and glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love I love to
tell the story for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to
hear it like the rest and when it seems of glory I sing the new new song 12 be
the old old story that I have loved so long I love to tell the story 12 be my
theme and glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love thank you
all for coming you are dismissed
you