No one was a prophet, called to preach the word, tried to cry, prevented, but nobody heard, they weren't busy sinning, no one preached in pain, they wished they hadn't sinned when they saw the rain.
Impressions are everything. You only get one first impression and it's very hard to redo a first impression. If you meet somebody for the first time, it is normal that we pass judgment in the first 10 to 30 seconds of meeting somebody.
Now, some Christians, or people who call themselves Christians, say it's never right or good to judge. That's not what the Bible teaches.
Clearly, the Bible teaches that we are to judge righteous judgment. Now, what does that mean? First impressions, this story that we're looking down at is the story of the Queen of Sheba meeting King Solomon.
Here at Preach the Word Ministry, we want to make sure that everyone has a good first impression. We're going out and evangelizing to the lost, inviting people to this ministry in hopes of coming in and contributing to this work.
When they come in, like the Queen of Sheba, they should be flabbergasted, they should be in awe, not because of how we look, not because of how we, you know, we're in my house right now, but ultimately how we conduct ourselves, how we are acting in the light of what the Bible teaches.
Now, let's take a look at what the Bible says on this very manner. Look at verse 2. 1 Kings chapter 10, verse 2, the Bible reads,
And she, the Queen of Sheba, came to Jerusalem with a very great train, and the camels that bear spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him and all that was in her heart, with him of all that was in her heart.
And Solomon told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.
I'm going to pause there really quickly. The Queen of Sheba is coming to Solomon to ask him hard questions. She heard in her country that the king of Israel is a very wise king.
Their kingdom is running very smoothly. As a good leader of her nation, she wants to take it upon herself to not only validate the claims and see if what she's hearing is true, but she wants to see it for her own eyes.
This is a good rule of thumb in your personal life. When you want to know something, rather than going to a third or second source, go to the original source itself.
You know, ultimately go to where this information comes from. And she wants to see what King Solomon has to offer.
Now, she doesn't know because she'll find out that all this wisdom came from God. Solomon, in the beginning, when he became a king, God asked him, is there something that you'd like that I give you?
And he asked for wisdom so that he could know how to rule the people of God. And God said that this was the right thing to ask for.
It's not important to have money. It's not important to be a great authoritative king and to have the necks of your enemies under you.
It's more important to have wisdom to know how to serve the Lord. And because of that, he gave them all these other things in life.
And in general, make sure you seek after wisdom. Don't seek for riches because if you want to have and accumulate wealth, if you know wisdom, you'll get wealth.
But wealth, you know, the Bible clearly teaches that the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they've pierced themselves through and earned from the faith.
So basically, it is not our jobs as Christians here on this earth to accumulate wealth. It's not that important.
The Queen of Sheba sees Solomon and she has questions to ask him. When people come to our ministry, I'm sure they're going to have a lot of questions to ask.
And it's my job here to be able to dispel any issues that they may or may not have. Why?
Because when we invite people to this ministry, they may have some preconceived ideas about Christianity, church, pastors, the Bible that they don't know about, and they want to prove us here with hard questions.
But we need to be wise as King Solomon was wise. And like we said earlier today on the subject of biblically or biblical, we need to use the Bible to tell us what God wants from us.
So let's go on and keep reading. We understand the first impression is everything. You only get one of them.
You can salvage a first impression, but we'll get into that later.
Let's take a look at verse four.
When the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the string, a sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel and his cup bearers and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord.
There was no more spirit in her.
When people come here to preach the word ministry, they should ultimately have the same exact experience that the Queen of Sheba had. They're coming in.
They don't know a lot of things, and that's okay. As a matter of fact, that's a good thing.
The Bible says that when we go out to preach the gospel, we're reproducing, we're creating babies in the faith ultimately.
People who become born again, they need the sincere milk of the word that they may grow thereby.
I don't know about you, but at least for myself, I had plenty of questions when I first got saved about all sorts of different matters.
Over time and study and questioning of different pastors, I learned what the Bible says as a whole.
We need to have empathy and sympathy for those who had come to preach the word ministry with different viewpoints and help them to realize that there is but truly one truth.
And it's found in the Bible. And I am not the arbiter of truth. Like I quoted this morning, let God be true and let every man be a liar.
When people come and ask me about this doctrine or that doctrine, I'm going to show them one, two, three, maybe four passages from the Bible.
And then after that, it's up to them to accept that or not. But if they're sincere and they're humble like the Queen of Sheba, their spirit will ultimately fold like a deck of cards.
They'll realize that this is the place that's associated to the truth. But let's go on to read.
It says, and she said to the king, it was a true report that I heard in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
Howbeit I believe not that the words until I came and my eyes had seen it.
And behold, the half was not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceeded the fame which I heard.
Happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom.
You know, when people come here, they should have an attitude of like, you know what? People told me about this ministry.
People told me about what you guys do. But you know what? Half the story was not even told me.
I realize now why this is so important. I realize now why there is a statement of you here on the island of Kauai,
why people want to know more about what you have to offer, what you guys here are doing.
Notice it says in verse eight, happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom.
What good is it that I know all this stuff, but I do not apply it to anyone else?
What good is it if somebody learns anything, whether it be rocket science, brain surgery or some sort of skill,
but they do not share that skill with the next generation?
The Bible says buy the truth and sell it not. We here at Preach the Word ministry are an open book.
Jesus says whatsoever I preach in your ear, preach ye that on the housetops.
I want everyone on the island of Kauai to know clearly where we stand on, let alone salvation, the word of God, evangelism and every aspect.
Paul the apostle says thou is fully known my doctrine.
No one on the island of Kauai should come to preach the word ministry and think to themselves, what is it that they believe?
We're going to be as clear as possible with no ambiguity and no vague terminology, clear as we can be.
But we're here to talk about first impressions. This is when people come here to learn to serve the Lord.
What about when we go out evangelizing? And this is where I'm wanting the primary aspect of this sermon.
When we go out to the lost, our primary means by evangelism here at Preach the Word ministry is door to door.
Our goal, our greater goal is to knock every single door humanly possible on the island of Kauai.
And yes, you heard me, door to door evangelism is a biblical model.
Don't let anybody try to tell you that that is outdated. It does not work.
Well, we have technology now and computers and YouTube and all these other ways to evangelize.
We no longer need to go up to our neighbor and knock on their door to expound on them the gospel.
Here at Preach the Word ministry, as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
There is nothing in the world wrong with adding to the service of the Lord, but do not subtract what is commanded of you.
And yes, the Bible does say, for instance, in the book of Acts in chapter five,
and daily in the temple and house to house, they cease not to preach Jesus Christ.
So turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 10, and you're going to see from the words of our Lord and Savior Himself,
clearly explaining this concept of going out house to house, giving the gospel.
And when we go, remember, our first impression matters. What do I mean by that?
Although I do not think it is wise to be overly casual, meaning barefoot, surf shorts, evangelizing,
we will not have that as our stance here.
You don't necessarily need to be an aloha shirt and long pants and shoes to go evangelizing.
But for sure, you want to put a good impression in their mind.
And the Bible does say in Second Corinthians chapter five, verse 20,
now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us.
We pray you in God's stead be reconciled to God.
We represent the Lord Jesus Christ when we're here on this earth.
We represent the kingdom of heaven.
We want people to know that when we come to their doorstep, that an ambassador of Jesus Christ is at their doorstep.
How unfortunate is it today that when someone comes and knocks on the door to present a religion,
it's assumed to either be a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness.
Unfortunately, that's the situation we're in today.
We will be accused of being Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
But make sure they know right off the bat, we are not Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons.
We are not a cult.
We believe in the clear teaching of the Great Commission of going out into the lost and preaching the gospel to our neighbors,
knocking on their door, hitting as many available places as we humanly possibly can.
Some of you might be thinking, well, where in the Bible does it say we have to go door to door?
On top of Acts five, which I quoted to you, let's take a look here at Matthew chapter 10, verse number seven.
This is Jesus commissioning the twelve to go out and preach the gospel.
Notice what it says.
And as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand,
heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils,
freely ye have received, freely give, pause.
The first part is as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
That's the gospel.
And then it goes into a list of basically extra ability that was granted only to the apostles.
It is not our jobs to go out and cast out demons to heal sick people.
That is not what we are called to do today.
The apostles were called to do that specifically to them at that time.
And then after the death of the last apostle, that no longer applies.
These are special abilities given to them.
And you got to remember why.
Why would Jesus have them have this special ability, but not us?
Well, it obviously draws a crowd of people when you're seeing somebody who's demon-possessed
get a demon cast out of them.
Or someone who was once sick get better.
Someone who was once blind all of a sudden can see.
It's going to draw the attention towards what is this, what's going on here?
Who is that?
That's Jesus. He's the savior.
So obviously it was granted to them specifically at that time.
But we are to open our mouths boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel.
As it said in verse 7,
As ye go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Verse 9, the Bible reads,
Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor a script for your journey,
neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet stays, for the workman is worthy of his meat.
Pause.
I've heard people say, and if you look down in that text right there in verse 10,
it says, neither shoes.
So that means it is okay to go barefoot, David.
We are allowed to go barefoot according to the mouth of Jesus.
He says, don't bring a script, which just means books and stuff like that.
Don't bring a script for your journey, neither two coats.
What's the spirit of this law?
What's the spirit of what's being said here?
Don't have extra things.
There's nothing wrong with you, your Bible, going and preaching the Bible and preaching the gospel,
but it said no script.
Obviously, that's other stuff.
Remember at this time, they're penning down potentially this message, the book of
Go and preach the gospel.
And let's just assume for sake of argument,
they didn't have a physical scroll or, you know, the book of Isaiah or something in their hand.
Well, they're at least quoting the passage.
And that's why we believe here at preach the word ministry,
faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
So obviously nobody can be saved without the word of God presented to them.
That's what the Bible clearly teaches.
It goes on to read and oh, one more note before I move forward.
Neither shoes.
This is a parallel passage found in Luke chapter nine and Mark chapter six.
Let me read it to you from Mark chapter six.
Just so you see, he's not saying go barefooted because remember, like we said earlier,
biblically, we need to compare spiritual things with spiritual.
So the parallel passage in Mark chapter six, verse seven, the Bible reads,
and he called unto him the twelve and began to send them forth two by two,
or by two and two and gave them power over unclean spirits
and commanded that they should take nothing for their journey,
save a staff only, no script, no bread, no money in their purse.
Notice this part, but be shod with sandals and not put on two coats.
Basically what it's saying is don't bring another pair of shoes
because when you're going on this journey, you're not going back home.
Take one pair of shoes with you and go. Remember, first impressions.
If you wear sandals or slippers, there's nothing wrong with that.
It's very appropriate here in the island of Kauai.
For crying out loud, most people go to the store in just surf shorts.
So I understand that there could be a level of like, well, casualness,
but here I preach the word ministries.
At ministry, we are ambassadors of Christ,
and we want to at least put the best foot forward
for people to be willing to hear what we have to say.
And that being said, the passage goes on to read,
And He said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into,
and house thereby to ye depart from that place?
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you,
when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet
for a testimony against them.
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable
for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
That's from the Gospel of Mark,
Where we are in the Gospel of Matthew, let's keep reading.
Notice it says in verse 11,
And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter,
inquire who it is is worthy, and there abide till you go thence.
Whatsoever town or city or town marks it any house.
So it is commanded by Jesus to the apostles,
and if it's good enough for the goose, it's good enough for the gander.
We go to every house humanly possible.
And just so you know, our stance here at Preach the Word ministry,
we go to every accessible house.
What does that mean?
If there is a fence blocking off a front door,
do not cross the fence.
If there is a gate that is closed going to the front door,
do not cross that gate.
I don't even care if there's a rope four feet from each other and there's a rope.
Do not walk over that rope.
Why?
Because obviously it is created as a barrier to keep people away.
We need to respect that although they're missing out on the message of salvation,
they created this barrier for their own purposes and reason.
And here at Preach the Word ministry,
we will respect people's boundaries.
We here at Preach the Word ministry will have a good first impression.
Leave an invite right there on the rope, on the fence, on the gate.
Nothing wrong with that.
But our goal is to knock on their door and present to them the gospel.
Invite them to this ministry so like the Queen of Sheba,
when they come, they will have no more spirit in them.
And if we present to them the gospel there right then and there,
we compel them to help us out.
Now, some may say, well, that's the apostles.
Jesus himself didn't do that.
Well, just go one chapter before Matthew 10 and go to Matthew 9, verse 32.
I'm sorry, verse 35.
It says in Matthew chapter 9, verse 35,
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 multitude, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd.
Then saith the end of his disciple,
The harvest is truly plenteous, but the laborers are few.
Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he will send forth laborers into the harvest.
So Jesus is clearly going into different cities and villages,
preaching the gospel.
And then he tells the disciples in the next chapter,
when you go to these cities and villages and houses,
you're going to do the same thing he's doing.
So once again, Jesus did it.
The disciples did it.
We're going to do it.
Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 9.
This is the other passage, the parallel passage of the same story.
Whenever you look at parallel passages, just remember,
they may not be worded exactly the same.
And that's an important rule of Bible interpretation,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
This is what's known as harmonitics.
They're harmonizing the text as a whole.
If one thing says one thing and the other thing says another thing,
they must exist together.
The whole entire premise of the four gospels as a whole,
most people don't realize atheists and bleeding hard,
people who are trying to disprove the Bible will point to what they
believe are apparent contradictions.
But here's the thing.
The gospels,
although not worded exactly the same in each parallel story are what are
known as corroborating testimonies.
It would be a little suspicious if they were worded exactly the same,
proving it's genuineness that it's from the individual author and their
narrative or their perspective of the story.
They do not contradict. They coincide, they harmonize.
And where you are in Luke chapter nine, let's look at verse one,
Luke chapter nine.
I'm going to look at verse one.
The Bible reads,
then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over
all devils and to cure diseases.
And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
And he said it to them, take nothing for your journey.
Neither stays nor script, neither bread, neither money,
neither have two coats of peace. Pause.
Notice it said nothing about shoes.
Does that mean he never mentioned don't bring shoes?
But wait a second. Remember, Mark said,
don't bring basically another pair of shoes.
One of the equipment of the armor of God is having our feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel.
Our feet are symbolized as the piece of article of clothing that brings the
gospel to the loss.
So when the Bible is saying having our feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel, that means we need to get up and go to them.
Luke never said nothing about shoes, but Matthew said, don't bring shoes.
But Mark said, just bring one pair of shoes that you're wearing.
The spirit of the law. What's the spirit of the law?
Basically don't bring anything that's excessive.
Just go and open your mouth to them of the scriptures.
And it goes on to read.
And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide and thence depart.
And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city,
shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
And they departed and went through the towns,
preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
So very clearly right off the bat, I just want you guys to know,
we are going to do everything humanly possible that we can to knock on
every single house, village, town,
city here on the Island of Kauai to present the gospel to the loss.
Now, obviously that means we're going to be accused of being a Jehovah's
Witness. We're going to be accused of being a Mormon.
Make it clear right off the bat, we are not.
And that goes into my next point.
We need to be hospitable, for crying out loud you guys.
Some people when they go and you know,
how I'm speaking up here is not necessarily how I speak to people at the
door. Any one of you who know me on a personal level,
I'm very easily approachable. I'm very social.
I am very good at communicating with people because this is a good
attribute to have as a Christian, you know,
to basically be a decent member of society.
I can converse with virtually anybody.
And that is a good skill to be able to utilize for the gospel.
My wife once says that I have the gift of gab.
I can basically, as we say here in Hawaii,
and this is the good aspect of Hawaiian culture is that most people want to,
or are interested in talking story. So because of that,
it opens up the opportunity to be able to present the gospel to people.
And we should utilize that for our benefit here at Preach the Word
Ministry. When you go and knock on somebody's house,
unlike places in the mainland or even on the island of Oahu,
most people are pretty hostile towards you coming at their house.
They're aggressive. Who the hell are you? Get off my porch.
You know, all these, you know, they get really intense or territorial.
But here on the island of Kauai, everything's very calm, laid back.
What's going on? What are you up to? Hey, let's talk story.
So let's use that to our advantage.
And we need to be hospitable.
You're at their house. You're there to talk to them about good news.
Don't come down their throats. Don't challenge them.
Don't debate them. We're not there to challenge or debate.
We're there to present the gospel. If they are not interested,
that is okay. Remember what the text said.
Shake the dust off your feet and move on.
The Bible says,
It is not worth arguing with people at the door.
We are not here to argue. We need to be, you know,
meek as dove and wise as serpents.
We need to be very lowly, hospitable, but not a pushover.
And what do I mean by that?
If somebody is getting aggressive,
they're not going to be able to talk to them about good news.
And what do I mean by that?
If somebody is getting aggressive with you,
I'm not saying coward and walk away.
What I am saying is that it's not our job to,
on their doorstep, get aggressive with people.
Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am?
You can't be talking to me like that.
Look, if they don't want to hear it,
they don't want to hear it and that's okay.
That, as a matter of fact, to me, that's a good thing.
Why? Because there's someone else down the road
who is willing to hear.
They do want to know the message of salvation.
And that is a good rule of a first impression.
When people come here,
they're going to attempt to prove us with hard sayings.
We need to be ready always to give an answer.
When we're out evangelizing, look the part.
Don't look like a derelict, a bum, a surfer bum,
somebody who is not taking Christianity seriously.
I'm not saying you need to wear an Aloha shirt.
I'm not even saying you need to wear shoes.
But at least carry yourself as an ambassador of Christ
at the doorstep of people, representing the kingdom of heaven.
And the last part I want to get into,
turn if you would to the book of James.
The book of James, for those of you who don't know,
it's after the book of Hebrews,
towards the back end of your Bible.
Turn to James chapter 1.
And the last point I want to go into
is the concept of being quick to hear and slow to speak.
When we go to someone's house,
just so you know, as we grow as a ministry,
there's going to be a set standard of tactics
that we utilize to be able to present people the gospel.
A clear example of what I'm talking about
is when we knock on someone's door,
we just simply say, hello, how are you doing?
My name is so-and-so, I'm with so-and-so.
We're out in your neighborhood,
inviting people to our ministry.
Okay, that's cool, thanks.
I got something to do.
No worries.
If you had a moment, do you know for sure,
if God forbid you die today,
if you're on your way to heaven,
I don't have time for this.
You know what, that's fine.
On the back of that invite
is everything I would have gone over with you.
Be quick to hear.
People want to be heard.
When we present the gospel,
now what I mean by this
is do not let them take you on rabbit trails.
Do not let them control the conversation
into other aspects that have nothing to do with the gospel.
And mind you, it will happen.
People want to tell you all sorts of things
about their personal experiences,
their angelic events that they've had,
God speaking to them in dreams,
all these different things.
And look, we need to have sympathy
and empathy with people.
Be quick to hear.
Hear them out.
Listen to what they have to say,
but then always bring them back to the gospel.
Our job is not to challenge them on things
or to debate with them on things.
Our job is to show them clearly
a clear plan of salvation.
According to the Bible.
And if you would take a look down
at James chapter one, verse 16,
let's see what the Bible reads.
Do not err, my beloved brethren,
every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above and cometh down
from the father of life,
blights with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning,
of his own will be gaddiest
with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of first fruits
of his creatures.
Remember, we're saved by the word of truth,
the word of God.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath.
For the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness
and receive with meekness the engraft word,
which is able to save your souls.
Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word
and not a doer,
he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in the glass.
Pause.
Be ye doers of the word
and not hearers only.
Jesus told his disciples,
go out and preach the gospel.
Go to these cities, villages,
towns and houses,
present to them the gospel.
Is that what you're doing?
Are you just sitting back waiting
and hoping that people would come to you
and ask you about Christianity?
We do not agree with lifestyle evangelism
here at Preach the Word Ministry.
We agree with preaching the word to the lost.
And I'm not saying there's anything wrong
with lifestyle evangelism.
I'm saying do not replace that
with going to your neighbor
and presenting them the gospel.
This is why I said earlier,
there's nothing wrong with adding
to the work of God,
but do not subtract what is commanded of you.
Be ye doers of the word
and not hearers only.
This is why it's so important for us
that you guys know
that this is not a place
of consuming Christianity,
but participating.
Do what we're telling you to do,
let alone what I'm telling you,
what Jesus is telling you to do,
because there is a lost and dying world
out there of people.
If they just knew the truth,
the truth would make them free.
God is not willing that any would perish
but that all would come to repentance.
If we would just but go,
as Jesus said,
the harvest truly is plenteous,
the laborers are few.
Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest
would send forth his laborers.
We need to take it upon ourselves
to go to them.
That being said,
when we go,
represent yourself in a good manner
because it's a first impression
that might turn them on
or off to the gospel.
When we're there,
be slow to hear
or slow to speak,
quick to hear,
listen to what they have to say,
but always bring them back to the gospel.
Always bring them back
to what the text clearly says.
And this is the last thing
I want you to know.
If they're not interested,
they don't want to hear you
and they take an invite,
if at all possible,
if you can,
try to leave them with one Bible verse.
Try to leave them with a
snippet of what they could have heard
had you'd stayed
and show them a clear presentation
of the gospel.
Why?
Faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the word of God.
The word of God is sharper
than any two-edged sword,
piercing through
even the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit
and is a discernant of the thoughts
and the intents
of the hearts of men.
It could be that
that one verse you give them,
that seed that you sow in their heart,
one day can become a plant.
One day,
someone will come back
and reap that harvest.
But if no one sows that word
originally,
then they may never
get the opportunity to be saved.
The title of this sermon
this evening is
First Impressions.
Let's have a good first impression
when people come here.
Let's conduct ourselves
in a godly manner.
Let's have a good first impression
when we go out to preach
the gospel to the lost
as ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
Spout our heads
and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you so much
for allowing us to be here.
Thank you so much
for saving us from our sins
by sending Jesus Christ
to die, get buried, and rise again.
Please help fill us with boldness
to go out and preach
your gospel clearly to the lost
and have a good first impression
with people
so that it doesn't turn them away
from true biblical Christianity.
Help us to remember
through our day and week
to be good representatives
of you at work, at home,
and wherever we are.
And in Jesus Christ's name
we pray.
Amen.