🎵Music🎵
We're here in first Samuel chapter 30 and in a couple weeks we'll start a new series when we go to the new building.
So I wanted to preach a couple of stand-alone sermons before we get to the new building.
And the name of the sermon is Reasons People Don't Go Soul Winning.
Reasons People Don't Go Soul Winning.
Obviously we are a soul winning church and people are zealous to preach the gospel.
And you know what, I would say that pretty much anyone who's saved realizes we should try to reach the lost.
And so what are some reasons that people do not go soul winning?
We have a long chapter here, a long story.
I'm not going to read all the verses but I want to kind of give you the context before we kind of get to what I'm talking about in this chapter.
But notice what it says in verse number 3.
So David and his men came to the city and behold it was burned with fire and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captives.
And so David and his men, they lose their wives, they lose their children, they're basically kidnapped.
They lose their supplies, they lose their food, they lose their water.
I mean imagine if we had a men's prayer meeting here at church and then we get back and our wives have been kidnapped,
their kids are gone, the food's gone.
I mean you're going to be panicked, right?
Especially if you're out in the wilderness and you can't just go to a grocery store or call the police to get help from me.
You're going to be in trouble here.
And the reaction of the people in verse 6 it says,
And David was greatly distressed.
So obviously he's afraid, he's worried, he's stressed.
For the people spake of stoning him.
So not only did he lose everything that he had but all the people say,
well to fix this problem we're just going to kill the leader.
Well, I don't really see how that's a good solution to fix the problem but that's their reaction.
Let's just stone the leader, right?
Verse number 9.
So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him,
and came to the brook Bessor where those that were left behind stayed.
So the Bible says here there are six hundred men, okay?
Six hundred men, but notice what it says in verse 10.
But David pursued, he and four hundred men.
So four hundred come, two hundred do not come.
Why do they not come?
The two hundred abode behind which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Bessor.
So the Bible says you have six hundred men and four hundred go to battle and two hundred do not go.
Why is it they do not go?
It's not because they don't want to go.
It's not because they're lazy.
It's not because they're afraid.
It's because they could not go.
It's not that they did not go, they could not go.
Why?
They're too tired.
One reason people don't go soul winning is the lack of health.
And, you know, it's important for us to realize this because if you're young and energetic and you have health,
it's very easy to feel like everyone's in the same situation as you, but that is not necessarily the case, right?
We have four hundred people that go to battle and two hundred do not go because they cannot go.
They do not have the energy, they do not have the health to go and fight the battle with the other four hundred, okay?
You know, what are some examples of not having the health necessarily to go soul winning?
Well, obviously, as you get older, you start having health problems.
I hope that in forty years I'm still able to go out soul winning and preach the gospel.
But that's not necessarily a guarantee, right?
I mean, when you get to be in your sixties and seventies and eighties, it's going to be a lot harder.
And here's the reality, even if I'm still able to go soul winning in forty years,
I don't expect to be like a Caleb where I say my strength is just as good now as, you know, forty years ago.
I mean, most likely, it's going to be a lot harder.
Most likely, during a soul winning marathon in forty years, if I'm able to attend,
I'm probably not going to be able to go soul winning as much as those that are younger, right?
Isn't that just common sense and realistic?
It's probably I go soul winning and preach the gospel once and I've got to take a break, right?
I don't necessarily have the ability to go as much as other people.
In a soul winning church, not everybody at our church is in the same situation.
People are at different ages, people have different abilities of health that they have.
It would be unrealistic to expect everybody to have the exact same amount of energy
to be able to go out and preach the gospel for as long.
What are some other examples?
Well, I mean, maybe it might not be being older, but it might just be health problems, you know?
Somebody could be a young person and, you know, they just don't have the same energy or health.
They have a lot of health problems and they're able to go soul winning, but maybe not as long as other people.
Or here's another example. What about women during pregnancy?
I mean, usually during the first trimester it can be very difficult and the last trimester can be difficult.
And of course, after the baby's born, it's not like women are immediately a hundred percent at perfect health.
I mean, they might have to have some recovery time before they're actually able to go out there again and do the work.
Now, I remember in West Virginia, me and my friends went soul winning on a Sunday
and there was like a group of five of us and one of my friends' wives came soul winning with us
and she literally gave birth less than 24 hours later.
And she's right at the point of giving birth and her stomach is pretty big, but she's energetic going door to door.
And she got people saved less than 24 hours before she gave birth.
But it would be a bit unrealistic to put that demand on every woman that's passed eight months of pregnancy.
Don't you think? I mean, praise God that she was able to do that,
but it would be unrealistic to think that every single woman right before they give birth is soul winning right until that moment.
It would be unrealistic to expect every woman like a week or two weeks after giving birth to be able to go out and preach the gospel.
Now, if some are able to do that, praise God.
But it would be unrealistic and foolish to try to compare people and expect them to be the exact same
because we're not all in the exact same situation, okay?
Now, I consider myself to be someone who has pretty good health,
but I'm just being honest that, you know, in my left leg where I tore my ACL and had surgery,
when I sit down to preach the gospel to a group of people and it's been 20 or 30 minutes I'm sitting down,
when I get up, you know, I will often limp a little bit because my leg's just not perfect.
You will hear it crack every time I do this because it's never going to be the same.
And I would imagine 10 years from now it's probably going to be harder,
which means I might have to take breaks, right?
I mean, you get older, you're lower back.
As men, it starts to hurt sometimes and you might get tired, you might need to rest.
So we need to just understand we're not in the same situation and it's foolish to compare us amongst each other.
Go to verse 18, verse 18, and it says here,
And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.
And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters,
neither spoiled nor anything that they had taken to them, David recovered all.
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drained before those other cattle,
and said, This is David's spoil.
And David came to the 200 men, which were so faint that they could not follow David.
Once again, the Bible's very clear they could not.
So the Bible's saying these 200 people, they want to go, but they cannot.
They do not have the energy.
I mean, if you haven't drank water for a day and a half, doesn't it make sense?
A lot of the people would be like, I can't go. I'm going to fall over dead.
I just can't do it, right?
I mean, I can't imagine going more than a day without drinking water.
I've never done that before.
I mean, when I go a long time without drinking water, I start getting a headache, I feel a little bit faint.
I mean, it's hard, right?
So it makes sense that they're saying, Hey, I can't go.
They don't have the energy. They haven't eaten. They haven't drank.
They're tired. They're exhausted.
And the Bible says here,
Whom they had made also to abide at the brook-besor, and they went forth to meet David,
and to meet the people that were with him, and when David came near to the people,
he screamed at them, You lazy jerks!
He saluted them, right?
He comes to see them. He's happy to see them, right?
He's not rude to them. He's not mean to them. He's happy to see them.
He believes that they are too faint to go to the battle.
He doesn't believe they're lying, so he comes back. He salutes them.
But notice this in verse 22.
Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said,
Because they went not with us, we will not give them out of the spoil that we have recovered,
save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.
So the Bible says the children of the devil say,
Well, let them have their wives and their children, and just get out of here.
They're not worthy to eat any food or drink anything.
Isn't that a pretty bad attitude to have?
Now, on a side point, let me just show you this, that there are men of Belial and reprobates back in that day.
And when the Bible says all the wicked men and men of Belial,
that seems to imply that there's more than just two or three, right?
I don't know how many that is.
In our modern day...
Now, you say, Well, how did David...
Because David doesn't realize they're reprobates, right?
When you see the story, I mean, he refers to them as brethren.
He doesn't realize they're reprobates.
Why is it?
Because it's a modern day epidemic where reprobates make it very obvious by cross-dressing.
Back throughout the Bible, usually when people are children of the devil, you don't see them into sodomy.
That's not really the sin that they're into.
It's more of a modern day epidemic where people are being molested,
and then they end up doing the exact same thing that caused them to reject God and hate God,
and then they end up doing the same act.
In fact, if you study criminals, it's very common that people that commit a certain criminal activity,
it's like a psychological thing where the same thing happened to them,
and they get mad, and they do the exact same thing to someone down the road.
I mean, there's cases of people...
There's like a famous football player in the U.S., I think, Kellen Winslow Jr.,
and it was really weird because he sexually perverted old women,
and you're like, Why in the world would he do that?
Well, it probably shows you that he probably was attacked by old women when he was young,
and he just had this complex of hating them, and so that's kind of the road that he went down.
But these are reprobates, according to the Bible.
There's no indication that they're part of the LGBT, but they're reprobates,
and it kind of shows you there's always been reprobates,
and probably always more than 1% of the population.
They just don't always make it manifest or obvious.
But the bad people are saying they don't deserve to get anything,
and I would just say this, that sometimes you've got to be very careful about the overly spiritual people,
the overly zealous people that have ridiculous standards.
I mean, if you don't read the Bible for two hours every day, you're not right with God.
But there's idiots that will say things like this.
If you're not going sowing ink for five hours, you're not right with God.
And what often takes place is they're often the bad people.
They put this ridiculous standard.
The Bible also talks about people that are reprobates.
It says they compass sea and land to make one proselyte.
What does that show you?
They can often be very zealous to go out and proselytize or evangelize, even if they're a bad person.
Right? That's what we see.
And it says here, verse 23,
Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren.
So he refers to the reprobates as brethren because he doesn't realize they're bad people.
And, you know, by the way, you also see the king before David, King Saul.
They're reprobates that did the same sort of thing to him.
They were overly zealous.
Kill all these people.
And he said, we're not going to do that.
And he also referred to them as brethren.
He thought they were saved.
They were also children of the devil.
Same sort of thing.
Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us,
who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came against us into her hand.
Verse 24, For who will hearken unto you in this matter?
But as his part is that goeth down to the battle,
so shall his part be that tarryeth by the stuff, they shall part alike.
You know what David says?
Everybody's going to get the same amount of reward.
You say, why is that?
Because it's not that the 200 people were refusing to do the work.
They wanted to do the work, but they could not do the work.
Now let me just give you a basic example to help us understand.
Let's say somebody is in a wheelchair, okay?
They're just born with major handicap.
They're in a wheelchair, and they get saved as a six-year-old,
but they're in a wheelchair, and they're reading the Bible, and they love God.
Wouldn't it be ridiculous to expect them to do as much soul winning
as someone who has perfect health?
But wouldn't it be ridiculous also for God to not allow them to get rewards
because they happen to be handicapped?
Now I don't necessarily know how God's going to give out all the rewards,
but what we can take away from this is that if somebody's heart is just as much in it,
but they do not have the ability, they can actually get just as many rewards
as someone who's actually doing the work.
The Bible says that they get an equal amount,
and I preach something like this because the Bible obviously says
that we get rewarded based on the work we do,
but obviously there can be exceptions to that,
because what if someone's not able to do the work, but they want to do the work?
Well, the Bible's saying they can get rewards.
I'm very encouraged by the fact that obviously we're a pretty young church,
but we do have people in our church that are older, and praise God for that.
And it would be unrealistic to expect them to do as much soul winning
as us that are younger and have good health,
because I don't know that in 20 or 30 or 40 years
I'm going to be able to do as much soul winning.
I mean, I hope I will be able to. I pray I will be able to,
but there's no guarantee.
But here's the thing. If you last in church,
it's not like you become useless when you reach a certain age.
I mean, you still have use, you still have value,
and maybe you're not able to do as much work,
but the encouraging thing is you can still get rewards
even if you're not able to do as much work as other people.
But it's also a good reminder for us that goes soul winning,
because we need to realize that we shouldn't expect everyone
to be in the exact same situation as us.
What's the basic idea from this chapter?
Worry about yourself.
If you have good health, be thankful for the health you have,
and use it for the glory of God,
and not to look at other people and try to cast doubt
or just try to form assumptions in your own mind.
Just worry about yourself.
One reason people don't go soul winning is simply because
they just don't have the health to go soul winning,
or maybe they don't go soul winning as much,
because they don't have the health to go.
Go to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10. Romans 10.
I mean, I notice sometimes we have soul winning marathons,
and obviously I'm in Pampanga for most of our soul winning marathons,
but we have families at church that go soul winning,
but they have to take longer breaks than some of the other people.
You say, why? Well, I mean, you know, you get older,
you might have more health problems. It might not be as easy.
Obviously, I'll be honest.
When I started going soul winning 20 years ago, it was easier.
I remember we'd do soul winning marathons for like six hours or eight hours,
and I was like, why are we stopping?
Just because it's dark, we can find somebody to talk to.
Right? Honestly, though, for me now, after six hours,
it's like, I'm tired. I'm exhausted. Right?
You know, when we do missions trips, I remember just being,
in case I'm a moral circle, I felt like I was about to pass out.
I'm like, oh, man, I got to talk to somebody else.
You say, why? Because you know what?
I just get more tired than I did when I was in my 20s. Right?
It's just harder as you get older, and that's just part of life. Right?
That's just the way that it is.
One reason people don't go soul winning is lack of health.
And obviously, you know, I'd say this.
If you're young and you have health, do your best to take care of your body.
Your body's like a machine. Eat properly. Drink water.
You know, take care of your body. Exercise and all of these things.
But that's still not a guarantee that you're going to have health
20 years from now or 30 years from now. Right?
Another reason people don't go soul winning is
because nobody's sending them out to preach the gospel.
Nobody is sending them out to preach the gospel. Romans 10, verse 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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?
Nobody gets saved unless they hear the gospel from someone.
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
Now, of course, we understand that God is sending us to preach the gospel. Right?
Jesus says that, so sinned are you.
There's a father sent me, so sinned are you. And we get that.
But here's the reality. If you're not at a church that has soul winning times
that is sending you out and encouraging you,
you're probably not going to do a lot of soul winning on your own.
You say, what's the proof of that? Here's the proof of that.
Many of you understood and believed in soul winning before you remember this church,
but you probably didn't do a lot of soul winning.
Why? Nobody's sending you. You don't have a soul winning time.
We're not encouraging one another to go. And I'm the same way.
I've been at churches that didn't really have much of a soul winning program,
and it's hard to be self motivated to go out on your own, isn't it?
Many people probably were here at other Baptist churches that didn't do a lot of soul winning,
and you wanted to go, you knew you should, but it's kind of hard because other people aren't doing it.
And then you come to a church here, and we not only have the soul winning times,
but in your free time you're zealous to go out and preach the gospel.
You say, why? Because you have the encouragement of a church that's backing you up
and sending you out to preach the gospel.
Go in your Bible to John 20. John 20.
You know, I believe that there's people that live in Metro Manila and the surrounding areas
that are not going soul winning right now,
but if they actually joined our church, they would probably just jump into the work.
I believe there's people that are not even saved, and if they got saved and actually started coming to church,
they'd probably jump into the work.
But here's the thing. If people are not part of a good church, they're just not going to do the work.
They might do a little bit here and there, but it's just hard to be self-motivating.
In fact, you know, when I preach sometimes I get reminded of stories.
And the first church I went to after I got saved was a Baptist church,
but they weren't super zealous Baptists. They're no longer called a Baptist church.
They're just non-denom.
They were a Baptist church. They had contemporary music, modern versions of the Bible, and things like that.
But they actually did have some evangelism programs where I'm sure their gospel wasn't very good,
but they had times where they went out and they had other churches that would join in the community.
They'd do canvassing and stuff, but they'd have times they'd do some sort of evangelism.
And I remember I was at the church, and I was newly saved, so I was kind of jumping in to preach the gospel
and joining and just trying to learn and get excited.
And I remember, you know, I was at the church for a while, and then I learned when I was at the church over the course of a year,
I ended up learning that the King James Bible is the perfect, preserved Word of God.
And I realized, you know what, there's something wrong with these modern versions.
I didn't know all the arguments at the time. I didn't know the history.
But I could just tell there was no power. As I started reading the Bible, I just thought to myself,
I like the way the King James says it. I mean, there's just a difference. It just sounds better.
And over time, I learned why that was. And so, of course, I started looking for a new church to go to.
And me and my friends, we went to a new church. And, you know, we started going to a church, and they were King James only.
I was thinking, praise God. And I remember the first sermon I heard, I really liked the preaching.
The preacher was yelling. He was loud. He was energetic. I was thinking, man, this is awesome.
This is the church I've been looking to for independent, fundamental Baptist church.
And I was like, man, this is great. But the church didn't have any soul winning. At all.
And I remember that I was at the church, and I had a friend I met in college who was Muslim.
And I wanted him to get saved. And I'd only been saved for a year and a half or two years.
So I just figured my pastor would be better at preaching the gospel to him.
I mean, I talked to him, but I thought maybe he'll listen to a pastor. He could explain better.
So I talked to the pastor, and I said, you know, I have this friend. I said, could you talk to him about the gospel?
Maybe I could bring him to you, could talk to him. He's like, yeah, you know, I can.
But the thing is, he has to agree. The way I give the gospel, it's a six week course.
And I'm just, I was thinking to myself, because I'm being respectful of my pastor,
I was like, I don't think I could get him to come for six weeks.
I was like, is it possible to just do it in one session?
He said, I really like to give the time for the Spirit to really work on his heart, to convict him.
And I'm thinking, okay. Now, what I would learn later on is this guy was a Calvinist.
And now it makes a lot more sense, right?
It's like, give him six weeks to let the Spirit, you know, work on his heart.
But here's what I'm trying to tell you, though.
At this new church, the preaching was very fiery. I mean, he preached against stuff.
There were King James only. You know what took place?
I felt like I was closer to God at that church because the preaching was better and they had the King James Bible.
And in reality, I was doing nothing for God.
Anyway, there are people that are at churches that are literally doing nothing for God,
but they might not really realize it because they feel like they're close to God from the preaching.
They feel like, I'm not Catholic, I'm at a Baptist church, I'm hearing the Word of God preached.
And, you know, it's just a reminder to us that we were probably also the same way at one time.
We felt like we loved God, maybe we were listening to preaching, but we're not doing any work.
And there are people like that right now, and if we get them to come to church, you know what,
they might just jump into the work just like you did when you joined our church.
John 20, verse 19. John 20, verse 19.
The Bible says here, John 20, verse 19,
Then the same day and evening, being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,
came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Now, I find it interesting they're afraid of the Jews, not the Romans,
because it was the Jews that were persecuting in the early church.
And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Now, of course, God is sending us all out to preach the gospel.
But here's the thing. Were they going out to preach the gospel before Jesus showed up and said, Go?
No, they weren't. They needed somebody there in person that just said, Go.
And in fact, in the next chapter, Peter's like, I go fishing.
And then everyone's like, We come too.
Because Peter's basically that leader in the early church, and then nobody's doing the work.
And then Jesus shows up. It's like, OK, we got to go soul winning.
And when you come to a church like ours, even if I'm not preaching on soul winning,
just by reading the numbers in the bulletin, or just by looking at it, it's like this constant reminder, Go. Go.
In fact, in next week's bulletin, if I don't forget, I'm going to add, Go, or something like that.
It's this reminder, Go out to preach the gospel.
We have this constant reminder, and we need this constant reminder.
You say, Why? Because in our flesh, it's a lot easier just to sit down and do nothing.
It's hard. It's tiring. It takes work. It takes effort.
And God is always sending us, but you really need a church that also has soul winning times
and is encouraging you, Go out, preach the gospel.
Go to Acts chapter 2. Acts 2. Acts 2.
By the way, not only do you need this, but I also need this.
I mean, I'm thankful I have never pastored a church that did not have soul winners at the church.
I mean, from the first church service in Manila, we had people that were ready to preach the gospel.
And it wasn't that exciting for those that were there for the first Sunday.
I mean, we didn't really know everybody, and people were on the opposite of Filipino time.
People showed up like an hour early. I mean, I was there 40 minutes early,
and the room was filled full of people, and I'm like, I don't know anybody.
And then we went to Rizal Park, and we just went and preached the gospel.
That was exciting, wasn't it?
From the very first day of this church, I was entering into the labors of other men of God
that really kind of helped build this thing, other pastors that really gained a following,
and praise God for it, because honestly, if I started a church and nobody went soul winning,
it would be hard to be self-motivated to be the only person going out and doing the work.
I also need a group of people that are zealous to preach the gospel,
and it helps encourage me to go out and do the work.
It also helps encourage me during the week to try to stop and talk to people and preach the gospel.
Why? Because there's other people that love God that are out doing the work also.
Acts 2, verse 1.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Here in Acts 2, this is, I would say, the greatest soul winning event ever, in Acts chapter 2.
But it starts by just having a group of people that are gathered together in one place.
And isn't that what we do at church?
We gather together, and then it's like, quickly eat your lunch, because at 1.45,
we're going out to preach the gospel. Right?
And so, you know what, it's great for all of us, because we're gathered together and we motivate each other.
And I'm just mentioning this to remind us that, you know what, there's other people that,
if they were part of our church, they would do the work also.
And that's why we try to bring people to this church,
because we really do believe that preaching changes people's lives,
it motivates people, it motivates and helps us.
And the reality is that if people join this church, they could get on fire for God also,
but they might not have somebody sending them at the church they're at right now.
Turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus 4.
Now, here's the thing. The first point, lack of health, that is a very good excuse to not preach the gospel.
You cannot do anything if you don't have the health to do it, or if it's a lot harder for you.
Not going because no one's sending you, that's not really a good excuse,
because obviously God is always sending us and we need to go,
but I'm just trying to help us have compassion that there are people that,
if they joined our church, would probably get involved in the work.
Because we don't have a lot of programs at our church, do we?
It's like soul winning. Soul winning marathons that we have, that's what we do.
And people come to this church, it's like, hey, is there anything I can get involved in at the church?
It's like, yeah, come soul winning.
And it's very easy to get new people on board with the things of God.
Point one, lack of health. Point two, nobody's sending them.
Point three, fear. Fear is one of the big reasons why people do not preach the gospel.
One of these aspects of fear is a fear of opening your mouth, a fear of speaking.
Here's what the Bible says in Exodus chapter 4, and let me just drop down to verse number 13.
Exodus 4 verse 13, and he said, oh my Lord, this is Moses speaking,
send I pray thee by the hand of whom thou wilt send.
Well, God just said, you're the one. So, you're the one, Moses.
He's like, well, send who you're going to send. It's like, that's you.
I told you, you're the one going.
Verse 14, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said,
Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well,
because the excuse of Moses is, I'm slow of speech, I'm of a slow tongue, I can't do it.
I don't have the ability.
And that probably reminds a lot of us, before we started going soul winning,
we're wondering, do I have the ability?
It doesn't really seem like it's my gift.
I'm not someone who walks up and talks to people. I'm slow of speech.
I don't feel like I'm a good speaker. I don't have this ability.
And it says, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well.
And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth,
and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people, and he shall be even,
he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
So, God basically says to Moses, okay, I'll make an agreement with you.
You're going to go, and you're going to be the silent partner.
And this is kind of odd, because Moses is telling Aaron what to say.
It would be like, for example, if I said, okay, God, I'll be the pastor.
I just won't say the words, so I'll just tell somebody else what to preach.
I'll write their sermons, and then they can preach it.
Well, that's not the way our church works.
I write all of the sermons that are preached at this church.
And here's the thing.
Moses starts off as a silent partner.
And when you go soul winning, guess what happens 99% of the time?
You start off as a silent partner, right?
But here's the thing.
I'm not too bothered if somebody comes soul winning,
and they're afraid to speak, and they're a silent partner,
because I know, and you know, that they will not be a silent partner forever.
Because when you see people get saved,
eventually you build up that courage to do the talking yourself,
and you get excited about it.
And I would say that probably most of us in this room that are soul winners,
we probably didn't think we could really do it before we started, right?
I'm not.
It probably surprises people when I say this,
but I'm not naturally an outgoing person.
In my personality, I kind of like to be alone.
I mean, when I'm in groups, I will talk,
but on the inside I'm thinking, I wish I could just be at home.
I'm not really someone who just likes, always likes to be around people.
It's just not my natural personality.
And of course, when I started, I thought to myself,
I don't know how to speak.
I can't do this.
I don't have the ability.
I was afraid.
In fact, everyone is a soul winner in this room.
When you started, you were probably afraid also, right?
Go to your Bible to John 4.
John 4.
So if you're in this room, and you're not a soul winner,
but you realize you should, but you're afraid,
realize that you know what?
You can start off as a silent partner, and you can overcome that fear.
Moses also started off as a silent partner.
Let me just give you some examples of when I started preaching the gospel
and realized that I started preaching the gospel when I was 19.
The person who got me saved encouraged me to preach the gospel,
and I was afraid.
And so when I first started going soul winning or preaching the gospel,
I didn't have great techniques.
I was still part of non-denominational church groups on college campus
at WVU and everything.
So in these stories, I'm not saying that someone should replicate this.
We're thankful we have a great church.
So if you're new to our church, you can jump into soul winning.
You're going to be with people that know what they're doing.
You can learn from them.
But I was part of this group called Campus Crusade for Christ,
which I think is the biggest college group in the U.S.
And it's like this non-denominational group
that accepts every form of Christianity under the sun.
And they would have each year a missions trip to,
I think it was Panama City Beach in Florida,
but it was a beach in Florida.
And they would have speaking at that event,
and they would encourage you to go out and talk to people.
Now, I don't think going to the beach is really the best recommendation
for the first time you're preaching the gospel,
but I was at the beach,
and they're basically trying to encourage you
to hand out invitations and try to talk.
And I remember I was with somebody that had been part of the group for a while,
and then he talked to the first person,
and he's trying to encourage me.
I was like, all right, let me try this.
And I went up and I gave somebody an invitation,
and I talked to them for just like 30 seconds.
And I remember thinking, that wasn't that bad, right?
Now, I still didn't really know how to preach the gospel,
but I was trying to overcome my fears.
And I remember just in the coming weeks,
I'm telling you this story, I'm not recommending this, okay?
But I was at a rock concert with my friends from WVU,
and I remember we were trying to encourage one another to talk to people,
and so I tapped on someone's shoulder in front of me and said,
hey, I just wanted to invite you to church.
I was like, do you know for sure you're going to heaven?
And they were like, why are you doing this?
And they didn't want to listen.
But I was encouraged.
I was like gathering some boldness, getting over my fear.
And look, don't go to rock concerts, okay?
Never go to a rock concert.
I'm just giving you an example, okay?
But what I'm saying is, when I started, I was also afraid.
It's like my heart was pumping, and I'm afraid.
But here's what I also say, that even when you overcome it,
there are still times when, for whatever reason,
I'm shy to talk to someone.
And what I do to try to help myself overcome that fear,
I will quote in my head,
the wicked flee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
And I'll quote that several times in my head,
and it often gives me the ability to do something that I know I should,
but I'm afraid to do.
And what I would say is, if you struggle with fear,
if you struggle with any area of Christianity,
because the Bible says,
Thy word have I hidden mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee.
Jesus gives us a template by quoting the scripture
when he overcomes the temptation from Satan.
Memorize scripture about what you struggle with,
and when you're in those situations, quote it in your head.
And of course, salvation comes by hearing the word of God,
but even building your faith comes by the word of God.
And your faith gets stronger by hearing the word of God.
It can help you overcome your fears.
One aspect is just a fear of speaking.
Another aspect is just a fear
that somebody's going to ask you questions
that you do not know how to answer.
I remember when I first started going soul winning,
I'm afraid that I'm going to talk to some high-level Mormon
or high-level Jehovah's Witness,
and they're going to ask me something,
and I don't know how to answer it,
because I didn't know that much about the Bible.
And maybe you're new at soul winning,
and you're thinking,
or maybe you don't go soul winning,
and you're wondering, man, what am I going to do
if somebody asks me something I don't know how to answer?
Well, notice what it says in John 14.
John 4, John chapter 4, verse 19.
Sorry, John chapter 4, verse 19.
John chapter 4, verse 19.
And it says here in verse 19,
The woman saith unto him,
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,
and ye say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus saith unto her,
Woman, believe me, the hour cometh
when ye shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.
He says, Ye worship ye know not what?
We know what we worship,
for salvation is of the Jews.
You know what I've learned
through 20 years of soul winning?
That unsaved people, they worship,
they know not what.
They don't know what they're doing.
If you ask them,
well, why do you believe in purgatory?
They have no verses.
They have no idea.
You ask Jehovah's Witnesses,
why do you believe this?
They don't know.
They might have one memorized thing
about what's the name of God,
but they don't know the Bible.
You try to ask them things they just don't know.
What I've learned in 2024
is people know nothing about the Bible.
And so I'm just trying to encourage you,
if you're new at soul winning,
you're like, man, I'm going to run into someone.
They're going to ask me all these questions.
They're going to know the Bible better than me.
No, they won't.
That just does not happen.
People do not know much about the Bible.
And the other thing is this.
If you do happen to run into someone
who really knows a lot about the Bible
that wants to argue with you, guess what?
Even if you do know a lot about the Bible,
you don't waste your time arguing with them.
You just move on to the next person.
You say, why?
Because they're not going to get saved anyway.
I mean, the one group I run into here in the Philippines
that drives me the craziest is Ang Dat Ting Da An.
Because they always want to argue.
It's like they always want to argue,
and it's like you try to be compassionate.
You try to give them the gospel.
They want to argue and argue and argue.
And then guess what?
It's a waste of time to talk to them.
And I'm not saying there's nobody in Ang Dat Ting Da An
that would listen.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying when you run into people
that want to debate and argue with you,
guess what you're supposed to do?
Just avoid those questions and move on.
Just ignore them and move on to the next door.
So you don't have to worry about,
what if I run into someone that wants to argue with me
and debate with me?
Well, you're not going to waste your time
with that person anyway.
You just move on to the next door
and find someone that is receptive to the gospel.
Go in your Bible to Matthew 26.
Matthew 26.
Matthew chapter 26.
So look, if you have a fear of speaking,
I'm trying to help encourage you that, you know what?
Moses started off as a silent partner.
All of us start off as silent partners.
All of us are afraid when we start.
God can help build up your faith.
If you're afraid someone's going to ask you questions
you don't know how to answer,
I seriously doubt that's going to happen.
It's a very, very, very rare thing.
And if they do ask you something you don't know how to answer,
let's say you run into someone that asks you things you don't know
and they're not trying to argue with you.
There's a very easy answer you can have.
That's a good question.
I'm kind of new at this.
I've never thought about this.
I can ask someone about it.
But there's a lot of clear verses that say,
whosoever believe it.
And so maybe there's a verse I'm confused about,
but there's so many verses that say very clearly
that this is what it takes to get to heaven.
It's perfectly okay.
People ask me questions and sometimes I'm like,
you know what?
That's a good question.
I'm not sure.
I've never thought about that.
People at church ask me questions.
And I'm like, I've never thought about that.
Or that's a good question.
Let me study it.
Let me figure it out.
Because I don't know everything about the Bible.
I mean, when I read some of these books in the Old Testament,
some of these minor prophets or major prophets,
I'm thinking, man, I don't understand most of this, right?
And so it's not the end of the world
if you don't understand everything, okay?
And so if you have a fear of them asking questions,
you know, that's unlikely to happen.
But let's say you have a fear of being mocked.
And what I would say is if you have a fear of being mocked,
just get over it.
You have to just get over it.
Here's what it says in Matthew 26, verse 69.
Matthew 26, verse 69.
And I'm not trying to be down on Peter today.
I mean, he wasn't the first pope, but he was a good man.
But we're going to see Peter messing up again here
in Matthew 26, verse 69.
Now Peter sat without in the palace,
and a damsel came unto him, saying,
Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
But he denied before them all, saying,
I know not what thou sayest.
And so here a damsel comes to him.
This is not a politician.
This is not somebody with a gun.
This is just a damsel comes to him, and he says,
I don't know who that is.
Verse 71.
And he was gone out into the porch.
Another maid saw him and said unto him that were there,
This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.
And he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
So once again, he makes an oath.
He basically swears, I swear on my mother's grave,
I don't know the man.
He makes this promise, I do not know the man.
Verse 73.
And after a while came unto him they that stood by
and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them,
for thy speech beareth thee.
And what this person says is,
I know that you are with Jesus,
because the way you talk
is different
than the average person.
And here's the thing, as a Bible-believing Christian,
the way we talk should be different.
But notice the reaction.
Verse 74.
Then began he to curse and to swear,
saying, I know not the man,
and immediately the cock crew.
Peter intentionally talks with a foul mouth,
like everybody else,
just to say, well obviously I wasn't with Jesus.
I wouldn't say this, right, if I was with Jesus.
So he talks as if he's like an ungodly person.
And look, I'm not trying to be down on Peter,
because I think Peter's going to get more awards in heaven
than any of us.
But it just kind of shows you that if somebody
as godly as Peter can be afraid, you know what,
we can also get afraid sometimes.
So if you're afraid of being mocked, realize that even us
that have been soul winning for a long time,
we also fear that sometimes.
I remember, I was reminded of this story yesterday,
about a year and a half ago
I was going soul winning with brother Raji in Pampanga,
and we were in a squatter's neighborhood,
and brother Raji was preaching the gospel,
and so then all of a sudden I saw a group of people
that were playing cards,
and I assumed if they're playing cards
they're probably gambling and drinking,
but I didn't see any alcohol, so I just said,
well I'll give it a shot, we're in this neighborhood,
I'll give them an invitation.
And I walked up and gave them an invitation,
and all of them just started mocking me
and making fun of me.
And I'm just thinking, your life is a mess.
Your life is an absolute mess.
And it's like, look at this idiot talking to us.
And I'm just thinking, your life's a mess
and you're making fun of me.
But of course, in your flesh it bothers you.
Now this is one reason God sends people two by two,
because when you're with somebody else
it's easy to kind of laugh it off.
If you're by yourself, that really gets to you, doesn't it?
And so realize that if you're afraid of being mocked
and you're kind of new at soul winning
or you haven't jumped into it yet,
look, all of us feel that way.
It's not like anybody in our church is some super Christian.
There's nobody in the world.
You look at Elijah's in the Bible,
and then you see Elijah so depressed that he wants to give up.
All of us have weak moments.
And so realize that if you're new at this,
it's like, hey, all of us struggle with this.
And what I said earlier,
quote Bible verses in your head, it can give you confidence.
And as you go out with other people,
it can help you overcome that fear.
Go to Luke chapter 8.
Actually, go to Revelation 2.
Go to Revelation 2 first. Revelation 2.
So point number one is a lack of health
is a reason people don't go soul winning.
And that's a good reason.
I mean, if you don't have the ability, it's, you know,
like when I had surgery on my leg, I wasn't able to walk for weeks.
Obviously, I'm not going soul winning.
And there are going to be people that, you know,
along with health problems,
they just might not have the ability to go
or go for as long as other people.
Another reason is nobody's sending them to preach the gospel.
It's not really a great reason not to go,
but it's understandable,
because I think all of us have been in that situation before.
Point number three is fear.
And, you know, God hath not given us the spirit of fear.
But I do understand on some aspects of fear
why people struggle, because I've also felt that myself.
But if it's fear of being mocked,
I want to remind you that if you preach the gospel in a Muslim country,
they will kill you.
They will not mock you.
If you try to preach the gospel,
if you join our North Korean missions trip, right?
I can't believe anybody thought that was real.
No offense if you thought that.
I'm just like, there's no way I would go to North Korea.
But anyways, they will kill you in North Korea.
I mean, if you try to preach the gospel in India, they will kill you.
You don't have complete freedom to go and preach the gospel
in a lot of countries around the world.
Here, what is going to happen?
Are you going to get arrested? No.
Are you going to get killed? No.
I mean, maybe if you were somewhere in Mindanao,
where it's like the Muslim autonomous area or whatever,
but here in Metro Manila,
you will not get in any kind of trouble preaching the gospel.
Nothing's going to happen. You're not going to get arrested.
You're not going to get stoned.
The worst they can do is just make fun of you.
And I would just say, that's not that big.
Oh, this cross is too hard to bear.
No, that's actually, that's a pretty light affliction.
And it literally is, but for a moment,
because five minutes later, you can just laugh it off.
Okay, so I'd say just get over it.
You've got to get over it because of the fact,
yeah, you know what, serving God, people might mock you.
People might criticize you. It is what it is.
Lastly, a lack of love.
A lack of love is a reason people don't preach the gospel.
And I'm fitting a lot of things under this.
I mean, laziness means that you don't love God enough
to go out and preach the gospel.
So really, you know, all the wrong reasons
are fit under this, like a lack of love.
And here's what it says in Revelation 2, verse 1.
On to the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand,
who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience,
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil,
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not,
and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience,
and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless, I live somewhat against thee.
Why? Because thou hast left thy first love.
You say, well, what is the first love?
You know, how do you really know?
Well, let's look at verse 5.
It gives us a lot more information.
Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen,
and repent, and do the first works.
Or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Now, this is spoken to a church, but think about this.
If you have a brand new church, and you don't have many members,
even if they're not a church like ours,
they will have some sort of program to try to bring people in.
Right? Some sort of evangelism that they will do.
And for us, we go soul winning.
We go out, we preach the gospel, we try to get people saved,
we trust in God to build the church.
But every church, when they start, that's the first thing that they're going to do.
But you know what takes place over time?
Churches can grow and eventually have a lot of programs,
and it drains out your energy to preach the gospel.
I know many stories of Baptist churches and non-denominational churches here in the Philippines
where Saturdays are like a six-hour music practice for service on Sunday,
and they have this every single week.
I'm not against, you know, practicing music for church,
but it's like, really? You're going to drain all of your time.
And I have no soul winning.
And I've been at churches before that they didn't have like a big music program,
but what they had is a big children's ministry.
You know, maybe you've been at Baptist churches like that,
and I want to get involved in the church.
I want to be a blessing to the church.
And on Saturdays, you know, sometimes I would join the church
as they would go around and talk to all the children that come to the bus route.
And then from 8 in the morning to 6 at night,
you're just visiting children that come to church from time to time.
And you don't do any soul winning.
Well, guess what I do afterwards at 6 p.m.
I go home and rest because I'm tired.
I don't go out and preach the gospel. I'm tired now.
And what happens is all your energy is drained out by all these programs.
And look, you know what?
We always need to make the main focus of Verity Baptist Church soul winning.
That is the main focus of our church.
And I believe that God has blessed us a great deal
over the course of five plus years of ministry.
You say, why? Because we've kept the main things the main things.
Hard preaching and going out and preaching the gospel.
That is what it's about.
And you know what? I'm glad we're not a mega church
because, you know what, we would be filled full of people that didn't love God,
but God has definitely built our church.
And we have a lot of people in this room that love God and are serving God.
You say, why? Because we're keeping the main thing the main thing.
Now, as a church, that's what we're doing.
But, you know, the same thing could be true as an individual
because maybe when you first started, you had a love to win the loss,
but that kind of died out.
I remember when I first got saved,
the first thought that went through my head is,
what about unsaved people that I know?
Or what about people that I know? I don't know what they believe.
I was like, man, I hope they believe the right thing.
I mean, right when I got saved, I had enough love in my heart
that I wanted the lost family members I had to get saved.
Now, unfortunately, a lot of people have such little love in their heart,
even when they get saved, they're not that motivated to get their family saved.
And I don't understand that at all.
But a lot of people feel that way.
But I would say that if you're in this room,
when you first got saved, you probably had the same thoughts in your head.
What about my mom? What about my dad?
What about my brother? What about my sister?
Do they understand this? Do they believe this?
In fact, there's probably many of you in this room right now.
That still runs through your mind because you probably have family that's not saved.
I'd say all of us probably have some family, at least cousins or some relatives that are not saved.
That is certainly the first love and the first thing you feel in your heart.
Even if you don't know how to go soul winning,
you still have a desire for other people to believe what you do, right?
But what can take place over time?
Well, soul winning starts off exciting, but over time,
it just kind of becomes the normal thing you do.
It kind of loses its excitement.
Why is that? Whenever you start something new, it's exciting.
And then after a little bit of time, the excitement wears off.
It just becomes kind of normal. I mean, I promise you,
when we move into our new building, everybody's going to be excited.
A couple weeks later, people are going to start complaining about some of the stuff we don't have, right?
That's just the way that it is, right?
Whenever you start anything, and I'm being humorous, I'm being truthful too.
That's just the way that it is, right?
It's like whenever you start something new, it's exciting.
And then you start doing it, and it just kind of wears off over time, right?
And I would just say that all of us could struggle with that,
of losing our first love over time.
It's just kind of a reminder in a sermon like this, even if you are going soul winning, don't lose your first love.
Keep doing the work of God. Now go to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8.
Luke chapter 8.
And let me show you just one example here in the Bible.
Luke chapter 8.
And Luke chapter 8 is probably the best place to go.
I mean, any of the parable of the sower, any of the ones that you see in the gospel,
but this is literally a soul winning parable of basically what happens when we give the gospel,
and also what do we need to do to stick with it, right?
This is really the scripture we can turn to.
And it says here in Luke 8 verse 11,
Now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God.
Those by the wayside are they that hear.
Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
So this is referring, when you cross reference, to people that have persecution.
Or, I mean, verse 12, that's verse 13.
Verse 12 is for people that hear the gospel and do not get saved, right?
Because it says that they, lest they should believe and be saved, okay?
Obviously we go soul winning, don't we run into this?
People we talk to that don't get saved?
If everybody you talk to gets saved, you do not know what you're doing.
Because people have free will and not everybody gets saved.
Plenty of people hear the gospel and they do not get saved.
So if everybody you talk to gets saved, you have very little perception.
And I'm trying to be as nice as possible, that's just reality.
And this is what happens when you first start going soul winning.
You don't really perceive everything fully.
And you think you're getting people saved, probably a lot of times you're not, right?
Verse 13, they on the rock are they which when they hear they receive the word with joy.
So they receive the word of God, they get saved, and these have no root,
which for a while believe in a time of temptation fall away.
This is pretty common that people get saved and then they start coming to church.
And once persecution comes, once temptation comes, they end up fading out.
And it's very easy because, you know, you join a church like ours
and then your Catholic relatives are like, you're not going to Catholic church anymore?
And then you're worried about what they think and then you quit church, right?
There's probably a lot of people that believe just like we do
and they listen to our sermons, but because they have Catholic relatives,
they don't come to our church, right?
Because they're worried about what other people think.
And they don't get involved.
And of course we saw that with fear earlier in the sermon.
Verse 14, and that which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard
go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life
and bring no fruit to perfection.
And, you know, the Bible says here there's people that they're choked with cares and riches and pleasures.
Now, we see this word choked, okay?
And, you know, I think of like, you know, Brazilian jiu-jitsu or mixed martial arts
and I would never advocate to watch that stuff, but, you know, if someone's being choked,
after a little while being choked, they start losing their energy to fight back, right?
So if somebody just chokes you out of nowhere, you might be really fighting,
but then slowly you're going to lose your energy as you lose oxygen
and you're not really going to be able to fight against them anymore.
Well, here's what the Bible's saying, because it's using a physical illustration to help us understand,
but if you are filling your life with all of the world's garbage,
and even if it's not the world's garbage, even if you're just filling your life
with just all these things that do not matter, you know what's actually taking place?
It is choking you from the energy to actually go out and serve God.
If your life is filled full of things that do not matter, the cares and riches and pleasures of this life,
you know what the result's going to be? You're not going to bring forth fruit to perfection.
You're not going to be a soul winner. You're not going to get people saved, right?
This is one reason why people that are very, very successful and rich oftentimes
just don't end up making very good Christians because they have too many things going on.
I mean, even if somebody, like a famous politician, if they got saved,
they'd probably never get on board with really serving God, right?
You say, why? Because they have too many things in their life,
and those things are going to choke them out from serving God, right?
Then it says here in verse 15, it gives us the formula. It says,
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.
Now, this verse does not reference when a person gets saved,
but when it says having heard the word,
it's referring to every single time they hear the word of God preached,
every time they read the Bible, every time they hear sermons.
And every time you hear the word of God, you need to have an honest and a good heart.
An honest heart is pretty self-explanatory.
Basically, if you're guilty of something, admit it.
If I preach, read the Bible every day, and you do not read the Bible every day,
don't make excuses for yourself.
Well, I'm just so busy. Yeah, but you have time to be on Facebook every day, right?
It's like people tell me how busy they are.
It's like, yeah, you know what, people live busy lives,
but you have time to at least spend some time reading the word of God, right?
And so, whenever you hear the word of God, and hear it as much as possible,
listen to great sermons, read the Bible, memorize the Bible,
come to church and hear the word of God preached.
Every time you hear the word of God preached, have an honest heart about it.
So if you're guilty, admit it.
And newsflash, every single one of us is guilty of plenty of things.
I mean, when I read the Bible, you say, well, you're the one preaching the sermons.
I preach on things that I struggle with.
I try to preach everything. We go verse by verse through Matthew,
I try to preach everything that's mentioned, right?
When I read the Bible, though, I read things in the Bible, and it's like, man,
it's like, that got me. It's like, I need to work on that.
So every time you read the Bible, have an honest heart.
But having an honest heart is not good enough,
because if somebody was a drunk and they admitted that they were a drunk,
it doesn't really do any good if they keep drinking, right?
So you've got to have a good heart, meaning make the changes.
Once you figure out what the problem is, make the change.
And then as you're going along on your Christian journey,
you're going to hear the word of God more and more.
Here's the thing, as you learn new things,
you've got to keep the things that you already know.
That's why it says keep it.
So keep what you know and keep adding on as you learn new things.
And it says, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Why does it say that?
Because of the fact, if you're going to be a soul winner until the day you die,
it's going to take a lot of patience to go through the ups and the downs of life.
I would never try to claim that I'm a perfect Christian.
Obviously, I have many things to work on,
but I've been faithfully soul winning for more than 20 years,
for more than half my life.
I think that's a long enough sample size to say that I'm in it to serve God.
Now, that's not a guarantee I'm going to do it my whole life
because people get into the things of God and they fade out.
But of course, over the course of 20 years, you have ups and you have downs.
It just is what it is.
I mean, you're going to have ups in your life, you're going to have downs.
And here's what I would say, that if you're the sort of person
that is not just steadfast in your heart to stick with it
no matter what takes place, you will not last as a soul winner.
You say, why? Because you're going to have down moments in your life.
You're going to go through the storms of life.
You're going to have problems in life.
And when you go through those moments, if you are not steadfast to stick with it,
you're going to end up fading out.
I mean, if you've been at our church since we started almost six years ago,
I'm sure you've had some downs over that time period.
I'm sure you've had times you got frustrated, you got tired, you got mad, you got bitter.
And I'm sure you had moments where you hit a low point and you felt like giving up.
Because let's just be honest, all of us have felt like giving up, right?
The problem is we don't have a better alternative.
It's like, where else are we going to go?
It's like the best place to be is in the will of God.
And it would be foolish to give up on the things of God
because your old life is not going to be better than the life that you have now.
But you do hit low points of life where you feel like giving up.
And you just got to have the attitude, you know what, I am going to stick with this until the end.
So what I would say is if you're someone that does not go soul winning
and you've never really gotten into it, you might have a valid reason.
You might have health problems.
And I understand that.
I think all of us should be compassionate to people that don't have the ability.
If you're trying to overcome some fear and everything,
I would just encourage you to just come out, be a silent partner, learn from other people.
You can build up that courage.
And I understand it's tough.
I mean, I have fear at times also where it's hard to do what's right.
It's hard to go soul winning.
But you come with us, it can help build up that courage.
What I would say, though, is if you are a soul winner,
don't lose your love for going out and winning the loss.
Because, you know, honestly, I just can't really imagine what my life would be like
if I could never go soul winning anymore, right?
I mean, and obviously health problems can happen and I would have to adjust.
But I'm just saying it's like, you know, a lot of people become pastors
and it's like they retire from soul winning.
I don't want to retire from soul winning.
I mean, the excitement of soul winning is what motivated me to make changes in my life.
For me personally, going soul winning is what caused me to change.
It wasn't really changing that caused me to then go soul winning.
It was really once I went out soul winning, then all of a sudden I was like,
you know what, I need to quit listening to this music.
I need to, you know, quit watching these movies and TV shows, right?
And going soul winning is what motivated me to change.
But you know what, there's people in the Bible like Demas that give up.
There's no guarantee for any of us that we're going to stick with it.
So I would just encourage all of us, you know, whether you are at a high point or a low point,
never lose your love for winning the loss.
This goes more in prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today,
and I ask you to help all of us in this room, apply this to our lives, God.
For people out there that maybe don't have the health to go soul winning,
or maybe it's a real struggle, God,
I ask you to help encourage them to realize that they can still get great rewards in heaven,
even if they're not able to do the amount of soul winning that maybe other people are able to do, God.
I ask you to help those that are not soul winners but do have the health,
but they're just afraid or have something in their life that's holding them back, God.
I ask you to help give them the courage to come out, go soul winning, and be a silent partner,
and join our church for that, God.
And I ask you to help all of us that are soul winning, God.
Help us to stick with it.
Help us not to grow weary in well doing, but help us stick with it, you know, for our entire lives, God.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Page number 110.
First sons already sing.
Sanyah pah-ah-koh Aynah nah nah-nah-nah
kusoi diwasai
sapanyam pahappo
ai na na na na
Now just again
sapanamalaya
nam yam pahamai
Dayo adhikasa adhikāwā
Bhāvata bhikātā bhāvata bhāvata bhāksubho
Dīnā kvāvahīnā sāvatīnko
O, chorus!
Usoi ki wasai
Sāvanyam bhālāo
Vaynā-na-na-na-na-nānandalās
Sāvatīnā kvāvahīnā
Nadi nārānās
Vaynā yuñṭiṇāṁ y consist
Nāmā kalīnāṁ
Anaktidhi wala sahanyalama
Ima kaparanas nam kabido adhkarus
Salyos na na nadi
Musoi ki wasai
Sapan yam bahna ho
Aina na na na