It's good to be here, seeing how great this church has grown, what it's become.
As Pastor Thompson mentioned, I've known Pastor Thompson and Ms. Sherry for like six
or seven years before he was Pastor Thompson.
I saw him start this church as the satellite leader and then as the pastor.
I've always been curious exactly how it turned out, and now I know, and it's exceeded
my expectations.
It's really great up here, so it's good to see all the good folks out.
I appreciate you coming out tonight or this afternoon.
I want to preach to you tonight about not losing your focus in the Christian life.
Sometimes when you're guest preaching to a church that has a well-fled flock, it's
kind of hard to think about or come up with an idea.
What are you going to preach to a church that kind of is getting taught everything?
The temptation often as a preacher is to try to come up with some newfangled thing
and wow everybody, but then you might slip and fall and find yourself in some kind of
rank heresy and not have a job when you get back to Phoenix or something like that.
That's probably not a good idea, right?
I said, I'm going to just try and preach something that's encouraging.
After all, we're going to go do a great work this week, and I really just want to
inspire people.
I feel like I'm kind of preaching to the choir a little bit because I'm going to touch
on soul winning.
From what I understand, everyone in this room is a soul winner, and everybody's serving
the Lord in that way.
That can change.
That can change in an individual's life.
That can change in a church's life.
People can be on fire for the Lord one day and then fall away on another.
Something I've seen time and time again, that wouldn't be the first time it happened.
I thought, I might as well preach something that's going to encourage the people to keep
doing what they're doing, and that's why I've entitled the sermon, Keeping the
Main Thing the Main Thing.
Sometimes the church just needs to do more of the same.
Sometimes you don't need to change anything.
Everything's good.
Of course, we can always improve, but we should never let the things that are most important
begin to slip.
We'll talk about that, what those things are, a little bit more specifically later.
This is a real danger because it's real easy to lose focus in the Christian life,
especially in the world that we're living in today, especially in the year that we're
living in this year.
I mean, there's just been so many things that have taken place in this year that could
just be a distraction, an unpleasant distraction.
Of course, the COVID-19, that's probably the biggest one.
That was a huge distraction for a lot of people.
A lot of people, I feel like, lost their focus on serving the Lord and got so fixated
on these issues surrounding COVID-19 that that's a real possibility to get distracted
by things like this.
What about all the riots that took place?
Some people get real caught up in that, keeping up with the news cycle.
How about the fires, all the fires that are taking place?
We can get really distracted by a lot of these things, the economic gridlock that
we've been experiencing, the upcoming elections.
Some people are going to get really distracted by that.
They're going to get real into supporting their political candidates, and they're going
to leave off some of the things of God.
They're going to skip their morning Bible reading and turn on the news to see which
candidate is in the lead today or whatever.
How about the protests this morning?
Congratulations, by the way.
I'm glad I was here for your initial protest.
I'd like to take credit for that somehow, but I know that's not the case.
I'd like to think that the reputation of Faithful Word has preceded me, but I think
you've got your own reputation in going with Pastor Thompson, so he gets all the credit
for that this morning.
He worked on that, but that can be a real distraction, too.
Pastor Thompson's right.
These people are implacable.
They're going to be back.
If they're not back next week, if it's not this bunch, it'll be another one.
Jesus said, Marvel not if the world hate you, and if it hate you, know that it hated
me first.
The servant is not above his master.
You can mark it down as long as you keep preaching the word, as long as you keep sticking
by the stuff, there's going to be more protesters if it's not these ones.
That can become a real distraction for people.
People can get real fixated on the fact that there's these freaks out here doing
whatever it is that they're doing.
They can become so fixated on that, they can forget about the fact that once you get
through the doors, once you get in your seat, it's business as usual.
Don't let that be a distraction to you.
Stand behind your pastor and just keep doing what you're doing.
There's a lot of things that can distract us.
Just this year alone, there's been so many of these major events that can be a real
distraction for us.
It's important that we don't lose focus.
Even the world just in general, just generally speaking, all the other things we talked
about so far aside can be a very distracting place.
Think about all the amusements that are out there, all the hobbies and the activities
that people get involved in.
I've seen people go overboard.
I'm not saying it's bad to have an activity, I'm not saying it's bad to have a hobby.
In fact, I know some people should probably get a hobby, right?
Sometimes, we can let our hobbies and our activities take over.
People get so into doing this activity or so into doing that activity that the Lord
takes a back seat.
Serving God becomes something that they'll try to fit in their schedule.
They don't keep the main thing the main thing.
This year's been distracting, this world is distracting, and even life itself by just
the nature of life is very distracting.
These are things that we have to tend to.
These are things that we have to focus on to some degree.
We have to focus on our families as moms and dads.
We have to focus on our careers and the homeschooling.
We have to focus on church, getting out and supporting the pastor and serving the Lord
and local church.
We have to focus on those things, but we shouldn't let those things override the
main thing in the Christian life.
That's why we're admonished.
Keep something in Mark chapter 12, but go over to Hebrews chapter 12.
Keep something in Mark, we'll come back later, but go over to Hebrews chapter 12.
We need to learn to keep the main thing the main thing.
We have to focus in the Christian life.
The proof of that is the fact that we're admonished so often in the New Testament
to do that.
Jesus said, take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting and drunkenness.
Probably nobody in this room would have to worry about that and say, look, I'm not
going to get involved in surfeiting and drunkenness.
I've kind of gotten over that.
What about, he went on to say, and the cares of this life.
Even the things that aren't necessarily sinful, the things that might even be just
be pleasurable, or just the things that are our basic duty, our responsibilities
as adults to do.
Even those things, the cares of this life, can become a distraction to us and take us
away from keeping the main thing, the main thing.
He said, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom
of God.
I love that illustration he used, and every time I think about it, I think about when
I was 15, 16 years old, living in Michigan, we had a big front yard.
I had to mow the yard, and I remember being taught how to mow nice, straight lines.
When you have a lawn, you want to make it look nice and press everybody that drives
by.
You don't want these wiggly lines going all over the place.
When you have a nice, long lawn like that, you even get fancy, do the cross cut, and
people are showing up at their golf clubs and things.
That's another story.
I was taught how to have nice, straight lines.
The trick is, when you're mowing the lawn, you don't just look right in front of the
mower.
You don't look right in front of the plow when you're plowing.
Jesus used a similar illustration of the plow.
If you want nice, straight furrows, you make the most use of your land, you don't look
right ahead of the instrument that you're using.
You don't look right in front of the plow.
You don't look right in front of the mower.
You actually look where you're going.
You look ahead, and that will keep you straight.
Jesus is saying here, no man having put his hand in the plow and looking back, getting
distracted by looking around at the things that are going on in the world, the things
in our life.
If we spend too much time focusing on those things, don't be surprised if at the end
of your life, the furrows are a little crooked.
Maybe you weren't as efficient as you could have been with what God gave you.
You're there in Hebrews chapter 12.
This is a very familiar passage, but we'll read it again.
It says in verse 1, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.
Where is it that you should fix your eyes this afternoon in order to have that straight
furrow, in order to use that plow efficiently?
You should have your eyes straight ahead.
You should have them looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
We need to make the main thing the main thing in the Christian life.
Because here's the thing, when we become distracted, when we start to look around,
we do not prioritize what matters most in life.
There might even be things that have real value, things that we need to be doing,
things that are important, but if we get them out of order in our priorities,
then the most important things can begin to slip, can begin to fall behind.
If you would, turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 11.
So what's the main thing, what's the thing that matters most in the Christian life?
You know, we could probably get several different answers.
You know, people would say, well, Bible reading is the most important thing.
You know, and Bible reading is real important.
You know, soul winning, that's the most important thing, and it is,
and we'll talk about that here in a minute.
You know, say, well, church attendance, that's the most important thing
in the Christian life. Those are all very important things,
but I would submit to you that it's not the most important thing.
Because the most important thing in the Christian life is loving the Lord.
I mean, loving the Lord God. Look, if you love the Lord,
all those other things are going to fall right in line, right where they need to be.
If you make God first in your life, if you look unto Jesus,
you know, the Bible reading is going to fall into place.
The soul winning is going to fall into place.
The, you know, the church attendance is going to fall into place.
But it's when even those good things that we should be doing,
we make those the main thing, and we don't take our,
we take our eyes off the Lord, we'll forget while we're even doing it.
We'll say, why am I reading my Bible?
You know, why am I going to church? Why am I going soul winning?
Well, if you keep the main thing, the main thing,
you'll understand you're doing all those things because you love God.
If you look there, and you're in Deuteronomy 11,
I'll read to you from Deuteronomy 6.
It says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
And it says in verse 5, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart.
He said, Thou shalt. That's a commandment.
Thou shalt love thy Lord thy God with all thine heart,
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Loving the Lord is a commandment.
And it's the most important commandment.
You know, that's what we read in Mark 12.
But if you look there in Deuteronomy chapter 11, look at verse 1,
He said, Therefore, thou shalt love the Lord thy God,
and keep His commandment, His charge, and His statutes,
and His judgments, and His commandments always.
So notice there, He says, Therefore, thou shalt love the Lord thy God.
There's that commandment again.
You know, we often talk about love, you know,
people say things like, you know, well, love is just a, you know,
it's a feeling, an emotion, and that's true.
But then some people would say, well, no, love is just, you know,
it's just a, it's an action, it's a doing.
You know what? That's true also.
The thing is, they're both true.
You know, love is a feeling, love is an emotion,
but love also inspires people to action.
You know, if you really love somebody, you're going to do nice things for them.
You're going to help them, you're going to care about them,
you're going to, you know, be concerned with the things that they're concerned about.
That's why it says here in Deuteronomy 11,
verse 1, Therefore, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and.
You didn't just put a period there.
You didn't say, thou shalt love God.
And then that's it.
You know, as long as you just have that warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart,
you know, as long as you just wake up in the morning
and you just tell God you love Him, and then just live however you want,
and do whatever you want, that's good enough.
That's not what He said. He said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God.
That's important. But He goes on and says, and keep His charge.
You know, and He goes on and says, and His statutes,
and His judgments, and His commandments, always.
You know, it sounds like something you're going to do some of the time.
You're going to do this all the time.
You know, if you really love God, and you're going to obey this commandment,
you're going to keep His charge. You're going to keep His statutes.
You're going to keep His commandments. You're going to get in the Bible.
You're going to read it, and you're going to apply it to your life.
And actually, you're going to say, hey, whatever this book says,
that's what I'm going to do.
You know, the pastor gets up and preaches something.
You know, kind of rubs you the wrong way.
You know, you got to just go with it and say, well, if I love God,
if you love God, you're going to keep that charge.
You're going to keep that commandment, even if it goes against the grain.
And my old pastor used to say, if I'm rubbing the cat the wrong way,
the cat can turn around.
You know, you never pet a cat the wrong way.
Man, they hate that.
Try it if you got a cat at home. You've never done that.
You know, but don't come to me tomorrow belly aching
if you got scratched up doing it, right?
But sometimes, you know, we in the pew can be like that.
The pastor gets up, and we want to just scratch our chin
and tickle our ears and just kind of stroke the fur the right way
and make us purr and send us out, maybe give us, you know,
some friskies on the way out or something like that,
because we're our Baptist, right?
Here's the thing, you know, if you're going to, the pastor,
like the pastor that you have is going to continue doing what he's been doing,
you know, preaching the whole counsel of the word of God.
You know, sometimes that's going to rub the fur the wrong way.
Sometimes you're going to come to church, you're going to hear someone go,
oh, that didn't feel so good.
But you know what? You're the one that needs to turn around.
And you know what? If you love God, you'll do that.
If you keep the main thing, the main thing, loving God,
you're going to go right along with whatever the commandments,
the statutes, the judgments, the charges are,
and you're going to do it all the way.
You're going to be a season in your life where, you know,
I went to church for a few years, I tried it out,
you know, I cleaned up my life.
You know, you have to just settle in your heart,
look, I'm in this for the long haul.
Whatever it takes, whatever comes my way,
and God will bless along the way.
Go over to Deuteronomy chapter 10, Deuteronomy chapter 10.
Look, it's a commandment that's just all through Scripture.
We can go to several other passages in Deuteronomy alone,
and I won't belabor the point.
But look at Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 12, and he says,
And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee
but to fear the Lord thy God,
to walk in all his ways, and to love him?
So notice how the love of God here is associated with doing what?
To fear him, you know, showing God,
you know, having a fear of displeasing him,
you know, or letting him down.
You know, you'll fear the Lord thy God,
you'll walk in all his ways, and it says,
and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God.
These things are all a package deal.
And he says, You should serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy soul, to keep these commandments of the Lord,
and his statutes which I command thee this day for thy good.
Look, that's all that God requires of thee.
And you say, well, that sounds like a lot.
And you know what? But Jesus said,
my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
You know, the world's the one that's got the heavy yoke.
The world's the one that's got, you know,
grievous burden to be borne if they want to put upon you.
You know, the devil's way,
the Bible says the way of transgressors is hard.
You say, oh, living for the Lord's so hard,
oh, you know, going to church and being faithful,
and you know, having to keep this commandment,
keep myself out of this sin,
you know, doing the Bible reading consistently,
and everything that I have to do, it's so hard.
Well, you know what? Sin is a lot harder.
You know, and if you keep the main thing, the main thing,
those things that you think are so hard in the Christian life
would actually become enjoyable.
You'd actually get up in the morning and say,
I can't wait to read my Bible.
I can't wait to pray, I can't wait to go to church
and sing the hymns, and hear the congregation,
and fellowship with the brethren,
and hear the preaching of the word of God.
If you love God, if you kept the main thing, the main thing,
it would be a pleasure to you and not a burden.
So let me just give you some reasons to love the Lord real quick.
Just some reasons to love the Lord.
Go over to 1 John, chapter 4.
1 John, chapter 4.
How about creation?
You know, I like Pastor Thompson's sermon about animals this morning.
I thought it was a great topic.
I got to start thinking of sermons like that
or just more topical about things like that,
talking about the beasts of the earth,
you know, that lion sermon, you know, I'm looking forward to that one,
you know.
But you know, creation really is a beautiful thing.
That should inspire us to love God.
I mean, we believe God created all things.
You know, we look around and we see just the beauty
and the majesty of God's creation, that should move us to love God.
You know, I come up here and I get blown away by the trees,
you know, because we don't really have those in Phoenix,
you know, or grass, you know.
I go through, I'm like become a connoisseur of grass in Phoenix
because there's so little of it.
I'm like, oh, that's a nice St. Augustine.
You know, maybe one day if I have, you know, own a home
and I have some money to throw around in Phoenix
and grow some, you know, grow a lawn,
I shouldn't say grow grass in Washington, right,
but I say if I could grow a lawn,
you know, I'm thinking what kind would I want,
would I like, you know, some Kentucky bluegrass
or you know, I want this, you know.
But you know, it's what is that?
It's God's creation.
You know, these beautiful things that we see.
You know, we're going to, you know, go,
hopefully go up to Mount Rainier.
You know, God made that.
You know, we see the majesty and the beauty of creation,
that should move us to love God.
You know, that's who you have to understand.
That's who you're serving.
You know, when you serve and love God,
you're serving the God that made all those things,
that made all those beautiful things that God has created.
The Bible says in Psalm 139,
I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
I mean, do you know that right well this afternoon,
that God, you know, has created, that his works are marvelous?
Well, you know what?
That should move you to love God.
That should move you to keep the main thing, the main thing,
loving God.
And you know what?
And then serving him won't be such a burden.
What about salvation?
I mean, you're there in 1 John 4.
Look at verse 10.
The Bible says in 1 John 4, verse 10,
Here in is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us.
I mean, that alone should inspire you to love the Lord.
I mean, sometimes I just think, why me, Lord?
Why me?
And you know what?
There is no good reason other than the fact that he loves me.
You know, that's the same.
That's true of everyone in this room right now and, you know,
even the whole world.
God loves the world.
And it says, you know, not that God loved us,
but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for his sins.
I mean, Jesus Christ loved you so much that he, you know,
bore the cross, you know, the shame, the suffering,
and bled and died and went to hell for us.
You know, and truth be told, you know, just being blunt,
just being honest, we really are nobody.
You know, I mean, in God's eyes, you know, he sees us.
We're fearfully and wonderfully made.
But, you know, in the world's eyes, we're just, you know,
just average people.
You know, there's really nothing special about me.
But you know what?
God did make me.
You know, I'm part of God's creation, and I love him for that.
You know, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
You know, the fact that we have these bodies,
these bodies are amazing.
You know, and we get to interact with the rest of the creation
that he's made, which is also just marvelous and wonderful.
But how about the fact that he actually died for you?
You know, that should move us to love God more
and to keep him the main thing, loving God.
That's the main thing, loving God.
Go over to Matthew chapter 22.
How about just the blessing?
You know, you get saved, you know,
and if you start living for the Lord and you start doing right,
you know, God's so good.
It's not like he just saves you and says,
that's all, you know, that's it.
You know, I've already done more than enough for you.
And that's true.
I mean, God could say that.
He could say, look, I've done more than enough for you.
You really don't have to.
You couldn't, you know, ask much more from God than that.
But then he goes ahead, you know,
and God's so good and he just, he doubles down
and he says, well, I'm not only going to save you
when you don't deserve it,
but I'm also going to bless you along the way.
And if we, you know, if we love the Lord
and we serve him, God's going to bless us along the way.
He said in Psalm 13, verse 5,
I have trust in thy mercy.
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
And he goes on and says, I will sing unto the Lord
because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
You know, God wants to just pour out his blessings on our lives.
And if, you know, this is something I often say to people,
try and encourage them is, you know, give God something to bless.
It's something that my pastor used to say to me.
He's like, hey, just give God something to bless.
And you know, what I mean by that is this,
is that, you know, stay faithful to the Lord
through the tough times, through the good times.
If you just stay faithful to God through the highs and lows
in the Christian life
and you're obedient to the Lord and his commandments,
you keep his statutes and his charges,
you keep the main thing the main thing,
God will bless that.
And we have to make sure that we give God something to bless.
You're there, actually go over to Mark chapter 12.
Go over to Mark chapter 12.
Keeps up the Matthew 22, we're going to go back.
I know I got you flipping around.
Mark chapter 12, we'll begin reading in verse 29.
And when you keep the main thing the main thing,
you know, the main thing is loving the Lord.
You know, and it's easy for me to just get up kind of speak in generalities.
You know, you just need to serve God.
You know, you need to just, you know, be faithful
and keep the statutes and the chargements, you know,
and let's close in prayer.
You know, you can figure that out, right?
But I want to make some application.
You know, I want to get, you know, specific on at least one point.
You know, how is it that we can keep the main thing the main thing?
How is it that we're going to love God?
Because again, you know, love is an emotion.
We understand that, but it's action too.
And I want to talk a little bit this afternoon
about what action can we do to love God?
You know, if you love somebody, you're going to be,
you're going to, you know, you're going to make their priorities
your priorities.
You know, husbands that love their wives,
they're not going to have this to-do list that they ignore.
Well, they might, you know.
But they see it, at least.
They know it's there and they feel bad when they don't take care of it.
You know, if the wife really needs something, you know,
I'm leaving on this trip and my wife's like,
hey, can you change the AC filter and clean the battery terminals before you go?
And I said, you know, honey, I love you, but you just, you know,
you got to learn to do those things on your own, you know.
Why don't you go get a ladder and have little Corbin John?
You do that.
It's time he grew up and be a man.
I mean, he's four years old by now, right?
He should be changing AC filters and cleaning battery terminals.
A guy would probably try and do it if I let him,
but that wouldn't turn out well.
You know, I love my wife.
You know, I have these feelings, these emotions that I,
towards her of love and care.
But, you know, when she asked me to do this,
you know, when she asks me to do something that she needs me to do,
then I go and do it.
Why? Because I love her.
Because love isn't just a feeling, and it's not just actions.
It's both.
So if we're going to keep the main thing, the main thing tonight,
if we're going to love the Lord, how are we going to do that?
Well, we're going to love the Lord by,
and we're going to show that by doing what?
By loving our neighbors.
The Bible says in Mark chapter 12, verse 29, look at this.
It says, and Jesus answered him,
the first of all the commandments is hero Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord.
He's saying, look, that is the number one commandment.
That's the first, right?
The first of all the commandments.
Like Pastor Thompson said about, you know, the statement analysis.
People list things in order of priority, you know,
often when they make statements, and God is intentionally doing this.
He's saying, look, the most important,
that's the first and greatest of all the commandments is to love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind
and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.
He repeats it again.
But look at verse 31. He says, and the second is like, namely, this.
Now that's some strong language there.
He's saying, look, loving the Lord is the number one thing.
Then he says, but the second one is like it.
It's such a close second, it's almost first.
It's almost a tie with God, the second commandment.
And we'll see why in a minute.
He goes on, and the second is like, namely, this.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these.
Look, if you don't have those two things down in the Christian life,
you're not making the main thing the main thing.
I don't care how great you are at every other thing in the Christian life.
If you don't love God, and if you don't love your neighbor as thyself,
you know, you're not keeping the main thing the main thing.
And it's just a matter of time until you burn out in those other areas
because you're not doing it for the right reasons.
Go over to Matthew chapter 22, if you kept something there.
Matthew chapter 22, look at verse 34, where Jesus, you know, emphasizes this fact again.
It says in verse 34, Matthew 22,
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence,
they were gathered together.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him,
and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Go to 1 John chapter 4.
1 John chapter 4.
He's saying, look, the main thing in the Christian life is loving the Lord.
And the second thing, you know, which is like the main thing point,
you know, 1.1 or whatever it is.
I don't know how they break those things up, right?
It's like main thing A, main thing B.
It's like they're so closely interwoven, it's practically the same commandment.
And we'll see why in a minute.
He said it's like unto it.
It says in 1 John chapter 4, verse 20,
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.
You can't say, I love God, and then hate your brother.
You know, hate your neighbor.
And look, let me just clarify, in case you're wondering,
and I'm sure you're not, I was amen-ing this morning in this sermon,
or, look, we know and understand there's people in this world that God hates.
And we hate them.
The Bible says, I hate them with the perfect hatred.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Yeah, I hate them with the perfect hatred.
I hate the enemies of the Lord.
We all understand that.
I know this church is well-versed in that doctrine.
I'm not going to go on and on about that.
But there are, you know, everybody else, which, you know,
I don't know what that stupid sign that lady was holding this morning,
you know, you hate 25% of America.
You need to go back and do some math or something.
These Saudis are not making up that much.
I refuse to believe that.
One, two, three, maybe, and I'm sure that'll go up over time,
but it's not a 25% of this nation.
They would love to have you think that, but that's not the case.
Look, the vast majority of the people in this country are just unsaved.
You know, they're just unsaved people.
Your neighbor, your brother, the people near you,
people in your church, these are the people that we need to love.
And if you're going to keep the main thing, the main thing tonight,
you're going to love the Lord.
How are you going to love the Lord?
By loving your neighbor, because God loves these people.
And we understand, again, God doesn't love those people,
you know, specifically that were out there and those like them.
He said, if a man say I love God and hateth his brother,
he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this is the commandment we have from him,
that he who loveth God loveth his brother also.
It's like John is taking those two commandments from Matthew and Mark
and Deuteronomy and putting it together.
He's kind of giving us a synopsis there
of the fact that we are to love the Lord our God
and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
He's saying, look, he that loveth God loveth his brother also.
He said, I want to keep the main thing, the main thing tonight.
I want to burn out in the Christian life.
I don't want to quit. I don't want to wash up.
I want to be in this for the long haul.
We need to love the Lord, and the way you're going to do that
is by loving your neighbor, by loving your brother.
Loving your neighbor is basically like loving the Lord.
Why should I love my neighbor? Because you love God.
Because your neighbor is made in the image of God.
God created your neighbor as well.
He created your brother. He created your neighbor.
He created the lost people around us.
He cares for those people just as much as he cares for us.
At one point, we were all like them. We were all unsaved.
No one's born saved. He didn't grow up saved.
God loved us when we were unsaved, when we were lost, when we were wandering,
when we were sheep going astray.
God revealed his mercy to us in Christ.
We should endeavor to do the same.
We should love our neighbor, because that's how you're going to love God.
Why should I go soloing? Why should I go on these trips?
Why should I care? Why should I try to get out once a week?
Even if you don't make it on this trip, I'm not trying to guilt anybody that's not coming.
I'm like, I'm going to be seeing who's here tomorrow making the main thing.
It's not that at all. These trips are like icing on the cake.
It's like gravy, right? You want to know what the mashed potatoes are?
This is the mashed potatoes right here.
All these soul winning times you've got to listen here.
That's the mashed potatoes, right?
The soul winning trip, that's just a little bit of gravy.
The gravy's good.
If the gravy boats within arm's reach, grab that thing.
Pour some on there. Get some before it's all gone.
The getting's good.
I tell you what, the mashed potatoes are soul winning.
That's a full bowl around here.
You can get the main thing in.
Make the main thing the main thing in your Christian life.
You want to love God. You want to make it in the long haul.
You want to keep serving God and not burn out.
You need to love your neighbor as yourself.
Why? Because God loves them.
Why should I go soul winning? Why should I participate?
Why should I get involved in the program?
I know I'm preaching the choir.
That's why it's entitled, Keep the Main Thing.
People might be faithfully going soul winning,
but hopefully they're going for the right reasons.
Of course, you always assume the best that everybody is.
They're going soul winning because they love God,
and they love souls, and they want to see people get saved.
They're keeping the main thing the main thing.
They're not going soul winning so they can just raise their hand and be like,
I've got two.
Do you guys count them up like that, like we do on A Faithful Word?
Any of you get soul saved?
People just want to be able to hold up both hands and be like.
It's 22, right?
You want to be like, I want to have to take my shoe off.
Show people what's up.
If that's all it's about for you,
you're not keeping the main thing the main thing.
I don't care if you have to take both hands, your shoes off,
get your neighbor's shoes off, hold them up every week.
You're going to burn out. It's not going to last.
You need to keep the main thing, the main thing,
loving the Lord, loving God.
If you do that, you're going to win souls. Why?
Because your neighbor is made in the image of God.
Your neighbor is loved by God.
It takes effort, doesn't it?
It takes effort to love your neighbor.
I've had some neighbors that are hard to love.
Let me go back to that lawn mowing illustration.
That house I grew up in Michigan that I had to mow that lawn all those years ago,
when my mother passed away, we ended up living in that house.
Our neighbor who had been there for my entire time I've lived there, Pat,
she ended up moving away.
Me and my wife are living in the house my mom used to live in,
and this young couple moves in next door.
Here's the thing about that property.
We had this big yard, and the yard spilled over.
There wasn't a fence there or anything.
It was just grass right under the next yard.
You could just step, I'm in her yard. I'm in my yard.
I'm in your yard.
She had this shed that was one foot over on our property the whole time.
We didn't care.
We would mow her part of the lawn, actually.
We had this marker.
We didn't even know, but we were mowing.
They had a tiny little lawn.
It was pathetic.
It was almost as bad as the yards in Phoenix.
It was just a tiny little lawn.
When we'd mow, we'd mow over to this point,
and it was part of her lawn,
and then she would mow the rest of her lawn
because we're not going to mow.
Look, I love my neighbor, but I'm not going to mow your lawn.
No, if you need me to mow your lawn,
I'm sure Pastor Thompson will do it for you.
That's the way it was for years.
Then this new couple moves in.
I go out one summer afternoon.
I mow my lawn up to where I've always mowed it.
This guy, and I'm not bitter about it,
this guy goes out there, and he mows the lawn.
I'm not kidding.
He leaves a four-inch-wide strip of grass this tall.
He's like, I'm only mowing to there.
Now what?
I'm just like, man, I just wanted to go over there
and be like, listen, new guy.
Here's how it works around here.
I've been mowing this lawn for a long time.
This is where we mow to.
Neighbor, right?
I had to fight that.
I could get in the flesh.
This is just one example.
You probably could think of one, too,
where your neighbor or some coworker,
maybe even a spouse, who knows,
or a sibling or a friend or someone at church
did something that just got to you.
You just thought about it day in and day out.
You're laying in bed just thinking about
what you're going to say to them,
how you're going to say it.
You're talking to your wife or your husband about it.
I'm sitting there with this.
We had a little bit of a Mexicali standoff
with that strip of grass.
I'm not going to lie.
It got tall.
You know when grass starts to bloom?
I think it got to the point where it's like,
I've got to mow the rest of the yard again.
I was like, well, I guess I'm the one mowing that strip.
I just did it.
You know what?
The portion of lawn that I mowed got that much bigger.
That was it.
But I walked around for just days.
I wanted to say weeks, but that's probably not true.
Just walking around fuming, angry,
hating my neighbor and my heart over this much grass.
Silly things like that.
Look, we have to love our neighbor.
It's a commandment.
If you're going to keep the main thing,
the main thing, you have to love God.
If you're going to do that,
you're going to love your neighbor as yourself.
That might mean having to just fire up the lawn mower
and just putting in that extra little bit of work
or having to put up with some stupid thing that they do
or they say something mean
or having to just extend an olive branch in some way.
Loving your neighbor, it sounds nice,
but it's not always the easiest thing to do.
You need to learn to love your neighbor as yourself.
Why?
Because your neighbor is made in the image of God.
Your neighbor is loved by God
and it takes effort to love both the Lord and your neighbor.
Did I have you go to 1 John 3?
If you're there, look at verse 16.
It says this,
Hereby perceive we the love of God
because He laid down His life for us
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
This just goes back to what I've been saying the whole time
in the sermon.
There's loving in word,
but then there's also loving in deed.
It actually takes effort to love people.
One of the examples I always think of is moving people.
Who here hates moving?
Don't you hate having to pack?
You know what's worse than that?
Moving somebody else.
You don't get the pleasure of unpacking it all
and putting everything in its place.
It's not a relief for you.
It's just like,
Hey, help me move all this stuff one Saturday afternoon,
and then that's it.
You can do it again later when I move again.
That's the worst feeling.
You know what's nice?
You're the one who needs help moving, isn't it?
I've had to move on my own more than once,
and I think I've learned to swallow my pride
and just ask for help from now on.
It wasn't easy, and that's a whole other story
that I don't have time for.
Keeping the main thing,
you're going to have to love the Lord.
How are you going to do that?
By just saying it?
By just saying, Oh, I love God.
The Bible says if any man loved God,
the same is known of him.
It's not because of the things he says.
That person says,
Look, you can tell if somebody loves God,
not by what they say, but by what they do,
by the deeds that they perform.
You know you've got somebody who loves God
when they're willing to go soul winning,
whenever they get their soul winning in,
and they don't care whether the neighborhood's receptive or not.
They're just glad to go and serve God anywhere.
They just want to go and do what God has commanded them to do
and preach the gospel to every creature.
Here's the thing.
That's the greatest deed in this world today,
and I'm going to wrap it up here,
but that's the greatest need in the world today,
is to preach the gospel.
I know everyone in this room here understands that.
I know this is a soul winning church
who's got the main thing down,
loving God and loving their neighbors,
preaching the gospel,
but I'm here to encourage you this afternoon
to keep the main thing the main thing.
It would be a real heartbreak to hear,
Pastor Thompson, if he ever invites me back up here again
for some reason,
and says, Hey, come check out the church
and say, Hey, well, great, let's go solo,
and oh, we don't do that anymore.
That would break my heart.
That would be a sad thing.
Is that possible?
It could happen.
You know, if we don't keep the main thing the main thing.
The greatest need in this world today is preaching the gospel.
They need to hear it.
If you would, go over to Psalms, chapter 126.
Jesus said in Luke, chapter 13,
this guy asked him,
he said, Then send one unto him,
Lord, are there few that be saved?
You know, Jesus could have just given him the short answer.
Yep.
Yes.
That's correct.
Affirmative, right?
He said, Lord, there are few that be saved.
He said unto them, Strive to enter into the straight gate,
for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter
and shall not be able.
It's an interesting answer that he gives.
He says, Many shall say,
well, I say unto you,
will seek to enter in.
We don't want to get this calloused,
hardened idea that,
you know, the whole world's just going to hell in a handbasket.
There's nothing we can do about it.
They just want to go to hell.
You know, that's not what Jesus said.
He said, There are many that will seek to enter in
and shall not be able.
Look, I'm telling you, there's people out there today
that want to enter in.
They're seeking.
You know, if someone would just come and knock on their door,
talk to them at work,
talk to them at the next family function,
just that would take some of these people aside
and look for them,
they would get saved.
And they would be able to enter in.
So we need to keep reaching the lost, the main thing.
You know, keep the main, keep reaching the lost,
the main thing in this church.
I'm glad it's the main thing in this church.
Loving the Lord, loving the lost, reaching,
you know, I see your map over there.
I noticed that when I walked in.
I love watching it, walking to churches like that.
That's like the first thing I look for.
Where's the map?
And I see the lines getting shaded in.
I'm like, yeah, all right.
This church has got the main thing, the main thing.
Loving the Lord, loving the lost.
But keep it that way.
You know, don't accept cheap substitutes for soul winning.
Because that's what I found out.
You know, when I get in a soul winning church,
why are so many other churches out there
that are forsaking soul winning,
independent fundamental Baptist churches
that used to do the old fashioned door-to-door
soul winning, like we do.
What happened to them?
They accepted cheap substitutes.
Why did they accept a cheap substitute?
Because it's easier.
It's a lot easier.
And you know what?
And there's other motivations involved too.
But don't accept cheap substitutes.
Like street preaching.
I'm sorry, it's a cheap substitute.
I'm just going to go stand on the street corner
and just yell at passersby.
And just get on a megaphone and just run my mouth.
I remember when I first moved to Phoenix
and I got a job delivering pizzas at night
on Southern, well, you don't know the streets,
so it doesn't matter.
On this busy street corner, right?
There was every Friday night at the same time,
this guy would just go out there
Like, you can't even hear him.
You can't even make it out.
You're like, what?
What did he say?
Now the light's green.
You've got to go.
But he feels like, oh, I'm just serving the Lord.
I just love God.
I love the lost.
I'm out here every Friday night.
And he had all these, it was like a Pentecostal church.
I think they had all these people behind him
just going.
You.
You're going to be like, whatever man.
Well, that's serving God.
That's a cheap substitute.
Anyway, I don't want to go off on that.
How is it about another cheap substitute, politics?
People are just like,
oh, you know I think it's real important.
I'm glad you guys are evangelizing and doing that.
But it's also very important that we get involved
with our politicians.
That we go and we go to the State Capitol
telling me about how he there was this ministry in California like Golden State
College I don't know all the pastors like I'm sure I came in the names but
if I mentioned we might know some of the names the big-name pastors in
California they were involved you know in a wake America so who's ever
heard of a wake America no we got one person okay so I'm not making this
up right so this is a thing where they would go you like and they would
go to the Capitol you know and they would establish relationships with
the state representatives they would go there and say can I pray for your
family is there anything you need prayer for they would just go in you know
before we started asking or try to influence policy we go in there just
establish relationships well how did that work out for you in California today
how's that going doesn't seem like it's working out too good because you
know like Pastor Thompson told us this morning I mean they're
legalizing pedophilia pretty much you know or they're saying hey you can't
gather than more in crowds or whatever they're they're saying no more no more
singing in church you know how you know how is that working out influencing
the state legislature it's a cheap it's a cheap substitute for what really
matter it's a cheap substitute for what the main thing it might look good
it might feel good he might might be able to brag about it to somebody
years later or whatever I used to go you know or do this and do that well
how's your soul winning well you know and the same guy it was funny
because he's criticizing our church for not having a missions program he's like
kind of shirt church hobbies like well you know the fact you guys on the
missions program is a negative I wanted to like you never seen that meme or the
guys like pulling the face open I want to like grab just be like look at
the map look at the road on the map there's your missions program look at
the bulletin missions program missions program missions program unless we're
crossing an ocean apparently doesn't count and this is but this is the
type of mentality it's out there people that are just want to have cheap
substitutes for what really matters the main thing they say the main thing
let's focus on this thing look and if people want to go beat their head on the
wall at the state capitol be my guest I'm not against that you know you can come
to come to church and that's your thing but you better be out there soul
winning better be making the main thing the main thing how about this
one don't focus on unreceptive people and reprobates I won't repreech the
reprobate you know certainly got this morning we all get that why don't
preach the reprobates because they can't get saved because God has given them up
he's given them over he's given up we've all read Romans one if you're
struggling with that doctrine see Pastor Thompson he'll explain it real
well but how about focusing on unreceptive people even those of us
that go out soul winning we can fall prey to this you ever get that soul
winning partner it's never us right it's always our soul winning partner
you really guys like knocks on the door it's just like when you've been
doing it a while you kind of get a sense of people hopefully you could tell
that they're not interested like within two seconds they're kind of like
they thought you were grubhub or something like that you know they're
thinking you're like bringing a seven-layer burrito and they're like
oh that's great the door starts to slowly do this like clothes and then
the guys just like they're not interested you could tell pretty quick
when people are interested but some people they just want to you know well
you know they just want to keep beating their head against the door you know
move on to the next one because there's people that would that are
seeking that would enter in if someone would I'm more interested in
finding that guy they I'm trying to like just you know beat some guy who's
not interested over the head with it just move on to the next door or how
about this one people who want to take these big trips to Israel when you
talk about the biggest waste of time don't take an admissions trip to
Israel probably would be most unreceptive place in the world where
people are there there who said his blood be on us and our children who
spit when they say the name Jesus who don't a news flash they don't believe
the Old Testament either well we're gonna go we're gonna teach them out of
the Old Testament good luck with that and if that's your thing you know go
ahead but it's it's a waste of time you know if they're not gonna receive
the if they have not the son they have not the father
says but people want to go there spend thousands of dollars to reach people that
are incredibly unreceptive that's not keeping the main thing the main thing
that's a cheap substitute why so you can take the photo and you could tell
people how you went to Israel a decade ago to try to reach the Jews
because we know everybody just loves the Jews people are falling all over
themselves today to do things that are just not the main thing that are not
you loving God you know you loving God is going to place where you know
and reaching people that you know no one's going to be like oh you wouldn't
talk to your neighbor about the Lord oh man you're just the greatest Christian
ever you know that's the main thing though isn't it that it you know but
people don't want to do that because there's no glory in it but here's the
thing you know there's no glory in earth but there's glory in heaven you
know and you know we're gonna get to heaven one day and we might not have
all the you know the pictures of us in Israel you know we're not we're
definitely not gonna have the ministry to the homos you know we're not
gonna have you know all these worldly you know accomplishments per se but we
get to heaven there's gonna be some crowns there's gonna be some precious
jewels given to some people you know and people that are in it for the right
reasons they're gonna I mean they're gonna have bucket loads there's
there's gonna be like a wheelbarrow of people running around with just
tons and tons of jewels right and I always think about this
illustration you know there's because the Bible says the first Corinthians
that you know the day shall declare every man's work of what try well what
sort it is for the day shall declare first shall be tried by fire right and
some people's works are gonna burn up you know the wood the hay and the
stubble and that I believe just represents you know the things that we
have to do to live life you know go to work those are things that are
useful and necessary but they're not gonna yield any eternal rewards you know
God's not gonna you're not gonna get to heaven God's be like did you do
it did you put any overtime in at work well you paid your bills you took
care of your family or you taught your kids and you did all these things well
let me just you know load it on you you know that's not the case I believe
that's just the things we all ought to be doing even the world does that
even unsafe people figure that out well you know the things that remain
the gold silver and precious stone those are the works that we do for
the Lord you know and part of that is the the the precious the precious
stones are the souls and we're gonna get there and if we're making the
main thing the main thing in the Christian life you know we're gonna have some
eternal rewards but think about this is an illustration I think about often I
heard this in a church service once there's gonna be some Christians who
get to heaven and all their works gonna be burned up all of it no precious
stones no silver no gold all they're gonna have for all of eternity is a
pile of ash I think about that often you know think about that you're gonna
get to heaven brother so-and-so is gonna just running by all these jewels
sister so-and-so's just crowns just stacked up just jewels hanging
everywhere where'd you get those Oh down there on earth when I went out
soul-winning Wednesday when I went out soul-winning Thursday went out
soul-winning Friday you know whenever just weekend week out just being
faithful certain Lord oh I didn't even know you did that yeah well now you
know what do you got there oh just some ash you're gonna be looking
around cuz now you got to carry ash around for eternity you know just
like don't sneeze you know don't move too fast just like you know I only got
this much like you better hope there's ziplock bags in heaven you know for
you to keep your rewards around you know your rewards don't accept cheap
substitutes don't focus on unreceptive people because they're
gonna rob you let no man rob you of your reward you know keep the main
thing the main thing loving the Lord and loving souls in this church and in
your personal life you know don't grow weary and well-doing don't just go
through the motions without a burden did I have you go to Psalm 126 you say
that sounds good you know I want to do that you know and but here's and
I'm going to do that but here's here's the danger you know we say we
determine say look I'm gonna be there at the soul-winning times I'm marking
my this thing down I'm gonna be faithful I'm gonna I'm gonna you know mark my
Bible I'm gonna learn how to go soul-winning I'm in it for the long
haul but here's the dangers even if you'd start doing that a lot of times
people can just end up losing a burden and just kind of going through
the motions just kind of dragging themselves out there hello it's time to
go soloing again and look I know sometimes that's just part of life you
know we have to characters what carries us through the highs and lows but look
at Psalms 126 verse 5 he says they that so in tears shall reap enjoy
say man I've been going soul-winning for weeks I just having I'm saying
you know it might be that's unreceptive you know but what maybe it's because you
know you don't really have a burden maybe you're not maybe you're not
sowing in tears well you know you're not going out of the burden on your
heart he says he that goeth forth when weepeth bearing precious seed shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with them that's
a promise in the Word of God if you go out you know and you have a tear
in the eye you know so in tears and you're weeping you have a burden for
people you're going to come again doubtless rejoicing and it's gonna
change your attitude and you're gonna bring sheaves with you you're gonna get
to heaven and say look at the souls I saved for you Lord but I fulfilled
the commandment you gave me to go out and reach the lost so it might be
that maybe the reason why we're not getting people saved like we used to
is because maybe we just kind of fallen into a rut where we're just kind of
going through the motions and that you know that can happen or people are
just going out there and just like well because here's the thing if you go to a
door or you talk to somebody and you're just going through the motions they can tell it's just it's just it's part
of our nature you we could all tell when we meet somebody whether they you
know like us or not or if they're upset or impatient like we without
even them even saying it I hear it all the time people like brother
Corbin you okay all right I guess I need to work on that right but they'll
sense that at the door too you go to the door and you're like I just I'm
just here cuz I have to be because you know the pastor's watching or you
know I got I just got to go through the motions after all I love God so I might
as well be here right the people that are gonna notice that they're gonna be
like this guy doesn't care about me this guy doesn't care I remember and
this is you know I've seen this so many times in my own life I've been
I'll be on a drive down to Tucson and to go do the midweek soul waiting
and hold the services down there and just start thinking about man it's dry
so long you know it's my job though I got to do it and don't get me
wrong I love my job okay it's great you know it's a real privilege to be able
to do what I do but I was listen I remember I don't know what summer was
but I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Anderson and he was talking
about how about this exact thing about when you go to a door and if you
just you don't have a burden for the people that you're trying to reach
they'll tell right away and the first door we knocked when I got there
this guy comes the door I mean he's just tattooed just covered just real
rough neighborhood you know he starts to tell me a story and he's like he
just got out of jail you know and a lot of people you know a lot of people just
be like well this guy you know well good is he gonna be for the church he's
not gonna profit us anything he's never gonna come to church you know
but that I thought about what pastor Anderson I've been preaching about you
know having a burden for people when you go out there go out there with a
broken heart for the lost you know and I had that by the time I even got
to that guy's door I'd already you know prayed got my heart right and that
guy could tell you know what that guy got saved and that guy came to church I
don't know if was that night and he came to a couple services you know and
it praise the Lord for that you know but what if I just showed him be
like you know it's sometimes it's just all over our face I mean people
can just take one look at us and be like you need to eat something's wrong
with you he's saying here look so in tears you know go forth and with weeping
and bearing precious seed God's giving you the seed you know you just have to
go with the right attitude and you will come again rejoicing bringing your
sheaves with him and saying well you know what that's kind of where I'm
at you know I've been trying to keep the main thing love God serve him but I
just feel like you know I've been in the soul winning church and I've been
soul winning faithfully and I've kind of gotten in a rut and if that's you
you know I would challenge you to go break your heart heart if you have a
hard heart you need to break it and I'm telling you there's nothing that'll
break your heart quicker than preaching to the poor and that's one
thing I learned you know preaching to the to the Native Americans you know
I'm sure there's gonna be our see our fair share of it where we're
going you know to the Yakima reservation but what I've seen on the
Navajo I mean it's it's rough people that are you know thirty percent of them
don't have running water they live without electricity you know a large
portion of the population multi-generational housing where
grandma is living there with you know several generations great grandma kids
the other grandma you know all crammed in one house I mean when this COVID
thing broke out they were decimated they had the highest per capita rate
than New York that anywhere in the world for a while I mean just tore
through that place you know but here's what I'm trying to say is this you
know if you have a hard heart go to the one of these places go find some run
down poor you know just drug-infested place that nobody else cares about in
Vancouver or Portland or wherever find some reservation find some you
know going to the highways the hedges compel the bad to come in go find out
go find those people and care about the people that nobody else cares about
and you'll start to see things and hear things I mean some of the best you
know some of the best so I never did was like the some of the worst
reservations a white white the White Mountain Indian Reservation I remember I
went out there one time and took a big team out there and went soul-witting
and I knocked four doors and every someone got saved at every one of those
doors and that was like my whole afternoon this most receptive soul
winning I've ever done but I tell you what at those four doors I saw some
things that you know just would break your heart the first door knock the
mom that was just proceeded to tell me about how you know her her one son
committed suicide her husband committed suicide and just recently her other son
you know got beaten to death literally on the rez I mean I and I could tell
you story after story that I've heard on these reservations like that
so if you have the heart you know if you're going through the motions you
know you're keeping the main thing the main thing but you know what maybe
maybe the love is starting to wane a little bit go on one of these trips
you know you know motivate yourself to get involved go on a mission strip
something go go somewhere else in the city go find somebody the town
trodden you know the rejected of this world that nobody else cares about and
love them and get your focus off yourself go over to math or go to Luke
chapter 7 I'll wrap up here real quick but Luke chapter 7 this always
blows me away whenever I read this you know John the Baptist is in jail and
he's doubting whether or not Jesus is the Christ right and he sends his
disciples asking to ask him whether or not he is him because he's kind of like
if you're the Christ why am I in jail you know sometimes in life things don't
go the way we expect them right and Jesus tells them in verse 22 then
Jesus answering said to them go your way and tell John what things you have
seen and heard how that the blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed
the death here and the dead are raised look if we did any one of those
things we'd all be blown away look if we go on the Yakima reservation you
people start raising the dead I'm gonna be wondering if you're not you
know possessed or something that's gonna be I've never seen I'm not expecting
that right but that would blow you away wouldn't it that was the type of
thing that was happening back then the lame were walking lepers are
cleansed I mean these are just these amazing miracles that are taking place
in his ministry and we would love to see that but look at the last thing he
mentions to the poor the gospel is preached so you have just these lists
of these amazing miracles that any one of us would love to be to behold let
alone perform but at the very end he says but the poor have the gospel
preached I don't think that's a coincidence that he you know he puts
the lumps that in there you know it's a miracle when somebody cares enough
about the poor to go preach them and got the gospel he's saying it's a
miracle that there's people that have you know enough humility enough of
a burden enough of a law for God people who have kept the main thing
the main thing to go out and reach people that nobody else cares about
it's a miracle it's on par with raising the dead you know Jesus said you
shall do greater works than these and he's talking in terms of quantity right
and you know it's just funny because sometimes people get so caught up and
wanting to you know cast out demons or do some you know they want to see
some supernatural thing you want to see some supernatural thing go to
somebody and ask me if you could preach them the gospel open and have
the Holy Spirit work on their heart and then believe it it's supernatural
it's otherworldly it's of God it's a miracle and that was Jesus
encouragement for John the Baptist he was doubting his heart was getting
hard and he wasn't sure he said well you know what the poor have the
gospel preached you know if you're going through the motions if you're
trying to keep the main thing but you know the love is waning maybe
you should go preach to the poor maybe go find that person that nobody
else cares about so we need to learn tonight to keep the main thing
the main thing and what's the main thing to love the Lord how are you
gonna do that by loving your neighbor I mean Jesus said there it's like neck
and neck they're right there I mean if you had to take like a photo
finish you know loving the Lord is just you know that that that horse nose
or tooth you know like just barely won the race right they're just right
there these are the two great commandments on which all the other
commandments hang but here's the thing you know we need to keep that the
main thing in this church because I'm telling you this wouldn't be the first
church to forsake soul winning it happens all the time go over to
Revelation chapter 2 and will in there in Revelation chapter 2 I mean all the
way back and even the Apostle John's day it was already a pot it was
already happening I'll begin reading in verse 1 it said on the angel the
Church of Ephesus at Revelation chapter 2 verse 1 right these things
saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in
the midst the seven golden candlesticks I know thy works and thy labor and
thy patience how thou canst not bear them which are evil and has tried them
which say their apostles look you know we got some of that down here right I
mean I saw that this morning how you cannot bear them which are evil I mean
there was some evil out there in the front door and we couldn't bear it you
know I had to see that abomination out there twerking
you know leotard or whatever swearing I just it seems like I will not vex my
righteous soul at this I couldn't stand that which is evil like we can get
that down you know what that's kind of the easy thing to do is it really
that hard to hate wicked people I mean it's like it's second nature I mean I
understand there are people out there struggle with it and don't understand
that they should but look he says look I know your works I know your
labor I know your patience I know you can't bear them what your evil and
has tried them which say their apostles you know exposing the people
that you know are putting themselves out there to be something that they're not
and that's a whole nother sermon and has found them liars and look at verse
3 and has born has patient for my name's sake thou has labor and has not
fainted look they're doing the work they're not they haven't fainted there
you know they're they're they're laboring they're not fainting and he
goes on a verse sources nevertheless I have someone against thee because thou
has left thy first love it's like you're doing all the works but where's
the love you know that's something we need to he's saying I have somewhat
you know it's concerning to him and look if that's you tonight you know if
you're going through the motions you know you're showing up the sewing
times but the love isn't there you know you should you should understand
that God has somewhat against that and you need to check that he says in verse
5 remember therefore if once our phone and do the first works you know some
churches they just need to get back to that this would I mean that's what
the Ephesians they're they're on the brink of doing just you know not
doing the first works which is what reaching the lost I mean the first
work is the thing that the first works is the last things that Christ
commanded us when he left you know when he when he began to ascend in
front of his disciples and slowly go up into heaven you know you know I don't
think he just did that because you know he wanted to look cool right I mean
wouldn't it be cool if just all of a sudden like let's wrap up the sermon
and I just started to levitate you know you know if I did that you you
might have tuned me out the rest of the whole up the sermon at this
point but if I did that you would remember every word that I said as
I began to like push up against the ceiling right you know I hit my head
remember brother Corbin came that one time you would remember for years
you're a decade ago brother Corbic you had to preach and when he's closing it
started again to levitate up towards the ceiling remember what he said
and you could probably tell me verbatim you know why Jesus did that he did
that when he left because he wanted us to remember what he said and what
did he say he said go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature that was that was the last thing he said and that's the first
work so there's one there's one thing I want you guys to do there's one
thing that you're here to do that's the love thy neighbor you know love me
love the Lord thy God and to love thy neighbor as thyself you know you
wouldn't be that this wouldn't be the first church that first that that
forsook soul winning I don't I don't foresee it happening but it's a
possibility I mean it could happen at any church you know and you wouldn't
be the first person who's who's love for the lost waxed cold you know if
you if you if you stop soul waiting you just you know kind of fall out and
yeah get out of church and just go back to the world you wouldn't be the
first person to do that I mean that's what Paul said a tit of Demas anyone
most people knew Demas says he said Demas hath forsaken me having loved
this present world what was demon Demas his problem his love he left
his first love he went back to the love of the world he didn't keep the
main thing the main thing so that's all I wanted to do tonight is just
encourage you to not get distracted by everything that's gone on this year
don't get distracted about the things that are probably going to take place in
the next few weeks don't get distracted by the nature of life itself
don't get distracted to the point where it takes you away from keeping
the main thing the main thing loving the Lord and loving your neighbor and
reaching losses go ahead pray