This chapter that I'd like to focus on is really toward the end, beginning in verse number 14,
where God describes the children of Ephraim and Manasseh, the children of Joseph.
Basically, they don't feel like they have enough land.
I mean, they don't feel like their inheritance is big enough in the Promised Land.
They've been multiplied. In fact, you know, Ephraim was the largest tribe of the twelve tribes of Israel.
They had the most people.
It was the most huge tribe by population, and so they said,
why should we have the same lot as these others?
We need more room. We need more land. We want more space. We want to possess more.
Now, just to bring you up to speed on the story quickly,
of course, the children of Israel were evil and treated of the Egyptians.
They were slaves down in Egypt.
They were in bondage, cruel bondage, bitter servitude, the Bible says,
and they had task hats that beat them with a whip and made them work and slave all day,
and of course, God sent them to deliver Moses, who brought them out of Egypt
and led them out with a mighty hand and with God's outstretched arm,
parted the rivers of the Red Sea.
They walked across on dry land.
They wandered for forty years in the wilderness because of their sin,
and then finally, they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land
that God had promised to their fathers four hundred years ago.
Now, they're in the Promised Land. Now, what does this represent?
Of course, these things are symbolic of the fact that when they applied the blood on the doorpost back in Egypt,
that was a picture of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
When they crossed the Red Sea, that was a picture of baptism, being separated from the world.
Letting the old Steven Anderson, this is what I do, I got baptized,
you know, the old Steven Anderson, I'm saying, is dead, and I'm going to rise up out of the water,
and just as Christ was raised today, I should walk in newness of life.
Now, not everybody does, but we certainly should, after salvation, be baptized and then walk in newness of life.
And so then they're in the wilderness, and they cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land,
which represents the victory, the victorious Christian life,
the life where God's power is evident, where you're winning the great victories,
where you're conquering the enemy.
And so here we see, they're in the Promised Land,
we've already been through Jericho and all these different battles,
but they come to a point where they say, look down, if you look at your Bible, you're in chapter seventeen,
look at verse fourteen, it says,
They're saying, we've been blessed up to this point, that's what hitherto means,
God has blessed us, God has multiplied us, God has brought us into a land that we never thought we could inherit,
our fathers didn't even believe it, they all had to die in the wilderness,
and a new generation would have to grow up that would have the vision to enter this land.
Well here we are, God's blessed us, it's been great, but we're not satisfied.
Praise God that they weren't satisfied, praise God that they wanted to do more,
that they wanted to conquer more, that they wanted to have more territory for the great Kingdom of God.
You see, many times in our lives, we can become complacent.
Who's ever heard the word complacent?
Complacency, you see, there are certain words that have the same meaning,
but one of them is a positive word, and one of them is a negative word.
Like you could say, oh, she's so stubborn, that's bad, right?
Or you could say, boy, she's very determined, you know?
Or, oh, he's so opinionated, you know, that's usually a negative term,
but wow, he really stands his ground, he's really firm.
You see what I mean? You could use words that are the same.
Like, for example, here's the word skinny, has a negative connotation,
or slim, has a good connotation, you know, they basically mean similar things.
Well, see, here we have a word satisfied, that sounds good,
but complacency, just in case you're not familiar with the word, because it's not a viable word,
complacency is when you're satisfied to the point where you're lazy.
I mean, you're satisfied where you don't want to grow anymore,
you don't want to do anything else, you don't want to push for anything more,
you don't want to go to higher ground, you want to just stay where you're at,
because you're just kind of satisfied with who you are, and what you are.
Complacency is wrong, and you see, here in this chapter, we have people who are not complacent.
They're saying, we want more length, we want to grow more,
and I want to preach today a sermon that's a very different sermon,
but I want to preach a sermon that's just specific to our church,
called, Taking Faithful Word Baptist Church to the Next Level.
That's what I'm preaching on this morning. How are we going to take this church to the next level?
You say, well, God's blessed us! I mean, look, we went from meeting in a living room,
we went, you know, Brother Healy was here back then,
when we were in the living room, we were in the early days,
we had a very small number of people, and when you came, Brother Healy,
that was the biggest Sunday we'd ever had.
And we didn't have another Sunday that big for a while, okay?
I don't know if you know that, okay?
So you probably think, well, you seem to be doing pretty well.
You know, it was rough in those early days.
And I'm going to tell you something, God has brought us a long way.
I mean, we've got more people going out soul winning than ever before.
We've got more people that can literally, I mean, after the service,
if there were a visitor here that were not saved,
I mean, we have so many people in this church that can take them aside
and win them to Christ with the Bible and know how to do it,
because they've done it before a lot.
Hey, we've grown as a church. God's blessed us.
We've seen many hundreds of people saved, many, many people baptized,
many people have learned how to be a soul winner,
many people have grown in the Lord, but we ought not to get complacent.
We ought to decide, hey, it's time for this church to move to the next level.
That's what I'm talking about this morning,
because I feel like we might be getting to a point where we're kind of stagnating.
I don't want that to happen.
Let's not get too comfortable. Let's not stagnate where we are.
Let's move forward. Let's take it up to the next level.
Let's kick it up a notch. Hey, let's get this church where God wants it to be.
You say, well, you know, we talked to other people that are starting churches,
and you know, they're about the same place here.
That's not the standard. Our standard should be of excellence.
Our standard should be the book of Acts. Our standard should be the Bible.
Hey, we ought to be doing more. We ought to be reaching more people.
Hey, this church ought to grow, not just numerically, but spiritually, but individually,
and then that will lead to growing numerically when we're out knocking the doors like never before,
getting people saved like never before, getting them baptized like never before,
and also practicing what the Bible calls confirmation,
confirming the souls of those that we want in the Lord,
teaching them the Bible, teaching them to be a soul winner, dragging them to church,
getting them under the preaching, getting them where they can grow.
Let's not get complacent. Let's not get comfortable. Let's want to do more.
Let's look down at Joshua 17, and we're going to see the problem.
I was thinking about this. You know, here's just an example.
Brother Dave, I mean, Brother Dave's been coming to church for a year and a half now, okay?
Brother Dave, did you think a year and a half ago that you would be to the point,
that you would have grown to the point where you're going soul winning several hours a week,
and if I were to, you know, collapse and be dragged to the hospital right now,
Brother Dave could come up here and finish the service.
I mean, Brother Dave ran the service while I was in Europe a couple weeks ago.
Brother Dave can preach. He can lead the singing. He can go soul winning. Hey, that's growth, okay?
And this is one example. I could pick other people in this room that have grown tremendously.
I mean, they're unrecognizable from the way their life was when they first came to this church
and got under the preaching, and Jesus Christ began to do a great work in their lives.
But let me tell you something. Brother Dave, you're not done growing, Brother Dave.
You have not arrived yet a year and a half later. You need to push it to the next level.
And that's just one example, but anyone else in this room, I could say the same thing.
Don't get complacent. We need to grow, but look down at your Bible at verse number 16.
Actually, I'm sorry, verse number 15. They just finished saying,
it's not enough for us. We want to do more.
And in verse 15, Joshua answered them,
If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country,
and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants,
if not Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
And the children of Joseph said, the hill is not enough for us.
And all the Canaanites that dwell in the valley, land of the valley, have chariots of iron,
both they who are of Beshian and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.
And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying,
Thou art a great people, and hast great power.
Thou shalt not have one lot only, but the mountains shall be thine,
for it is of wood, and thou shalt cut it down, and the outgoings of it shall be thine,
for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
He's saying, you are great people, he's saying to this tribe.
You are a great nation. You have done great works. You have great power.
God is with you. He says, you're right. It's not big enough for you.
You're not doing enough. You're right. You need more. You need to inherit more.
But he said, if you want to inherit more, you're going to have to cut it down yourself.
Did you notice that? It's not going to be handed to you on a silver platter.
He said, I know you're great. I know you fought the battles.
But if you want to go to the next level, you're going to have to cut it down yourself.
Nobody's going to give you cities that have already been built,
and a nice pasture that's already been clear cut of all the trees.
He said, you're going to have to go down there. You're going to have to fight for it.
You're going to have to want it. You're going to have to push yourself.
You're going to have to cut it down. You're going to have to build something for nothing,
if you want to have more. Nobody's going to hand it to you. Nobody's going to give it.
Hey, let me give you a newsflash. This church did not appear by itself one day.
This church is not here because of osmosis. It didn't just automatically,
all of a sudden, I don't know, the next thing I knew it was this faithful word back at the church.
Hey, there was a lot of prayer, a lot of door knocking, a lot of weeping, a lot of struggle,
a lot of study, a lot of work, a lot of soul winning that went into creating this church.
This church, first of all, was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago,
when Jesus Christ shed his blood for the church, Acts 20-28.
Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church.
Hey, it took the blood of Jesus Christ to build this church. It took the power of God.
Hey, do you think it was Pastor Anderson's slick, soul winning methods, and his salesmanship,
and do you think I went around with a briefcase and a slick hairdo, knocking on doors to start this church?
There was nothing smooth about it. I mean, hey, was there something smooth about the sermon?
No, there wasn't.
You see, building a church like this in 2008 is impossible. Did you hear me? Literally.
I mean, building this kind of a church that preaches against everything that our society stands for,
and calls it a sin, and names the sin, and goes up one side and down the other,
and says we're not going to compromise, we're not going to back down, we're going to stand up for what's right.
Hey, building this kind of church is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
And that's why this church exists right now against all the odds of everybody who said you'll never build it.
I mean, you know how many people looked at me in the face and said you'll never build a church like that.
You can't preach that way. You've got to change your imitations that you're handing out the door.
You can't preach like that. Tone this down. Tone that down. You'll never make it. You'll never pastor.
You'll never keep it. Hey, this church exists right now against what they said, against the naysayers,
against the compromisers, against the liberals. Why? Because God did it.
And I'm going to tell you something. If it's going to go to the next level, it's impossible.
But with God all things are possible. But God's not just going to hand it to us. You see what I'm saying?
Yes, God's going to do it. You say, well, God builds the church. Let's all sit back and watch him build it. Wrong.
God will build the church, but he says, I'll be with you. I'll build before you, but you're still going to have to fight the battle.
I mean, look at the whole book of Joshua. I'll be with you. I'm going to send the hornets before you.
I'll knock the walls down, but when those walls come down, you're the one who's going to have to run into that city
and start swinging the sword and win that battle. You see, when the walls fall down, the battle's not over, my friend.
God's got to do the supernatural. We've got to do everything that we can. And God says, I'll give you more land.
How big do you want to be? How big do you want this church to be?
Do you think there's a limit on this church's size? I don't.
I remember a man said to me one time, he said, well, you know, there's really only so many people
in any given town that are ever going to go to a fundamental Baptist church, just basic.
I mean, there's only so many people out there that want to come to some radical Baptist church.
I don't believe that for a second. I don't believe that there's any set number where we're going to max out
and say, well, that's as many people as are going to get saved, and aside from people being saved,
that's as many people as really want to come to a soul-winning church and a fundamental old-fashioned type of church.
I believe that the sky is the limit. I believe that we can win as many souls as we want to win.
That's what I believe. I mean, good night. There's four million people in this valley.
We're never going to get to all of them with the gospel. But I'm going to tell you something.
If this church continues to grow, and if we keep increasing the time on the streets, I'm going to tell you something.
We will knock every door in this valley. I mean, I'm telling you something.
I truly believe that someday this church will have knocked every single door in the valley.
You say it's impossible. It is very possible.
Hey, I'm 26 years old, and I'm not planning on rolling over and dying. I plan on being here for life.
I'm going to live here and die here, or be dragged away kicking and screaming,
and we're going to knock these doors and win the souls.
Hey, we've already knocked tens of thousands of doors, and by the way, we weren't selling Avon.
We weren't selling Bacchus.
And you know, most churches today, most fundamental Baptists, they've become an Avon lead,
a spiritual Hoover vacuum cleaner salesman. They're selling the eight-pound Orec.
They're going around saying, you say, what are you talking about? They're going around like this.
Hi, how are you doing? I want to invite you to church, and our church is great.
We've got programs for the kids. We've got this. We've got that. We've got the music. We've got the fun.
See you there. Bye. Hey, you forgot something. It's called preaching the gospel.
Hey, you forgot something. It's called for you to know for sure if you died today, you'd go to heaven.
What about all the people that are handicapped and can never even come to church?
Do you ever think about that? They need to get saved too.
What about all the people who are too shy to come to church that they've never been to and just walk in?
I mean, have you ever walked into a church where you didn't know anybody and it was your first time and you were by yourself?
That's an uncomfortable feeling. I mean, I'm not a shy person by nature, but I've walked into a church.
I'm by myself. I don't know anybody. I was very nervous. I was very uncomfortable.
You don't know what to do, you know. You don't know where to sit. You're a little nervous.
You don't know what's going to happen. Look, we win people to the Lord sometimes.
They've never been to church. They don't know what to expect. They're never going to come here.
But you know what? Thank God they're going to be in heaven because they didn't have to come to church to be saved.
My Bible doesn't say, come to church and thou shalt be saved.
Drive yourself to church and thou shalt be saved. Come down the aisle in a church service and thou shalt be saved.
Be baptized and thou shalt be saved. Live a good life and thou shalt be saved.
My Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Hey, the word is nigh thee. Say not in thy heart, who shall ascend into heaven?
That is to bring Christ down from above, or who shall ascend into the deep?
That is to bring up Christ again from above. But let's say that the word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thy heart that God is raised in the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Hey, do that in your house. We can do that at the door. We can do that out in the streets.
It doesn't have to be in some temple made with hands. It doesn't have to be, well, come to church with me so you can get saved.
Come here with me. Let's go talk to him. Let's go there.
No, the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.
That is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thy heart that God is raised in the dead, thou shalt be saved.
God forbid that faithful word at Baptist Church will ever become this knocking doors, inviting people to church,
handing out a bunch of flyers kind of a church. Help us all.
When I'm not going to go out and hand out a bunch of flyers all day,
if I wanted somebody to go hand out a bunch of flyers, I'd just hire somebody to do that.
I'd pay some teenage kid on a bicycle to go around handing out a bunch of flyers.
You don't have to be filled with the Holy Spirit to hand out a flyer.
You don't have to memorize the Bible to hand out a flyer, but you know what?
You've got to memorize the Bible to be filled with the Spirit of God to win somebody to Christ.
And so that's what I want to do with my time, and that's what I want us to do as a church.
Hey, let's not change. You say, well, take it to the next level. We're going to have to compromise.
We're not changing. Yeah, I take that back. We are changing.
We're going to do more soul winning. Preach harder. Get meaner.
We're going to do more. That's the only way we're going to change.
Hey, we're pressing on the upward way. New heights we're gaining every day.
Still playing against one another. We're putting our feet on higher ground.
And so if we're going to take it to the next level in this church, it's not going to have my accident.
We're going to have to go cut it down ourselves. Yes, God's going to have to do it, for sure.
It's not even possible. It doesn't even make sense, but God can do it, but we're going to have to cut it down.
We're going to have to go in and fight the iron chariots. We're going to have to do something that's impossible.
How is our church going to grow if you don't grow?
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3.18,
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.
I mean, God is commanding us to grow. Did you hear that?
He's saying, grow, grow, grow in grace, grow in knowledge, learn more, do more.
Now, He says in 1 Peter chapter 2, you don't have to turn there.
You say, well, I'm just kind of a brand new believer.
The Bible says, Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings,
as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, why, that you may grow thereby?
The purpose of reading the Bible is to grow.
The purpose of coming to church and listening to the Word of God preached, you're going to get the milk, you're going to get the strong meat,
you're going to get a full seven course meal when you come to this church, you're going to get all the four food groups,
but the purpose of it all is so you can grow.
Eat the Bible so you can grow. Eat the preaching so you can grow.
Don't come to church for entertainment.
Don't come to church to do your time so you can mark it off and prove to all your relatives what a person you are,
because you can show up to church on Sunday morning and you please everybody and whatever.
Hey, come to church because you want to change, because you want to grow.
I need to change. You need to change. We need to grow. We need to be doing more.
Are you the same person that you were in 2007? Are you the same person you were in 2006, 2005?
Are you the same again and again? You need to be growing.
Can you imagine if my kids stayed the way that they are right now for the next 20 years?
That would be terrible.
That would be a stunted growth. You'd say something is wrong with this child.
He still looks like he's three years old and he's 30. Something's wrong with him.
We need to see a doctor. We need to get something fixed.
We need to find out what the problem is.
Some of you need to go to a spiritual doctor and get checked out.
You've got a lack of growth hormone. You've got an underactive thyroid.
Hypoactive thyroidism. You need to get checked out.
Hey, you've got a problem. It's a sickness. It's an illness.
Because a person who's healthy is growing.
Now, unless you're fully grown, but I don't think any of us is fully grown.
I'm talking about spiritually now. We're still all growing.
I know I'm a young person. I'm not that young. I have finished growing.
I just finished growing a couple of years ago, so just chill out. I'm not growing anymore.
But spiritually, I am growing.
If you're not growing and you're not fully grown, which you're not and I'm not, something's wrong with you.
You need to change your diet. Some of your diet is probably stunning your growth.
Like your steady diet of TV. That stuff will stunt your growth.
All that rock and roll. What's wrong with it?
Well, try listening to the Word sometime. Listen to the garbage that's being pumped into your mind.
Oh, what's wrong with it? Well, because you're listening to it instead of singing praises to God,
and you don't have the right to spend your time that God bought with His blood
listening to a bunch of worldly, ungodly music when you ought to be.
If you want some music in your life, my friend, drive down the road and say,
This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all day long.
Praising my Savior as soon as I finish listening to Metallica.
Praising my Savior as soon as my Beatles record runs out.
Praising my Savior as soon as I'm done with Jennifer Lopez.
Praising my Savior when a commercial break comes on my favorite radio station.
No, praising my Savior all the day long. Oh, praise the Lord, for He is good.
For His mercy endureth forever.
Could we even say of these rock and roll stars, they're good?
No, God's good. They're a bunch of devils. They hate God. They hate Jesus.
I heard a song, I was walking out of it, and I haven't listened to rock music so I don't really know what the songs are.
I walked out of a job, I was doing a fire alarm job, and it was late at night and I finished up at 10 o'clock.
I walked out of the job, I was doing a fire alarm system, and it went back and beyond.
I walked out, and there was like a club or something in the same parking lot, maybe like a restaurant that had live music.
You know, I could hear the band just rocking out, it was like a live band, it was so loud.
And the lead singer, and this is a popular song because I remember hearing it on construction job sites and stuff,
I don't know what the band is or anything, but the chorus of the song just screams out,
Jesus Christ, deny your maker.
You know, I don't know what that means, but I listened to the words, I was like,
how can people listen to this and be a Christian?
And don't tell me, you name the group, see me after the service, you name the group, I'll tell you what's wrong with it.
Bring me the CD, I'll find something wrong with it.
Oh, you're so critical, you better know I'm critical.
You better know I'm critical of the world and the devil and sin.
You see, he that is spiritual judgeth all things, but he himself is judgeth of no man.
That's in the Bible, believe it or not.
It's also in the Bible, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye,
then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye.
Oh, I can't believe that you criticized somebody's music.
Oh, I can't believe you criticized it.
Hey, God said to judge.
He said, he that is spiritual judgeth all things.
He said, don't judge me critically.
He said, first remove it out of your own eye.
Let me ask you something.
Do you think anybody wants to walk around with a piece of wood in their eye?
Just think for a minute.
Let's say I walk up to you and he's got a big chunk of wood in his eye.
Well, I better just leave. I'm just going to leave it there.
Now look, let's say I said, look, baby, I've got this piece of wood in your eye.
Can I get it out for you? Hold still.
You know, let me get a screwdriver or something.
I'm just kidding.
But anyway, hey, if I'm trying to take that out of his eye,
am I trying to help him or hurt him if I take a piece of wood out of his eye?
I'm trying to help him.
Now, it's probably going to be a little bit uncomfortable while I'm taking it out.
You know, because I've got a piece of wood in my eye,
and sometimes you're just tempted to just leave it.
Because as soon as he's trying to move it, it's like, oh, I hit it.
Because I used to be drilling a lot of holes in wood and everything,
and sometimes you'd get sawdust in your eye or a piece of wood.
And, you know, sometimes you're tempted to just leave it there,
but, you know, you've got to get it out sometime.
So you've just got to bite the bullet and just...
And it hurts.
And especially when somebody else tries to do it.
That really hurts.
You know, hold still.
And they can't really feel, and they're poking you.
But you know what? You're going to feel a lot better when it's gone.
It'll all be over soon.
And sometimes you come to church and it's like,
you sit down and Pastor Anderson gets out a big pair of tweezers and says,
all right, open your eye.
Oh, no, not again.
Just last Sunday.
Hold still.
See, that's my job, okay?
And you know what? Nobody...
It's not to hurt you, it's to help you.
So you can see better.
So you don't get an infection.
So you don't hurt yourself there.
But you see, some of our growth is stunted by these things in our diet
that are hurting us, that are unhealthy.
We need a diet of the Bible and atoning and preaching.
That's what's going to help us grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
To Him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.
Look at Revelation chapter three, verse seven.
Revelation chapter number three, the last book in the Bible.
Revelation chapter three.
Revelation chapter three, the Bible reads in verse number seven.
This is talking to a church.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true,
he that hath the key of David,
he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth.
I know thy works.
Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
You don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 9, 37, it reads,
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into this harvest.
You see, the problem is not that God closed the door.
Hey, God has given us an open door that nobody is ever going to shut.
And God, not only that, has given us a harvest, a field that's white unto harvest,
and He says the harvest truly is plain.
Don't let anybody tell you that the harvest is not plenteous in Tempe, Arizona,
or in Phoenix, Arizona, or in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The harvest truly is plenteous.
The labourers are few.
That's the problem.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into this harvest.
How are we going to take this church to the next level?
Well, Acts 5, 42 says,
And daily in the temple and in every house,
they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
That's how we're going to take it.
How are we going to take it to the next level?
The same way we got here.
Just more of it.
How do we start this church?
Daily sowing.
That's how I started the church.
Now, I can't go sowing every day now, unfortunately,
because of my job and everything like that,
but I took some time off, three days off in fact,
and then I took a couple of light weeks where I only worked 40 hours,
and I did sowing every night after work for hours a day,
daily, daily, daily in the temple,
and in every house they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
We're going to get bigger the same way we started.
We just need more of it.
How is this church going to go to the next level?
This church is going to go to the next level
when you bump up your sowing.
When I bump up my sowing.
When you start bringing sowing into your day.
You say, wait a minute Pastor,
I only have so much time in my day.
I mean, I got to work, I got to do this,
and you know, your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
But I'm going to tell you something,
there are so many opportunities in our daily life,
like even if we didn't increase our time out door knocking,
I believe we should always be trying to push that.
But you know, if we were to just take the opportunities that are in our life,
I'm talking about at work, on the lunch break,
I'm talking about friends, family, co-workers, people we run into.
I mean, we all pass up so many opportunities.
I think if we would really just take every opportunity that we have,
we would see so many more people saved.
I mean, we would see such an increase.
And you know, our soul winning,
the number of people that we've had saved recently has increased.
And a lot of the reason why is because
my wife is constantly getting phone calls on the church phone
of people saying, I want my boss, the Lord.
And we chalk it up as another salvation to pay for that.
We've been getting these kind of calls, haven't we, in the last several months?
People will call us, I want my sister, the Lord.
I want my friend, the Lord.
I want my co-worker, the Lord.
I want my boss, the Lord.
Hey, that is going to help us go to the next level
when we take our personal soul winning to the next level
in our personal lives and out in order of our soul winning.
Let's have the balance of both.
Let's not replace one with the other.
Let's do both.
Let's have it both.
But not only that, we're going to take it to the next level
when we take our personal holiness to the next level,
our personal prayer life to the next level,
our personal Bible reading to the next level.
And not only that, but how hard are you really trying?
I'd like to ask you.
And I'm not accusing anybody.
How hard are you really trying to get people to come to this church?
You say, well, why are they trying to get people to come
to come to this church?
Because the people that come to this church learn how to be a soul winner.
Yes, they do.
They do.
Ask anybody who's been here for any amount of time.
They could win somebody.
They learn how to be a soul winner.
Why should I try to get people to faithful, warm up your church?
Because the people who come to this church know the Bible,
they learn the Bible.
Because the people who come to this church read the Bible cover to cover,
ask anybody who's been to this church for any length of time
The people who come to this church learn how to win souls personally and at the door.
That's why we've got to get them in church, because the labors are few, and we need more
labors, we need more people out soul winning.
It doesn't matter if every person in this room was soul winning day and night, we would
never knock all 4 million doors.
Not 4 million doors, because there's 4 million people, so it's probably about 1.75 million
doors, but still, we're not going to knock 1.75 million doors with the group of people
that are in this room.
But we've got to multiply, we've got to get our friends, we've got to find that baby Christian,
that newborn babe that's not being fed a blessed thing in their church.
They're not learning anything, I mean, maybe they don't even go to church, but they're
saved, hey, we've got to get them in here, we've got to get them under the preaching,
we've got to get them out soul winning with us, we've got to pair them up with somebody
and teach them how to win souls, and show them the joy of winning somebody else to Christ.
Hey, once they start doing it, they're not going to want to sell.
Once they start seeing people saved, once they see the power of God, hey, they're going
to want to keep going, and going, and going, and we're going to multiply and be fruitful.
That's God's plan.
What are you doing to try to get people into this church?
What are you doing to try to get your friends into this church?
What are you doing to try to get your converts into this church?
They need to come to church.
Hey, don't de-emphasize church.
It's the pillar and ground of the truth.
It's God's institution.
It's better than any program, it's better than any ministry, the local church is where
it's at, and we've got to get people here.
We've got to pack this place out with people.
Why?
So we can say, oh, we have this many people.
We're not trying to set any numbers or anything, we're trying to set numbers of people that
love God.
I don't care how many people are in the auditorium, I want to know how many people are out-souling.
That's the number that I'd really like to see grow.
I don't care what our attendance was.
I care how many people are soul-willing.
That's the attendance that I care about.
I'm not trying to fill this place up with a bunch of bodies, you know, I want to fill
it up with people who love God and want to win souls.
That's what we want to do, that's our goal, we've got to take this thing to the next level.
I'm sorry, maybe you're satisfied, maybe you're complacent, maybe you just like the half-tribe
of Manasseh and Reuben and Gad who said, we're just content to just stay over here on the
other side of the river and be small.
I'm not satisfied, I'm not content, I want to see this church do more.
This church is so necessary for this area, this church is so needed, if this church weren't
necessary, I'd go join some other church.
I believe that this church is vital.
I believe that this church is crucial, and I believe that it's crucial that this church
move to the next level and not to stay, yes, we're doing a lot, yes, we're getting people
saved, yes, we're having an influence, but it's not enough.
You say, when's it going to be enough?
It's never going to be enough.
It's going to be enough when we walk through the pearly gates and Jesus says to us, well
done, thou whom be it preserved.
Enter into thy rest, enter into the joy of thy Lord.
Until then, it's never going to be enough.
Don't ever get complacent, we can't get too comfortable, we can't get laid back about
this thing.
We have to attack it like we never had before.
Paul said this, brethren, I count on myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth, he said, I've got to stretch
myself as far as I can, I'm going to push myself in every way possible, and he said,
reaching forth under those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus.
You see, anybody knows, like for example, if you think about weight lifting, I used
to lift weights when I was a teenager, anybody knows that if you're going to grow, you have
to keep adding more weight to the bar, and sometimes you have to push yourself to where
you just cannot do anymore.
You have to push yourself to the very limit.
Have you ever heard of a spotter in weight lifting?
It's where one guy's laying on his back, and he's got the dumbbell, right, and he can't
even finish the final repetition, and so the spotter has to just help him a little
bit to do that final repetition, just because, you know, he could just do one less repetition
and call it good, but he knows if he wants to grow, he's got to push it to the max, and
so he's got to have that spotter, just to help him just push it a little further than
he's capable of.
God, you know, maybe it's a crude illustration, but you know, God's the spotter.
I mean, we're pushing, we're saying, oh, I can't do anymore, I can't do anymore, hey,
God is going to give you that last burst of strength to do more than you thought was possible,
and God is going to take this search beyond what's possible, or what's reasonable, or
what's expected.
He's going to take us to the next level, but we've got to give it everything we've got.
I mean, the spotter's not going to stand above us going like, he's not going to do the work
for you.
He's only there when you need him.
God says, you don't need me, fine, you know, I'll go do something else, huh?
But when you're in a, you've got to get yourself to the point where you need God, where you're
pushing it so hard that without that spotter, you're going to drop that thing and break
your ribcage.
You've got to be relying on God, you've got to be relying on him to give you that last
push, but he's not there to do the work for you, my friend.
He's there to help you finish the impossible, that's what he's there to do.
He's there to help you lift more than you've ever lifted before, more repetitions than
you've ever done before.
And so, yes, God's going to be the one that has to do it.
Personally, I'm going to make a little bit of a change in my life, okay?
Starting this week, I'm making a change.
I've been really struggling, you know, over the past few years just starting this church
and just struggling financially, just, you know, we've got child number five on the way,
you know, these kids cost money, right?
You know what I'm talking about.
It costs money having these kids, you know?
And so, we've got four kids, we've got number five on the way, you know, I've been really
struggling but, you know, I'm finally getting to the point in my job where I can pull back
a little bit from work.
Because, I mean, I've been working like a mad man for years and I'm talking about, you
know, 55, 60 hours a week in addition to pastoring, you know, and that's a pretty heavy work load.
But I'm getting to the point now where I can do this, I'm going to start doing, starting
this week, and we did extra soul-winning yesterday and everything, but starting this week, I'm
going to take one day a week off from my job, Saturdays, because right now I literally work
Monday through Saturday every week.
I'm going to take Saturdays off from my job and I'm going to work full-time for Faithful
Word Baptist Church on Saturdays, out solely.
You see, when I talk about working full-time, you know, and eventually it would be great
if I could pass this church full-time, you know, eventually if we grow to that point,
that would be a blessing.
But, see, when I talk about being full-time, I'm not talking about sitting in some office
somewhere in some hydrant tower.
I'm talking about, I'm going to start spending my Saturdays with my sleeves rolled up, eight
hours a day, knocking doors.
That's how I'm going to help this church go to the next level.
It's time to quit playing around with this thing, and I mean, you know, we haven't been
playing so far, that's not what I'm saying.
We've been working hard, we've been out knocking the doors, we spend, I spend several hours
a week, others spend several hours a week, others spend an hour or two, whatever they're
able to give, but you know what?
It's time to push it to the next level.
We don't know when a day is going to bring forth.
We don't know how much time we have, and even if we have all the time in the world, let's
push it like we've never pushed it before.
Is anybody understanding what I'm trying to express in this sermon right now?
Does anybody feel the way that I feel about this right now?
Is anybody understanding what God is trying to teach us in the Bible?
It's that we need to say, right now, we need to turn things up, we need to save ourselves,
we've gotten comfortable, maybe, we've gotten complacent, maybe, let's just say, let's give
it everything we've got.
Hey, let's, why don't we live, and with souls, and preach in the month of April as if it
were the last month that we were alive.
Let's just make April, let's just pull out all the stops.
Let's just go crazy.
Let's just read the Bible like crazy.
Let's go out and lay on our face somewhere and pray and thank God.
Let's go out and knock doors like we've never knocked them before.
Let's go cut down that wood.
Let's go clear cut.
I mean, look, if we're going to build a farm, but we're going to build it in the middle
of the forest because we're cutting it down.
Oh, you know, we just got to plow up the ground, you know, like these missionaries that we
read about a couple weeks ago, they go and they spend years just plowing up the ground.
They're not even giving the gospel, they're not winning souls.
You know what?
We're going to be like a machine.
We're going to cut down the trees, we're going to blow out the stumps, we're going to plow
up the ground, we're going to plant the seed and harvest the crops all in one fell swoop.
I mean, I'm serious.
In April, let's just push it, and then you know what, and then you say, oh, then in May
we'll relax.
In May, we'll turn it up even more.
Let's do it.
Hey, let's not just sit around.
Why sit here still?
Why are we idle?
Hey, let's go out and let's do something great for God.
And it's not planting flowers in front of the building, brother Edwards, right?
It's not, we're going to paint a new sign, we're going to do a new glossy tri-fold flyer
that we're going to mail out to everybody, telling them how many great ministries we
have.
You want to know about all our wonderful ministries, all our wonderful children's programs?
I just told you about them.
What do you have to offer for my kids?
What do you have to offer for outreach opportunity?
What kind of Sunday School classes do you offer?
We don't offer anything except the power of God.
That's what we offer at this church.
You come here, you will be empowered by the Holy Spirit and a soul winner.
Period.
I mean, if you get on board with us, you come to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday
night, three to thrive, you get in your Bible, you come out soul winning with me, hey, I'm
following Jesus.
He made me a fisher of men, you follow me, I'll make you a fisher of men.
Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ.
I'm saying, follow me, you'll learn how to catch men, henceforth thou shalt catch men.
Hey, we could be the soul winner, that's what we offer.
Oh, you know, oh, okay, so you mean you guys are meeting in like a strip mall, you mean
like it's not really a church building?
No!
No steeple, and there's no stained glass windows, and there's no PA system, because the pastor
knows how to scream and yell so loud, we don't need a PA system!
The day that we need a PA system is the day we're liberal, no, I'm just kidding.
We're going to build a special building that echoes the sound or something, you know?
Or maybe I'll just learn how to scream louder.
I feel like I'm yelling over these fans right now, anyway, but I'm going to tell you something,
we've got to do something more if we're going to be more.
If we're going to take it to the next level, and this church is at a point where we must
go to the next level.
You see, when it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to a church, you're either growing
or you're dying.
Period.
I mean, it's the same thing with business.
I mean if I said about my business right now, you know what, we're not going to grow anymore.
It's just, we're comfortable, and you know, honestly, about a year and a half ago, that's
what I said to my boss.
I said, you know, we're making a lot of money, let's just keep it the way it is right now.
I'm finally in a rhythm, it's finally comfortable, can we just keep it the way it is?
He said, no, we've got to grow, we've got to expand, you've got to do this, you've got
to do this.
And I didn't really understand why, but then I started to understand why.
Because I realized that if you stay with the status quo, you begin to die, it begins to
go downhill.
It's like you're swimming up a stream, as soon as you stop moving, you may not even
realize that you're floating backwards.
So you've got to be swimming harder and harder, and keep it up.
Because the moment that this church fails to grow, it begins to die.
And the moment that you fail to grow, you begin to be backslid.
Oh, it couldn't happen to me.
Well, it's happened to other people that have come to this church and backslid and quit
church.
Hey, it could happen to anybody.
Let him that nicked his hand up take heed to this, hey, it could happen to me.
As soon as I back off, as soon as I calm down, as soon as I relax a little and just get complacent
and get content and happy, hey, there's a fight going on.
Here are people without fight.
Hey, we went out soloing last night, and you know what, we had three people saved.
And I'm going to tell you something, I'm sick and tired of people saying, well, these
people that you went to learn aren't really saved.
It's such a bunch of baloney.
I mean, okay, we were out soloing last night, and we walk up to this door, we knock on the
door, a girl comes to the door, a 17-year-old girl, hi, how you doing, my name's Pastor
Steve Anderson, I'm from Faithful Word Baptist Church, just wanted to invite you to church,
do you go to church anywhere?
She said, no, not in a really long time, not really.
And I said, well, more important than going to church, if you were to die today, do you
know for sure you're on your way to heaven?
And she said, no.
And I said, well, can I just take like five minutes and show you how you can know that
for sure?
You know, I'm obviously going to take more than five minutes.
I'm a good sailor.
But you know, I said, can I take about five minutes?
No, about five minutes can be like 10, 15, 20, whatever.
So I said, can I take about five minutes and show you how you can know that for sure?
And she's like, no, I don't think so.
I said, listen, it's only going to take a few minutes, can I please show you this?
So yeah, I was like, kind of a little pushy at that.
You know, I was just like, can I please show you this?
And she said, I guess, okay.
I showed her the bounce pool.
I went through with her.
And I mean, once I started going through with her, she, Brother Dave, did she become extremely
interested?
I mean, she was very interested.
Okay, so I get through the whole plan of salvation, you know, and I had to go in depth with her
because she had no, she didn't know anything about the church.
I mean, I was, I got to the part where Jesus throws to the dead, she's like, wait a minute,
did this really happen?
She's like, are you, I mean, is this really a true story?
And I had to explain to her what that even meant.
I mean, but I went through it with her and I ended up taking a little longer than I usually
would just because I was going through a lot of stuff with her just because she had never
been in church, wasn't really aware of a lot of things.
So I get pretty much completely done with the whole plan of salvation.
And then another girl who lived in the house is about maybe 17, 18, walks up and she all
of a sudden joins the conversation.
So then I gave the whole plan of salvation to her, the second girl.
You know, I haven't even, I haven't prayed with this girl or anything, the first one,
but then I give the whole plan of salvation to the second girl and the first girl is just
listening, nodding her head.
Yep.
Yeah.
I understand.
You know, I went through it with her and then the second girl was questioning, well,
you know, how do I know the Bible is really true?
I don't know if it was really in God.
So I was preaching it to her how we know it's true and this is why we have faith in it.
And I was giving her the scriptures and I was showing her, look around, you know, God
made all the, you know, I was preaching it to her and I went through it with both of
them and I said, do you believe that?
Do you believe what I'm preaching to you right now is the truth?
And she said, yes.
And the other girl said, yes, I definitely believe that.
And I said, well, let's pray right now.
I'm going to help you tell God that's what you believe and you'll know for sure you're
going to have to be saved.
I showed them, you know, the verse about it.
They both bowed their head.
They prayed.
They got saved.
Okay.
Why?
Because they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then a car pulls up.
Okay.
A lady gets out of the car.
She was a little bit older, but still a young lady.
She comes up to the door and Brother Dave, man, he piped up because he was tired of me
having all the fun, you know?
So Brother Dave piped up and he said, hey, can I explain to you what he just explained
to them about salvation?
And I said to those girls, I said, hey girls, because he asked her and she knew for sure
and she didn't really know.
And I said, well, do you girls know for sure?
And they said, oh yeah, we know for sure we're going to have to.
And then Brother Dave began to give the gospel to this third lady.
So while he's giving them the gospel, you know, I stepped aside with the original two
people and I was going through just teaching them some things from the Bible, you know,
just teaching them some basics.
Talking to them about church and teaching them a few basics, just because they were
so interested.
I mean, the girl wouldn't even give us the time of day.
She said, no, I don't want to hear it.
Now she's real interested.
We're going through the Bible.
I was showing her stuff.
She pulls out the invitation, you know, that we hand out, right?
The thing that we put on the door.
And it has our statement of faith right here.
Man, I love that.
It's got the whole statement of faith right here.
And she pulled out, she's sitting on the porch swing and she said, do you guys believe
that homosexuality is a sin?
I get shocked.
You know, this is a girl that I just went to the Lord, right?
And I said, well, I said to her, I said, well, let me ask you something.
I said, if the Bible says that, don't you think I should believe that and be preaching
that because that's what the Bible says?
Of course.
That's what the Bible says.
I said, that's what the Bible says, right?
And I said, okay.
I said, can I show you the Bible?
She said, yeah, I want to see that.
Cause they keep in mind, it's a 17 year old living in 2008.
Your whole life has just been crammed down there from lies.
Okay.
And so never been in church hardly.
So this girl's just getting, you know, uh, uncle Sam just force feeding her sodomy and
every other weirdo thing.
So I said, well, can I show you the Bible?
I opened my Bible and I flipped it open to Leviticus chapter 20, just like I'm doing
right now.
And this is last night, man, this is a real fresh sermon illustration.
So, uh, I pulled it out like this and I couldn't really find it.
Like I can't find it right now.
You know, it took a minute.
I'm trying to keep it realistic.
So I finally found it and I said, okay, right here.
If a man also lied with mankind, as he lied with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination.
They shall surely be put to death.
And I said, so what does that say that, that, uh, that the government should be doing to
the homosexual?
She said, they should be put to death.
She said, they should be killed.
I said, well, that's what it says.
Okay.
And I said, yeah, I said, and then I took her over and I showed her, you know, Romans
chapter one and explained her that and everything and showed her all this stuff.
And I mean, literally in 10 minutes of talking to this girl, I convinced her of several things
from the Bible.
I mean, I didn't even convince her.
I just showed her.
I just said, what does that even mean?
I showed her Romans one and I said, what does that mean?
And she said, well, that means that, again, I asked her, she told me, she read the Bible
and she said, well, that means that because they hate God and because they rejected God,
that God has rejected them and turned them over to, to, to, to be, you know, perverted
and vile and, and, and vile affections.
And she explained it to me, you know, roughly because, you know, she's not as, as much of
a Bible scholar, but isn't it funny how somebody could understand something.
It just got saved 10 minutes ago.
If I tried to explain that to an unsaved Baptist, they'd tell me I was out of my mind.
I mean, if I went to one of these unsaved Baptist church, I don't want to say Baptist.
Here's a whole church for them.
It's on 48th street.
It's a quarter mile from here.
I knock on their doors all the time.
They go to the Southern Baptist church here and they're not saying they don't know for
sure, blah, blah, blah.
But you know what?
If I went up to them and tried to show them that and said, look, that's what the Bible
says about homosexuality.
They'd be like, well, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
But you know why this girl who was 17, who'd only been taught by the world in 10 minutes
was just receiving the truth and believing it and just saying, I see it.
It makes sense to me because he that is of God heareth God's words.
He therefore hear them not because you're not of God.
And that just proves to me right there.
That girl must've had the Holy spirit inside of her for it instantly looked out at the
Bible, read it, understand it, believe it.
And it made sense to her.
Why?
Because she was saved.
Hallelujah.
Don't tell me soul winning doesn't work.
Where is she this morning?
I don't know, but I know where she's going to be one day when I see her there.
And so, man, I love soul winning.
Man, there's nothing like soul winning.
You know, you want your heart to be right.
You say, Oh, I'm getting a little bored with church.
My Christianity is getting a little bit bored and tired in the routine and the monotony.
Hey, there's nothing monotonous about walking up to a complete stranger.
Somebody who is without Christ, without God, without hope in the world and opening the
Bible and presenting the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and watching them get saved.
That'll never get boring.
It doesn't matter whether you've read the Bible 500 times.
It doesn't matter whether you've been in every church in America.
It doesn't matter whether you've been in church for 80 years.
You'll never get tired of that.
It'll never get boring like that when you're winning souls to Christ.
Why?
Because every person behind every door is a brand new person that you've never met before,
never seen before, a brand new person to win for the Lord.
I explained to this girl when I was giving the gospel.
She said, what happened after Jesus rose from the dead?
I said, well, this is what he did.
He went to his disciples.
He showed him the holes in his hand.
He showed him the holes in his feet.
And he sent this to him.
Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
I said, you know what the word gospel means?
It means good news.
I said, if I told you that you have to live a good life, go to church, quit all your sins,
go to church, follow the rules, get back, do this, do that.
And if you live good enough, you might make it into heaven if you're good enough.
I said, is that good news?
She said, no.
I wouldn't even be saved.
I said, no, we'd be saved.
Well, that's not good news.
I said, but what if I told you that Jesus paid it all?
What if I told you that Jesus will give you the gift of eternal life?
What if I told you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?
I said, that's good news.
I said, is it good news that God will never mention your sins to you?
There's sins and iniquities.
Will I remember no more, God said, as far as the east is from the west?
So far, had God separated us from our sins?
I said, isn't that good news?
And when brother Dave was giving the third girl the gospel, he was explaining to her,
he said something, he said the word gospel.
And the girl that I went to the Lord 25 minutes ago said, wait, tell her what gospel means.
And he said, it means good news.
It's always fun to bring people good news.
You don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings, you know?
But man, when you've got really good news, no wait, let me tell, let me tell him first.
Everybody wants to be the guy who brings the good news.
Everybody wants to come with, hey, there's no better news
than that your sins are all going to be paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ
if you have faith in him.
That's great news.
Isn't that great news that your sins will be blotted out?
That righteousness will be imputed unto you?
That you'll never have to face judgment for your sins?
Isn't that great news?
That's the best news in the world.
And you know what?
We need to take it to the next level in this church.
I'm going to close with that story.
We've got to get this thing burning in our heart
Some of you just need to sit on a nail or something, you know, to get you moving.
Just to get you excited, you know?
Just to wake you up a little bit, you know?
Sit on a nail, slap yourself in the face, throw cold water in your face.
Do something to get you moving again.
Don't be complacent.
Don't be comfortable.
Hey, let's push ourselves.
Let's make it uncomfortable.
Let's go slow on it until it's uncomfortable.
That's why we turned off the air conditioner this morning.
I want to be uncomfortable.
But anyway, I'm telling you, I'm choking to death here.
We got to close the service, but let's take it to the next level.
We're pushing a reset button right now.
March 30th, 2008 is going to go down in history as the day
that we started phase two of Faithful Word Baptist Church.
Let's bow our heads and pray.
Father, we love you and thank you for the open door.
If you hadn't opened the door...