Now the part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on this morning is at the beginning
there where Jesus washes the disciples' feet.
I preached on this passage a few weeks ago, but a few weeks ago when I preached on this
passage I was preaching on the primary application, just what Jesus was trying to teach here when
he washed his disciples' feet, that he being their Lord and Master could humble himself
enough to ungird himself and wash the disciples' feet, which is a very humbling job.
And he was teaching about service and he said, if you know these things, how happy are you
if you do them, how serving others and doing things for other people can make you happy.
That's the primary application of this passage, but there's another symbolic message that
Jesus was sending here when he washed the disciples' feet.
Let's look at this carefully.
It says in verse number 3, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands
and that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper, this is verse
4, and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself.
After that he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe
them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Then cometh thee to Simon Peter and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter.
Now pay close attention to the next few verses.
It says in verse 8, Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
Now one of the things that Jesus is trying to teach here, besides just the obvious surface
teaching of serving others, is he's talking about salvation in this passage because he
says to him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
And the Bible talks a lot about us being washed of our sins in the blood of Jesus and
he associates being washed or being clean with salvation.
Simon Peter saith unto him in verse 9, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my
head.
Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every
wit, and ye are clean, but not all.
For he knew who should betray him, therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
So he's using this as a picture or a symbolism also of salvation, being washed, being washed
of our sins.
And he says of Judas Iscariot who was not saved, and flip back if you would to John
chapter 6.
Keep your finger here in John 13.
Flip back to John chapter 6, just a few pages to the left in your Bible, and Jesus Christ
is preaching and he says in verse number 70 of John 6, Jesus answered them, Have not I
chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being
one of the twelve.
Now this is very early in Jesus' ministry.
A lot of people will wrongfully try to teach that Judas lost his salvation.
Well guess what, you can't lose your salvation.
Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand.
Judas Iscariot was never saved.
Even in the very earliest days of Jesus' ministry, even when Jesus talking about choosing
the twelve disciples, he says, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
Go up just a few verses to verse 64.
It says, For there are some of you that believe not.
So what was Judas Iscariot's problem?
Why was Judas not saved?
The same reason why anyone's not saved, because they do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And here it says, There be some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Right there, it teaches that from the beginning, Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot did not believe
on him.
The only reason that he chose him to be one of his disciples was that the scripture might
be fulfilled that he would be betrayed of a close friend.
That he would be betrayed by one that he dipped the sop with and ate supper with, and those
scriptures had to be fulfilled.
That's why he knowingly chose someone who did not believe, who was not saved.
But if you're back in John chapter 13 there, it says in verse 10, Jesus saith to him, He
that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.
And ye are all clean, and again, we're using the illustration of salvation, basically saying
you're all saved.
He says, But not all, for he knew who should betray him, therefore he said, You are not
all clean.
Okay, because Judas Iscariot was not saved, therefore Judas Iscariot was not clean.
Now what's interesting about this, you say, well why would the washing of the feet symbolize
or picture salvation?
And I will point this out, you know, just because somebody goes through a symbol of
salvation doesn't mean that they're saved.
For example, Judas Iscariot was baptized.
The name symbolizes salvation, but it is not salvation.
Washing of the feet here symbolizes salvation, but it is not salvation.
Okay, offering an animal sacrifice in the Old Testament symbolized salvation, but it
was not salvation.
Salvation is through believing in your heart and calling upon the name of the Lord, all
the way back to Genesis chapter 4 is when that started, okay.
But what we see here is a great illustration of salvation, because he says in verse number
10, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.
Now Simon Peter, he wanted to have what other parts of his body washed?
He said, well if this is what makes me have a part with you, if this is what makes me
clean, Lord, wash my hands and my head also.
And Jesus said, no, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every
whit.
Now look, it's great to wash your head, it's great to wash your hands, but the one thing
that you needed to have washed is your feet in this passage.
But the feet are associated all throughout the Bible with preaching the Gospel, okay.
Go back to Isaiah chapter 52, Isaiah chapter number 52, all throughout the Bible the feet
are associated with the Gospel or the preaching of the Gospel.
While you're turning to Isaiah 52, I'm going to read for you from Nahum 1.15.
In Nahum 1.15 the Bible reads, Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, and that good tidings is the good news of salvation or the Gospel.
It says the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace.
Look at Isaiah 52.7, it says how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good that publishes
what?
Salvation.
That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.
Go to Romans 10, Romans chapter number 10.
Romans chapter number 10 quotes this scripture from Isaiah that we just looked at.
And it says in Nahum, it says in Isaiah, how beautiful are the feet of them that bring
glad tidings, that preach the Gospel of peace, that are bringing salvation upon the mountains.
It says in Romans 10.15, And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written?
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things, but they have not all obeyed the Gospel.
For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
So the feet are associated with hearing the Gospel.
The feet are associated with preaching the Gospel.
And what Jesus sang when he told Peter, look, you only need to wash your feet to have a
part with me, and you're clean every whit.
If we think about the symbolism of that passage, you know, the washing of the head maybe could
be cleaning up your thoughts, if you think about it.
Maybe the washing of your hands could be, you know, cleaning up your works, the things
that you do.
I mean, your hands throughout the Bible are associated with what you do, with the works
that you do.
You work with your hands, either what is good in his sight, or you bring evil to pass with
your hands, as the book of Proverbs says.
So the works are done with the hands.
You know, the thoughts, the intentions of the heart, you know, could be symbolized in
the mind, or the washing of the head.
And what Jesus is saying is, look, salvation is not by cleaning up your whole life.
You know, you don't have to clean up your whole life to be saved, you've got to clean
up your actions, you've got to clean up your thoughts, no, you just have to get the Gospel
right.
I mean, if you have the Gospel, if you believe the Gospel, if you obey the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, you're clean every whit, you're saved.
See, there are no works involved with salvation.
The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
It's not by cleaning up your life, it's not by turning over a new leaf, it's not by doing
a bunch of good works, it's just by receiving the Gospel of Christ.
Now go to Ephesians chapter 6, because Jesus here washes the disciples' feet, he's teaching
them a lot of things.
One of the things he's showing them is a symbol or a picture of salvation, about the fact
that you don't have to clean up your whole life to be saved.
Now look, it's great to clean up your life, and after you're saved, you should definitely
clean up your life.
But being saved is just through believing the Gospel.
He teaches them that lesson and he talks about how, you know, as I've done unto you, I'm
leaving you an example of what you should do, but look at Ephesians chapter 6.
This is where the Bible talks about the armor of God, and he talks about how we're going
to be protected against the attacks of the devil.
Let me tell you something, the Bible says ye and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution.
So if you start to live for God and serve God, you can be guaranteed that you're going
to face opposition, you're going to be attacked, the devil is going to attack you, Satan is
going to try to tempt you and to try to attack you.
And so the Bible tells us how we're going to be able to withstand those attacks.
It says in Ephesians 6, 10, finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of
his might.
Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil.
So the Bible's telling us here that in order to be able to stand up against the onslaught
of the devil attacking us, and as soon as we try to do something good, the devil attacks
us.
If we try to make a positive change in our life, maybe we start getting in church, reading
our Bible, going sowing, you just have to expect that there's going to be an attack
there to try to stop us.
And the Bible tells us that if we're going to be able to resist or withstand these attacks,
we need to have the whole armor of God.
He tells us in verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness.
So he's telling us that if we have these attributes in our life, they're going to defend us against
the devil's attack.
First of all, we need to believe the truth.
We need to know the truth.
We need to have righteousness in our life.
What's righteousness?
Doing the right things.
Doing a right kind of a life.
He says in verse 15, and your feet shod, because remember we're talking about the feet this
morning, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
You say, what does shod mean?
Well if you just added an E in there, you'd probably understand it, right?
Shooed.
It basically just means, shod means you have shoes on.
You're wearing shoes or sandals.
It says your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Then he says above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
spirit, which is the word of God.
So he's got all this armor laid out that's going to protect us from the devil's attack.
And he lists one piece as being the most important piece.
He says above all, you need the shield of faith.
Because you know, when the devil attacks you, he's going to try to get you to doubt God's
word.
He's going to question God's word to you.
He's going to get you to question the promises of God.
That's the first thing he did in the Garden of Eden.
He came to them and questioned what God had said.
The serpent came to Eve and said, yea hath God said?
You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
So he's going to try to question God's word.
The opposite of that is having faith in God's word.
You know, when you believe God's word and the promises of God, that's your number one
defense.
One of the defenses here against the devil's attack is having your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace.
It's interesting because he also said in Romans 1620, don't turn there, he said, and the God
of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen.
So what we have there is another reference to the fact that basically our feet are associated
with winning the victory against the devil in our lives who is out to defeat us and to
destroy us.
And the Bible's teaching here that if we don't have our feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace, that is a chink in our armor spiritually.
And let me tell you, there are a lot of people who have a lot of these other things right.
I mean they know the truth, they believe the truth, their loins are girt about with truth.
They've got the helmet of salvation on their head, I mean they're saved.
They've got the breastplate of righteousness, they live a pretty clean life.
They've got the shield of faith, they believe the promises of God, but they're barefoot.
You know, they don't have any protection on their feet to protect them against the wiles
of the devil.
And you say, what is that talking about?
You know, this is the Christian who does not preach the gospel.
They've got the helmet of salvation, I mean they're saved, but they're not prepared to
go the distance to take the gospel to the lost.
They don't have their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Now you know, being barefoot is fine for short distances.
I mean being barefoot, you know I spend time barefoot and I've run barefoot, but you know
what, there's a limit to how far you can go barefoot, isn't there?
And you know, the people who go the furthest, they've got something on their feet.
They've got sandals on their feet, they've got shoes on their feet, they've got something
on their feet if they're really going to go the distance to get people saved.
And the Bible is saying here that if you are not one who is prepared to go preach the
gospel, and I like what Paul said, he said, so as much as in me is, I am ready to preach
the gospel.
That's the preparation of the gospel of peace.
He said, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.
Notice he didn't say everyone who joins the church.
He said to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also the Greek.
He said, I'm ready to preach the gospel.
My feet are shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Look, you're not going to be prepared to go into battle if you're barefoot or if you don't
have the shield or if you don't have the helmet or if you don't have the breastplate.
He says the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Look, how are you prepared to go preach the gospel?
First of all, you know, you know the Bible well enough to be able to open the Bible and
at least know where the verses are to show somebody how to be saved.
But not only that, being prepared to go is also equivalent with being willing to go.
You know, because a lot of times people will say like, well, I'm not really prepared to
do that right now.
I'm not really ready for that.
I'm not really ready to do that.
They're not necessarily saying that they're not prepared.
When they say I'm not prepared to do that, sometimes they just mean I'm not really willing
to do that right now.
That's how people often use the word prepared.
You know, being prepared to do something isn't just a physical preparation of having your
shoes on.
You know, if I said, are you prepared to go with me 50 miles?
You know, you might have your shoes on, that doesn't mean you're prepared to go 50 miles.
Now you might be physically capable of going 50 miles, but are you willing to go?
Are you really prepared to do that?
Are you really ready to make the sacrifices involved to travel that kind of a distance?
So what I'm saying is that we, if we're going to be protected from the devil's attack, need
to have our feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace, I submit to you that
if you are not prepared to preach the gospel, if you are not one who preaches the gospel,
if you are not one who goes out into the highways and hedges and compels them to come in, look,
you're open to the devil's attack.
You will be attacked and you will succumb on some level to that attack.
You are not wearing the full armor of God unless you're a soul winner, unless you do
soul winning, unless you're giving the gospel to people.
I mean, you're just not.
That's what the Bible teaches.
So we can learn a lot about our feet, can't we?
Number one, we learn a great lesson about salvation.
Number two, we learn a great lesson about preaching the gospel.
Number three, we learn that preaching the gospel is something that will help protect
us from the devil's attack.
It'll keep us flying right in our Christian life.
It'll keep us protected from his assault when our feet are shot with the preparation of
the gospel of peace.
And if they're not, then we're not protected.
Not only that, it's interesting because if you turn to Matthew chapter 10, in Matthew
chapter 10 the Bible talks about the fact that when we go out to preach the gospel,
there are going to be a lot of people who reject the gospel, right?
I mean, when we give the gospel, not everybody's going to get saved.
Not everybody wants to hear the truth, do they?
And the Bible said in Romans chapter 10, Behold, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things, but they have not all obeyed
the gospel.
Or the next words, For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Look what the Bible tells us to do when someone rejects the gospel.
It says in Matthew chapter 10 verse 12, When you come to a house, salute it.
And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it.
Meaning that you'll bless that house.
But if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house
or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment than for that city.
He says basically the same thing in Mark chapter 6 verse 11.
You don't have to turn there, but it says, And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear
you, when you depart thence, shake off the dust of your feet under your feet for a testimony
against them.
Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment
than for that city.
I don't know about you, but I don't think it's going to be that tolerable for Sodom
and Gomorrah.
And it's going to be even worse for people who reject a clear presentation of the Gospel
when they hear it.
And if you're here this morning and you're not saved, woe unto you.
Because you have heard the Gospel, you have heard the truth, you know, and if not I'm
sure somebody will tell it to you right when the service ends.
But the bottom line is that God is again associating our feet with preaching the Gospel, with hearing
the Gospel.
And look, if someone doesn't hear the Gospel, shake off the dust of your feet.
Look, when you go soul winning, have your feet shot with the preparation of the Gospel
of peace.
But there's something else we can learn from this.
Go if you would to Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 19.
Habakkuk, this is one of those little small obscure books at the end of the Old Testament,
the minor prophets.
Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 16.
If you get into all those little books, just keep flipping, you'll find it eventually.
But it's about 4 or 5 books back from the end.
Moving backwards, if you get to Matthew and go backwards, you'll get Malachi, Zechariah,
Haggai, and then you'll get to Habakkuk, I don't know, I'm not good at reciting backwards,
but it's real close to the end.
It's right before like Zephaniah, it's right around Zephaniah there.
Habakkuk.
But look at Habakkuk 3 verse 19.
If you remember something that the Bible said in Nahum and in Isaiah, he said, Behold
upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.
That was the one who was preaching the Gospel, remember?
Isaiah 52.7 said, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation.
So notice the phrase keeps coming up, upon the mountains.
So when someone's going out and preaching the Gospel, that symbolizes them preaching
it upon the mountains.
Look what the Bible says in Habakkuk 3 verse 19.
It says, The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hind's feet, and
he will make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Now remember, the feet are the part of the body that's associated with preaching the
Gospel.
And we've seen it over and over again this morning.
And we've also seen that preaching the Gospel is related to being upon the mountains, preaching
it upon the mountains.
And here the Bible says, The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hind's
feet.
Now, hinds, you know, are basically like deer, right?
So what do you think of when you think of deer?
You know, deer are basically, they jump around and run around the mountains and everything
like that.
And it says in, you don't have to turn there, but in Psalm 18.33, David said, He maketh
my feet like hind's feet, and setteth me upon mine high places.
He said the same thing in 2 Samuel 22.34.
He maketh my feet like hind's feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
Now what's interesting about this is, what he's saying there is that God made his feet
like hind's feet.
God made him to walk upon high places.
God made him to travel upon high places.
And when I think of that, I think of what Jesus Christ said when he said, well it's
right there, right?
He saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
See God, Jesus Christ said, if you follow me, you know, I might actually make you a
fisher of men.
No, he said if you follow me, I will make you fishers of men.
That tells me if somebody's not a fisher of men, if someone's not given the Gospel, somebody's
not, they're not following Jesus.
Because if you follow Jesus, he promised to make you a fisher of men.
But isn't that interesting, if the feet and going into the mountains are associated with
preaching the Gospel, isn't it interesting that he said, you know, God made my feet like
hind's feet.
God made me to walk upon my high places.
Look, God can make you a fisher of men.
First of all, God is the one who saves you.
It's not our work, salvation is of the Lord.
But then not only is God the one who saves us, God is the one who gives us the ability
to preach the Gospel.
He gives us the feet for it, right?
Because it's a job that requires our feet.
And obviously we're talking metaphorically, spiritually.
He says that God will not only save us, but he'll give us the feet to be a soul winner.
He gives us the feet to preach the Gospel of peace.
He gives us the ability, I like what Paul said, I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who
hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.
See God that sends us out into the harvest, God who sends us out to preach the Gospel,
he also enables us to preach the Gospel.
He doesn't just say go be a fisher of men, he makes us a fisher of men.
He doesn't just say go upon the mountains and preach the Gospel of peace.
He says I'll give you hind's feet, I'll make you walk upon high places.
Over and over again that theme comes up of the deer upon the mountains.
We even saw it in, you know, you're probably a little Song of Solomon doubt, you know,
but in chapter 2 of Song of Solomon he talks about, you know, leaping upon the mountains
and skipping upon the hills, and that term upon the mountains comes up.
But here's another interesting thing about that term, upon the mountains.
Go if you would to 2 Chronicles chapter 18, 2 Chronicles chapter 18.
This is a scripture that comes up a lot, a theme that comes up a lot about the mountains
in regard to soul winning.
But look if you would at 2 Chronicles 18, I can't show you all the scriptures on this
because there were so many that I found as I was studying the Bible on this when I was
just looking for that term about being upon the mountains that are associated with this.
I'm just going to show you a few highlights for sake of time.
But in 2 Chronicles 18, 16 it says, then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon
the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, these have no master.
Let them therefore every man, let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.
So here we see that Israel is seen as being sheep that have no shepherd, and they're seen
as just being scattered upon the mountains, right?
Because they have no shepherd.
Okay, with that in mind, go to Matthew 9.
Go to the New Testament, Matthew chapter 9.
He talks about Israel being a sheep having no shepherd, and he calls that being scattered
upon the mountains, okay?
You see, this is why we have to go out into the mountains, spiritually speaking, in order
to get people saved.
That's where the lost sheep are.
That's why you have to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
But look if you would at Matthew 9, while you're turning there, I'll read for you from
Nahum 3.18 where the Bible says, thy shepherds slumber.
What's another word for shepherd?
Pastor.
Pastor is synonymous with shepherd.
Thy shepherds slumber.
He's saying, look, the pastors are asleep.
And that's the truth today.
He says, thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, thy nobles shall dwell in the dust,
thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
He says the people are scattered upon the mountains, no one's gathering them.
Remember what Jesus Christ said?
If you don't gather with me, you're scattering.
He says, look, we're come to seek and to save the lost, and if you're not gathering,
the lost sheep.
If you're not gathering with me, you're scattering.
He said the pastors are asleep today, and the whole mountains are just strewn with scattered
sheep.
They have no one to lead them to the shepherd.
And he says here in Matthew 9.36, when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion
on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as what?
Reap having no shepherd.
Then saith the unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send for laborers into his harvest.
And God often in the Bible relates soul winning to reaping a harvest.
He says one person plants the seed of God's word, another person waters the seed of God's
word, and then God gives the increase when one is finally able to reap the harvest of
that soul that's saved.
The Bible says he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with them, reaping that harvest of souls saved.
But right after this, right after Jesus looks upon the multitude, he has compassion on them,
they're like sheep having no shepherd, he said man we need to pray that God will send
laborers, look labor's hard work, he said laborers into the harvest to harvest these
lost souls and to plant the seed of God's word, to water that seed and then to harvest
it.
But look at the next chapter, the next thing he does after he says let's pray the Lord
of the harvest that he'll send for laborers into his harvest, in the next verse he sends
out those laborers.
And in chapter 10 verse 1 it says when he called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave
them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness
and all manner of disease.
Now the names of the 12 apostles are these and he sends them out, right?
But look what he says in verse number 6, he says but go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.
That's associated with what he said at the end of chapter 9 when he said you know they're
scattered abroad, they're like sheep having no shepherd.
He said go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, verse 7, and as you go, leave a
flyer.
Is that what he said?
Go to the lost sheep of Phoenix and when you go there, leave a flyer.
Invite them.
When you go there, make small talk.
You know when you go there, just you know, preach.
Imagine that, preach, preach the gospel.
And that's what our soul winning is based on.
Not just inviting people to church, not just leaving a flyer, not just handing out tracts,
but rather a preaching of the gospel.
He said as you go, preach.
But look, you have to start by going.
First you go, and then as you go, you preach.
Does that sound like we're supposed to wait for the lost to come to us?
And look, this is why some people will literally come to our church and they'll criticize my
preaching because I didn't preach the gospel on a Sunday morning.
Well look, I don't always preach the gospel on a Sunday morning because guess what, 90
some percent of the people here are already saved.
We're in church.
The lost are out there.
Now look, there could be a few lost people today.
I'm sure that there are maybe a couple people in here that aren't saved.
You know, Judas among us, you know, we're going to unmask you.
But anyway, what I'm saying is, most of the lost are out there.
So why would I get up and preach a salvation message to a bunch of people that are already
saved?
You know, somebody said, I visited your church on a Wednesday night.
I didn't hear the gospel one time.
Well that's because I wasn't preaching on the gospel.
I was preaching the bad news of how messed up your life is and how you need to quit sinning
so much.
You know what I mean?
That was the bad news.
But what I'm saying is that, you know, salvation, preaching of the gospel, getting people saved
is always associated with your feet.
You say, why in the world would God use our feet to illustrate preaching the gospel?
Because he wants us to go and our feet are what make us go.
And the whole point of what he's trying to tell us here is not to wait for them to come
to us, but rather to go to them.
And look, this is why churches have become so worldly today.
This is why you go to a church and it's like a rock concert.
This is why you go to a church and everything is patterned toward unsaved people.
Because they're waiting for the unsaved to come to them.
So they want everything to be ready when they get there, you know, that unsaved people will
like it.
When in reality what we ought to be doing is going out and getting the people saved
out there and then bring them in already saved, ideally.
Let's get them saved and then bring them here and you say, well man unsaved people aren't
going to like your church.
Ask me if I care.
It's not meant for unsaved people, it's meant for the saved.
It's meant for the edification of the body of Christ for the believers, for the saints
that they might be built up, that they might learn from the preaching.
It's for the saved.
You say, well I want to bring an unsaved person.
Yeah, but try to get them saved in the car on the way here if you can.
Because if they're not saved they may not like it, they may not understand it.
And you know what, by the way, there are people who didn't like our church at all and then
they got saved and then they started liking it.
You know what I mean?
And I've talked to other people in other churches, same thing, some of them come and they don't
like the preaching, don't like the preaching.
Get saved, now they like it.
Because it's geared toward the saved, it's not geared toward the unsaved.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, but their foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned.
Look God is sending us a real strong message when he keeps talking about preaching the
gospel, preaching the lost, you know, going out and seeking and saving the lost, laborers
to go into the harvest.
It's always go, go, go, feet, feet, feet, shod, shod, shod, go!
That's what he's trying to tell us.
Psalm 133, you don't have to turn there, but in Psalm 133, you go to Matthew 18, you're
in Matthew 10, right?
Just flip over a few pages to Matthew 18.
Here's another verse about upon the mountains.
It says in Psalm 133, 3, as the dew of Herman, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, there upon the mountains, even life
forevermore.
Isn't that eternal life?
Life forevermore.
And it's associated with being upon the mountains again.
Look at Matthew 18, and this kind of ties it all in.
Matthew 18, 11 says this, for the Son of Man is come to seek, or I'm sorry, for the Son
of Man has come to save that which is lost.
Now if you don't have a King James Bible, that verse isn't even in your Bible.
Matthew 18, 11 is just gone from all these, from the NIV, from the RSV, from the ASV.
It's gone.
It just goes 10, 12.
But anyway, Matthew 18, 11, for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
How think ye?
If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the
ninety and nine, and goeth where?
Into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray.
And if so be he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than
of the ninety and nine which went not astray, even so it is not the will of your Father
which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
So what we've seen here is that first of all, preaching the Gospel is associated with your
feet.
But then another thing that preaching the Gospel is associated with is going into the
mountains, or preaching it upon the mountains, or running upon the mountains.
And look, you say, why is that?
I think when he shows us the illustration about our feet, he's showing us that we need
to go.
Not wait for them to come to us.
The pastors are asleep, they're not going.
You know, their motto, this is their motto, little Bo Peep has lost his sheep and doesn't
know where to find them.
Leave them alone and they'll come home wagging their tails behind them.
Is that what the Bible teaches?
No.
The Bible says you've got to go get them.
You grab that sheep and pick it up like John grabbed Silas yesterday and just go get him
and bring, you know, get that lost sheep that's gone astray and bring it home, you know, bring
it where it needs to be.
You had to be at the wedding yesterday to understand that.
But anyway, you know, the Bible is sending us a strong message with our feet saying look,
you've got to go out and get them, save.
But you know what he's sending us a message when he talks about going into the mountains?
He's saying it's going to be hard.
It's going to be hard.
It's going to be difficult because when you think of scaling a mountain, you know what
you think of?
Difficulty.
I mean, look, if I said, hey, let's take a trip, let's take a journey, let's take a hike,
let's take a walk.
We could do that on a flat ground.
We could do that in a valley, in a meadow with a rippling brook, right?
But if I said, hey, let's go to the top of that mountain, you're like, whoa.
You know, that's a lot of work.
That's hard work.
And what the Bible is teaching us here is that preaching the gospel to the lost is an
uphill battle.
It's uphill.
It's not for the lazy, it's not for the lame, it's not for the loser, it's for someone who
is willing to work.
It's for the, not the lame, not the liberal, it's for the laborer, alright?
It's for the one who wants to work.
It's for the one who's got his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel piece and he's
ready to go into the mountain.
You say, it's too hard, I can't do it.
God will make your feet like Heinz feet.
God will make you walk upon those high places.
How many times did God call men of God up into the mountain?
We think of Elijah being called to scale a mountain to meet with God.
We think of Moses going up into the mountain.
Joshua went up into the mountain.
And then we think of, of course, the story about Caleb.
I want that mountain.
Nobody else wanted it.
Nobody else would fight that battle.
No one else would go there.
They said it's too hard, it's uphill, it's a steep mountain, they have chariots of iron.
And Caleb said, I don't care if I'm 85 years old, I'm as strong as when I was 45, I want
that mountain.
And he took the most difficult, strenuous task.
Look, I'm telling you, soul winning is not easy.
If it's easy, you're doing it wrong.
I mean, soul winning is rough.
I remember this guy that came out and visited our church in West Virginia and he was a farm
boy and he grew up on a farm.
He said, I know what hard work is.
He said, soul winning is the hardest work I've ever done.
It's strenuous on mind and body and spirit.
I mean, it's a difficult task.
It's hard work.
It's an uphill battle.
But you know what?
Pray that God will send laborers that are willing to do it, that will go into the mountains,
that will climb that mountain, that will do something that's strenuous and hard and difficult
and make the sacrifices to get there.
Because hanging around in the valley is what 99% of God's people are doing.
99% of the sheep are hanging around in the valley.
Somebody's got to be willing to go into the mountain and find these lost sheep and bring
them to the shepherd.
They're out there.
But you know what?
You have to go up in the mountains to get them.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word and for the great things that your word can
teach us, Lord.
Thank you for the gospel.
Thank you for the good news that salvation's free, that it's paid for by Jesus.
Thank you for that good news that we have such a great message that we can preach, Lord.
Help us to be prepared to preach it and willing to preach it.
And help us to be ready to sacrifice and strain and work hard to preach the gospel.
If they don't listen, we'll shake the dust off our feet and we'll just climb a little
higher.
But help us to keep going.
And in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.