The title for the sermon this afternoon is the importance of soul winning, the importance
of soul winning. I love soul winning. I love being able to talk to somebody and explain
the gospel to them. But even though I love soul winning, I don't always like to do it.
Because one of the challenges that we each have, of course, is that flesh. And there
are always other things that pop up in life. And one of the biggest challenges that we had
recently, of course, is COVID, the mandates, the restrictions. And there were times where
we couldn't even leave our own house and we couldn't even meet for church or even
the task of going door to door was restricted. And look, I'm in favour of obeying government
authorities to some extent, as long as it's not contrary to God's Word. But one of the
things that probably has developed, I know it developed at Blessed Up Baptist Church,
I know it kind of developed within me and maybe within some of you, is when you lose
that habit, when you lose the consistency of soul winning, it can be hard to get back into
it. And so I do want to preach a sermon, just a series on soul winning, just to get
you guys pumped up again about this. You know, it is our key ministry of our church.
Now look, everything we do in God's service is ministry. You know, right now I've got some
people in our church that are organising new furniture for the building, we're going to get
new carpet, hey, all of that is ministry. All of that is important. We're serving each other,
we're serving the Lord God. But I don't want us to lose focus of our main ministry,
you know, the highest priority task that we have outside of our service,
which is to go to the community and to preach the gospel to the lost.
Now, what we see here is, of course, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and let's pick it up there in verse number 16, Matthew 28, verse number 16.
Then the 11 disciples, of course, those are the apostles minus Judas Iscariot, went away into
Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they
worshipped him, but some doubted. Now that might be a little bit confusing. Why is it these 11?
Is it saying that some of the 11 doubted? Not really, okay. What you need to understand,
we learned this in the book of 1 Corinthians, is that this place where Jesus Christ appointed
them to come and see him, it wasn't just the 11 disciples. You know, we're picking up
the story of the 11 disciples coming, but there were up to 500 that came to see Jesus Christ
in this mountain in Galilee. That's what he had instructed them to do. And we'll read about
there was about 500 of them there. So of course, there were some people there that had
heard of Christ and knew of Christ, those are some people that doubted. But why did Jesus
Christ appoint this time, this place, this mount in Galilee? It says there in verse number 18,
so this is what he wanted to teach, this grip of disciples. And Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. I love that phrase just by itself.
Now, we know that Jesus Christ is the Lord God Almighty. We know he's in heaven right now,
seated at the right hand of the Father. And we know, of course, God, Jesus Christ,
he has power in heaven. Hey, but brethren, he also has power in earth. All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. Jesus Christ has all power on this earth. Now,
the reason I love that so much is because it is a wicked world. You know, when we go out,
we preach the gospel, we are like lambs brought before the slaughter as it were,
okay? But you need to remember that Jesus Christ has power on this earth as well.
And straight after saying that he's got all power in heaven and in earth,
he says these words in verse number 19. So this is what's supposed to motivate us. Okay,
Christ, you've got all power. Verse number 19, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Beautiful words of Jesus. So it says,
Because I have all power, you also have that power to go ye therefore and teach all nations.
Now we're speaking there about teaching all nations, I'll show you a parallel passage later
on. But what he's really saying there is to preach the gospel, preach the gospel to all
nations. Now brethren, we find ourselves in Australia, this is a nation that Christ has
given us to preach the gospel to. Now maybe sometimes some of us may get the opportunity to
preach the gospel in other nations, but this is the nation we're at. When Christ is speaking
this in Galilee, when he says all nations, he's including Australia, we're here right now
to reach the nation of Australia with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And the other thing he said was, go ye therefore. You know, a lot of churches,
you know, have the mindset of, you know, bring in the lost. You know, make church about the
unsaved. Let's appeal to the unsaved, godless people. And this is why churches become rock
bands. This is why churches become concerts. This is why churches become a social club,
because their mindset is, well, we need to bring people into the church. No, no, no,
what we need to do is go ye therefore and reach the lost. And as we give them the gospel, yeah,
you know, invite them to church. Those that have believed on Christ, hey, church ought to
be a place of believers, a place where we come to honor and worship the Lord God,
a place where we put away our flesh. And in the new man, in the spiritual man, we come
to praise the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what church ought to be about. Church is not a
place where we're trying to grab the masses and put on a great show and, you know, just to
attract as many people as we can. Yeah, that is a great way to grow a church, but really,
you're not really growing a church of Jesus Christ, you're growing a social club.
You know, just a place where the flesh can be satisfied. But brethren, no, our job is to
reach, by reaching people is to go. You know, we have to be proactive, get out there to the
community and teach all nations. This is known as the great commission. We often know these
past. And you know, you'll find at least, at least five times that I've found anyway,
after the resurrection of Christ, where he gives the great commission, the importance to get out
there to the community and to preach the gospel. Now the great commission isn't just
preaching the gospel, you know, don't lose sight of it. It's not just that, go teach all
nations. The next part of it, there's three parts of it. Next one is baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And so when we do baptisms,
we're also fulfilling the great commission when we're doing that. Verse number 20,
teaching them to observe now, teaching them to observe all things. Hey, so once somebody's saved,
someone gets baptized, they should get plugged into a good church. The next thing to do,
part of that great commission is to teach them to observe all things. You know,
this entire Bible ought to be preached. It doesn't matter if it's popular, unpopular to this
world. You know, the goal of New Life Baptist Church is to preach the entire counsel of God.
You know, all things, what so I have commanded you. And then I love this also, and lo, I'm with
you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. And I've talked this before, but I love
when the King James Bible uses the word always here, you know, because I know always
being an archaic word, and we think of the word always. But what I like about it is that
the word always has to do with a time frame. You know, if I said to my wife, I will love
you always, I'm saying that, you know, for all eternity, for all time, I will love you.
But the word always has to do with the fact that Jesus Christ is saying to teach all nations,
always means all the way. So whatever nation you go to, even if you go to the
ends of the earth, Jesus Christ says, I'm going to be with you all the way, even unto the end
of the world. Amen. No matter where we go, hey, you know what, every nation, wherever you
find yourself in, you may not find yourself in the Sunshine Coast in your future, you might
find yourself in another city, another nation, I don't know what God's plans are for you.
But wherever you go, your goal is to participate in this great commission,
teach all nations, and wherever you go, Jesus Christ will be with you all the way,
all the way, even unto the end of the world. Amen. I love that because sometimes, once again,
Christ is all power. Okay. And you need to remember, when you go out soul winning,
Jesus Christ is there with you as well. Okay, all the way. Alright, can you please turn to
Mark 16. I just want to show you another passage. Mark 16 verse 14. Mark 16 verse number
14. I'm just showing you a few passages of the great commission. And we don't want this
to be the great omission of New Life Baptist Church. Too many churches, it's the great
omission. Okay. It's a task that they refuse to do. It's a task that is minimalized.
No, we want to, we want to uplift, we want to make it very visible, not to praise man. No,
when we go and preach the gospel, we're honoring God, we're honoring Jesus Christ.
They are the wonderful gift of salvation. And so we want to make sure that it's something
that is in the forefront of our minds. And, you know, I've been to church, again,
I've told you guys, pretty much my whole life. And you know, the very first church that I was
part of, definitely this was the great omission. I don't even recall anyone going out and preaching
the gospel. I don't even recall that being a ministry of a church. You know, it sort of
blows my mind to see just how important it is to Jesus Christ, and how many churches drop it.
Or they'll have some other plan. They'll be like, oh, you know, we'll drop tracts in the
letterbox. You know, we'll go letterbox in. And, you know, we're fulfilling the great
commission. When we go to the letterbox, and we drop off that piece of paper,
that's not what Jesus Christ is teaching us. If that's what Christ wanted us to do,
he will tell us. He will tell us, hey, go print off some verses, and go drop them off in some
hole in some house. No, no, listen, we need to go and open our mouths. That's what the task
is. Okay, look, I'm not against one of these falling into a letterbox. You know, when we go
door to door sewing, if someone's not home, or we don't have access to the house, yeah,
we'll leave it on the door, or you can't get in, we'll leave in the letterbox.
I'm not against that in of itself. But we don't want that to become a replacement
of opening our mouths boldly to proclaim the gospel. Look at Mark 16 verse 14.
Mark 16 verse 14. It says, afterward, he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat,
and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not
them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, go ye, hey, that sounds
like go ye therefore. Yeah, it's the same. It's the Great Commission once again. Go ye into all
the world, and notice this, and preach the gospel to every creature. So know what it means
to teach all nations now. It's to preach the gospel to every creature. And that's important.
You know, whoever we come across in life, you know, whether you're part of the official
soul winning time, or you've got some time with a family, friend, you get one on one
opportunity. Every creature needs to hear the gospel. You know, there are so many times that
I go door to the soul winning, and I think this person's going to receive God's word,
you know, and they don't. And there are some people that I think, there's no way this guy's
going to let me speak. Like the way he's dressed, the way he speaks, you know, this
guy's probably going to yell at me maybe at the door. But sometimes these people hear,
right? I mean, you know, it's not for us to judge on the outward, whether this person
needs to hear the gospel or not. The commandment is every creature, every single human being,
anyone you have the opportunity to, brethren, regardless of how they look on the outside,
regardless of what relationship you have with them, if you get the opportunity,
we're commanded to preach the gospel to them, to every creature. And then verse number 16,
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned. As you can see, once you preach the gospel, the next step once again here
is to baptize. But can you now go to Acts chapter one, go to Acts chapter one for me,
please, Acts chapter one. Look at the Great Commission once again here in Acts chapter one.
Now this time in Acts chapter one, this is just before Jesus Christ ascends up to heaven,
you know, where a cloud takes him up to heaven. This is once again, he proclaims the
Great Commission to those that saw him last. Now, it's important to think about this because
these are the final words that Jesus Christ speaks before he's taken up to heaven.
We think about the final words someone would say, they would have to be important words.
There'd be something burning in the heart of Jesus Christ to make sure this message goes out.
You know, if you were on your deathbed, and you know, you only had the day left, you know,
I mean, obviously, you'd want to communicate something to your loved ones, to your family.
Obviously, the last words you speak will be something important, you'd want to make sure
you're passing on the best message, the best advice, right, to the people you care about.
Well, this is Jesus Christ before he's taken up to heaven in Acts chapter one, verse six.
It says, when they therefore were come together, they asked him saying,
Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel. So some of the disciples,
they're concerned about this carnal earth, you know, God's kingdom, is this kingdom coming now?
And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father have put in his own power. Look at verse eight,
but ye shall receive power. Now, we saw earlier that Jesus Christ has all power in heaven and
earth. Okay. Now, this is what really you need to grasp as a sole winner. Or if you've got some
fears to preach the gospel, Jesus Christ says he's going to give you that power to do it.
It's not out of your own strength. Okay, we just have to be willing to submit ourselves
to the will of the Father, the will of Jesus Christ to go and preach the gospel.
He gives us the power. Why? What do we need is powerful. It says, but ye shall receive
power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Look at this, for what purpose?
And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and
unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they be
held, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. The most important words,
the final words that Christ spoke on the earth is to be a witness of him, that he will give
us the power to be that witness, that power coming from the Holy Ghost.
And in what sense are we to be witnesses? It says, witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
hey, for us that's the Sunshine Coast, and in all Judea, for us that would be Queensland,
and in Samaria, hey, that would be some other city like Sydney,
all right, or Brisbane, or Melbourne, all right, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
You know, and you know, when we go thoughts also, when we understand this idea,
this concept that, you know, God has given us this responsibility, hey, we start local,
and then we start reaching other people in other places as the opportunity presents itself,
okay? You know, if someone wants to be a missionary, and they say, you know what,
you know, God wants me to go to Japan, God wants me to go to Romania, God wants me to go
to South America to preach the gospel, but if that person doesn't preach the gospel
in his own Jerusalem, in his own local area, he's not going to reach those in other nations.
We start locally. You know, if you want God to use you and to reach people of another nation,
you need to start in your local area, your local city, you start in Jerusalem,
then you start building yourself out there. But it's such an important task, such a
responsibility that God has given us as believers, you know, to preach the gospel.
You know, please consider this. This is something that God has given you to do,
you know, and I know we don't all do it, and I don't always feel like doing it,
but it's important that we do, and again, COVID has interrupted that routine, okay? I'm talking
about myself here, you know, it's interrupted that routine, and we're trying to get back,
you know, back into that, you know, once you get that habit, once you get that routine in,
then it's a lot easier, you know, and I'm telling you, when you're out there, and you're preaching
the gospel, you're empowered by the Lord, it's one of the most enjoyable things you can do as
a Christian, to tell people how much Jesus has done for them, and to see them call upon
them, the Lord, to trust Jesus as their Savior. I don't think there's anything more
beautiful than that, you know, it's so satisfying to the soul, so much joy that it gives you.
Can you please turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5? Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, please.
2 Corinthians chapter 5, and verse number 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse number 17.
Now, growing up in church once again, I was left with the impression that preaching
the gospel was just for the missionaries, was just for the evangelists, or even just
for the pastors, you know, as long as I gave my offering in the offering plate, you know,
and, you know, we're taking up a special offering for missions, we're taking up a special
offering for this, and I remember in my very first Baptist church, May was like missionary
month, so every Sunday in May we'd have missionaries from different countries come and
there'd be special offerings for missions, and I thought by putting money in that plate,
I'm contributing to the great commission, you know, I had this impression, it's just for this
elite group of people, you know, I mean just those that God really is working something great
in, they're the ones that are going soloing in, they're the ones preaching the gospel,
as long as I put money in the plate, I'm doing my part, that's what, honestly,
I'm not exactly, that's what I thought, that's honestly what I thought, but then you come
across this passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse number
17, it says, therefore if any man be in Christ, now let me ask you the question, are you in Christ?
And this is about you, okay, if you're in Christ, if you're saved, this is you, if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are
become new, now this flesh has not become new, this flesh is still the old flesh, this flesh
is still the old man, but we've been given a new spirit, we've been given the new man, born of God,
born again in the spirit, that spirit is all new, that spirit can never sin, if you're walking the
ways of the Lord, you're walking after that spirit, we have that constant battle between
the flesh and the spirit, but notice that, if this is you and you're saved, it says in verse number 18,
and all things are of God, who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, hey praise God,
we've been reconciled to God through Jesus, but then it says this, and have given to us
the ministry of reconciliation, you've been reconciled to God, so God says all right now,
you've been given a ministry, you've been given a work, the ministry of reconciliation, it's your
job to reconcile others to God, then it says in verse number 19, to wit, that's like to witness,
to be a wit, that's what Jesus Christ said, to be a witness for him right, to wit that God was
in Christ, reconciling the word unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,
and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation, that's all of us,
that's all of us, not just the pastors, not just the missionaries, not just the evangelists,
anyone that is in Christ Jesus, anyone that is that new creature, you've been given the ministry
of reconciliation, and notice again, what did it say there at the end of verse number 19,
and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation, this is why dropping off
pamphlets in a letterbox is not the great commission, what it is, is the word, we have
to open our mouths boldly, and proclaim the gospel, okay, please, and again, a lot of churches,
they know they should do something to get the word out there, and that's why they print off
thousands upon thousands of tracts, and basically, and you know, send people out,
but listen, any unsaved man can do that, if we really wanted to reach all the sunshine
coast with our tracts, I'd rather just pay a courier, I'd rather just pay Australia Post
to go and deliver this in the letterboxes, and for us that have been given that ministry
of reconciliation, that have been given the word of reconciliation, we're to open our mouths
to the people, okay, that's how Christ operated, he spoke to people,
that's how the disciples operated, they spoke to people, they explained the gospel,
please turn to Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter 1,
look, and if this sermon makes you a little bit uncomfortable, I understand, okay,
because none of us are always perfect in this area, you know, and I'm not always perfect in
this area, you know, it challenges me as well, you know, it should be challenging to us,
there should be a burden in our heart to know the importance of giving the gospel to the lost,
but as we turn to Genesis chapter 1, I just want to bring a very basic concept,
a very foundational concept to your mind here, look at Genesis chapter 1 verse 11,
Genesis chapter 1 verse 11, this is of course creation, and the Bible says in verse 11,
and God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree
yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so,
and the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree
yielding fruits whose seed was in itself after his kind, and God saw that it was good,
one of the very beginning doctrines that we learn in the Bible is that everything brings
forth after its kind, everything brings forth after its kind, you must have the right seed
to bring forth that kind, okay, let's keep going there, verse number 21,
and God created great whales, and every living creature that that moveth, which the waters
brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every wings fell after his kind, and God saw
that it was good, why do you think God keeps saying after his kind, after his kind, after
his kind, well number one here is to destroy evolution, God knew ahead of time that people
would think, oh, we've all come from the same, you know, we've all come from bacteria,
you know, we all came back from, you know, you know, the apes and human beings, we all
have the same, ants, yeah, we all have the same ancestor, and you know, we've all come from
being a jellyfish in the ocean, yeah, I mean, of course, you know, this scripture goes against that,
of course, everything has to bring forth after its own kind, a jellyfish will bring forth after
a jellyfish, you know, a dog will bring forth a dog, a human being will bring forth a human
being, this is the laws of God, he sets it very clearly for us in Genesis 1, but it's
a foundational truth that we need to process and understand, let's keep going there, verse number
24, Genesis 1-24, and God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind,
cattle and creeping thing, and beasts of the earth after his kind, and it was so, and God
made the beasts of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that
creep upon the earth after his kind, and God saw that it was good, it's almost like, God,
do you have to keep saying the same thing again, after its kind, after its kind, what are
you trying to teach us? What are you really trying to get into our minds from the very first chapter
of the Bible? Let's keep going there, verse number 27, so God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them, and God blessed them,
and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it,
and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that move upon the earth, so you notice that, when God creates Adam and Eve, the first
marriage, okay, man and woman, they were to do what? To be fruitful and multiply,
they were to bring forth after their own kind as well, and so we learn a very important
doctrine here, very important teaching, everything produces after its own kind,
everything produces after its own kind, what am I saying? If we want to see people saved,
it has to be saved people that bring forth after their kind,
we're commanded, it's the instruction, it's what God's put within us to multiply,
yes to get married, have children, that's one element, of course, but you know what,
to be born again requires somebody to go there and to preach the gospel,
only a safe person can bring forth another safe person, God has given us the ministry of
reconciliation, he's given us his word, he's given us salvation, he's given us the gospel message,
the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it's for us to go out there
and to tell people and to bring forth after our kind, the Bible says in Proverbs 11 30,
you guys know this passage, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that win
of souls is wise, hear that win of souls is wise, have you ever had the opportunity to lead
someone to Christ, well the Lord says you are wise to do that, okay, but not just that,
it's the fruit of the righteous, hey we saw earlier all the fruits, hey they have seed,
hey that seed needs to be planted, if you want an apple tree, you take the seed of the apple,
you plant that and you get the apple tree, and that's what brings forth fruits, it brings forth
after its own kind, to bring forth after your own kind, you must have the seed and it must be
the same kind, well you know what, you've been saved, you've been reconciled to God,
you can only see this world, this community reconciled to God, if you bring forth after
your own kind as well, you've been given the seed, the seed is the word of God,
to go and plant these words in the heart of men, and to see them come to understand salvation,
to believe on Christ, I mean it's a beautiful thing to bring after your own kind,
you know when ladies, you have children, you know we hear the good news that mother so and
so has given birth, don't we rejoice, praise God for a new kind, praise God for the birth
of this child, hey that excitement is also there when you see someone call upon Jesus
for salvation, it's the same thing, you're bringing forth a new creature, a new birth,
a spiritual birth, hey not just someone born into this world but someone born into the kingdom of
God, can you please turn to Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 8 verse 26, Acts chapter 8 and verse 26,
Acts chapter 8 and verse number 26, the Bible reads and the angel of the Lord
spake unto Philip, Philip was a deacon at this point in time in the church in Jerusalem,
saying arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gezer
which is desert and he arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia and eunuch of great
authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians who had the charge of all her treasure and had
come to Jerusalem for to worship, so let's learn a little bit about the Ethiopian man here,
Ethiopian eunuch okay, so he's come to Jerusalem to worship, hey this man wants to know God,
he's heard about the God of the Jews, he says I want to worship that God okay and so he leaves
but look this man is Ethiopian, he's been given great authority under Candace the queen,
so much authority who had the charge of all her treasure, hey he was a treasurer,
he was in charge of the wealth of the nation of Ethiopia okay, this is a smart man is what
I'm trying to say, this is an educated man, this is not some buffoon all right, he knows how to
do things, he knows how to conduct himself, he knows how to organize things, he's a man of
understanding, he's a man of intelligence and he's come to, hey he's smart enough to know
the true God of the world is somewhere in Jerusalem, I need to go find him,
I want to learn about this this God, he knows I better go there, I want to worship this
this true God, look at verse number 28, whilst returning and sitting in his chariot
read Isaiah the prophet, that's the book of Isaiah, hey it's praise God somehow he got a
copy of Isaiah, hey don't forget again I keep saying this but boy you know if we just had
one book, I mean that's great but we've been given all 66 books of the Bible, hey and we
live in an English-speaking world, we have a perfect translation in the King James Bible,
I mean we've been given a great honor as English-speaking people okay but look this man's
got like it's all he could get, he tried to get a copy of the Bible, all he could get was the book
of Isaiah okay because obviously they didn't have printing presses presses back then right,
so he's reading through Isaiah and you think well surely he's smart enough to understand
right, surely pastor if we just and look I'm not against, please don't think I'm against
tracts, we use them okay but surely you know in our tracts we've got the plan of salvation,
we have some explanation of verses there, our old tracts hey it was on every page explaining
the gospel, surely anybody can just receive this in the letterbox, read it and understand
what's going on okay, I mean surely it's Ethiopian eunuch just understands the Bible,
he's reading it, you would think but then it says there in verse number 29,
then the spirit said unto Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot and Philip
ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said understandest thou what thou
readest, that's a good question hey you're reading it, do you understand what's going on
and he said how can I, except some man should guide me and he desired Philip that he would
come up and sit with him and of course you know the rest of the story, Philip explains
that he's reading about Jesus Christ, Christ had come and he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ
he's saved, then he gets baptized afterwards okay hey but I'm trying to point you to
something, this Ethiopian eunuch is an intelligent man okay and he's reading the Bible by himself
but he's not getting it, he cannot get it except some man should guide him,
brethren that's me and you, that's our job to guide people in his word, to explain the gospel,
explain what Christ has done for them, yes we're using the word of God, it's the seed which
brings forth life but we need someone to plant that seed okay, again letterbox in,
putting that in a letterbox that's not planting the seed, we need to take God's word,
expound God's word and plant it in the heart of man okay, they need to be able to meditate
and understand what is being explained, what is being taught there, why did Christ, listen
do Australians generally know that Jesus Christ came and rose again from the dead,
our nation celebrates Easter doesn't it, I mean besides the chocolate eggs most people
understand the story of, whether they believe it or whether they fully comprehend it, they know
that someone was called Jesus you know claims to be the son of man, son of God sorry, died
and rose again from the dead, our nation understands this, they celebrate it, they
celebrate Easter, how many are saved, how many are saved, I reckon one or two percent,
that's it, based on stats going out there, knocking doors, hey even you knock on a
Christian's door you know, you knock on the door and you ask them are you sure you'll be going
to heaven, oh I hope so, what are you basing that on, you know I've got a church, I'm a good
person, I've heard the teachings, they don't get it, they don't get that it's faith on Christ alone,
they don't get that Christ has paid for all of their sins, they don't get that it's simply
faith on him, that Christ has done all the work, all they have to do is call upon them the Lord
in faith and they'll be say they don't get it, they don't get it okay, again you know
that that should be proof enough for you that our nation stops and celebrates the death
resurrection of Jesus Christ and our nation is still going to hell, why because we need
Christians, we need believers to get out there and bring forth that word of reconciliation okay,
everything produces after its own kind okay, we have such an important responsibility as a
church and as individuals to see souls saved. Can you please turn to Romans chapter 10,
Romans chapter 10 and look these passages, I know you guys know this you know again,
this is not some new groundbreaking sermon but we do need to be reminded of these things from
time to time, we do need to be challenged over and over again right, Romans chapter 10 and verse
number 12, Romans chapter 10 verse number 12, I also love this verse, for there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord overall is rich unto all that call upon him,
it doesn't matter your nationality, it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Greek or whatever
you are, hey it's the same message okay, anyone that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved, let's keep going there but that's what he says verse number 13, for whoso shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now you know one thing that sometimes churches
like ours get criticised for, they'll say oh you knock on doors and it's just quick
prayerism, you know you just get them to say a few words dear Jesus and I'm a sinner,
please forgive me, give me eternal life, amen and you know you create false converts okay,
you know you got them to say some prayer, no that's not what we teach in this church,
you know a quick prayer means nothing if you don't understand what you're saying,
if you don't believe what you're saying, yes we want them to call upon the name of the Lord
but we want them to call upon the name of the Lord in faith because then it says in verse
number 14 how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed.
See brethren that's the goal to preach the gospel and tell people you have to believe in
Christ, you have to trust in his death bearing resurrection and if you're ready to do that
then call upon them the Lord and be saved, you're calling out to the Lord in faith, trusting Jesus
Christ, understanding the gospel, not just some vain repetition of a prayer and they haven't even
believed or understood what Christ has done for them, it's so important that we not just
understand the importance of soul winning but the importance that someone has to believe,
understand and believe what they've heard before they can call upon the Lord and be saved.
It says there in verse number 14, now keep going, how shall they believe in him, look at this,
of whom they have not heard. What does hear mean hear, heard from your ears, they have to
hear, this is why we must speak, they need to hear the word okay and how shall they hear
without a preacher, so someone has to preach God's word. Pastor Kevin do you believe in women
preachers, absolutely, absolutely, not behind this pulpit, only men can be pastors hey but
ladies you can be preachers as well, preachers of the gospel, hey you can preach the gospel
to your loved ones, your family, your friends, your community, you know you can be used and do
some great works for God and honestly you know most people are more comfortable hearing the
gospel from a lady than a man. Again it's just something that I observed, usually it's the ladies
that get a lot more people saved because people are more willing to listen to some lady
right because they don't know who's this guy that just turned up to my door,
a lady they're going to be a little bit more gentle and give them a little bit more time
and the ladies you have an advantage in this area of Christian work to be a preacher
for the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's keep going there, verse number 15 and how shall they preach
except they be sent, another important, this is why church is so important, church is the place
where we send you to go soul winning, why do you need to be sent because it's very rare for
someone to just automatically have a desire, I'm just going to go and knock the door and preach
the gospel, we need to hear it from a church, we need to be sent by a church and be
encouraged by a church and be encouraged by fellow brethren, you know when you come alongside and
you have a group going out together or you have a son partner with you, it makes the job
a lot easier, the motivation is there to get behind the work of God, so we must be sent,
look what it says keeps going there, as it is written how beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things, you know if
you're a soul winner, if you've given the gospel to someone, the Lord looks down and says those are
beautiful feet, hey that's a beautiful person, that's a beautiful work that they're doing,
you know I think about feet, they're not the most pretty things in on your body,
but something about going, go ye therefore with your feet,
walk into somebody to give them the gospel, Jesus looks down says those are beautiful feet,
verse number 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord who have believed
their reports, so again this is back to Isaiah, Isaiah who has believed their report, so then
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, notice again how does faith come?
By hearing, you need to open your mouth, okay and hearing what? Hearing by the word of God,
it's not just your explanation of what Jesus Christ did, you need to take the word of God,
show them passages of the bible, okay this is the seed that needs to be planted in the
hearts of men and as you preach this is where faith comes from, verse number 18,
but I say have they not heard? Yes verily their sound went into all the earth and their words
unto the ends of the world, so what do we learn here? This is about Isaiah,
Isaiah says has the gospel been preached? Yeah the sound went into all the earth,
again sometimes in the Old Testament we have this idea that God just cares for Israel and
just the Jews, no in the time of Isaiah the word, the gospel went out throughout the whole
earth and their words unto the ends of the earth world, you know there's been different
times when the gospel message has gone throughout the whole world and it's something that
needs to be done over and over and over again, you know in the generation that we're in here in
2022, we need to make sure we participate in making sure the gospel's going throughout the
whole world, hey we may not be able to affect other countries but we can make sure the
gospel's reaching fellow Australians, that's our task, that's our responsibility and there
are Christians in every nation and it's their responsibility to make sure they're proclaiming
the word of God as well, that it's reaching the ears of the ends of the world
and so reverend the sending of a preacher, taking God's word, proclaiming it, that it could be heard,
understood, believed and someone would call upon the law for salvation, this is the process,
this is the process okay, we cannot neglect certain elements of that and think I'll just
use my human reasoning to explain the gospel, you're not going to get them saved, you need
God's word, they need to hear God's word but you need to be a preacher that proclaims God's word.
Can you please turn to Revelation chapter 2, Revelation chapter 2.
Actually go to Revelation chapter 1 first, let me just give you a bit of context here,
Revelation chapter 1 verse number 20, Revelation chapter 1 and verse number 20,
the Bible reads, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand
and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches
and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. So just to show you the
symbolism there once again, the candlesticks, the seven candlesticks here represents the seven
churches okay, each church is represented in the book of Revelation as a candlestick,
again what's the point of a candlestick? To light a fire, to light a flame okay,
to give light, to give heat, that's our job Reverend as a church to give light,
to preach the light of Jesus Christ, to preach the light of the gospel okay.
Now go to Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 4, Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 4.
Now this is about the church of Ephesus and that's you know we've got a book of the Bible
called the Ephesians, it's the same church okay. Now in the book of Ephesians, it's a great
church, they're doing really well, this is a bit later on in their in their journey as a church
okay and it says here in verse number 4, never let, so these are words of Jesus Christ to
the church, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first love.
That's crazy, to think a church has left the first love, our first love ought to be the Lord God,
hey it's the first commandment to love our Lord God, with all our heart, with all our
mind, with all our soul, with all our might, you know they've left that and what is the,
what are the consequences of leaving that first love? It says there in verse number 5,
remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works,
notice that, the first works drop when you leave the first love, okay what is the first works?
Well let's keep reading there, what is the punishment of leaving your first love and
leaving the first works? It says or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place except thou repent. Jesus Christ says that church will no longer be a
candlestick unless they repent from this, they have to return back to the first works,
they have to return back to the first love, what we learn there is your works is tied in
with your love and what Jesus Christ says, if you love me keep my commandments. How can we
show our love toward the Lord God? By doing his commandments, what would be the first works?
What is the work of a church? Well we saw how important the great commission was to the
Lord Jesus Christ, it's the very last words that he left this earth, left his disciples before
you ascended up to heaven, I mean are there any greater works than doing the great commission,
preaching the gospel, baptizing believers, teaching all things, this is the first works
and I do not want to be passed from the church that does not do so with him
because otherwise Lord Jesus Christ will come, remove the candlestick, what are we then?
If we're not a candlestick for the Lord Jesus Christ, if we're not shining the light of Christ,
we're not shining the light of the gospel, what do we become? Again a social club,
might as well just have the rock band on here, might as well just have all the smoke
machines and the purple lights right, I mean if that's really what we want to be,
but brethren you know we play a role here in making sure that this church, New Life
Baptist Church remains a candlestick that shines the light of Christ and our responsibility is to
not leave our first love and not to leave the first works, Christ has given us the great
commission, that's why we're here, if he was just being saved that's all that mattered
okay for yourself individually, then we'd be saved and Christ would just transport us to
heaven straight away, I mean what more would we have to do on this earth, we live on this
earth to reach others, to that ministry of reconciliation, to preach the gospel to the lost
and look I realise that part of the reason we don't do it is out of fear, maybe time,
I'm just too busy, like we all have reasons why, I'm not prepared, I don't know what to say,
I don't know what to do and so as I go through this series I actually want to cover some basic
things, it's going to be a basic series okay but remind ourselves, refresh our minds of how
we can go out there and preach the gospel and look if you're not ready to participate
of going and being sent out then at least keep yourself sharp, keep yourself understand,
like get your plan together and when you find yourself one-on-one with someone in your life
use that opportunity to give that person the gospel.
Can you please turn to Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17 in verse number 1, Acts chapter 17
in verse number 1. I also don't want to communicate that you know if you're not
doing this work then any other service you do in the church is rubbish or something.
All the service that we do is for the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to remind yourself okay,
we come to church, we praise him, we sing praises, we pay attention to his word,
how you go home and hopefully you make some changes in your life that you need to do,
okay we serve the brethren, we come to fellowship, all of these things are important
okay but while all of that is important let's not forget the main job that we have to do
and if you say pastor I just can't get out there for whatever reason
well pray for us, pray for those that go out soul with him, please bring us before the Lord,
you know we need protection from the devil. You think the devil wants us going out there
and winning souls? The devil's going to try to stop us at any opportunity,
we need this ministry being lifted up in prayer. Acts 17 verse 1 please, Acts 17 verse 1.
It says here, so this is the story of Paul and his missionary journeys and you know he's
preached the gospel, he's starting churches etc etc. It says there in verse number 1,
now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,
where was a synagogue of the Jews? So I just want to show you that okay they've come to the
city of Thessalonica to do this work. Verse number 2, and Paul as his manner was
went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ and some of them believed and consulted with Paul
and Silas, I just want you to notice that it's not just Paul by himself he's got Silas as a
partner here and of the devout Greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few.
Okay so you can see that yes they've gone to the synagogue, they're preaching Christ
and many have believed on Christ because of this work that is done here in Thessalonica.
All right so when we think about the city of Thessalonica, which book of the Bible,
which epistle is associated with that city? Thessalonica, it'd be Thessalonians right? We've
got first and second Thessalonians, so once these God and people saved they form a church
and then we have the epistles first and second Thessalonians written to these people.
So I want us to turn to first Thessalonians chapter one now. Please turn to first
Thessalonians chapter one and the reason we read Acts 17, I just wanted to show you
that it was Paul and Silas that went to the city preaching the gospel establishing this
church. So then we get to first Thessalonians chapter one verse number one, first Thessalonians
chapter one and verse number one it says here Paul and Silvanus, now Silvanus is just another
form of the name Silas. It's the same guy, Paul and Silas, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus
unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ
grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. All right so
just want to show you again it's Paul and Silas. Okay they're writing to the church that
they've done this work in, they've seen this soul saved, they've formed this church. Now go
to chapter two, first Thessalonians chapter two verse number 19, first Thessalonians chapter two
and verse number 19, first Thessalonians chapter two and verse number 19. Now notice what Paul
and Silvanus and Timotheus are saying about this church. They say this in verse number 19
and what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? You know they're asking the church
what do you think our crown of rejoicing is? What do you think we're hopeful about?
What gives us great joy? It says there are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ
at his coming for ye are our glory and joy. Who's the glory and joy? Those that got saved,
the believers that they brought into the kingdom of the Lord. He says look when Christ comes back
we're going to rejoice in that you're going to be there in the presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ at his second coming. Brethren there is great joy, there is great rejoicing,
a crown of rejoicing, great rewards in heaven for seeing souls saved. Could you imagine when
Christ comes back, you know you've preached, look I don't even remember all the names,
I know some people dropped down names of people they got saved in the back of the
bibles or things like that. Could you imagine when Christ comes back where they're in the
clouds and you see the people you won to Christ. Brethren that's going to give you great joy.
A crown of rejoicing. Brethren that's, it's joy. Yes it's work. Soul winning, preaching the gospel
is work. It's not what the flesh wants to do. The flesh will find other things to do,
guaranteed. But brethren there's great joy. A crown of rejoicing. Do you want that crown?
Do you want the Lord Jesus Christ to reward you with a crown of rejoicing?
Well it's the people that you've won to the Lord. I don't want you to miss out on this
crown. I don't want to miss out on this crown. Preaching the gospels of people and seeing
them saved. I just wanted to bring that to your attention because that is going to be
one of the great measures. Hey we know that salvation is free, paid for in Christ. Christ
has done all the hard work. You know free gift of salvation, great. But the works that
we do for the Lord, the service, the ministry of reconciliation, preaching the gospel to the
lost, Christ is going to reward us for this task as well. And I really want us as a church,
as individuals to earn maximum rewards. I don't want anyone to lose their reward.
And one of those key things that you need to do, you need to apply in your life
is to preach the gospel. To be a soul winner.
And this is why we're on the earth. This is why we're still breathing today.
This is why many of us are going to wake up tomorrow morning. God has given us time.
He's given us time to prepare, to get ourselves energized, to receive that power of the
Lord Jesus Christ, his Holy Spirit, to put our plan of salvation together and to find the lost,
to give them the gospel, to fulfill the great commission and see them saved.
You know I'll just end on this. Many churches they think, the reason soul winning drops
from the agenda of many churches is they don't see it adding people to the church.
And it doesn't. I mean think about how many people, how many doors we've knocked.
Think about how many times we've given the gospel as a total as a church.
And how many of those people are actually coming to church?
Look, sometimes we get visitors from the soul winning and we're excited. Hey,
there's a visitor from the soul winning! And usually they don't hang around though.
Look, soul winning doesn't necessarily add to the church.
And this is why a lot of churches drop it. They say, well what does that to the church?
And then they'll start focusing ministries that add people to the church.
But brethren, we're not here to establish a kingdom.
You know, do I want more people in our church? Of course I do want more people in our church.
Okay, but we're not going to tailor the church for that purpose.
We just have to do what is right. Christ has given us this work. He's given his life for
this. He's given his life for you. He died for the sins of those people as well. And then
he's given us that power, the Holy Spirit to go and preach the gospel to this lost world.
And so I just want to challenge you with that. I'm not here to, you know, force you to go soul
winning. I'm not here to do that. You know, this is between you and the Lord. But it is
the work that Christ has given us to do. And I want new life after this church to be
a candlestick until Christ comes back. I want us to be a people that rejoice,
the crown of rejoicing when we see those that we've been able to reach for Christ in this
church, when we see them in glory with the Lord Jesus Christ. So brethren, I hope this
challenges you. We've been given this great task, great responsibility, and we need to own
it. We need to really take it on board and understand this is why we're left here on this
earth, this great commission that Christ has left us to do. Okay, let's pray.