men okay so uh that's a quite long chapter there and we're just going to look at one verse for a
second uh first samuel chapter 14 it's our verse of the week which was on the frontier bulletins
verse six first samuel 14 and verse six and the bible reads and jonathan said to the young man
that bear his armor come and let us go over onto the garrison of these uncircumcised it may be that
the lord will work for us for there is no restraint to the lord to save by many or by few and the
tolema sermon this morning is saving south them by many or by few saving south them by many or by
few let's pray father thank you for your word thank you for um this this great chapter the
bible with so much going on there please help me to preach um the message which uh i believe
you've laid on my heart this week lord to just preach it just clearly and accurately and boldly
and lord just help everyone to have a tent of ears help uh help this message just really um
really encourage and inspire people to just want to want to live for you want to work for you want
to serve you lord in jesus name for all this amen okay so we're back in south end after a year of
sharpening our swords over in wickford uh where we were at our spiritual retreat weren't we guys
we uh we had church boot camp for a year basically um we we've lost some we've gained some we've
strengthened and we are very different to when we left here a year ago okay we're a completely
different group here different kettle of fish um we're a whole different church really we're
marching back to south end on sea and pitching up here in westcliff with uh with some business
to attend to right we've got some business to attend to here we're here to stay this time to
establish a real church in this area with a real presence right near the center of this city of
nearly 200 000 people okay it's not it's not a little town like you might think this is a city
and it's a city of about 200 000 just under now you might be sitting there going well why south
end brother in because it does seem to be a bit out the way doesn't it why south end why on the
coast uh because that's where god wants us okay i'm convinced god wants us here that's where he
gifted us our first building we we've spent a year establishing the borders really haven't we
we kind of went up a little bit we went a little bit north northwest and just kind of established
some borders on the entry down in the south end i think pretty much any route you go and you've
got to pass through either wickford or baserden down here and we've just uh we've added a little
barrier of saved people up there we've probably got a good few hundred saved up in uh in wickford
quite a few hundred more in basildon we've established the borders and during that time
he's he's gifted us this upgrade uh to come back to and get the real work started okay we yeah
we've had spiritual boot camp yeah we've we've like i said we've uh we've put that little barrier
up there in in wickford and basildon but now it's time to get to work yeah we we've um we've been
away and whilst we've been away like in first samuel and chapter 14 like we're reading here
those philistines have been hard at work around here they really have i mean i've been working
on this building now for the last month and wow uh there's there's been a lot of philistines around
it looks like the philistines have really made their mark here because there is all sorts of
free career around here all sorts of weirdos all sorts of wrongings all sorts of sodomites we've
had all different flavors of sodomites coming past this church and we only just put those privacy
screens up in the last week or so and in the meantime we had to watch all that going past
we'd be going to work so i'm gonna go oh my what on earth is that and there'd be a new one and
another flavor sometimes they poke their head in the door what's going on in here there we go we're
a baptist church and then leg it off yeah this is what we've been putting up with for the past
month and it seems look i don't know maybe we it's just because we've gone slightly up the road
when i say slightly up the road the old building is only sort of a three minute walk down there
or something but i don't remember it being as bad as that maybe we were just a bit tucked away and
a bit hidden off in that corner there but when i was out there outside the building it didn't
seem as bad as it has been here i don't know if we're just in this little like enclave of weirdness
here or maybe that's just the way it's going around here there's like i said different sorts
so we've seen a lot of different types of trannies around here aren't we or or sorry let's use a
biblical term cross-dressing sodomites we've had we've had those types around here we've had
the hasidic jews everywhere i mean again we've walked a few minutes up the road and there's all
sorts of curly sideburns and all sorts of weird tassels and funny outfits and everything else going
on muslims obviously everywhere all sorts of weird cultish false religions all sorts of free
career okay there is a lot of free career around here the philistines have been hard at work the
city needs a good old-fashioned cleanup doesn't it okay this city needs a good old-fashioned cleanup
and let me tell you something the philistine government aren't the ones that are going to
be doing it okay the government of this land is not going to clean up south end the philistine
south end counselors aren't doing it okay however many promises they might give to people they're
not going to clear up the the philistine liberal woke joke churches are not going to clean up this
area are they okay they're going to do the opposite in fact they're going to welcome it
encourage it and everything else no but but god can clean it up can't he god can do it through
his people but you know what that requires that requires some real men and women of god doesn't it
real men women children in fact of god as well with a straight back and a strong grip on their
sword and what's their sword this king james bible right we have a strong grip on our sword
and we can do what jonathan did there and make a real difference right and that's what we saw here
down in first samuel 14 so have a little look down at first samuel 14 under saw they're fighting back
okay they're reclaiming land from the philistines they're re-establishing their borders and like i
said something we did for a year but we'll continue to do that i was having a look at the map and
thinking look maybe and you might think well it might not be that receptive but i think there
could be cool for maybe a soul-winning marathon to the next kind of so you've got wickford
and this is kind of my map impression here right so you've got wickford a brazil and we where we
got south end down here yeah we've just established that all the roads going to come down this way but
then you've got rocheford hockley rayleigh and south benfleet all sort of the next town's down
i reckon a marathon in each one could be good over the next year couldn't it yeah get some
people saved in all those areas around us as well we could do a bit of that we could establish the
closer borders now as well but regardless back in first samuel 14 the enemy is on their doorstep in
gibby when the enemy's on our doorstep here okay there really are i mean i still i'm still getting
over just what i've witnessed in the last month here i mean i kind of sometimes i wake up in hot
like cold sweats in the night and my wife's like don't worry it's not really you know you're not
there anymore you know the building but uh it's it was pretty scary wasn't it it was freaky there
are a lot of freaks okay it was it was weird stuff and and here it's the same here in gibbia
in first samuel 14 the enemy's on their doorstep okay this is king soul's hometown now if you think
you wait a second gibbia rings a bell it's got some dark history okay gibbia was was nearly
wiped out along with the benjamites in judges 20 after what is a pretty horrific story in judges
19 when the levi goes to to gibbia and ends up with all these sodomites encamped around his
home and everything else and that's the hometown of saul and they were nearly completely wiped out
some of the benjamites okay however regardless of any of that it was still their territory
and these philistines needed kicking out and whatever the history whatever sort of weirdness
and freakery has gone on here this is now a hometown right and the philistines need
dealing with here don't they look at first samuel chapter 14 it says in verse 1
now it came to pass upon a day that jonathan the son of saul said unto the young man that bear his
armor come and let us go over to the philistines garrison that is on the other side but he told
not his father and saul tarried in the uttermost part of gibbia under pomegranate tree which is in
migrron and the people that were with him were about 600 men and ahaya the son of ahaitab ichabod's
brother the son of phoena sorry phoenahaz the son of eli the lord's priest is shiloh wearing an ephod
and the people knew not that jonathan was gone and between the passages by which jonathan sought to
go over to the philistines garrison there was a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on
the other side and the name of the one was bozes the name of the other cini the forefront of the
one was situated northward over against mikmash and the other southward over against gibbia
and jonathan said to the young man that bear his armor come and let us go over onto the garrison
of the uncircumcised it may be that the lord will work for us for there is no restraint to the lord
to save by many or by few okay sorry about that if uh anyone got deaf in there do you want me to
talk up a bit more no let's keep going so so what's going on here so we've just read those
first six verses here saul at this point has already disobeyed god and he's in he's in the
chapter before he was rebuked by the prophet samuel he didn't wait patiently like he should
have done and he basically took mattes into his own hands having been told to wait for him to come
and do the sacrifices have a look just in the chapter before it verses 13 and 14 where it says
and samuel said to saul thou hast done foolishly thou has not kept the commandment of the lord thy
god which he commanded thee for now would the lord have established thy kingdom upon israel forever
but now thy kingdom shall not continue the lord has sought him a man after his own heart and the
lord has commanded him to be captain over his people because thou has not kept that which the
lord commanded thee okay so here we see that saul suddenly just fallen right out of favor he's
messed up okay jump forward to here and we're already seeing the result him and his buddies
are basically languishing under a pomegranate tree instead of getting up and getting busy
okay they've got the philistines in their land and instead of getting up and going to work
they're hanging around underneath some sort of pomegranate tree basically doing nothing
okay relaxing instead in verse one that came to pass upon a day that jonathan the son of saul
said unto the young man that bear his armor come and let us go over to the philistine's garrison
that is on the other side but he told not his father and saul tarried in the uttermost part
of gibia under a pomegranate tree which is in migraine and the people that were with him were
about 600 men and that's backslidden christianity today isn't it is that what we're seeing today
instead of getting their lazy behinds up off their off their you know seats off their their dwelling
places whether it's under trees or whatever it is instead of doing any of that and telling someone
how to get saved which is what they should be doing shouldn't they that's what everyone should
be doing there anyway does everyone here know how to get how to get people saved yeah you know how
you were saved you should be able to tell someone else how to get saved right instead of doing that
they're just hanging around sitting around lazing around tearing under the pomegranate tree like
saul and these 600 men here instead of opening their mouths from behind the pulpits and preaching
on the issues of today instead of doing that preach about the filth out there preach about
the the wicked standards as compared to the word of god instead of doing any of that preach about
the disgusting perversion being shoved in our kids faces which is what churches should be doing
shouldn't they which is what men of god should be doing shining the light on these wicked false
religions instead of doing any of that they're sleeping on the job they're lazing around they're
not doing anything you've got all these places out there claiming to be churches claiming to be men
of god people are claiming to be pastors behind pulpits not preach about any of this stuff how can
you not preach about this stuff i mean that like forget all your kind of hour-long sermons about a
doctrine that you think so important how about preach some of the issues of today right and don't
get me wrong doctrine is important but the issues are today important as well aren't they and it's
pretty wicked out there isn't it instead they're sleeping on the job they're lazing around
underneath the pomegranate tree like saul here tearing in the uttermost part what does that mean
as far away from as possible in some little you know out of the way place somewhere some country
village church nowhere near anyone not doing anything not going out and trying to reach anyone
doing absolutely nothing just hidden away nice and private nice and quiet
tearing in the uttermost part it's wicked isn't it you got the word of god if you're saved and
you have the word of god you should be preaching it loud and clear shouldn't you if you're not you
shouldn't be a pastor it's outrageous what's out there today verse three says in a higher the son
of a high to ichabod's brother the son of of phoenohast the son of eli the lord's priest is
shiloh wearing an ephod and the people knew not that jonathan was gone so here they had the high
priests with them okay oh they were holy okay these guys look they they they sounded religious
they had the guy they had the high priest had the ephod they had all the stuff they had all
that like these guys out there today they've got the word of god oh they've got all the the
you know theology they've got all the the the deep doctrine and they can tell you you know
all these kind of interesting facts about the bible they got all that stuff but they're not
doing anything they're just sitting around with it it's wasted it's completely wasted on them
here they're sitting under a pomegranate tree okay basically they're just lazing around verse
four says in between the passages by which jonathan sought to go over onto the philistine's
garrison there was a sharp rock on the one side and the sharp rock on the other side and the name
of the one was bozest name the other cine so basically they're stuck between a rock and a hard
place okay i think you could say in fact you could say where bozest apparently means mud or
a bog and and senior thorn they're stuck between a sharp and a smelly place okay this isn't a good
place to be this isn't a great area to be however it's the place i need to be right it's a place to
go and get involved because a lot of people that they want to be in like the lovely beautiful
picturesque area and everything else you know a little little village church somewhere in a lovely
little picturesque place but they're not getting busy they're not doing anything there because
they're just languishing okay but did that stop jonathan didn't stop jonathan that it was a sharp
and a smelly place verse five says the forefront of the one was situate northward over against
mickmash and the other southward over against gibbia and jonathan said to the young man that
bear his armor come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised it may be that
the lord will work for us for there is no restraint to the lord to save by many or by few
the time of my sermon this morning as you know is saving south end by many or by few and we're going
to look at a two-point sermon today okay i want to mix it up i do a lot of three-point sermons i
realize i thought i'd go with the two-point today point number one it doesn't take many it doesn't
take many so instead of waiting around for something to happen two men said let's get on
with it didn't they two men said let's get on with it let's walk into the middle of these philistines
these men of war with their goliaths don't forget it's only a couple of chapters later that you've
got men of war like goliath yeah i'm sure there are some scary guys there and they basically said
let's see if god's on our side that's what they're saying let's see if god's on our side now and let
me tell you something god's on your side when you go to war for him okay you go to battle for the
lord and he's on your side when you pull your sword out and you start slaying some demons you
know that god's on your side jonathan said that there is no restraint to the lord to save by many
or by few and i'll tell you something if this church consisted of just a couple of families
i've had just a couple of families with god on our side you know we can still do great things
you can do great things with few you can do great things with many and i'll tell you what compared
to the mega churches compared to the crock concerts christian rock concerts the kids play
zones we're still not exactly many are we i'm looking out there like 60 odd people today 60
something whatever it is today okay it's not many really compared with some is it it's not many
compared with the sort of anthem singing rock rock music church it's not many compared with
maybe the busy sort of catholic masses and all this sort of stuff but we're going to see a lot
of people saved in south end though aren't we we're going to see a lot of people saved south
south end because that's what it's all about that's what this verse is in fact that's what
a big part of this chapter is about the obvious application of this passage is soul winning okay
that's what it clearly is a picture of turn to hebrews chapter four it's about soul winning
it's about marching into enemy territory in pairs with the sword of the spirit in your hands and
saving people it's about saving people he said there is no restraint to the lord to save by
many or by few he's making it clear for us here look in case you're wondering this is to apply
to soul winning this is about soul winning all right hebrews 4 12 says for the word of god is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit of the joints of marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart it's about going forward with the sword in your hand and and getting people safe and you know
what it's such a powerful sword it only needs a pair of christians you know how to wield it
two men went into this garrison of the philistines and just started slaying people
okay that's how powerful that sword is it's so sharp it's so sharp that it will slay the false
doctrine won't it and and it will slay the work of salvation it's so sharp it's so powerful that
if you know how to walk forward with that sword you can get people from all backgrounds all walks
of life all different types of people saved can't you yeah i hope i hope you're all confident here
that when you go out with your king james barber you go out and we go out of these doors this
afternoon we start knocking doors around south then we're going to get people saved aren't we
because we know how to use it how do we use it how do you get someone saved we show them they're a
sinner don't we okay we show them this we show them that the wages of sin is death we show them
that it's eternal hell there's no in-between there's no there's no sort of you know strange
sort of purgatory or any of this there's no soul sleep you'll wake up your eyes open in heaven or
they wake up in hell okay and that's it we show them that we show them that jesus who he is he's
the son of god he's god in the flesh we show them the trinity we show them that he died as
bade and rose again to pay for all our sins we show them the gospel showing that all you have
to do is believe in the lord jesus christ that thou shalt be saved we show them there's no way
you can lose that salvation it's a gift it's it's eternal you have everlasting life the second you
put your faith on lord jesus christ we show them all that and we teach them to call the name the
lord of salvation put your trust in jesus christ today you know how to use your sword to do that
well you're using a powerful sword there aren't you and and that's you know that is a powerful
sword isn't it that just with something as simple as that you can change people's whole destiny the
whole eternity can be changed by just going out and showing them the word of god by a spiritful
man of god preached the word of god you it's so sharp like i said that you can just destroy those
years of work salvation you can destroy the years of the theology degreed priest vicar pastor
whatever you could destroy all that junk they've been brainwashing them with with the word of god
my bible says it's not of works lest any man should boast my bible makes it clear as they
that we're saved by grace through faith alone and and you could show it to people in black and white
in front of them what a powerful sword it is in the uh in the previous chapter we're gonna we're
gonna go back to first samuel chapter 13 we see that in fact the only men that could be effective
were sullen jonathan it could only be sullen jonathan because the rest of the israelites were
using gardening tools in this passage we see that that if you look before in chapter 13 that it was
only sullen jonathan that had swords verse 19 says now there was no smith found verse 19 of
first samuel 13 now there was no smith found throughout all the land of israel for the
philistines said lest the hebrews make them swords or spears now remember that they've been under
philistine occupation okay verse 20 says but all the israelites went down to the philistines
to sharpen every man his share and his coulter and his axe and his mattock yet they had a file
for the mattocks okay so they were able to do it still and for the quarters and for the forks for
the axes and a sharp and the goads so it came to pass in a day of battle that there was neither
sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with sullen jonathan but with
sull and with jonathan his son was there found do you know what that makes me think of today that
makes you think of all the false perversions of the bible that's what it makes me think of those
christians with their nivs they're non-inspired versions their new international perversions
like those people with their nivs are going to battle with a piece of gardening equipment aren't
they that's what they're doing they're going to battle with a bit of gardening equipment
these christians with their macarthur legacy bible i can't believe this cloud i mean that guy just
sealed the deal with that i mean no one can be in any doubt surely they're going to battle with a
blunt spade with that aren't they if if at all these christians with the message and all that
contemporary rubbish i mean that just takes that's something else isn't it but they're going to
battle with basically like the kids plastic sandcastle tools aren't they that's what they're
going to battle with because there's only one bible out there isn't there there's only one
bible yeah this is the sword of the spirit okay this is the word of god the king james bible okay
there is no other there is nothing else to go to battle with you got to battle with anything else
it's like a blunt bit of gardening equipment but it's no use having the sharpest tool known to man
and then sitting there staring at it like so so remember there were two men with the swords
one went to work the other one sat under the pomegranate tree and you know what because there
are plenty of christians out there who have the king james bible they've got the sword they haven't
got the blunt bit of a there's a lot out there aren't there look how many of you guys knock on
a door if you start preaching the gospel they've got some knowledge and then they go and get their
bible they got a king james i go oh no no yeah i've got that one with a v and a thousand of eyes
you're like okay great you've got a king james bible but do they know how to use it
a lot of the time they're not even saved and how many people that are saved there's a lot of
churches that don't use king james bible there's a lot of calvinists out there still that use the
king james bible they have the bible they have the word of god but they don't know how to use it
they don't know what they're doing with it because they're not reading it they're not
studying it they're not learning it they're not hearing it preached
jonathan said come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised
it may be that the lord will work for us for there is no restraint to the lord to save by many or by
few by the way do you know what jonathan was saying here he said he said god does the saving
any of you of course you wonder what's he on about any of you have been to churches where they love
to tell you that god does the saving he did say god does saving but you know what he didn't do
he didn't sit there waiting for it to happen okay he said yeah god does the saving however
he does it through men women and children of god with a bit of backbone doesn't he
he does it through men women and children of god going out and preaching the gospel
yeah god does the saving but he does it through people of god going out with the king james bibles
and preach the gospel to every creature that's what he does he said in mark 16 15 going into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature okay we are told to do it aren't we no point
sitting around underneath the pomegranate tree going don't worry god will deal with it
god god commands us to go and deal with it and he'll deal with it for us right
does it take many but it takes a few to do it his way with a bit of boldness doesn't it doesn't take
many but you have to still do it his way verse 7 in in first samuel 14 says and his armor bearer
said unto him do all that is in thine heart turn thee behold i am with thee according to thy heart
that's sort of soul winning partner you want out there isn't it the sort of soul winning partner
says let's just go in there let's go down that i don't care if it's got you know signs saying
beware of the savage dog you know and i can hear it barking from behind there that's a deep bark
let's knock on that door and get these people saved right that's the sort of soul winning
partner he's got there he said he said turn thee he said do all that is in thine heart turn thee
behold i am with thee according to the heart he said i'm going to go with you i'm going to go
into the roughest area i'm going to go into the roughest estate i'm going to go into wherever
you want me to go and i'm going to come with you and we're going to preach gospel we're going to
get people saved verse eight said then said jonathan behold we will pass over unto these men
we will discover ourselves unto them if they say thus unto us tarry until we come to you
then we will stand still in our place we'll not go up to them but if they say thus come up unto us
then we will go up for the lord that delivered them into our hand and this shall be a sign unto us
and by the way before we see another application of this this little few verses here it's not just
soul winning that will save this city is it okay it's hard preaching too okay this city needs hard
preaching it's not just the soul winning jonathan said if they say we're coming to you then we'll
hide out is that what he said he didn't did he then we'll tone it down a bit and try and
try to appease them if they come over to us if he basically said wait there he said if they say wait
there we're coming he said we will stand in our place if they want to come to us if they want to
bring it to us we will stand still in our place we're not retreating we're not backing down are
we we're not surrendering we're not legging it and we're going to stand in this place and preach
the whole bible aren't we we're going to stand in this place in south end in west cliff on sea and
we're going to preach the whole council of god we're not gonna we're not going to hide away from
the awkward topics the awkward subjects you have to know paul said in acts 20 27 for i have not
shunned to declare unto you all the council of god paul said i've i've preached you the whole lot
i've declared the whole lot unto you and that's something that we're going to do here aren't we
we're going to preach the whole council we're going to declare the whole council of god we're
going to stand strong in our faith we're going to stand on his word and we're going to come up
against some opposition okay that's going to happen it might be soon it might be later it's
going to happen okay we're going to have opposition but if they want to come for us and bring it on
we're not going to tiptoe around like the little compromise out there are we we're not going to
tiptoe around and just kind of try and make excuses for the word of god just apologize what the bible
says no we're going to preach the word of god we're going to stand strong we're going to stand still
we're not going to back down when they start trying to bring bring us their kind of new woke
liberal agendas and you sort of think tank nonsense we're going to keep preaching the
word of god aren't we we're going to keep preaching it there's only one there's only
one right view out there and it's this view isn't it yeah it's the king james bible but let them
bring it on provost 20 28 1 says the wicked flee when no man pursued okay that's who's legging it
that's who's running away do you know who's like it and running away it's all those wicked false
prophets out there with their compromising churches claim to believe the bible and change
whole thing oh it's oh inclusive yeah bring them in bring in the sodomites what but rainbow flags
outside of church they got chased like that in this town in this city welcoming in the sodomites
welcoming in the the cross dressers welcoming in all the weirdos the freaks the child molesters
bring them in it's outrageous but you know what they're doing they're fleeing really
they're not bold enough to stand on what the word of god says they're fleeing but the righteous are
bold as a lion and and look if you're righteous you should be bold in the word of god don't ever
be ashamed of this church don't ever be worried about coming in here and thinking oh no you know
what if someone kind of you know thinks that i must be like a bit kind of extreme or something
yeah yeah you know what yeah we're zealous for the word of god aren't we yeah the righteous are bold
as a lion turn to ephesians chapter five there aren't enough men of god nowadays that will stand
up and call a spade a spade are there where are they where are the men have gone out there that
will stand up and just say it how it is it will stand up and call out the lgbtq for what it is
because that's something we're going to have to do here aren't we like i said they're everywhere out
there walking they're probably out there right now no in fact it's probably a bit early in the
morning they'll be out there by the evening sermon okay by the time the men are preaching they'll be
out there you know dribbling while they walk past the shot uh so it's not a shop anymore the old shot
the church the church the church in south and they'll be out there won't they they'll be out
there we're gonna see them you're gonna have to cross paths with them they are gonna be out there
and we're gonna preach the truth about that aren't we we're gonna stand up we're gonna stand on the
word of god and preach what it says we're not gonna be worried about and we're not gonna be
scared that you know some of those weirdos and freaks are gonna come you know start trying to
cause this trouble we don't care do we because we preach the word of god because we stand the
word of god there's not enough men of god out there that will preach the truth about other
issues as well about the baby murder industry how many of them preach about that oh they might go
oh yeah yeah abortion's bad how about preach it for what it is is child sacrifice how about that
how about preach what the word of god says oh but we might offend people so let's just preach it and
look if you've done stuff in the past look you know old things have passed away behold all things
have become new however if we don't preach it people will continue to do that stuff right
the ridiculous vaccine industry is preaching about that half these churches they're trying
to encourage it and tell you to go and get your jabs go and get injected with something you don't
even know what it is i don't know what half those ingredients are i can't even read them
i can't even pronounce them why would i get that jabbed into me yet how many people just
march out and just do that stuff it needs preach about the school system needs preaching about
doesn't it because how many people are just sending their kids off to who knows who to be
taught who knows what and in fact we're starting to know what they're teaching them because it's
it's out there and they still send them off what these guys preach about every week what do they
preach what all the what do you think's being preached around the city this morning judge not
god is love and then if you get to like a real like if you get to like an independent fundamental
baptist church we're talking about one we're at a while back this wicked church called bethel
baptist it will just be literally an hour-long sermon on one verse and and just doctrine doctrine
doctrine and that's it and nothing else and that's copied from somewhere else and that's
about what you get out there isn't it i don't know you if you if you've heard something else
you let me know but i don't see any i don't see the issues of the day being preached about and
that's something he's preaching about my bible says in ephesians chapter 5 be not you therefore
partake is with them verse 7 verse 8 says for ye were sometimes darkness but now are you light in
the lord walk as children of light for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth proving what is acceptable unto the lord and have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness but rather reprove them for it is a shame even to speak of those things which
are done of them in secret but all things that are approved and made manifest by the light
for whatsoever does make manifest is light so we're told to approve these people we're told
to shine the light on this stuff aren't we so why aren't they doing it why aren't the churches doing
it half of them it's because they're unsaved and the ones that are saved why aren't they shining
the light because they're scared because they're scared but we're going to do that from this church
aren't we and you know what i'm not just talking about the guy behind the pulpit because the
churches because they're uncomfortable because they'll lose congregants they'll lose people if
they preach it but we've got a church of 60 odd people here no one's left just yet i don't think
and hopefully no one will because hopefully look we've got a church of people that say no i want
to hear the truth right i want to hear the truth the truth preached and i'm not ashamed of the
truth right that are bold as lions but you know what jonathan is also saying in first samuel 14
and verse verses 9 to 10 there's another application here he said in verse 9 in first
samuel 14 if they say thus unto us tarry until we come to you then we will stand still in our place
and we'll not go up unto them but if they say thus come up unto us and we will go up for the
lord delivered them into our hand and this shall be a sign unto us when it comes to soul when he's
saying if they don't want to hear it and let them come to you basically we're not going to force you
we're not going to force you to hear the gospel and we need to remember that when we're outsold
with you right if they say if they say no we'll come to you we'll leave them and let them come
to you let them want to hear the gospel okay we're not out there trying to force people to hear the
gospel okay please remember that because we have people here before that want to do that stuff
but you know what if they do if they say what must i do to be saved they say come to us
let's get there and preach the gospel right okay and that's a good for me that's the application
there is it's let people have that choice right give them the choice to hear the gospel we don't
have to just force them to hear a verse and force the gospel after a verse or any of that stuff
give them the choice give them the opportunity and give them the choice and especially with kids give
them the opportunity to say no okay because kids it's easy to just make force them listen and
they'll disagree with you and it doesn't mean they wanted to or wanted to hear the gospel and
it doesn't mean they got saved they just couldn't say no okay give them the choice make sure they're
ready they want to hear great if they want to it's on yeah verse 11 says and both of them
discovered themselves under the garrison of the philistines and the philistines said behold the
hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves and the men of the garrison
answered jonathan his armor bearer and said come up to us and we will show you a thing and jonathan
said unto his armor bearer come up after me for the lord had delivered them into the hand of israel
and jonathan climbed up upon his hands and and upon his feet and his armor bearer after him and
they fell before jonathan his armor bearer slew after him so this is a great two-man team they're
just cutting and thrusting their way through getting people that the picture is his salvations
verse 14 and that first slaughter which jonathan is on bear made was about 20 men within as it were
and half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow so 20 men in under what's probably it seems
to be half a football pitch in fact even under that now if i could find an area out there where
i could get 20 salvations in under half a football pitch that's good ratios isn't it
that's some good door knocking that's every door okay they're they're doing some good stuff out
here verse 15 and there was trembling in the host in the field and among all the people
the garrison and the spoilers they also trembled and the earth quaked so it was a very great
trembling that's the result we often see when when the spoilers see us out swinging our swords isn't
it it is that they want you out of there i've had people literally when i've opened up i've
said oh can i just leave you a verse slowly like quickly shut the door seriously i've had it as
i'm not joking i'm not exaggerating either i've had people just just so scared of the word of god
cannot it don't want you have you ever had those people that go well i could show you oh no no no
i don't have time but they'll have a 15-minute conversation with you as soon as you start going
oh no no no no because they're so scared of the sword they're scared of the word of god they're
happy to chat about all sorts of things claiming they don't have time until you get out the word
of god they don't want it verse 16 and the watchmen of saul and gibbia of benjamin looked
and behold the multitude melted away and they went on beating down one another so they're turning on
each other and i've said many times often the work salvationists are kind of in cahoots they
tolerate each other it doesn't really matter does it the repent your sins guy he's not fussed with
the you know lordship salvationists they're not all these different works well we we think you've
got to follow the ten commandments another one thinks you've got at least like try not to sin
another one you've got to at least give up surgery they don't care they've got they're not fussed
with each other yeah they're not fussed however god can make them turn on each other can't it
and we do we have seen that in history we've seen certain religions turn on each other and
everything else and who who cleans up the mess us let them turn on each other let them fight
and bicker we go and get people safe because if they're not what they're doing they they look
they'll come to see a land to find one fossilite and then they'll make him twofold more the child
of hell than themselves right they're out there trying to convert people they're out there
reprobating people they're out there just getting people involved what do you mean you can't
reprobate someone look at the end of the day they're doing their best to do that they'll go
out there preach it get them involved and make them twofold more the child of hell than themselves
however if they're fighting each other it gives us more time doesn't it it gives us more time to
get out there and preach the gospel and god can make that happen verse 17 says then said
saul unto the people that were with him number now and see who has gone from us and when they
had numbered behold jonathan and his armor bearer were not there so they're like who's gone they
can't even work out they're so lazy sitting there doing so little they don't even know who's out
there preaching the gospel and who's not or who out there here they're battling and saul said
unto a higher bring hither the ark of god for the ark of god was at that time with the children of
israel and it came to pass while saul talked unto the priests that the noise that was in the host of
the philistines went on and increased and saul said unto the priest withdraw thine hand and saul
and all the people that were with him assembled themselves and they came to the battle and behold
every man's sword was against his fellow and there was a very great discomfiture moreover the hebrews
that were with the philistines before that time which went up with them in to the camp from the
country round about even they also turned to be with the israelites that was saul and jonathan
likewise all the men of israel which had hid themselves in mount ephraim when they had heard
that the philistines fed even they also followed hard after them in the battle so the lord saved
israel that day and the battle passed over unto bethaven the title is saving south end by many
or by few point number one it doesn't take many it really doesn't take many here we seem to think it
didn't take many two men here and it is a picture of soul winning but point number two many can
still join the few many can still join the few once those few those two men had caused havoc
here the reinforcements came in didn't they here were verse 20 and saul and all the people that
were with him assembled themselves and they came to the battle and behold every man's sword was
against his fellow and there was a very great discomfiture so application here maybe look maybe
already part of the army but you're spending your days tearing under the pomegranate tree
you go well how does that work if we're coming to church we're not tearing are we
maybe wednesday nights are a little inconvenient for you maybe sunday evenings make it sound like
a bit of a long day maybe maybe midweek soul winning is a bit too much effort
maybe marching into the philistine sounds a bit too extreme maybe marching out there and preaching
the gospel and getting out your sword he's just oh that's what those kind of real real extreme ones
do right well you know what if that's you it's not too late to get up getting inspired and get
involved it really isn't get up get inspired get involved as it said in verse 20 here and
saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves and they came to the battle
so how about you assemble yourself and come to the battle assemble yourself on a wednesday night
on a sunday evening assemble yourself on the soul winning times assemble yourself on the next
marathon assemble yourself in the morning and read your bible how about that assemble yourself
in the morning and read your bible instead of watching a load of brainwash on your phone your
device your tv or whatever most people do when they wake up assemble yourself yeah that means
you know get organized yeah get disciplined do things properly assemble yourself and pray for us
how about that assemble yourself and pray for this church
pray for me pray for pray for everyone in this church pray for all of us we all need the prayers
don't we assemble yourself for doing assemble yourself and join the battle one way or another
right in fact assemble yourself and join the battle in every way that's what you should do
you say what difference does it make didn't verse 6 say for there is no restraint to the
lord saved by many or by few maybe you're thinking well hey i can relax everyone else will get it
done maybe i'll say a few prayers now and again when i remember i'll tell you what difference it
makes you're doing something worthwhile yeah you go to work for the lord and you're doing something
worthwhile you go to battle for god and you're doing something worthwhile and look this is a
this is a small life it's a short life it's a vapor of a life do you know how long eternity is
very long okay that's a long time isn't it it's a long time to be looking back and thinking why
didn't i just join the battle why didn't i just get involved when i could why didn't i get more
people saved why didn't i do more for god why did i not do more why did i not assemble myself and
get involved it's a long time a long time to be having regrets a long time and i'm sure heaven's
still going to be magnificent and glorious and i don't think people are up there going i'm just
you know really upset with everything however i still think you you know it'd be a shame to be
looking back thinking i could have done more i could have done much more another difference it
makes you're closer to god when you're next to him charging into battle yeah when you go to battle
when you go to war for god when you do when you live for god and you you charge into the enemy
you're preaching the gospel you're in church you're reading your bible you're praying you're
doing all those things you're getting sent out your life you're next to god he's with you and
you know what it's great being close to god isn't it it's great seeing him work in your life it's
great to feel that you're close and we're all going to have times when we don't feel as close
right i'm not saying anyone here is is you know that's it they're just stuck to his side for the
rest of their life but whenever you feel like that the the response should be get closer and
you know how you get close go to battle with him he wants you next to him he wants you with him
go to battle for the lord you get close to the god you know another difference it makes
to be one of the one of the few or to make it one of the many you're earning rewards in heaven
yeah you're earning rewards in heaven look the bible tells about rewards for reason
in heaven where moth and rust is not corrupt yeah where it's not you know if you think oh yeah but
i might not be quite as rich if i kind of do a bit more for god who cares well you can do with
all that anyway do you know what it's going to get corrupted it's going to burn up it's going to burn
up and then you're going to be up there in eternity thinking why didn't i do more while i was down
there instead of focusing on my cash focusing on this focusing on my career focusing on everything
else look nothing wrong with with you know with at least being successful in life but make sure
you're serving god make sure you're serving the lord and you know another difference it makes
when you get involved with the few when you join the few you're encouraging people you're you're
exhorting those that are leading the charge look everyone here needs that sometimes don't they is
it great when you look at and you see you see a busy church does it make it doesn't it encourage
you when you see people coming in when we have visitors come from afar it's encouraging i get
encouraged by that see people come from around the country and visit our church it's encouraging
it's a great thing to see that one journey that one time that you're like i'm gonna get in my car
and i'm gonna make that drive and i'm gonna get there i'm gonna jump on the train i'm gonna get
there it encourages a lot of people makes a big difference and when people start to live for god
and start to come here and start to come weekly every week it encourages you doesn't it everyone
here and you know what it would you know what else when people start coming in the midweek
services people stay for the day on the sunday it encourages us we're thinking yes there are
other people here that wanting to serve god wanting to do stuff for god want to get out
there wanting to join the battle and i and i bet when when sullen the rest have turned up i bet
jonathan and his armor bear was like yeah i bet it gave him an extra strength i bet they started
swinging that sword a little bit more and it makes a difference you know what if hardly anyone turned
up here if most people maybe just came on the sunday morning i think half the people here who
come midweek probably would come a bit less i think half the people here if hardly anyone went
so winning would probably just stick to maybe a once a week or not doing midweek so winning
i think if hardly anyone came on the marathons i think a lot of the people that come every single
marathon would start to come less i really do and praise god we got a we got a group of people here
that serve the lord right but let's keep that up right and let's encourage others to do the same
you have to turn to hebrews 10 24 25 tells us about that encouragement when we assemble together
it says let us consider one another okay don't just think about yourself consider each other
to provoke unto love and to good works you're provoking others by considering them by doing
what verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is
don't forsake it but exhorting one another because you encourage each other because you
exhort one another and so much the more you know you do more than you'd imagine just by turning up
just by being involved just by covering yourself just by being a silent partner and turning up
and listening to and being next to someone and playing for them and being a support
like like jonathan's armor bearer makes such a difference do you think jonathan would have done
the same on his own if his armor bearer had said no i'm not interested the uh so i'm going to spend
a bit of time under the pomegranate tree as well today i'll come out tomorrow
do you think jonathan would have gone on his own i bet he wouldn't we're told to go out in pairs
by the way okay that's why we go out in pairs he said and so much the more as you see the day
approaching but you know what it's not just those at our church either it's also those that already
that that uh that aren't attending our church have a look at verse 21 it says moreover the hebrews
that were with the philistines before that time which went up with them into the camp from the
country round about even they also turned to be with the israelites that that were with
saul and jonathan that's the worldly christians that's the backsliders that's the new converts
they're with the philistines they were with them before that time they they went up with them into
the camp from the country round about they turned to be with the israelites with saul and jonathan
do you know that people serving god people doing the things of god will inspire those around them
as well and they're the people that we want don't we we want look we want that worldly christian to
get right it's never too late to join us we want them to get right we want the back sliders
to slide back up yeah we want them to you know kind of grip the side of the slide and you know
and try their best to kind of get up and hopefully when it's got a bit friction it's not a wet day
it's a bit easier kids right you know we want them to go up the slide the wrong way yeah we're
going to get back up to the top of that slide and don't fall back down again we want those
back sliders here we want the new converts to get involved okay we want them to get involved
we need to inspire and encourage don't we we need to be here ourselves if you've been saved and
you've been part of this church look there's no excuse not to be here be here be involved get
involved get involved with the soul winning get involved with church life be here and encourage
others and the more they see that the more we get those people here that's what we've just seen
people that were with the philistines they're in the world that's that's what the picture is yet
they saw that they saw those people being they saw two men it started with two men two men going out
preaching that's the picture of what it is going out with the sword of the spirit
slaying those in front of them and suddenly you've got you've got the worldly ones getting
involved you've got the ones that are hanging out with the philistines getting involved for
god and that's what we want to inspire from this church don't we get on the winning side
this is a winning side yeah we're on the winning side here if you're saved then join the battle
verse 22 and if you're not saved get saved and join the battle verse 22 says likewise all the
men of israel which had hid themselves in mount ephraim when they heard that the philistines fled
even they also followed hard after them in the battle though these are those that are in hiding
okay so these guys are hiding in mount ephraim these are the ones who are just like hiding out
somewhere they know where they should be look it's not that they're they're in the world
necessarily they're just hiding hiding they're just like too scared to get along but you can
encourage me to go door knocking if i go to that church and like preach on some of my sins if i go
to that church yeah yeah get out of hiding and get in here and get right that's what we're seeing
here the the the men of israel which had hid themselves in mount ephraim when they heard that
the philistines fled even they also followed hard after them in about they're following hard as well
they're like yeah let's get in there that's inspired them and again it's like with two men
two men it started with and then next thing you know you've got even the hiders even those who
scurrying around in the sewers somewhere like little rats just not wanting to really get
involved no they get up and they get involved as well and they could be also those look i'm
going to be kind there can be those that find the whole church life i do a bit daunting can't they
there are people out there that just fight like they're scared of it a bit and you know i don't
want to be in an unkind way either there are people that just they want to come i've had
these people contact me before they want to come but they're so nervous and scared and anxious and
worried about what to expect so many people nowadays are just much more comfortable staring
at the screen aren't they i mean human interaction is is sort of fear inducing for many now isn't it
just coming along getting involved and we want to try and encourage those people do you know what
they're going to be encouraged by more than anything it's just us going out and doing it
going out preaching the gospel having a busy church just just watch it get busier
and busier and those people that go past those people that we get saved in this local area
just watching it just fill up and get busy and people here week in week out aside from illness
sickness or death maybe a couple of other reasons right okay here in church right here in church
and out soul winning and there are those that fear the idea of going into battle aren't there
and there are those that think you come to a church like this it's not going to be long
before the freaks are kind of you know outside you know someone's let them loose kind of undone
the chain and they're kind of barking at the front door you know there are people scared of that and
they're thinking i don't know come to that church that's going to eventually happen isn't it we're
going to have the weirdos the freaks and everything else and again do you know what stops them being
scared is by those few those few just not caring just getting involved and when it comes it comes
who cares what they're going to do they're going to do to us we've got the lord we're on the winning
side aren't we who cares and and if we show that we don't care we're not like they're going oh
oh it could be oh no what's going on out there and like you know and everything else
if we're not like that we're just like yeah let's just get on with it right then that rubs off to
others doesn't it when god's people however few get working many can still join the few
they can join the few and i hope that many will join us verse 23 said so the lord saved israel
that day and the battle passed over unto bethaven the title was saving south then by many or by few
number one was it doesn't take many but number two many can still join the few we're here to do big
things aren't we right yeah that's why we're here we're here to do big things it doesn't require
many of us but we'd love you to join us yeah we'd love you to join us we'd love you to be part of
the elite part of the the hardcore part of those that are here you know three to thrive yeah so
winning so winning on the so winning time so winning on the marathons involved reading the
word of god in you know every day yeah read your bible get up read your bible pray to god get
involved get the sin out of your life get in church be in church stay in church get involved
yeah get involved and we're going to we're going to make a difference south end on that let's
finish on the word of god father thank you for your word thank you for um well this building
lord uh all these people that are here on our opening service here and um lord i i just pray
that you just inspire those you'll use us to inspire those around us to to just want to be
involved lord to want to not just be part of the furniture here but to just be be a part of
of a team serving you lord um you know help us to get many saved around here
whether it's few of us or many of us lord help us to save save south end lord and make a difference
to this place um help us to have a a great afternoon please lord please bless our food
when it comes as well um and we thank you for all the provision for that you've just all the
many things you've given us to be able to have this opening service to have this church building
to have the food that's coming thank you for all of that um please bless our afternoon soul winning
help us to get many saved and to return for this evening service in Jesus name all of this amen