Go in this thy might and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites have not I sent thee
Now here we see a great example of something throughout the Bible something that's very clear
It's not that hard to understand that God
Uses a man to do his will
God to do his will
To do great things to free his people to preach the gospel to win souls to build a church
Uses man to do his will he told Gideon go save Israel
Thou shalt save Israel thou shalt defeat the Midianites thou shalt smite them as one man
thou
Will do it, but they said now. I don't want people to say I did it myself
But he said thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man surely. I will be with thee
We can't do it without God, but you know what we do have to do it
God's not going to do it without us. This is what people don't see God can't do it without us
God can't win the souls in Phoenix, Arizona without us
Can't believe you say that
If God could do it without us, why do we put in all the hours and you know what let me tell you something right now
The people who think that God can do it without us. That's why they don't put in the hours
That's why if they go soul winning at all it's for 59 minutes
That's why if they go soul winning at all they call it soul winning
It's actually door knocking and inviting people to church because they think that God's gonna do it without them
They think God's gonna preach the gospel to every creature in Phoenix, Arizona
Without them let me tell you something it's not going to happen because God uses a man to do his will
He said I'll be with thee. I'll give you the power. I'll cause you to do the supernatural
I'll perform a miracle, but I need that vessel
I need that man who will lead the charge physically into battle and he chose Gideon to be that man because he say was a mighty
Man he said go in this thy might and thou shalt save the children of Israel
The sword of the Lord and of Gideon right it's not just the sword of the Lord now the sword of the Lord first and foremost
But the sword of the Lord and of Gideon right don't miss man and God working in tandem
To do his work. Don't miss it
Jesus said take my yoke upon thee and learn of me
What is a yoke a yoke is something that links two people together?
So that they can work side by side for example you take a yoke of oxen you have two oxen
Pulling a cart working together going the same direction Jesus wants us to get in the yoke with him
Side by side with him man plus God the sword of the Lord the sword of Gideon side by side doing God's work
That's what it means to be in the yoke with Jesus Christ
Now listen to this verse
People constantly are criticizing us because we use this term hey I got somebody saved
Right hey I got somebody saved today
Oh Pastor Anderson you didn't save anybody
Jesus does the saving do you even realize what you're saying
Blasphemy we won souls people hate those two souls
But try this on for size you don't have to turn there 1 Corinthians 9 22
To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak
I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some
That's the bible and whenever people criticize me I show them that verse
Where Paul said I become all things to all men that I might by all means save some
I show them that verse and that's what they say
Well that's not what Paul meant Paul was just saying that he was the one that preached them the gospel
But that Jesus is the one that saved them
Hey can I tell you something that's what we mean too when we say it
Right
You know what I mean so when we say it we mean that it's all us
God has nothing to do with it
But when Paul says it's okay for him to say it think about that
And it's funny because Paul said it even more strongly than we say it
We say I got somebody saved
Paul said I saved somebody
I mean can you imagine the outcry if somebody said that
But you know what Paul meant it in the same sense of Gideon saving Israel
God was the one with the power Jesus is the only savior
It says in Isaiah 43 beside me is the one with the power
Jesus is the only savior it says in Isaiah 43 beside me there is no savior
Jesus Christ is savior but when we preach the gospel to somebody we will save that soul from death
When we preach the gospel to somebody we are pulling them out of the fire
Jude verse 22 and 23 same thing
Others saved with fear pulling them out of the fire
He saved you others you saved with fear pulling them out of the fire
Hating even the garments spotted by the flesh
You say I don't think that's what that means
Well what about this one Romans 11 14
If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and might save some of them
He said I want to provoke to emulation them that are of my flesh that I might save some of them
Paul didn't think that he was the savior
He said was Paul crucified for you in 1 Corinthians chapter 1
He said did Paul die on the cross for you did Paul save you
He said I'm just the minister by whom he believed
As God gave to every man a minister
But you know somebody won you to Christ somebody preached you the gospel
Somebody told hey they saved you
But Jesus was the real savior Jesus is the one who paid it all
But I'm going to tell you something you wouldn't have got saved unless somebody brought you the gospel
You can sit there and say oh they would have got it another way
Oh somehow they would have gotten it
Is that why God said I sought for a man to stand among them to stand in the gap to make up the hedge
But I found none
He said I destroyed them because I could not find a man to stand in the gap
But you say God will just provide that man
God will find somebody to do it we're all expendable right
Nobody in this church is expendable
If you leave this church and quit this church and go to some watered down church
Or sit in your house and call that church and don't go soul winning
Somebody will go to hell because you didn't go soul winning
Period
Go ahead and quit this church
Go ahead and go to some phony church
Go to some watered down church or quit church
Sit around stare at each other in your house
But I'm going to tell you something people will go to hell if you quit winning souls
And this church is a soul winning church
And if you get out of this church you better go to another soul winning church
Or you will cease to be a soul winner
It's true
You go to a church that's weak on soul winning
You'll get weak on soul winning
You go to a church that's watered down
You'll get watered down
Now look if you want to quit this church
Quit the church and go to another church
That's a red hot soul winning church
I mean otherwise stay right here and win souls
And you can be flippant about it
You can say it doesn't matter
But it does matter because you cannot be replaced
You can't
Don't sit there and tell me that everybody is expendable
We're all expendable
We can all be gone and it will all go forth
And look I'm not trying to lift up myself
I'm telling you every single person that's here tonight
Cannot be replaced
If you're gone then there will be something missing from this church forever
When you get backslidden
When you go to the world
It'll never be the same
Church will never be the same
And there are people out there on soul winning
That if I knock on their door they won't like me
They won't listen to me
They don't want to hear from me
But they want to hear from you
They'll get saved when they hear from you
It's true
God made every person unique
And so I'm telling you something
You are different than me
There's never been anybody like me before
There's never been anybody just like you before
God created you
Are you listening?
You're not just some mixture of genes
You're not just oh my genes combine
I grew up in this house
God made you a living soul
With a unique personality
That is unlike any person that has ever existed
Or ever will exist
You are an eternal soul
That is made by God
Different than anyone who has ever existed
Because God has a plan
That for your life
People for you to win to Christ
Work for you to do
Sermons for you to preach in
Souls for you to win no matter who you are
Children for you to raise
People for you to help
Friends to influence
Work to do
God created you a unique person
And if you don't do that work
No one will do it
I can't do it
I can't
No one else can do it
You can do it
Period
Every single person
I don't care
You say well I'm not talented
It doesn't matter how much or how little talent you have
It doesn't matter your abilities
Your speaking abilities
It doesn't matter your appearance
Your strength
Your weakness
God made you who you are
To use you
And if you don't do it
If you don't do the work that God has given to you
No one will do it
Face it
Deal with it
Don't let these people on their high horse
Pontificating
Talking down to you
You don't save anybody
You're not important
You don't matter
You're dirt
You're scum
You're worthless
Without Jesus I'm just a worthless piece of trash
You know what?
Without Jesus
But I'm not without Jesus
Are you?
I'm not going to tell you that you're worthless
Because you have Jesus Christ in you
The hope of glory
You're not worthless
You're not trash
Oh I'm just scum
I heard a preacher one time say
I get on my knees and pray
And he said I put my finger up on the window sill
And got some dirt on my finger and said
This is what I am God
Just dirt
I'm not dirt
I'm not trash
Hey I'm God's son
I'm a child of the king
I'm a king and a priest
I'm going to live forever
I'm a son of God
I'm a spirit filled prophet of God
I'm a preacher
I'm a soul winner
I'm a Christian
I'm a Baptist
Hey God used me today to win somebody to Christ
And those of you that are out there
Hey God used you to win somebody to Christ
Hey and he only could have used you to do that exact work today
Period
Don't let people tell you you're expendable
You're worthless
You, no matter who you are, you have value to God
And you're not like a washing machine part
That just gets replaced
Oh we lose this person, let's just replace him
Can't ever replace him
There will always be something missing
Whoever quits, you know, quits the church
Or quits the service of God
There's a void there that will never be filled
Period
Don't tell me that everybody's the same
Don't tell me that everybody can just be replaced
They can't
It's a lie
It's not true
Don't tell me that we don't win souls
We, no, they don't win souls
The people who say that
We do win souls
In fact we save souls
If you don't like it take it up with the apostle Paul
If you don't like it take it up with the Holy Spirit of God
Who uttered those words before the world even began
Before you were born
You pompous Calvinistic lordship salvation phony
Before you ever even were born
Before your mama was even wiping your filthy nose
Hey, God spanked all these words
And he said that man is what God uses to win people to Christ
He said that God has committed to man the ministry of reconciliation
You