I wanted to read verse number two first because I want to help you understand what this Psalm
is about.
But that thy way may be known upon the, upon earth.
What is the way that the earth, you know, needs to know about?
It says thy saving health among the nations.
So this is definitely speaking about saving the nations.
This is definitely speaking about going out and preaching the Gospel.
And so the title for the sermon this afternoon is Saving Health.
Saving Health.
We like that idea of health.
And what this Psalm brings to, causes us to remember or to think about is that sin is
like a sickness.
All right.
Well, I know we have sicknesses in our physical body, but when it comes to our spiritual life,
we have a great sickness known as sin.
Okay.
And Christ needs to come alongside and give us health.
Health that will save us.
And this is the main idea.
When you look at this Psalm, have that in your mind and then you'll understand what
the verses really are speaking about.
But before we can be soul winners, and praise God for those that went soul winning between
servers or maybe you're still going out afterwards and those that went out yesterday, we've opened
all Bible Church.
What a blessing.
I heard great reports there.
You know, we understand that's our need to get out there, but I want you to just pick
up on some points that you may need to adopt when you go, before you go song, before you
go song, I was going to say song leading, before you go soul winning, okay.
I want you to, in fact, even when it's before song leading, these are good points to pick
up as well.
But in verse number one, let's start there in verse number one.
Psalm 67 verse number one, it says, God be merciful unto us.
Now let's stop there.
It's not a very long, it's not a very long Psalm, so we're going to, we're going to break
up every point that gets brought up in the Psalm.
Why would the Psalmist say God be merciful unto us?
Before he goes soul winning, before he goes and tells the earth of the saving health of
God, he says God be merciful unto us.
You know why?
Because the Psalmist is a sinner.
The Psalmist has messed up, okay, and he goes, man, before I go soul winning, I better get
right with God.
You know, I've messed up, I've committed sin in my life, and man, I want to win souls,
but I know I'm not going to be effective unless I'm right with God.
And so he says, Lord, be merciful unto us, and of course, when you're asking God for
mercy, you're asking for his compassion, for his forgiveness.
We want to be brought back into fellowship with God.
We want to walk in his light.
In fact, if you continue there, he says, and bless us.
Hey, so before we go soul winning, Lord, can you bless us?
Lord, can you make our efforts profitable?
Lord, can you make sure that when we sow your seed, that he will not come back void?
Can you bless our work?
Can you bless us?
And he says, and cause his face to shine upon us, Selah, to cause his face to shine upon
us.
So if there's a shining that's coming from the face of God, that would be his light.
And so, so important, and I've covered this many times, in order for us to be walking
in the light of our Lord God, we must have our sins forgiven, our walk, our daily walk,
and then we can be walking in the light because God is light, and in him there is no darkness
at all.
And so I want you to see how the psalmist prepares himself before he goes soul winning,
before he goes and tells the earth of the saving health of his Lord God.
He says, Lord, forgive me, be merciful, and Lord, I want to be blessed by you, Lord, I
want to go out, and Lord, please make this, this is not about me, Lord, I can't do it
without you, you need to be part of this work, Lord, and Lord, I want to be in your light.
Can you shine your face upon me?
Now you're there in Psalm 67, come with me quickly to Psalm 69, Psalm 69, and I want
you to see, many times in the Psalm, not in this particular Psalm, but in the Psalms,
you're going to see the psalmist often speaks about the Lord shining his face upon us, okay?
You'll often see that idea.
And of course, for the Lord to shine his face upon us, we want to be pleasing in his sight.
We want to make sure that we're putting a smile on God's face.
We want to make sure that we're walking in sweet fellowship with God.
That's what it means for him to shine his face upon us.
But I want you to notice, when you are in sin, when you've committed sin, and you refuse
to confess it before him, in Psalm 69, verse number 17, it says, and hide not thy face
from thy servants, for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.
So I like how the Psalms, and you'll see this, if you do a word search for Lord shining
his face upon us, or the Lord hiding his face from us, you'll often see the same idea.
Hey, when we're far from the Lord, we're walking our own will, when we're not doing
what pleases the Lord, the Lord turns his face away from us.
Because he can't be in fellowship with us while we're in darkness.
And the Psalmist says, look, no more do I want your face to be turned away from me in
Psalm 67, and say, Lord, please shine your face upon us.
And I love that idea that, you know, God is looking at us.
And you know, when Moses came off the mount, remember, his face was so bright, they couldn't
look upon him, and they put a veil over Moses's face.
So that's Moses, where man can't even, man, you spend time with God, we can't even
look at you, Moses, how bright is the light of our Lord God.
We want to be walking in that light, because brethren, as we go door to door, we're going
into darkness, like where we're going into houses where there's simply darkness, they
don't know the light, they don't know salvation, they don't understand that it's
a free gift.
And you need to come, you switch on the lights, it's like you're taking a torch with you,
you turn on the light in a dark place, and you help people see the truth of God's salvation.
And then look at verse number two, that thy way, okay, so all those things in verse number
three are important, that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among
all nations.
Now keep your finger there, and come with me to Matthew chapter seven, Matthew chapter
seven, verse number thirteen, Matthew chapter seven, verse number thirteen, Matthew chapter
seven, verse number thirteen, please.
You know I, I thank God that every church, alright, the Baptist Union church that I grew
up in, it wasn't a soul winning church, it wasn't, but my first memory of going
soul winning was with my dad, and my dad doesn't even remember.
But I know, it was something, it was something that just cemented in my mind.
As a little kid, I don't think I was, probably five years old or six years old, it's one
of my earliest memories, you know, and you know, kids remember things that are different,
that break routine, and I remember we had these tracts from our Baptist church, it was
a Baptist Union church, and we went just locally, and my dad went knocking doors, I don't even
remember a particular house that we walked into, someone worked and welcomed us into
the house, and my dad was trying to give the gospel to somebody, and I told my dad about
it, he goes, I have no memory of that, because that wasn't something, you know, we did
as a family, but I remember distinctly, that's something that we did, and you know, what
saddens me, like, first of all, I thank God that every church, like when it comes to an
independent fundamental Baptist church, every IFB church that I've been part of in my
life has been a soul winning church.
I thank God for that, you know, my very first IFB church, my pastor was going soul winning
on Saturdays, and then, I think he had two soul winning times, they would go out every
week, soul winning, and I was always impressed by that, and I was impressed, you know, at
the church, at the time, they don't do it so much now, but at the time, they were out
there every single week, then the second church that I attended, they were soul winners as
well, but they were once a fortnight soul winners, so once a fortnight, they'd go soul
winning, where they'd actually knock doors, preach the gospel, and the other week, they
would give out tracts, so they had one week tracts, distribution, one week soul winning,
next week tract distribution, next week soul winning, they had that routine going on in
the other church, but I always appreciated the fact that, you know, every IFB church,
and I thought, I thought that's just a, that's what IFB do, I thought that's what
every independent fundamental Baptist church does, because the most important doctrine
is salvation, is God saving health, like of course that's what we're going to be doing,
of course that's what somebody should be doing, and what saddens me is when I would
hear testimonies of people, they would say, oh man, pastor I've been going to this IFB
church for this many years, and they do not do any soul winning, you know, it's not
a priority, and I just don't understand, and like, you know, and it's like, when
I say this is a soul winning church, it's not like that should be a marker of difference,
because if we're saved, that's what anybody should be doing, like that's, that should
be as regular as reading our Bibles, and as regular as just going to God in prayer, as
you know, and just telling someone, hey look, you know, someone said to me, you know, we're
just a poor beggar, turn another poor beggar, how to find bread, and that's how easy
it is, right, and it saddens me when I hear of churches that they're not actively preaching
the gospel, and then, well why is that, well, because it's soul winning, it never gets
preached behind the pauper, and I wonder, but why is that, I mean, it's like, you
wouldn't think, if I turn to Psalm 67, you're going to learn about soul winning, but that's
what it is, that's what it's about, going out to the earth with God saving health, telling
people how to recover from the sickness of sin, right, and you know, one huge goal that
I have is try to be an encouragement to other IFB churches, look, go soul winning, you know,
alright, we differ on the rapture, but go soul winning, alright, we differ on what we
think about the Jews, but just go soul winning, that's what saves souls, and that's what
can save the Jewish soul if you love them that much, right, I mean, that's what everyone
needs to hear, and these words, like, really, when you think about how sad they are from
Christ, in Matthew chapter 7, verse number 13, Matthew chapter 7, verse number 13, Christ
says, enter ye at the straight gate, straight, s-t-r-a-i-t, that's narrow, enter ye at
the straight gate, then he says, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be, which go in thereat, isn't that scary, that the majority,
Jesus is saying, the majority are going to hell, the vast majority are going to hell,
doesn't that break your heart? Breaks your heart for that soul, doesn't know where
it's going, breaks my heart that Christ died for them, but you're not redeeming
his precious blood on your life, like, I don't like the idea of even Christ, not
that it goes to waste, but you know, he died for them, it's done, you just have to say,
yes, Lord, give it to me, I want that, thank you, Lord, I appreciate that, I'm trusting
you, that's how salvation is, it's like entering a gate, right, I mean, is that hard?
Okay, there's the gate, okay, thank you, Lord, and the gate is Jesus, that's not
hard, salvation is not hard, Jesus did the hard work, and it's so sad, when I think
about the majority going to hell, you know, that should put a fire in our hearts, like,
you know what, any opportunity I get, Lord, any one-on-one opportunity, Lord, just lead
me to someone who's searching you, Lord, and I'm going to give him the gospel, then
Jesus says in verse 14, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth
unto life, and few, brethren, few there be that find it, have you found it? Few, you're
one of the few, I mean, that should, you know, you should rejoice, you should say, man, I
was on the way of destruction, you know, I was going on the easy route, right, I thought
salvation was on this or that, now I realise it's just Christ, and there are so few that
find it, you know, and the reason I read that to you is because I wanted you to see, look,
we want his way, right, that's what we saw in Psalm C7 too, that thy way may be known
upon earth, but if it's such a narrow gate, a narrow way to the gate, brethren, who's
going to be the one that will make known the gate upon the earth? It's got to be those
that are few, those of us that are few that know where the gate is, and who the gate is,
brethren, it's our job to tell the earth, hey, go this way, stop going that way, stop
trusting your works, stop trusting your religion, hey, stop trusting another Jesus, stop trusting
another gospel, and trust the gospel of Jesus Christ, his death, burial and resurrection
alone for salvation. Come with me to John 14, please, John 14, verse 4, John 14, verse
number 4, how is God's way going to be known upon the earth unless we do it? The few, the
few, and it can get discouraging when we think about, well, those that are saved, a few,
then of those that are saved, how many of those actually go to church, it's even less,
and then of those that go to church, how many people know how to give the gospel, it's
even less, and of those that know how to give the gospel, how many actually actively go
and give the gospel, it's even less. There's a lot riding on our shoulders. I want to fulfil
God's word, I want God to use me and use our church to reach loss, thank God for our
salvation today, praise God for that. John 14, verse 4, and you guys all know this, and
whither I go ye, sorry, and whither I go ye know, and the way ye know, so he's telling
his disciples, look, you guys know the way, you know where I'm going, he's going to heaven
eventually because he's going to, you know, obviously he's going to finish up his ministry,
and you guys know the way there, you already know that, and look what Thomas says, Thomas
saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Now
who's correct? Thomas says we don't know the way, but Jesus says you do know the way, so
which one would you believe, Thomas or Jesus in this scenario? Jesus, alright, Thomas is
just a little confused, alright, he hasn't got his plan of salvation really worked out,
okay, he's not, he's probably lacking a little bit spiritually in these days, right, but
Jesus told him already, you know the way, and then Jesus says in verse number 6, Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but
by me, and that's wonderful, okay, the only way to God is through Jesus Christ, and then
people say to me in the world, you know, people tell me, ah, but if that's the only way, then
what about, you know, the poor people in the middle of Africa, what about the poor
people in the middle of, you know, in the Middle East somewhere, they've never heard
the name of Christ, and they'll say this, and I, but you know, those that say these
things, they don't go soul with him, and my response is look, if you have a burden for
that person in the middle of Africa, or whatever, and you know the way, why don't you go and
tell them, why don't you say, you know what Lord, I'll go to the middle of Africa, and
go and find those people that have never heard your name. See, sometimes what happens within
Christianity, which shouldn't be the case, is that sometimes people feel inferior from
people that are actively soul winning, like they've been saved, and they know how free
salvation is, they know it's paid for in Christ Jesus, but for whatever reason, they're
unable to get out there, and others do, and they feel inferior, and sometimes, and look,
when you feel inferior, you say Jesus, use me in my capacity, I might have limitations,
I might not be eloquent of speech, but Lord, it's your word that saves anyway, but if you
can use me, use me, open the doors, help me to find people around me that I can preach
the gospel to, but sometimes people feel inferior, and they start to disdain those
that are actively soul winning, and doing the great works, and I don't want that, like
I don't want, actually, you know what, if you've never gone soul winning, I don't want
you to feel inferior, you're saved like me, we got saved the same way, not by our works,
there's no comparison between us, okay, we're level playing field when it comes to salvation,
but we need to understand the reality, God wants his way to be known in the whole earth,
and God wants his way to be known here on the Sunshine Coast, that's why you live here,
or that's why you can travel here, that's why, to be at church, yes, to be in fellowship,
yes, but to help the Sunshine Coast know the way of the Lord, and Jesus is the way, the
truth and the life.
Come back with me to Psalm 67, Psalm 67 please, Psalm 67 verse number 2, again, thy way may
be known upon the earth, I like how it says upon the earth in the sense that, this reminds
me of the Great Commission, what is it that Christ said before he ascended to heaven to
sit at the right side of the Father, right hand side of the Father, he says in Acts chapter
1 verse 8, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, let's
stop there, are you saved, if you're saved, you have the Holy Ghost living in you right
now don't you, so, do you have the power of God in you, you've got God's power, you say
pastor I can't go soul winning, yes you can, with the power, not your flesh power, I know
your flesh can't do it, neither can mine, but the power of the Holy Ghost that is in
you, it's already there, it's already there, you just need to tap into that power, he says
but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall
be witnesses, not optional, ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and in Samaria, and then he says, and unto the uttermost part of the earth, he goes you're
going to be witnesses of me throughout the whole earth, and brethren when we see Psalm
67, that thy way may be known upon earth, brethren we've got a responsibility, we're
here on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, and sometimes in Sydney for me, and wherever
else that you travel back and forth from, you have the words of eternal life, okay,
God has asked you, can you please be a witness unto me, if you're travelling from the Gold
Coast, you can say, ye shall be witnesses unto me both in the Gold Coast, and in the
Sunshine Coast, and in Samaria, in Brisbane, alright, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth, everywhere, everywhere we go, wherever we journey, wherever our holidays take us,
wherever our work takes us, brethren we can be witnesses across this entire earth, but
you need to tap into the power of the Holy Ghost, and again I'm not trying to make you
feel inferior, I'm actually trying to embolden you, because you are powerful, you are more
powerful than you realise, I mean what's the greatest change you can, anyone can make in
this life, isn't the greatest change, like if you could just perform some amazing task,
what would it be, to build the largest tower on the earth, I guess that's amazing, or to
change the eternal destiny of a soul, which one's more powerful, which one's greater,
changing the eternal destiny of a soul, you've got that in you, you've got that power, you've
got the Holy Ghost, you've got the words of eternal life, you've got the gospel, you've
got a mouth, you can do it, anybody can do it, okay, anybody can do it, and then he says
in verse number 2, thy saving health among all nations, thy saving health among all nations,
because brethren, amongst all the nations, and Australia of course, there is a sickness,
the sickness of sin in people's lives, and if you can keep your finger there, come with
me to Matthew chapter 9, Matthew chapter 9 please, Matthew chapter 9, Matthew chapter
9, now look I have no interest in being a physical physician, I have no interest in
being a physical doctor, and helping people with their fleshly diseases, now look if you've
got some sickness and disease in your flesh, I have no problem of course, with you going
seeing the specialist and getting the right medical aid for you, that's all good and proper,
you know let's try to sustain these bodies as much as we can, but I promise you something,
all our bodies are going to break down, they're all going to perish, they're all going to
end up in the grave, okay, and then you've got Matthew chapter 9 verse number 10, Matthew
chapter 9 and verse number 10, Matthew 9, 10, and it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat
in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples,
why is Jesus hanging out with publicans, that's government workers, no one likes government
workers, sorry brother Jason, I like you, I like you, but even in the time of Jesus
right, people had problems with publicans, okay, and sinners, why is Jesus hanging around
all the publicans and the sinners, does he just want to tell fancy stories, does he want
to impress them with his miracles, you know, is it just hey you guys got the best food,
I'm going to go hang out with you guys, no he's interested in obviously saving their
souls and but look at the Pharisees, look how they get frustrated, verse number 11,
and when the Pharisees saw it and they said unto his disciples, why eat of your master
with publicans and sinners, you know, what's really sad, I've seen Christians, I've
seen saved Christians have this attitude, what's so good about soul winning, why do
you go out there, you know, it's like we're saving souls, why is that a bad thing, isn't
that the most important thing in life, wasn't that the most important thing for you to hear
the gospel and get saved, don't you think it's the most important thing for every
single human being, to know the way, what does Christ say in verse number 12, but when
Jesus heard that he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician but they that
are sick, now Jesus uses this illustration of a doctor, okay, listen if you're healthy
and you're doing well, you don't need to go see the doctor, alright, you go see the
doctor when you're sick and there's a problem, okay, when there's an issue, that's
when you go see the specialist and then Jesus Christ says in verse number 13, but go ye
and learn what that meaneth, so he means something more than what he just said, go ye and learn
what that meaneth, he says to the Pharisees, he's so sick and tired of the Pharisees,
he says look I'm not even going to tell you what I mean, you go away and work it
out for yourself what I'm trying to say to you, okay, he's saying look these people
are sick, these publicans and these sinners are sick, they've got a spiritual sickness
called sin, he says I will have mercy and not sacrifice, he goes I'd rather be merciful
to these publicans and sinners than your signs of sacrifice and righteousness, your self
righteous Pharisees, I'd rather show mercy to those that are sinners, he says for I am
not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, not self righteous, I'm
going to heaven because I'm a good person, he goes no the sinners, hey you need to repent,
you need to come to Christ, you need to get saved and that's why Christ is hanging
out with the publicans and sinners but I love how he uses the illustration of the physician
and we have that hymn that we love to sing, the great physician now is near, the sympathizing
Jesus, I love that hymn and God uses that illustration and Reverend you know what, I
know there's so many of you with problems in your flesh, sicknesses and all kinds of
ailments and hurts and you know, I get a taste of it, I feel like I'm generally healthy
but I get a taste of it every now and again when something hurts in my body and you know
it helps me relate to people that have chronic ongoing issues, you know if that was just
constantly there and I never got better, I can understand why people, it's a frustration
in life but isn't it so much better that our spirits have been healed, so much better
that our souls are whole and right before God because like I said these bodies are going
to perish anyway but it's the soul that spends eternity either in heaven or in hell,
come back with me to Psalm 67, Psalm 67 verse number 3, Psalm 67 verse number 3, Psalm 67
and then we have let the people praise thee oh God, let all the people praise thee, why
do we want to share the soul winning numbers, why do we want to share the soul winning times,
why do we want to share, hey when such and such person got saved, so we can praise God,
brethren soul winning ought to cause praise and joy in your hearts, even if it's not you,
you know there have been times when I've hit just a dry period in soul winning, I've
gone months and seen nobody saved and then someone in church gets someone saved, yes,
praise God, rejoice, it's awesome, that soul is going to heaven, let the people praise
you oh God, let all the people praise thee, all the people praise thee, the one that got
saved ought to praise God, ought to be rejoicing that they're saved and the soul winner ought
to rejoice in that they're saved but let all the people praise thee, let the whole church
praise thee and so we're talking about that a little bit after the baptisms right, listen
you don't need to on the church chat, hey share all your salvations, it doesn't have
to be the church specific times, if it's your own personal time, someone at work, someone
in your family even, one of your neighbours, someone you bumped into just randomly, hey
share those salvations too, so that we can all rejoice in that and here's a test that
I have for you this afternoon, if you don't rejoice in that, when you hear of a soul saved,
there's something wrong, okay there's something wrong with your heart, okay so if you don't
rejoice, there's something that I want you to consider, now keep your finger there and
come with me to Hebrews chapter 10, come with me to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter
10, now I'm going to tell you a story of one of my church, I'm not going to name my church
because again I love my church, I love my pastors, I don't want to come across like
a Pharisee or something right, I'm self-righteous about some other church but there was a time
where in my old church, I won't name which one, the soul winning leader got up before
the church and said hey church can we just pray because they were out soul winning right,
can we just pray to see one soul saved this year, just one, we just want to see one soul
saved from the church door to door ministry and I thought hey that's great, one soul saved
right, I mean that's better than zero right, I mean that's good, that's a good start right,
so I thought hey that's a good prayer to pray, so and the whole church prayed about it and
then I'm with the soul winning leader, we go out together right, it's my turn to preach
the gospel and he's a silent partner and we knock on the door and it's a 12 year old Buddhist
boy that answers the door and I start talking to him about the gospel, no he doesn't know
how to be saved and because he's a Buddhist boy I have to explain everything, like he
really didn't understand much about Jesus Christ at all, so I had to explain everything
right, I had to even understand that Christ died on the cross, I had to explain all that
to him and I'm halfway through the gospel with this young boy and the soul winning leader
just disappears, like he's my silent partner, he should be there right and I'm kind of thinking
hey as I'm giving the guy the gospel, the kid, he seems really receptive, I'm going
to say hey this is what you've been praying for right, like this is it, like we want to
see one soul saved, this is going to, I think this is going to be it, I finish giving the
gospel to the 12 year old, I ask him questions, yes he cements it, he understands it, I say
look do you want to receive the free gift of salvation, he goes yes, you know you want
to show yes, you know I call upon the name of the Lord, let's just say a simple prayer,
yes and he prays with me and that's the soul saved, that's the one we've been praying
for as a church and then I turn around, the soul winning leader's gone, gone and then
like after I'm done with the little kid I go off and say hey brother, he got saved,
no joy, brother, I don't know why he left, he was here in the gospel, why did you take
off and then no joy, since then I've come to understand that the guy's not even saved,
okay he's not saved, he's the soul winning leader but he's not saved, I say how can
it be, I can't really explain that part to you, okay but here's part of the reason
as well, did I get to turn to Hebrews 10, before we read it, because here's what happens
in a lot of churches, listen if you've given someone the gospel and they have answered
the questions all correctly, they've understood it, you've cemented that, you've asked
them do you believe this, do you want to call upon the name of the Lord, they say yes I
do, I want to be sure of salvation right now and you lead them in a word of prayer, brethren
that person is saved, the Bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved, not might be saved, oh we don't know, shall be saved, that's God's promise,
of course we don't go to someone's door and just introduce ourselves, oh I'm Kevin
from New Life Baptist Church, let's say this pretty quickly so you go to heaven, okay
yes did Jesus die for me, no, no we share the gospel, we tell them what Jesus has done,
we tell them to turn from trust in their works or to trust their religion, we tell them to
put their full faith on Jesus, we explain that he died for all of their sins, we explain
eternal security that they can never lose it and then we tell them it's a free gift
that cannot be paid for, it's been paid for by the blood of Christ and when they cement
that truth and they call upon Jesus, brethren, they are saved, there's no ifs and buts
about it, they're saved, you say but what if someone's just, okay, what if someone's
gone for the merchant, look, those are the exceptions to the rule, alright, there might
be some exceptions but you don't change the rule, you don't change what the word
of God says, I'm going to stand true to what God said, he called upon the name of the Lord,
he put his faith on Christ, this person is saved and as we were waiting for your car
to be picked up by the tow truck, I was talking to one of my friends from the old church and
he was frustrated, he said to me, Kevin, he doesn't call me pastor Kevin because
I'm not his pastor, alright, we're friends, right, he says Kevin, I'm so frustrated
at church, you know, we have people that call upon the name of the Lord and people just
refuse to say that they're saved, say what do they say, they say he made a profession
of faith, he made a profession of faith and so my friend is like asking, so did he get
saved or is he not saved, oh we don't know just yet, he just made a profession, like
that profession is like this purgatory, we don't know, we've got to see whether he's
going to make it to heaven or to hell, we still don't know just yet and he was sharing
with the frustration with me, why do they, and he says to him, but look, are they saved,
well we don't know, well wouldn't that zap your rejoicing, right, what did we say,
let the people praise you God, let all the people praise thee as we go and make his way
known upon the earth as we bring the saving health of his gospel to people and when someone
gets saved, you know, I want to rejoice, I want to go woohoo, yeah, another soul in heaven,
I don't want to be like, oh I made a profession of faith, I don't know, how does that cause
rejoice in your heart and here's the thing, that profession of faith idea, that is in
the Bible, but let me show you here, in Hebrews 10 and look at verse number 23, 10, 23, let
us hold fast the profession of our faith, so I want you to notice that term is in the
Bible, okay, but let's backtrack a little bit, let's get the context of when this
is said, in verse number 22, Hebrews 10, 22, let us draw near with a true heart, notice
the next phrase, in full assurance of faith, full assurance, does that sound like you know
you're saved, amen, okay, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water and then notice, let us hold fast, okay, let's not be movable
here, let's stand fast on this, let us hold fast the profession of our faith, look,
without wavering, before we read the next part, without wavering, so when someone, look,
is there anything wrong with saying he made a profession of faith, no, but if he made
a profession of faith, he's saved, okay, I've got full assurance he's saved, alright,
I'm holding fast, you know, nothing wavering, I know he's saved, I know I'm saved because
I made a profession of faith, but that's how the Bible uses that phrase and that's
why we can rejoice, let the people praise the old God, how many churches, oh it's
a profession of faith, we don't know, that sounds like you're wavering, you're being
tossed to and fro and you know what happens a lot of times, oh, because we've got to
see how they perform, we've got to see if they've got the works going with it, we've
got to see if he turns, we've got to see if he turns up to church, I mean if that 12
year old Buddhist boy got, you know, got saved, he'll come to church and then we'll
know he's saved, I mean how many church attendances do you have to go to, just one,
how many chapters of the Bible do you have to read to be sure you're saved, now it's
starting to sound like works to me, you're going to add all these other things that he
has to do in order to be counted as saved in your eyes, that's not going to cause
any rejoicing in people's hearts, that's going to cause a lot of frustration, uncertainty
and even more dangerous, people trusting in their works as evidence of salvation, I know
I'm saved because look at me, yeah well God's not called the righteous to repentance,
okay, he's the great physician, he came for the publicans and the sinners.
Now here's the reason why we can be confident, why we can be sure, this is why we don't
have to waver because the rest of verse number 23 says, for he is faithful, that promised,
this is why, your faithfulness does not come into the equation, it's his faithfulness,
he promised, okay, you are not making the promise, Lord I promise to be faithful all
the days of my life, now I know I'm saved because you're going to break that tomorrow,
then you'll be wavering, no, no, professional faith, Lord you are faithful, you promised,
if I put my faith on Christ alone, I'm saved, settled, done, made a professional faith,
equals saved, no buts, no ifs and buts and brethren we have that confidence that causes
us to rejoice, that causes us to praise God, okay and I want to just praise God for all
of our salvation, praise God because man without him, without Jesus, burning the lake
of fire for all eternity, what an end, what an end that would be, okay but Christ came
in and loved us so much, shed his blood and died for us.
Back to Psalm 67 please, Psalm 67 verse number 4, oh let the nations be glad and sing for
joy, so what's going to give joy to the nations, a good economy, you know lower interest rates,
low unemployment, is that what's going to give joy to nations, no, salvation, alright,
for thou shall judge the people righteously and now we're talking about the end times
and govern the nations upon earth, Selah, okay, listen when Christ comes and governs
over the nations, there's going to be joy on the earth as well, okay because he is going
to judge people righteously, okay, there's going to be justice, there's finally going
to be justice upon this earth, you know one article that I came across on the internet
that caused me to think about this, oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, you
know the nations, well this study that I had a look at, this is about America, the United
States but I do believe we can apply this to Australia as well because we're similar
in, you know western nations, we're similar in our cultures and things like that but I'm
just going to read this, this article was from this year, so May 2023 and it says depression
rates are higher than we've ever seen according to new data from Gallup, a recent Gallup poll
reported that 29% of Americans have been diagnosed with depression at least once in their lifetime,
this represents an increase of almost 10 percentage points when compared to 2015, the number is
the highest recorded by Gallup, the mental illness appears to be impacting younger people
and women at greater rates, those aged 18 to 29 and 30 to 44 have significantly higher
depression rates in their lifetime than those older than 44 and more than one third of women
report having depression at some point in their lifetime. Now come with me to Romans
chapter 14, come with me to Romans 14, so our nations are getting more depressed, our
nations are getting more discomforted, how do we fix that? Well of course pop them some
pills, that's going to solve the answer, is it not? No, no, no, it's salvation, the gospel,
not only our neighbours, not only is this community dying on the way, dying to go to
hell but even their life on the surface isn't that great, they might, they might yeah, they'll
do the Facebook poses and the you know, what do you call it when you take pictures of yourself,
selfies, they'll do the selfies and you know on the Facebook and the social media but people
are depressed, people are sad, the only thing that's going to give joy is the saving health
that comes from Jesus, Romans 14, 17, Romans 14, 17, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink
but righteousness and peace, look at this, and joy in the Holy Ghost. I mentioned a couple of sermons
ago that this first stage of the kingdom of God is a spiritual one okay and this is the one he's
speaking about, brethren we have the Holy Ghost, we also have joy, joy in our salvation and what's
going to solve the depression problem in this world is to cause people to have joy once again
in entering the kingdom of God, that joy that comes by the Holy Ghost and of course when it
spoke about Jesus Christ coming to govern the nations you know we know the prophecies of Christ
when he would come and I'll just quickly quote it to you Isaiah 9 6, for unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called
wonderful, counselor, can we say about our governments today, what a wonderful government
but hey when Christ is on the earth, wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father
the prince of peace, of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with just
judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will
perform this. So look the answer to this sickness in the world is Jesus, the answer is salvation
okay and you guys are the spiritual doctors, you've got the expertise, you know, you know how
to vaccinate against, that's a bad term isn't it, you know how to, you know how to heal these people,
you know how to heal their sadness, you know how to heal, you know how to heal their depression
hey and there may very well be people demon possessed, possessed by devils, you know how
to heal that too, give them the gospel, when the holy ghost comes and living them within them,
do you think some devil can compete with that body against the holy ghost, of course not,
the way we cast out devils today is by giving someone the gospel, the moment they're saved
that devil cannot live in that person's body, we have it brethren, we have that power
so let's use it, amen, listen God is adding soul winners to our church
you know, let's be a powerhouse, let's be a soul winning machine,
let's just do it, let's get out there, you know
back to Psalm 67, Psalm 67, verse number five, let the people praise the old God, let all the people
praise it, it's there again mentioned, this time it's in direct context of Christ reigning and
having governance over this entire earth, once again hey not only are we praising God for our
salvation of the souls that we saved but when Christ comes back and he's walking this earth,
we're going to praise him again, praising him for being a righteous judge, for being a mighty God,
okay, for bringing this weakness and ruling with a rod of iron according to his word
and what I love about verse number six, then shall the earth yield her increase and God even
our own God shall bless us, let's take two thoughts here, verse number six, then shall
the earth yield her increase, we'll just finish talking about you know Christ's ruling on this
earth, you know governing over the entire earth, so I believe the first application to verse number
six, then shall the earth yield her increase is probably the produce of the earth, okay,
that when Christ comes back there's going to be healing on the earth and that the earth is going
to be more fruitful, okay, it's going to be much more plenteous when Christ is ruling this earth
than what it is today, okay, but in the context of the greater part of Islam when it says the
earth shall yield her increase and God even our own God shall bless us, what could this be talking
about, well keep your finger there and come with me to first Corinthians, come with me to first
Corinthians chapter three, first Corinthians chapter three please and verse number five,
first Corinthians chapter three and verse number five,
give me a name of someone that's not in our church, Bob, do we have a Bob, okay, brother Bob
is the most powerful soul winner we have, amen, every single day five salvations,
okay, that's Bob, all right and you might say, oh man, I wish I was like, no, no, no,
don't feel inferior, that's what I said, okay, you have that power too, you have it in you,
okay, you have the Holy Ghost within you, you can do it, okay, and when brother Bob
starts texting the church, oh there it is again, another text message from brother Bob,
hey, that's for you, oh yeah, you know what, the Psalm said to rejoice, so I'm going to do,
I'm going to change my attitude from being, oh show off Bob, so you know what Bob, thank you Bob,
thank you, now I can rejoice, hey, I can be happy today, hey Bob, I was a little concerned because
my car broke down but then that I found out that soul is going to heaven, who cares about my car
broken, breaking down, okay, now I know that something amazing has happened, a miracle,
soul is going to heaven, brother Bob, because then we get to first Corinthians three five,
who then is Paul, who then is Bob, right, and who is Apollos, I mean look, these are great men,
these are great soul winners, okay, I mean Paul definitely, who then is Paul, who and who is
Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed even as the Lord gave to every man, Paul says I have
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase, brethren when Bob posts five
salvations every day, don't be like, oh Bob show off, no, God gave the increase,
and Bob was just a minister, maybe brother Henry watered, and brother Bob just came along
and just reaped the fruits from brother Henry's hard work, okay, and we rejoice in those faithful
brothers of the Lord doing great works, okay, but at the end of the day, brethren, we're rejoicing,
it's God that gives the increase, we're not elevating man, we're not elevating the soul
winner, we're thankful for the soul winner, hey they've been faithful ministers, they've been
used by God and God gave the increase, verse number eight, now hear that planteth and hear
that wardereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own
labour, brethren it's worth preaching the gospel, it's worth being used by God, okay,
because he's going to reward you, alright, God is not some slack employer that forgets to pay you,
some slack employer that's called you to work overtime that never paid you the overtime hours,
God's kept record of every time you stepped out, okay, even maybe you started for 10 minutes and
you gave up, God's going to pay you for those 10 minutes, you say but I've been going sowing for
an hour every week for two months and I've never seen anybody saved, you're still laboured for God,
he's going to reward you for your labour, and the salvation, that's his bonus,
that's the creamer on top, that's the cherry on top, that we can all rejoice in,
brethren it's worth your time, it's worth your effort, now please always make yourself available,
even if you can't make the soul winning times, just be ready, say God I don't need the soul
winning time necessarily because I've got the Holy Spirit and Lord I know you want your way
on this earth, Lord I know you want your saving health on those that are sick, spiritually sick
around me, Lord just use me where I can, and you'll be surprised if you start praying that,
you'll be surprised how many doors the Lord will open for you, and then you've got to take it,
oh I'm by myself this person, I feel weak, I don't think I can do this, and you can't, that's why I
say Lord you've given me your power, you've given me your Holy Spirit, bang, go for it,
give them the scriptures, okay faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,
you don't have to use your intellect, don't, use God's Word, that's the most powerful way
to see souls saved, but what I like about, going back to Psalm 67 please,
Psalm 67, what I like about verse number six, well let's compare with verse number one, okay,
so before the psalmist goes soul winning, he asks God, like God merciful unto us and bless us,
and bless us, so before you go soul winning, God can you bless me, before I go soul winning,
all right, I want this to be fruitful, then after he brings the increase, after the earth has yield
her increase, okay, people being saved, then he says, and God, even our God shall, shall bless us,
so you get a blessing for going soul winning, and when you get souls saved, God's going to give you
a double blessing on top of that, for the labour and the work that you've done for him,
then verse number seven, God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him,
and I won't cover that into great depth, I've covered that recently, about the terror of the
Lord, remember it's good to fear the Lord, and I should, it's another driving factor for us,
Lord, you know, man, you're such a great God, you're such a powerful God,
you know, you've given me the ability to see souls saved, Lord, you've died for the sins of
this earth, sins of this world, for every human being, Lord, please use me, and maybe you can be
like that guy that I found out was not even safe to begin with, a soul winning leader, Lord, just
one soul, Lord, before I die, before I go to be with you in heaven, can you just lead me to one
soul that I could get saved, that was my prayer, when I was a teenager, say, Lord, just one of my
friends, just one, and I was so timid, I didn't have anyone guiding me, I didn't have any real
direction, I didn't have a good church, the first soul that I got saved was Christina,
I got blessed afterwards as well, because she married me, what a blessing, okay, and then it's
been many more souls after that, praise God. Alright brethren, the title for the sermon was
Saving Health, God's Saving Health, Psalm 67, you know, I don't want to, you know, I want to
challenge you, I don't, I really, if you've never gone soul winning, you've never opened your mouth,
I don't want you to feel horrible, because who is Bob, who is Henry, who is Paul, who is Apollos,
it's God that gives increase, okay, it's the Holy Ghost, it's the power of his word that gets people
saved, but I do want to encourage you, I want you to know, you have that ability, okay, you have what
Bob has, you have what Henry has, you can make it happen, okay, just ask God to use you, to give you
his power and to use you, let's pray.