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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his bones. He arose, he arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose, he arose, hallelujah, by the rose. Vainly they watch his breath, Jesus my Savior, vainly they steal the dead, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his bones. He arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose, he arose, hallelujah, by the rose. Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior, he tore the parts away, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his bones. He arose, he arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose, he arose, hallelujah, by the rose. Good singing will open with a word of prayer. Dear Father, thank you for this church and thank you for this opportunity that we have to sing praises unto you. I pray that you bless the remainder of this service at this time, Lord, and help us to sing and fill us with the Holy Spirit as we sing unto you, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. For our next hymn, if you would, turn to number three in your hymnals. Hymn number three, Jesus paid it all. Hymn number three, we'll go ahead and start there right on the first. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength in me is small. Shadow, clean, just watch and pray. Fight in me, my all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had let the princess stay, he washed it white as snow. For now indeed I find, thy power and thine alone. Can it change the leper's smart, and build the heart of stone? Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had let the princess stay, he washed it white as snow. For nothing good hath I whereby thy grace to cling. I'll wash my garments white, in the blood of Calvary's lamb. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had let the princess stay, he washed it white as snow. And when, before the throne, I stand in incomplete, Jesus died my soul to sing, my lips shall still repeat. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had let the princess stay, he washed it white as snow. You're gonna have a couple different options we did get a anchor Baptist Church hat a nice leather patch in the front if anyone likes that style and we also as another option have a nice coffee mug there anchor Baptist Church as well so we got the merch ordered and you know this chapter will be over after the transition so it's it's fitting and if you don't like hats or mugs we do still have gift cards too so whatever you guys want for that prize you will have an option for sure on the inside if you look at our left side we do have our service times listed there and our soul winning times sounded like you'll have some fun this evening this morning time so I'll be expecting some phone calls for that we do have a nursing home ministry schedule listed there to take part of that please make note of the times and preachers we have our year today salvations and baptisms listed there were almost at the point of breaking 500 so keep up the hard work at the end of this year I think that we should be able to do that in December December on the upper right we do have our expecting ladies please be in prayer for Miss Whitney read also upcoming events on the 24th is going to be the transition day from steadfast Baptist Church to anchor Baptist Church really excited to have Pastor Shelley and Pastor Thompson preaching here and we are going to be getting lunch catered in between services we'll be getting some good Texas barbecue I know it's Oklahoma but we're bringing a taste of Texas up so that's going to be a lot of fun I'm excited for that I you know got all the chairs counted today we got over 100 so we're gonna be ready to go for sure really excited for that December 20th is the ladies Christmas party December 21st we're gonna have a Christmas soul winning push as many people are thinking about Christ that time of year we're gonna have our regular Saturday soul winning rally we're just gonna cater some food and coffee and try to get people saved on that day also I did add on December 31st we are gonna have a New Year's Eve party and it's gonna be also a men's preaching night so I'm gonna put a sign up sheet back there but man if you'd like to preach probably gonna be about 10 minutes depending on how many people sign up and the only rules are if you preach you gotta have a shirt and tie gotta preach out of the King James Bible unless you're using the other versions to make fun of them or preach against them so that's the rules with that but I'll have a sign up sheet where you can just write your name and the topic of your sermon and really looking forward to hearing you guys preach on that night and then after the preaching we're gonna eat some food and put some tables out here play some games have some fellowship so bring your board games from home you're more than welcome to stay till midnight if you want to stay till midnight go for it obviously those with kids may not want to do that but you're more than welcome to if you want to be hardcore you know go for it I've always had a really great time on these New Year's Eve parties and it's a safe place to be on New Year's Eve rather than driving around with all the idiots drinking alcohol you know being inside of church on New Year's Eve is definitely a safe place to be so we do want to facilitate that for everyone online giving is that QR code there if you'd like to give online that is an option for you on the back we do have our prayer list you could please be in prayer for all of our church members there and as always if you have any requests to add please email the church and I'd be happy to add that for you but before we go to our third song let's go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer as a church dear Lord thank you for this day and thank you for the opportunity to be in your house during the midweek service I just pray that you would refresh our spirits and our minds as we're out in this world all week that we could just come to you sing praises to you be around God's people hear the God of hear the Word of God be preached and just pray that you would be with us tonight as we do all that and pray that you would please help those in this church looking for a new job we're having interviews we pray for also our brother James Perry who's having back issues just pray that you would heal him Lord to help him not to be in so much pain and we just pray that he would get the care that he needs that he could be back on his feet Lord and we also pray for Cameron's mother for her heart to be softened to the gospel and also for healing for her cancer and we prayed the same for this Terry and this Remy as well that you just completely heal their bodies of their illnesses Lord and just pray that you bless our church with good health and we pray for those also Lord desiring children that you please bless their womb Lord and help us to be a church that multiplies physically and spiritually and we pray also for Miss Whitney and brother Zach who have family members needing to be saved which pray that their hearts would be softened as well and that they would get a clear opportunity to hear the gospel and Lord we love you very much in Jesus name we pray amen all right at this time we'll go to our third song all right for our third song if you would actually grab a white handout and turn to Psalm number 150 Psalm 150 Psalm 150 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first praise ye the Lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in the firmament of his power praise him for his mighty acts praise him according to his excellent greatness praise him with the sound of the trumpet praise him with the solitary and tar praise him with the timbrel and dance praise him with stringed instruments and organs praise him praise God the Holy Ghost praise God in three persons you would sing as men are taking up offering turn if you would to first Samuel chapter number 14 first Samuel chapter number 14 you good evening tonight we're in first Samuel chapter number 14 first thing with 14 the Bible reads now I 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 Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Megaron and the people that were with him were about 600 men and Ahia the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother the son of Phinehas the son of Eli the Lord's priests in Shiloh wearing an ephod and the people knew not that Jonathan was gone and between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines garrison there was a sharp rock on this on the one side and a sharp rock on the other side and the name of the one was Bozaz and the name of the other Sina the forefront of the one was situated northward over against Michmash and the other southward over against Gibeah 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 say by many or by few in his armor bearer said unto him do all that is in thine heart turn thee behold I am with thee according to thy heart then said Jonathan behold we will pass over unto these men and we will discover ourselves unto them if they say thus unto us Terry until we come to you then we will stand still in our place and will not go up unto them but if they say thus come up unto us then we will go up for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand and this shall be a sign unto us and both of them discover themselves unto 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 and 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 hath delivered them into the hand of Israel and Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet and his armor bearer after him and they fell before Jonathan and his armor bearer slew after him and that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about 20 men within as it were and half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow 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 and the watchmen of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked and behold the multitude melted away and they went on beating down one another 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 and Saul said unto Ahiah 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 priest 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 into the camp from the country roundabout even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan 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 so the Lord saved Israel that day and the battle passed unto Beth-aven and the men of Israel were distressed that day for Saul had adjured the people saying cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening that I may be avenged on mine enemies so none of the people tasted any food and all they of the land came to a wood and there was honey upon the ground and when the people were coming to the wood behold the honey dropped but no man put his hand to his mouth for the people feared the oath but Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath there wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth and his eyes were enlightened and they answered one of the people and said thy father straightly charged the people with an oath saying cursed be the man that eateth any food this day and the people were faint then said Jonathan my father hath troubled the land see I pray you how my eyes have been enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey how much more if happily the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found so they had not been now a much great greater slaughter among the Philistines and they smote the Philistines that day from Micmash to Eijelon and the people were very faint and the people flew upon the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slew them on the ground and the people did eat them with the blood then they told Saul saying behold that people sin against the Lord and that they eat with the blood and he said ye have transgressed roll a great stone unto me this day and Saul said disperse you disperse yourselves among the people and saying to them bring me hither every man his ox and every man his sheep and slay them here and eat and sin not against the Lord and eating with the blood and all the people brought every man his his ox with him that night and slew them there and Saul built an altar unto the Lord the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord and Saul said let us go down after the Philistines by night and spoil them there until the morning light and let us not leave a man of them and they said do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee then said the priest let us draw near hither unto God and Saul asked the counsel of God shall I go down after the Philistines will thou deliver them into the hand of Israel but he answered him not that day and Saul said draw ye near hither all the chief of the people and know and see where in the sin hath been this day for as the Lord liveth which saveth Israel though it be in Jonathan my son he shall surely die but but there was not a man among all the people that answered him then said he unto all Israel be on one side and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side and the people said unto Saul do what seemeth good unto thee therefore Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel give a perfect lot and Saul and Jonathan were taken but the people escaped and Saul said cast lots between me and Jonathan my son and Jonathan was taken then Saul said to Jonathan tell me what thou hast done and Jonathan told him and said I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand and lo I must die and Saul answered God do so and more also for thou shalt surely die Jonathan and the people sentences Saul shall Jonathan die who hath brought this great salvation in Israel God forbid as the Lord liveth there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground for he hath wrought with God this day so the people person so the people rescued Jonathan that he died not and Saul went up from following the Philistines and the Philistines went to their own place so Saul took the kingdom over Israel and fought against all the enemies on every side against Moab and against the children of Ammon and against Edom and against the kings of Zobah and against the Philistines and whithersoever he turned himself he vexed them and he gathered and hosts and smote the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishmael and Michaela and the names of his two daughters were these the name of the firstborn Merab and the name of the younger Michal and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimeaz and the name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Nair, Saul's uncle and Kish was a father of Saul and Nair the father of Abner and the son of Abil and there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul and when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man he took him unto them. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Father in heaven we thank you for this day and we thank you for all the souls that are saved across the world every day. Amen. All right well we're in 1st Samuel chapter 14 which as you can see is a much longer chapter than what we've been going through so we're only gonna get through the first 23 verses this evening and Lord willing we'll finish it next week but if you remember where we picked up last week basically Saul he had sinned presumptuously by doing the sacrifice without Samuel and as a result God basically told Saul that his name his days being king were numbered and he's in a very bad situation things are looking really bleak for the children of Israel and go to 1st Samuel 13 real quick just flip back to verse number 15 and let me remind you of the military situation that they're in here verse 15 it says in Samuel rose and got him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin and Saul numbered the people that were present with him about 600 men so if you remember at the beginning of that chapter he started with 3,000 and it was whittled down to 600 guys against what the Bible described as basically an innumerable multitude you know people as the sand of the seashore and we were talking to last week about how from a carnal perspective they seemed like they were in a really impossible situation but go to 1st Samuel 14 and let's actually skip ahead to verse 23 I want you to notice how it went from this seemingly impossible situation to the end of the battle this is what it looked like in 1st Samuel 14 23 the Bible says so the Lord saved Israel that day and the battle passed over unto Beth Avon so where they started in a terrible situation at a major disadvantage in just 23 verses they somehow went from having just a few hundred men to winning this battle and the question is how did this happen that's we're gonna look at this evening how God ended up saving Israel look at verse number 1 of 1st Samuel 14 the Bible says now it came to pass upon a day that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare 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 Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in my ground and the people that were with him were about 600 men so notice the Bible contrasts Jonathan and Saul which last chapter the Bible kind of did the same thing explaining how Jonathan won the battle but Saul tried to take the glory now we have here in a very negative situation Jonathan says to his armor bearer hey let's go over against the Philistines garrison let's go over to the Philistines garrison he's saying hey let's go check out the situation let's go do some reconnaissance on the enemy meanwhile what is Saul doing tearing which is funny because his whole excuse for why he had to do the sacrifice was that he didn't want to go out to war he didn't want to go out to battle before inquiring of the Lord well now that's already been done the sacrifice is already done it's already over with yet he's still tearing he's still just sitting around number one this evening God wants to use the proactive God wants to use the proactive see while Saul was just sitting around doing nothing you know spinning his thumbs around Jonathan was actually moving Jonathan was actually doing something and you know while we don't want to be presumptuous we do want to be proactive there is a difference between those two things because someone that's presumptuous is taking something that's not rightfully theirs not their authority but being proactive is hey there's an opportunity from God here I'm not forbidden from doing this thing so I'm gonna take action and you know what God wants us as his people to be people that are proactive people that do not just sit around and think about it Jonathan he's not forbidden by Saul to do this he's one of the leaders of the army and if Saul's not getting the job done if Saul's just sitting underneath the pomegranate tree you know at the very least we could do is go get some intelligence on the enemy right get some reconnaissance going go to Genesis chapter 14 I want to show you a few verses about how God likes people and God uses people that are proactive they don't necessarily have to sit around and wait to be told to do something it's just hey it's in their power it's not forbidden to them there's an opportunity there and they just move they just do things Genesis 14 14 it says and when Abram had heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his train servants born in his own house 318 and pursued them unto Dan see no one told Abram hey go get your army and go to war and save lot right he just there's a problem there's an issue and so him as a proactive person as a good leader he just says hey let's go fight these guys let's go rescue lot verse 15 and he divided himself against them he and his servants by night and smote them and pursued them unto Hobah which is on the left hand of Damascus and he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother lot and his goods and the women also and the people so God blessed Abrams initiative that he took God blessed the fact that he was being proactive by allowing Abram to prosper in this battle and to get lot back to get all the goods back why because God likes someone that's proactive God likes someone that takes initiative go to mark chapter number five mark chapter number five it's not even just men the Bible talks about women that are proactive women that take initiative and this is something that God likes as an attribute of ladies as well mark 525 it says and a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse when she had heard of Jesus came in the press behind and touched his garment for she said if I may touch but his clothes I shall be whole and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague you know I find this story to kind of match what we're talking about you know no one told this woman hey go touch Jesus's garment she just thought like hey Jesus is standing here here's an opportunity that's been presented to me no one told me I can't touch his garment you know I've been dealing with all these physicians and I haven't gotten better in fact I've gotten worse maybe I should just go touch Jesus's garment real quick and he'll heal me and that's exactly what happened why because God consistently in the Bible blesses people that are proactive that take initiative you know it's like this financially God promises to provide all of our needs the Bible talks about how we you know we've never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread but it's not like you just sit down and just pray God please give me money you know who God's gonna bless financially is the person that is just proactive and just goes and takes initiative to work hard on their own someone that doesn't have to have a taskmaster over them telling them do this do that but they just go out they work hard that's gonna be the type of person that God blesses in battle in business in ministry in family in anything go back to first Samuel 14 while you're turning there I'll read for you 1st Corinthians 16 9 the Bible says for a great door and effectual is opened unto me and there are many adversaries when I think about being proactive taking initiative I think about the opportunities that we have to go soul winning to preach the gospel right you know of course Jesus did tell us to do this in the Great Commission but you know Jesus isn't here on this earth just constantly telling you all the time to go out soul winning and Jesus isn't here to direct us and tell us exactly what part of the city to go to Jesus isn't isn't here to tell us what parts of the world to go to to do mission strips but you know what Jesus likes he likes it when people are just proactive he likes it when people just go out and just sow the seed the Word of God that's what God blesses I think about Faith Ward Baptist Church I just got back from their missions conference and while we were focusing a lot on the missions work that has been done by that church and other churches I also just think about the work that they've done in their community the fact that they live in an area with millions and millions of people and you look at the map at their church and they've just about knocked every door in Phoenix Arizona that's that's amazing and you know what many of those places they've knocked a dozen times close to the church but you know no one ever told Pastor Anderson to do that no one was ever breathing down his neck there was no so no denomination leader saying hey Pastor Anderson cast this vision for your church there was just a man that was just proactive that just took initiative that God used greatly you know Pastor Shelley recently last year we went to the Bahamas and we almost got a thousand people saved in less than a week you know what no one ever told Pastor Shelley to go to the Bahamas Pastor Shelley was just proactive he was just taking initiative he's like hey why don't we just go over unto the Bahamians however you call it and let's just preach them the gospel and God prospered that work you know we need to have the same attitude where we don't necessarily need to wait around being told what to do we just need to do stuff we just need to try stuff we just need to sow the Word of God promote the Bible and let God prosper it let God be in charge of the results you know opportunities are limitless for us today in 2024 but people are often limited by their own vision or lack thereof you know I think about all the thousands thousands upon thousands of Baptist churches in Oklahoma and in the state of Texas and how many of them are out preaching the gospel I mean in this town it seems like there's a Baptist Church every other street corner there's so many Baptist churches why isn't Oklahoma City being reached with the gospel ten times a year I mean there's enough saved people that if they actually had a vision if they actually were that could be done literally easily but yet there's only you know a handful of churches in this area that are soul winning and praise God for those churches that's more than a lot of other areas I know of many great churches in this area that are doing that but you know what God's people today need to be waking up and be like hey you need a vision you need to be proactive don't wait around for people telling you what to do just do something for God go to 1st Samuel 14 verse 3 the Bible says in Ahia the son of Ahithub, Ichabod's brother, you know I think the Bible mentions that because of course Ichabod is relating to the glory departing from Israel Saul sitting around doing nothing and he's accompanied by people that basically represent a bunch of do nothings the son of Phinehas the son of Eli the Lord's priest and Shiloh wearing an ephod and the people knew not that Jonathan was gone so this was something that he just did of his own volition verse 4 and between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over unto 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 Bozaz and the name of the other Sina the forefront was the one Situat northward over against Michmash which that's where the Philistines are and the other southward over against Gibeah 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 now for me at least it kind of takes me a while to visualize this story you know maybe I've just been living in the flatlands for too long and it's just hard to picture this but basically there's this mountain geography where there's two sharp rocks so it's very treacherous terrain it's not something that's just easy to pass over and the Bible describes how there's basically like a passage between these two sharp rocks so it's not like the entire army of the Philistines can just rush through that thing at once it's so narrow that I would imagine one two just very few people would be able to go through it and that's kind of why Jonathan is even going up just him and another person because the way that the terrain is set up it's not really feasible to have a lot of people there and you know I was just in Arizona this week and we climbed this little mountain and even just this mountain the middle of Phoenix there was parts where you could definitely only have one person going at a time right with that type of terrain so kind of just picture that in your mind because think about it you know they are super outnumbered so if the children of Israel are going to fight against this large army you know this terrain actually works to their advantage because Saul and his armor bearer are able to fight a huge army with a small number of people do you understand what I'm saying because only a certain number of people can get through that passageway so it's not like you could even have big armies facing off with each other this is kind of perfect for exactly what the children of Israel needed but of course when Saul's just sitting underneath the pomegranate tree when they're doing nothing they can't necessarily see that opportunity right now number two I want to say this God wants to use people who believe that God can look again at verse six it says and Jonathan said to the young man that bears armor come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised notice what it says it may be that the Lord will work for us for there's no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few notice Jonathan didn't say hey we're gonna go up to these guys and we're for sure just gonna destroy them you know God is for sure gonna spare us we're for sure gonna win this victory you know what he just said he says it may be that the Lord will do this and throughout the Bible you see God using people that they're not presumptuous and thinking God is for sure gonna only give them prosperity and wealth and health and deliver them from every situation but the truth is God can deliver from every situation God can bless us in even the most extreme odds when you think it's impossible to win God absolutely can still come through go to Daniel chapter number three Daniel chapter number three Daniel chapter number three you know people that only focus on the potential negative consequences and they're just too afraid of facing those consequences usually don't end up doing anything great in their life because they're just too focused on the negative they're too scared to do something but Jonathan was a man that said hey I don't know for sure if this is gonna pan out but I know that God can make it pan out God can save us Daniel 3 14 we have the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego a very famous story verse 14 the Bible says Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them is it true Oh Shadrach Meshach and Abednego do not ye serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet flute harp sack but sultry and dulcimer and all kinds of music you fall down and worship the image which I have made well but if you worship not you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands remember Nebuchadnezzar he made a law that when he had this golden image set up and they started to play the music everyone had to bow down it came to his attention that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego weren't doing this and so basically Nebuchadnezzar calls him out says hey I'm gonna give you another chance just go ahead and do this but if you don't I'm gonna kill you that's what he's saying to them I'm gonna burn you alive in a burning fiery furnace verse 16 Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king Oh Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter he's saying we're not having any deliberations in our mind we're not going back and forth on this we're standing firm on this it says if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king but if not be it known unto thee O king that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou has set up so notice here these godly men said hey I don't care what the result of this is going to be we know what's right we know what's wrong we know what God has commanded us to do and hey God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace but hey even if he doesn't we're still going to serve you you know I think some people because of false prophets like Joel Osteen and false prophets like Andy Stanley that they've corrupted a lot of people's minds into thinking serving God Christianity equals everything going good for you your life being easy your life being pleasant being healthy until the day you die being rich right living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood having a nice car this is what a lot of people think hey if I serve God God will reward me by all these great things in our lives but you know what the right attitude is the right attitude is I will serve God whether I'm rich or whether I'm poor I will serve God whether I'm healthy or whether I'm sick I will serve God whether I live in freedom in the United States of America or if I live in some sort of hellhole third world country where it's illegal to be a Christian I'll still pray to the Lord I'll still worship the Lord and hey you could throw me in a fiery furnace and we're still not going to turn away from God we're still going to obey the voice of the Lord you know I think about how God just loves people like this that just believe that God can they're not expecting something from him they're not demanding something from him they don't expect oh well God owes me God doesn't owe us anything you know what we deserve eternal hell every single person in this room God doesn't owe us happiness and joy and all the blessings that we do receive from him you know he owes us nothing and our attitude should be like hey God can prosper us God can give us health God can give us wealth God can do all these things but even if he doesn't I still love him anyways though he slay me yet will I trust him job said and you know what I think about is I think about all the soul winners in Germany where they are have been severely persecuted they've gone through persecution that I don't know anyone in the United States having gone through in this lifetime at least and these Germans you know they just had an attitude where they're like hey let's just try something right yeah it's a hard country but you know what let's be proactive let's take initiative and they said let's just try to have an independent fundamental Baptist Church in Germany that preaches the whole Council of God that goes soul winning let's just try let's be proactive and you know what in the last three or four years they've almost gotten a thousand people saved almost a thousand people saved in Germany a very unreceptive country and you know what these people understand that God can allow them to prosper God can allow them to go on but you know what God doesn't owe any of us that God doesn't owe anyone that and recently the Germans have had to kind of downgrade their church from being a church where they're meeting and preaching you know unfortunately they're not able to do that right now and so now they're just a soul winning club but you know what I still think God is pleased with those people I think that God is more pleased with a small group of people who try to start a church and you know what it's not a church anymore now they're just a soul winning club then all the do-nothings in the big buildings with the riches of this world in the freedom of the United States of America that don't do anything for God that don't preach any fiery sermons that don't ever get in the news that don't ever preach the gospel you know what God's more pleased with a little group of Germans that are actually trying something and that actually believe that God can and you know what God doesn't owe them anything but they at least believe that God can and when God decides hey now's not the time to have a church you're not gonna prosper you're not gonna have freedom in Germany you know what they still bless the Lord they still love God they're not just blaming God and giving up on him why because they never expected anything from God anyways they just believed that he could and you know that church has been through serious persecution multiple people being having criminal charges against them to where they've had to flee the country multiple people in that church having police raid their home steal all their electronics you know first-time visitors coming to their church and then being followed home by the police with a knock on the door hey why did you just go to this church and start interrogating them and then they still came back to church after that how many Americans would do that good luck it's hard to get people to show up to church when we have freedom when we have everything handed to us on a silver platter here in America and those people are over there working hard why because they're proactive and they believe that God can do something you know I don't think that their story is over I don't think that the story of that church in Germany is over you know resist the devil and he will flee from you Jonah chapter number three go to Jonah Jonah chapter three you know God is just pleased with people that just believes that he can not that they expect it from him but people just believe that God can do something Jonah 3 verse 4 and Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey and he cried and said yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown what does Jonah do Jonah brings a message of certain destruction he didn't say like hey you might be destroyed if you don't get right with God you know God's not a hundred percent sure what he's gonna do here he just said you got 40 days and God is torching this place sounds like kind of a black-pilled message right sounds like it's hopeless situation look at verse 5 so the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them for the work for word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying let neither man nor beast heard nor flock taste anything let them not feed nor drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God yea let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands you know get the picture there here this whole country has had certain doom prescribed against them and the highest authority in the land the king himself believes God he doesn't mock at Jonah or scoff at the message of the Bible he believes it he takes it to heart you know he takes off his kingly robes he humbles himself he puts on sackcloth and then he tells the whole nation hey you need a fast you need to be weeping you need to be proclaiming a fast from the greatest to you to the least even the animals you know they're going all in they're going to the backyard they're sprinkling you know their chickens with ash and sackcloth and their goats and their cows and their dogs everything I mean he's getting into it he's really believing the Bible here he's like we need to change we need to do right why verse 9 who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not hey I know Jonah gave us this message and I believe him they believed God the Bible says they believed God I know Jonah said this I know Jonah said it's hopeless but you know I also know that God is merciful that God is loving then that God can do anything and so they repent they put on the sackcloth the ashes they get right with God he says hey who can tell if God will turn and repent you know what that person saying that he believes God can he's not saying God I demand God does this we're owed this but you know what he's saying I believe God can verse 10 and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not you have a story certain destruction black-pilled no hope destroyed terrible situation and at the end of it God turning changing his mind and sparing them why because a whole nation of people believed that God could and they repented and they changed you know sometimes we want to get black-pilled on this world right where we're just saying you know what Oklahoma City is too sinful Oklahoma is too sinful you know the United States is too sinful it's done nuke us now Putin you know from time to time we feel that way when we see drag queens walking around right but you know what who can tell what God's gonna do you know we shouldn't just give up on our mission give up on the ministry give up on preaching the Word of God just because we think oh it's done it's it's ready to be nuked there's no hope here you know what who can tell and you know who God likes the person that says hey I don't know if things are gonna change I don't know if things are gonna turn around but you know what I believe that God can and because God can I'm gonna be proactive and I'm gonna work I'm gonna get to work I'm gonna take initiative and you know what there's been things that have happened in the last couple of years that I honestly did not think we're gonna happen right Roe v. Wade being overturned never thought that happened in my lifetime right that's crazy okay how about the director of education in the state of Oklahoma mandating that schools teach the King James Bible I mean if we would have heard that five years ago we would've been laughing right that we never would have thought something like that be happening in the United States and recently this guy he literally made a state order directive where he opens up the bidding for contractors to supply the state of Oklahoma with 55,000 King James Bibles for public schools and look I'm still against public school but you know what that's not something that I thought would have happened but hey who could tell what God's gonna do tomorrow you know what we should just do is we should just keep preaching keep getting the Word of God out there keep living our lives as if what we do can make a difference because it can we could actually change this city we could actually change the eternal destiny of human souls by going and preaching them the gospel you know what you might think oh I got a family member who's a lost cause this person will never get safe you know many times I've heard that from someone and then five years down the road that person gets saved hey don't give up because guess what God can God can soften someone's heart God can win them over go back to 1st Samuel 14 I want to read 2nd Samuel 12 22 remember when King David sinned his child was very sick unto death and his child ended up dying and David said this and he said while the child was yet alive I fasted and wept for I said who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live and you know unfortunately for him that child did not live but God still used David God still loved David God or David is a man after God's own heart and one of the reasons why is because he was just one of these guys like Jonathan it makes me wonder why Jonathan and David were such good friends because they were both guys that just believed God can they weren't expecting anything from him but they believed that he could 1st Samuel 14 number three God wants to use people who are willing to be outnumbered verse number six the Bible says and Jonathan said to the young man that bears 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 you know if you remember in the last chapter I was talking about how yes the children of Israel are outnumbered but they have the wrong attitude by being scared they have the wrong attitude by being pessimistic because the truth is if God is on your side you're in the majority if God is for you who can be against you you know Jonathan was one of these guys that just recognized hey there's no restraint you know God is not lacking power or ability to save by many or by few and oftentimes God actually gets more glory and desires to win victories to go through battles with few rather than the many go to Matthew chapter number 7 Matthew 7 and you know the lesson for us is that we just need to get used to being in the minority you know people talk about all you know white privilege you guys are in the majority we're the biggest minority you could possibly find saved Christians that believe and preach and teach every word of God there's not a lot of churches in this world doing that let me just wake you up to something not every single Baptist Church in this city in this country is gonna thunder forth all the laws of God every verse in the Bible not every church in this city is gonna stand up and you know make a movie the sodomite deception right there's a minority that are like that and just in general there's just a minority of people that are even saved Matthew 7 13 says enter ye at the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it I think it's kind of funny how in this story Jonathan is armored bear they're in a narrow straight between two rocks right and Jesus is talking about how that's kind of like the way to heaven the way to heaven is a narrow straight and many people are seeking to go in there at but not very many people actually go in and when you just look at this world reality matches what Jesus said because you go to the Methodist Church wrong on salvation you go to many Anglican churches wrong on salvation Presbyterians wrong on salvation what do we got Catholics wrong on salvation Pentecostals very very often wrong on salvation Church of Christ very often wrong on salvation Mormons wrong on salvation Muslims Hindus I mean we just go on and on and on and on all these people that are going to help that are unsaved it's the few that are saved it's the few that actually believe faith alone in Jesus Christ it's the few that actually believe that you can't lose your salvation that salvation is not by your own merits or works but that it's by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross go to Luke 14 Luke chapter number 14 Jonathan and his armored bearer are in the minority here but guess what God's not restrained to save them by many or by few few people are saved Luke 14 26 few people are disciples Jesus said if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea in his own life also he cannot be my disciple you know how many people today don't serve God because their family you know how many people today don't go to a good church because their mom's a Catholic because their dad's a Presbyterian or whatever or there they don't they don't become a sole winner because they're worried about what their family will think or they're not free to thrive because they don't want to let their family down because they would have a Sunday get together or whatever there's all these different situations many people today will not serve God if it's gonna cost them any strain on their family and you know there's many people where if you get saved and you decide to start living for God and go to an independent fundamental Baptist Church not only will you just have strain with your family there's many situations like this where your family will just completely cut you off you know if you grew up in a Mormon household and you get saved your family's not gonna have any fellowship with you many Catholics you grow up and you get saved and you break from the Catholic Church you know to them it's just unforgivable and they will have nothing to do with you and this applies to many different denominations but Jesus said if any man come to me and hate not all these people he cannot be my disciple you know you think about the story of sacrificing Isaac and the fact that that is a huge thing to imagine and it's something that probably many people would not be willing to do but it's literally a story in the Bible for a reason picturing that you should put God above all family all family go if you would to 1st Corinthians chapter number one you know few people will read their Bible cover to cover in their entire life one time one time few churches will preach the whole counsel of God few people be soul winners think about this few people would actually be faithful unto death you know we're not in a situation like that in the United States of America where we're facing death as an option really being on the table for preaching the gospel but that has happened many times in history in many places in this world and you know what it's few that would be willing to be faithful unto death 1st Corinthians 1 26 the Bible says for ye see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to naught things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence you know today many people would look at a church like ours and make fun of us oh you guys meet in a strip mall you guys rant or whatever but you know what God often uses the things that are despised and weak and base to confound the mighty in this world and God often uses just two people Jonathan and his armor bearer to fight what's described as a people like the sand on the seashore to get the victory God oftentimes does these things why verse 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence see if the children of Israel had an army of five million people and they just blew up that mountain with dynamite and just marched over there just killed everyone that wouldn't be that impressive you know what those people would do they think we're awesome we're mighty we're strong and this is unfortunately an attitude that even creeps into churches where they get big they get successful maybe they started humble maybe they you know we're on fire for God and had zeal but oftentimes as a church gets bigger and bigger and bigger there's more of a temptation to start to take the credit for yourself to think man this church is awesome because I've grown it because I'm a great preacher because I'm a great leader because we're so special because we live in a certain part of town or something like that but you know what God's not impressed by any of those things and quite honestly God would rather use a smaller group of people or any group of people that's at least going to give God the glory there's nothing wrong with being big right because Jonathan said hey God's not restrained to save by many or by few it's not like there's anything wrong with being big but you know what there's something wrong with is taking the glory for yourself hey if you could be big and realize that everything you have is given to you from God and that he's prospering you not yourself then hey you could be big but oftentimes people can't handle that go to first Samuel 14 first Samuel chapter 14 number 4 God wants to use the loyal God wants to use the loyal verse 7 says this 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 I mean think about the loyalty of this guy the dedication that he has to Jonathan where literally they're completely outnumbered they're humanly speaking this is an impossible situation and Jonathan's like hey you and me let's go fight an innumerable multitude and he's like I'm down let's go chief whatever you want to do I'm with you I mean that had to have been really encouraging hey girls be quiet and sit down stop that had to have been really encouraging to Jonathan where he's gonna be going in a serious battle a something that's he's way outnumbered but you know what at least he has someone with him and you know oftentimes let's be honest life as a Christian especially life as a disciple can be lonely sometimes and sometimes you could be having a heavy burden on you for the work that you're doing and no it's just nice to know that there's one person with you God willing more people with you but you know what we need fellowship in the Christian life we need to lean on each other Christianity is not a one-man show it's not something you do on your own by the way that's why God created Church because God wants us to have people that are saying hey I'm with you I'm with you we're not alone because here's the thing many of us are families we don't have great relationships with them thank God I do but many people in this room probably don't but you know what you got people in here that love you you got people in here that are loyal to you that are willing to fight battles with you that are willing to teach you how to go soul winning that are willing to you know impart wisdom unto you be a blessing to you help you financially even at times you know it is a great thing to have a local New Testament Church many people take it for granted you know we need friends today that are gonna be loyal to friends you know it's like yeah you got kind of a crazy idea here but hey let's just try it I'm with you all right you know I think about at the missions conference they were talking about doing this cruise missions trip did anyone hear about that where people were just they're buying cruise tickets and basically as soon as they went to port they just went soul winning in that town they got back on the boat went to the next town they went so winning in that town got back on the boat and it's just like that's kind of a cool idea that I've never thought of but you know what it just had some someone just needed to try someone just need to be proactive someone just needed to believe that God can and there's need to be a group of people that said hey I'm with you I'll go with you I'll support you you know one thing another way to apply this is that you know wives should be very loyal to their husbands you know sometimes being a man and carrying the weight of the family on your shoulders providing being the leader that could be a heavy burden at times and sometimes you know what your husband needs is for you to tell them hey honey I'm with you I support you I've got your back right because you know the workplace oftentimes he's fighting battles he's dealing with a bunch of jerks all day you know he's out there fighting he just needs his wife to say I'm with you I'm your biggest cheerleader not you know the wife spends her whole life just tearing her husband down you don't do enough you don't make enough why aren't you like so-and-so you know that's the worst thing you could do as a wife you know what you need to be is you need to be your husband's armor-bearer at least metaphorically okay husbands you carry the heavy stuff all right but you know what wives to just say I'm with you I support you hey church members should be loyal to their pastor and you know pastor Shelley has been through some serious battles pastor Shelley's been through some situations where on the surface you thought there's no victory to be had here we're outnumbered we're outgunned you know they've got the financial advantage or whatever but I've seen God give us the victory and you want to know why because there was a church full of people who said pastor Shelley I'm with you and you know what that encouraged him and gave him the strength to go through that battle number five God wants to use the bold look at verse number eight of first Samuel chapter 14 verse 8 then said Jonathan behold we will pass over unto these men and we will discover ourselves unto them he's just saying we're gonna just go to the enemy and we're just gonna like give ourselves up we're just gonna like discover ourselves to them you know that's a bold move right there and we're gonna see that God uses bold people verse 9 they come up with a plan that says if they say thus unto us Terry until we come to you then we will stand still in our place and will not go up unto them but if they say thus come up unto us then we will go for the Lord have delivered them into our hand and this shall be a sign unto us so they're saying like we're below them we're gonna have to like climb up to get to them but if they say hey come up unto us then that's gonna be a sign from God that he is going to deliver us but again humanly speaking this makes no sense because everybody knows the high ground is the advantage right they're gonna have to literally climb up to this passageway and they're saying hey if we have to climb up and do the hard thing that's how we know that God is actually on our side and both of them discover themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines and the Philistine said behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they have hid themselves you're gonna see pride goeth before a fall verse 12 and the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said come up to us and we will show you a thing Jonathan said unto his armor-bearer come up after me for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel go to Acts chapter number four you know this takes boldness right here we don't live in this type of society many of us aren't climbing mountains many of us have never been in war but could you just imagine this innumerable multitude above you geographically it's two dudes and you're just gonna crawl up there and just discover yourselves make yourselves known of them and you're gonna fight these people that is intense I mean if this actually happened in like our military this person would be like Medal of Honor recipients there would be movies in their name there would be video games made after them everybody would know the story be like an iconic picture of like Iwo Jima or something you know Jonathan and his armor-bearer crawling up to this sharp passageway it's incredible Acts chapter 4 verse 29 but you know God uses bold people and now Lord behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word by stretching forth thine hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own but they had all things common and with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all so you notice in this passage the Apostles are talking about Lord behold their threatenings right they're under threat of their life very often in the New Testament but even though that there's threatenings there's danger what were they doing they were speaking the Word of God with boldness and you know today in the New Testament we're not in any physical battles we're not going out against the Canaanites the Philistines or anything like that but you know we are doing there are many people that threaten us there are many people that hate us but we still need to have the boldness to go out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and you want to know what happened look at verse 32 and the multitude of them that believed you see their boldness actually brought results even though that there was threat of their lives they were bold and a multitude got saved and that's the exact attitude that we have today look with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord you know that's that's boldness right there and you know what we do we do confrontational soul winning and think about this you know oftentimes we're not under threat of bodily harm or arrest maybe a Karen will get mad at you every once in a while or a can or something like that but you know what it could still be hard especially for someone that's never done it before to think like I'm just gonna go up to a random strangers door or here's their worst fear maybe someone I know that's like the worst fear is like you're running like a co-worker or like a buddy from high school or something like that I'm just gonna knock on this random person's door and I'm just gonna bring up hell and heaven to a random stranger that's that could take some boldness you know and many people don't do it just for fear of that confrontation but you know what we need to do we need to be like Jonathan and his armor bearer and just do the hard thing be bold and like what happened here multitudes were saved and I've seen people that are shy that struggle with soul winning at the beginning you know they get the hang of it they shake the nerves and they turn out being a great soul winner and you know what they to get multitudes saved throughout their whole life you know that's what God wants for us but you know also it could be confrontational and it could take some boldness not just to go soul winning but just to be a Christian that believes all the doctrines of the Bible and to preach all the doctrines of the Bible and when someone asks you you actually make it known what you believe and your family says well what are you talking about my body my choice and it's like first of all it's not her body it's a different body second of all every law that exists tells you what you could do with your body and the Bible says it's murder the Bible says you know that um life begins at conception you can show them Jeremiah you can show Matthew you know that takes boldness oftentimes especially if you have like a raging liberal family but you know in our society right now there are some fights that are raging that is going to take some bold Christians just to say like hey I don't care what you think I don't care if you write an article I don't care if you protest our church we are going to keep saying that abortion is murder because it's true hey I don't care what kind of articles you make but we're still going to say that fags should be put to death because it's true we're still going to say that if you smite your mother or father or you curse your mother father you should be put to death because it's true because it's what God says you know what today we need some Christians that are bold not worried about how can we be as seeker sensitive as possible how can we get the most bodies through the door instead of thinking like hey there's fights going on that our children are gonna have to live with the consequences of the culture that we're creating and say hey we're gonna preach against sin we're gonna preach what the Bible says nuts to whoever likes it or dislikes it we're gonna be in the minority but you know what we need to preach the Bible says anyways go back to first Samuel 14 I'll read for you second Timothy 1 7 for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind verse 13 and Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet and his armor bearer after him and they fell before Jonathan and his armor bearer slew after him this is hardcore right here you know Jonathan's just tripping them and his armor bearer's just piercing them through with the sword just person after person after person body after body verse 14 in that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about 20 men within as it were in half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow that's an intense story right there two dudes versus 20 and they killed all of them and Jonathan and his armor bearer still standing verse 15 and there was a 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 you know now we're seeing God step in you know we're talking about how did they get this victory it's because God looked at a man that was proactive that had initiative that believed God could do something that was bold and God stepped in for that person all of a sudden God shakes the earth verse 16 and the watchman of Saul and Gibeon of Benjamin looked and behold multitude melted away and they went on beating down one another you know they're starting to get the do-nothing's attention they're doing so much work verse 17 then said Saul unto the people that were with him number now and see who was gone from us when they had numbered behold Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there you know I wonder if that surprised Saul because he's saying man there's such a huge battle going on up there there's so much happening up there surely I'm missing like a hundred guys at least I'm missing all these people and he just finds out it's just Jonathan and his armor bearer he's probably just like whoa what's going on verse 18 and Saul said unto Ahia 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 priest 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 what do you see here you see God miraculously intervening and winning the battle for them because remember last chapter the whole nation was disarmed besides Jonathan and Saul and I remember I was telling you guys these people they should not have been fearful they had the wrong attitude because if God's on their side nothing else matters it doesn't matter if you're outnumbered it doesn't matter if you have no weapons if God is on your side you are undefeatable to the point where here's the Philistines an innumerable multitude and God has just like caused some sort of confusion to come upon them where they're just all killing each other they're just all stabbing each other with their swords and just destroying each other I mean what an amazing story this is it's incredible verse 21 moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time which went up with them into the camp from the country roundabout even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan 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 so notice all these people that were scared that were quitters that were weak once they found out hey we're actually on the winning side hey Saul and Jonathan are actually doing great things for God they're actually winning they're actually destroying the enemy all of a sudden now now they're ready to go to battle now they're ready to join themselves unto the right company and you know what that's okay because the more the merrier in the Christian life you know there's oftentimes going to be people that quit on us when things get hard when the protests come because they're just spiritually weak let's just be honest not everyone's on the same level spiritually there's babes in Christ there's those that are mature you know when those battles come you'll often see people quit and fall out but what's funny is when all of a sudden your church starts succeeding and the attendance goes up and the missions trips happen and the documentaries come out and things start doing well you know what you often see is you see the people that hid themselves and that forsook you and that went away they come back and you know what praise God for that and when that happens welcome them back welcome into the army hopefully they'll be strong for the next one but but the message for you and for us is just don't be those people to begin with don't quit to begin with don't be a coward to begin with don't be weak to begin with just be strong trust the Lord you know what's great is when you start with something small when you start with something that's not that impressive that's not that cool and then you see God prosper it you see God come through you see God bless it and they're on the winning side they're doing great exploits but you were there at the beginning you were there when it wasn't that cool you were there when it was in a strip mall or whatever you were there when there wasn't that many soul winners but you know what at least you were one of the strong ones at least you were the one of the ones that were proactive hopefully like Jonathan and his armor bearer so in conclusion how did they go from being completely outnumbered to winning the battle well number one because Jonathan was proactive what's the lesson for us let's be a church that takes initiative and just tries things that just does things that does works for God without having to be told what to do and without the promise of whether or not it's going to prosper you know what let's just be proactive anyways you know let's actually believe that God can do something in this church that God can do something in your life and realize hey God doesn't owe you anything you're not owed health and wealth and prosperity but you know what God can give you those things and God can bless our church you know we need to be a church that's okay with being outnumbered hey we're the few we're few that are saved fewer disciples fewer soul winners fewer preaching the whole council of God just be okay with that in fact why don't you just enjoy it being the special forces like Pastor Shelley put it you know Jonathan also had a loyal follower at his side you know let's be loyal to the word of God let's be loyal to each other spouses be loyal to each other friends be loyal to each other and lastly because Jonathan was bold and you know there's never been a great work done for God in the Bible or just in our personal lives by someone that was weak by someone that was timid by someone that didn't know what they believed you know it's always done by someone that's bold and you know what that's not being prideful that's actually being humble because you're saying I believe that this has power I believe that we could do great works for God I believe that the preaching of God's word can change people's lives can change communities you know what let's actually believe that let's be like Jonathan and his armor bearer let's pray Lord thank you for this day thank you for this great chapter in the word of God I just pray that you would help us to be bold warriors like Jonathan and his armor bearer that we would trust you that we would try things that we wouldn't be prideful that we'd be bold Lord and I just pray that you bless all the members of this church she'd help us to continue to have a steadfast mission and a heart to reach the loss in this community we pray for the upcoming transition to anchor baptist church pray for safety travels for everyone on that weekend and we pray that you bless our pastor this evening we love you in Jesus name we pray amen all right if you would grab a hymnal and we'll go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the service hymn number 264 once for all hymn number 264 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first free from the law happy condition jesus has bled and there is remission cursed by the law and bruised by the fall grace hath redeemed us once for all once for all of sinner receive it once for all oh brother believe it cling to the cross the burden will fall christ hath redeemed us once for all now are we free there's no condemnation jesus provides a perfect salvation come unto me oh here is sweet call come and he saves us once for all once for all sinner once for all me blessed salvation once for all once for all redeemed us once for all