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So that's 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5. So 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, starting at verse 1. which is from heaven. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, and you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God. Or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not infusing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. We have made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Brother Max, can you please pray for the sons? Okay guys, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and the bit I want to focus on is from verse 18, right at the end of the chapter, from verse 18. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And the title of my sermon today is Ambassadors for Christ. Ambassadors for Christ. So what's an ambassador, or also known as an ambassador? It's a minister of the highest rank, employed by one prince or state at the court of another, to manage the public concerns of his own prince or state, and representing the power and dignity of his sovereign. Ambassadors are ordinary when they reside permanently at a foreign court, or extraordinary when they are sent on a special occasion. They're also called ministers. Okay, so we're ambassadors, ministers, servants, employed by Jesus, but in the world, managing his public concerns, so doing his business, and representing his power and holiness. Now what are our roles, or our ministries as ambassadors? Look at verse 18 here. And all things are of God, who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and have given to us a ministry of reconciliation. So he's reconciled us, that means he's brought into friendship from a state of disagreement or enmity. Okay, so until salvation through Jesus Christ, we were enemies of God due to our sin. Now, return to Romans 5. Romans 5 and verse 10. Romans 5, 10 reads, For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life. So the reconciliation includes salvation, eternal life in heaven instead of eternal suffering in hell. Praise God for that. Now, back to 2 Corinthians 5, 18. So see the second part of that. He's given to us a ministry of reconciliation. So we've been given a job, the role of reconciliation. What a ministry we've been given. Our main goal, our main goal as Christians, is to reconcile people to God through the Gospel. And that's us, that's what we're told to do. And again, like verses like this, there's many other fly in the face of these sort of, oh, you don't do it, it's all through God, this sort of Calvinist type thing. No, we're given that role. Yeah, Jesus Christ did the hard work. Don't get me wrong, we know that. But we still have to go out and preach the Gospel. That's how God gets people saved. Right, how do we do that? How do we do that? Right, we go out, don't we? We go out and preach the Gospel. We go out, we knock doors, we preach to people in the street, we preach to people in our own circles, we preach to people, family, friends, et cetera. That's what we're told to do, that's what we go and do. We're ordinary ambassadors by that definition because we reside in the world, don't we? We reside in the world and we represent Jesus Christ here specifically to reconcile the loss to God. Now, as ambassadors, although we're obviously answerable to the higher power, we're operating out of this church. Everyone here, pretty much, unless you're just visiting for the day, we're operating out of this church as ambassadors. So this is the south end, or really the UK, truthfully, isn't it? The UK embassy, which has some expectations of how we do this all-important ministry properly. So there are some ways that our embassy here wants us to be ambassadors and none of it's conflicting with the Word of God, but we want everyone on the same page. Why do we want everyone on the same page? Because if we don't, there's going to be problems. People are going out with different people, learning different things off different people, and some things are things that we don't want to do at this church, and other things will be things we do want to do, and we want to all be on the same page. It saves any difficulties, it saves any problems going forward, and ultimately it's for the unity of the church and for the salvation of people that we're going out to preach the gospel to. Okay, 1 Corinthians 14, you don't have to turn there, it says, let all things be done decently and in order, and that's how we want it done from this church. Okay, now everyone here, whether or not you've ever tried to give the gospel before, whether or not you've been a silent pilot, whether or not you're a newly saved Christian, and you're like, I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that, you'll still learn something from this, so listen up to this. Okay, now here's just an extra note here. Although we want to encourage everyone, we want to encourage everyone, and that includes kids, when you're old enough, when you're saved, we want to encourage you to preach the gospel. I don't want people at this church to be to the point where they don't want to come because people are acting as if they're somehow lesser Christians because they're not going out preaching the gospel, especially new Christians. But there are other reasons as well. For example, we've got at least a couple of ladies here with not only young babies but also with toddlers as well and full families. For example, my wife Lisa tried coming out a few weeks back and truthfully, it was more of a distraction because you've got babies crying, screaming, there's seven of us at someone's front door, and that was actually putting off the gospel, that was preventing people, sadly, getting saved, and she wasn't thinking that, obviously, she wants to come out and give the gospel. I would say the same, no offence about Elena, and that's a season of their life where it's not easy to do it. Now sure, we still want to be trying where possible to give the gospel where we can, but also we don't have to try and be ultra-spiritual and try and prove that I can still do it, and that's not what we want here. We don't want people to feel pressure to then be to a point where they're actually hindering the gospel. So there are seasons in life as well, but we still want everyone to be encouraged and to want to go out and give the gospel and to find a way to do that as well. How to approach people? How do we want people to approach people from this church? Firstly, this church is Shaw Foundation Baptist Church. It's not any other churches we want people to dress appropriately. When they're ambassadors for Christ, we want people dressed appropriately. We request from this church that men wear a collared shirt. Now, it doesn't have to be a full shirt with tie, it could be a polo shirt. Now, I understand that here our worry is we're going to look like Jehovah's Witnesses, and because they are the only other people in the UK that knock on doors, but that's why I'll explain to you in a minute things we're going to do so that we don't come across and we make it clear that we're not Jehovah's Witnesses, but still, we're ambassadors for Christ. If you look at ambassadors in any other role, they're going to be trying to dress and show where they're coming from. We're trying to show, I know the inward appearance is important, but so is the outward appearance. Once we clean the inside appearance, we get that right, the outward appearance should show as well. Okay, so we're going to dress appropriately from this church to give the gospel. Same, now, that's not just with men, that's with ladies as well. So we want ladies to dress like ladies. We want them to be in dresses. We want them to be dressed as skirts. We want them to be out dressed as ladies to give the gospel. Again, this isn't New Christians, anything like that. There's stuff that will be preached on over time and we're not accusing people of anything, especially when they're new to faith, but there are certain ways we want you to look when you're out representing Jesus Christ and representing Bible-believing Christians and representing this church. Okay, remember it's their home you're approaching. Okay, please keep that in mind. They didn't invite you to their house. So when we approach the home, we approach it with respect and manners and be prepared for the fact that someone, there's a likelihood that they might be rude to you and tell you to go away. Well, they didn't invite you, you need to be able to deal with that. If you can't deal with that without getting in a row and argument, then you shouldn't be going out and giving the gospel yet and you need to get yourself right with God. And at the least, you need to become a silent partner and we'll talk about silent partners in a minute as well. Okay, respect, don't mock things. Okay, this is something that I talk about with my kids a bit because they might be laughing about something else but you're approaching someone's driving. Imagine you're walking up someone's driving and it's got junk everywhere. They're laughing about something else but someone's watching you from a window and all they can see is you chuckling away and that's straight away, you've got their back up and if that prevents a gospel, a chance for the gospel to be preached, that's a problem. So there's nothing wrong with having a joke and smile and stuff but make sure you look respectful and be aware of things like that, be aware of not people watching you coming. People have cameras nowadays, they watch you approaching people watch through cracks in blinds and everything. We get it all, don't we? We want to look a certain way when we're approaching. Okay, with that, for example, gates, garden gates and things. If they're a bit stiff, don't kick them open, smash them open, things like that, shut them behind you when you leave. Just leave the places you found it. Obviously not walking across nice lawns, we don't have many of those here. I'm sure there are some other housemates that I haven't been to but just respect for people's property. Body language, body language is important. If you're going up to a door, straight away, they're just thinking, he's not giving me a very good message, they're not even interested. You should be confident giving the gospel, you should have good body language to show, because you're bringing eternal life to someone's door, you're bringing the chance for eternal life and we want to show that in our body language, be confident. Now, in the same way, don't be, you know, sort of like you're full of yourself or anything else, there's got to be a fine line. But we should be confident when we approach people. Right, silent partners, we go out from this church, we try and go out in pairs, sometimes there will be threes or more, sometimes there'll be extra kids with us. But a silent partner, there is a job there, the silent partner isn't just there to just literally just walk along and observe. Now, new Christians, if you're new to it and you don't really understand much, that's okay, but you guys have been going out for a little bit now, we should, as a silent partner, you should be praying. Okay, you should be praying in your head. I don't mean loudly, you don't have to go, oh, please get this person to say, well, they're trying to give the gospel, you should be praying in your head. And I know for some of you thinking, like, why are we going over all this? But you'd be surprised, and I don't know, there are new people there, people that haven't gone out giving the gospel, so this is good stuff to get right. And if there's anything that you don't do here, please make a note of it as well, okay, because this is what we want for this church. You should be praying in your head, you should be as well looking out for distractions and if that means taking, if there's two people and one is clearly just a problem, if that means taking them to one side, you'll think, oh, I've never even given the gospel before. You just show them a couple of your favourite verses from the Bible, even if you're not ready and you think, well, I'm not quite ready to give them a gospel presentation, that is the job of a silent partner, to deal with distractions, not to be a distraction. And please, silent partners, don't start interrupting and getting, because that will, a lot of people, that will put them completely off their flow. You know, they're in the spirit, they're trying to preach the gospel and then the silent partner pipes up with something else. If you're a silent partner, you're silent, okay, other than when you're dealing with a distraction. Okay, and please, and a lot of us here will be swapping and when you're swapping, you're a silent partner when you're not the one knocking. A good rule to do is just knock until you actually get to talk. Don't just take it in turns to knock each door, just knock, you're the knocker, until you get to talk, even if that's someone screaming in your face, go away. And I don't want to put people off because it doesn't happen that often, but whatever that is, then it's the next person's go. Okay, give space and distance, especially right now. Don't be breathing in their face, up on their doorstep, you know, kind of smelling their aftershave or perfume, whatever else. Give them a bit of space, but in the same way, don't give them ten metres, like you're literally just getting ready to go. Because again, we want that body language to be, we're here to stay to give you the gospel. Okay, so give them some space, don't be in their face, and you know, right now, I'll speak to the camera here as well, because we have some stalkers already. Praise God, because it shows that we're doing something right. We have some people that are watching videos and trying to find fault in what we're doing, and this is a charitable and voluntary act that we're doing. We're going out not only to give the gospel, we're giving Bible literature, we're praying with people on the doors, all of these are voluntary charitable services, perfectly legal under these COVID legislations right now. And while we do that as well, we obviously, we're taking precautions, aren't we, because a lot of people are scared. And whether or not you think, well, it's likely that they're going to get ill or not from you, regardless, respect the fact that a lot of people are in a lot of fear, and they don't have salvation, that's why we're knocking on their door. Let's be honest, how many of you are knocking on their door and they're saved anywhere in the UK? It's very low percentages. And for that reason, expect that. Expect people to be in fear and try not to have, you know, try not to be angry with them for being fearful, because we might not be, yeah, we're not scared. We have the Lord, we know when we go, we're going to heaven, but other people don't feel like that, and we should have love for them. Okay, we are, like I said, we are giving out some free information here, you know, because nothing wrong with that anyway. We've got lots of Gospels of John, please give some stuff. Again, it cements our position. Yeah, you know, I'll say, I've spoken to a council guy on the phone the other day. Look, I was clear, our goal is to get people saved, to give them the Gospel, but at the same time, we are giving them Bible, you know, we're giving them material. Even our invite card has a lot of information and a lot of videos, but at the same time, Gospels of John, they don't just give them to everyone because it'll cost the church a fortune, but people that are interested at least, maybe don't have the time or only listen to one verse. Okay, right, this is, so once we do that and we go up to a door, there's a few things that we want to ask, don't we? Okay, I generally will start with, I just say we're from. Some people, if you want to introduce your name, some people do that. I'm not, for us, I'm not fussed either way. Either Hi, I'm Ian, or we're from Shaw Foundation Baptist Church. Now, there we go, that's how we solve the Jehovah's Witness problem. Now, you might think, well, they might not even answer the door. Well, they might not, okay, but that's why we're praying as well. We're praying to be led to receptive people, et cetera. In a way as well, I'm thinking when I was first saved, I actually did listen to what the witnesses had to say before I saved because I'm not saying everyone's the same. Some people aren't even thinking about it. You give them the Gospel, it's the words, isn't it? It's the Gospel that saves them, but still, some people will listen and especially when you make it clear you're from the Baptist Church, that should stop the insults coming that are generally reserved for the Jehovah's Witnesses, and rightfully so. Okay, so, remember, clearly, Baptist Church, get that in quickly because people aren't used to Baptists knocking on doors, are they, anymore? So, I'm from Shaw Foundation Baptist Church. We're from Shaw Foundation Baptist Church. Now, something along the lines of, we're out visiting the local area to see how you're coping the lockdown is something that I've started trying to do, and I'll tell you what, I've been getting much better receptions with that. But it's not just about the receptions. We still want to get them saved and we're leading on to the Gospel, obviously. But, yeah, seeing how you're coping the lockdown, oh, we're out inviting people to church. If you want to stick to that, you're used to that, that's fine. We're out inviting people to church. That's still a charitable and voluntary act, anyway. We're giving out some free information about the Bible. Well, we are. We're giving them the Gospel as our main goal, but we are giving them information about the Bible. Okay, after that, if they haven't, at this point, just shut the door or whatever else, and, again, like I say, that does happen. Do you go to church at all? Do you go to church at all? I think is a good question. You just get a bit of background about where they're at, what they're likely to believe, et cetera. Do you go to church at all? And I'll ask that to someone clearly in a burqa or hijab or whatever they are. I don't care. I'll just ask them anyway because I just want to get it out there because there they might say no. They might even say, usually not if they're wearing a burqa or hijab, but they might even say, look, I'm not a practising listener or whatever else, and it's just interesting. You get a little bit of background, yeah, and it's just a polite question. Do you go to church at all? Okay, then straight after that, because you don't want to be there giving ten questions on the door because you might have to ask a few questions, won't you, with their response to the ultimate question. So don't just beat around the bush for ages and sound like a salesman. Okay, so straight in, I want to get to the meat and bones, and it's more importantly, and it might be more importantly, or we're asking everyone the same question, if you died today, are you 100% sure that you're going to heaven? Okay, that's how we like to ask it, something along those lines. Now, I'll tell you something I do do. If I'm knocking on the door, especially if I'm not with my kids, but sometimes I do with my kids, maybe they can't see them, but it's someone who looks like they're possibly a bit vulnerable, maybe elderly, maybe a kid. They look a little bit fearful. I sometimes ask if you died tomorrow, just because when you've got some guy at your door going, if you died today, are you 100% sure? That could be a bit creepy for some people, they might get a little bit scared. So that's just something I do. What do you think someone has to do? What if they then did something really bad? So if they say yes, if they say yes, my next point will be, well, why? And to be fair, if they say, well, I'm not sure, I still want to ask them what they think. If they say no, definitely not, I'm a sinner. I don't really have to go into that, because I know that they think they're not going to heaven, so I'm not going to have that problem at the end, when they start going, oh, yeah, I already knew that, because how many times have we had that with the pride? So ideally, you want a strong response. What is it that they believe? So like I say, what do you think someone has to do to go to heaven? Simple question. And if you're still a bit unsure, well, what if they did a really bad sin? You can put it out there rather than themselves, because some people, I've had it recently, where someone got really offended with me. I said, well, what if you did, what are you trying to say? Whoa, okay. Okay, so what if someone did something really bad? Okay, so you're trying to get to the point of finding out what they believe, and like we said, 99 times out of 100 in this country, they're unsaved. Okay, obviously, if, oh, well, as long as I ask for forgiveness after I sinned, or, well, as long as I repented, they're not saved, okay? They're not saved, they're not trusting fully in Christ. Oh, well, as long as I didn't do a really bad sin, obviously, they're not saved, okay? Right, don't obviously, uh-uh, wrong answer, laugh, that's not what the Bible says. You don't be like that. And again, it might sound silly, but again, from everything I, not from what I'm hearing here, but from what I hear on every church, they've got, sadly, people like that, people that just don't really have a, you know, understand how to do this. Okay, so, yeah, don't make them feel small with it. Okay, just, I would usually say something like, oh, well, can I show you what the Bible says? Because the Bible doesn't actually say that. It's something, but don't, don't do it in a harsh way. Just try and say, look, can I show you what the Bible says? And really, like, there, from this point now, you're giving them the chance to accept or reject the word of God. And how many people who claim to be Christians go, no, not interested. Not interested in what the Bible says. It, it, it should be amazing, but it's not, is it? Okay, so, okay, can I show you what the Bible says? I will usually add from your doorstep, because people, again, their concern is what? This guy on the door now wants to come into my home and, and go into an hour-long sermon or something. So, so, I, I will add, look, from your doorstep, I can show you from the Bible. I would like, I, I, I'd like to say that it won't take long or it, it will take me a few or several minutes because it's not completely dishonest there. If you're saying two minutes or five minutes, you know full well, gospel presentation is taking you more than that. Or you can say to them, look, it's up to you how long. If someone's like, well, how long will it take? It's up to you how long. I'll just start showing you because, again, if they're, if they're open and they start hearing the word of God and it starts convicting them, then they should let you get through a gospel presentation regardless of what's going on or what they've got to do. Okay, but we're going to talk about timings and stuff with that in a minute as well. Okay, if they say no, if they say no, try to leave a verse politely, not with your foot in the door, shouting it as they're shutting the door, but move on politely, okay? It's not, it's not personal, it's not offensive. They're saying no, they're rejecting God, they're rejecting Christ. It's not you. So don't start getting in debates going, no, what do you mean? You don't need to do that. And again, you might sit there thinking, well, why would I do that? People do do that. They start getting offended wanting to have rows of people on the door. Okay, remember, you weren't invited. It's not personal. And debates, how often do debates get won? If you start getting in debate, you failed, okay? You failed as an ambassador, okay? You're meant to be a diplomat, okay? Yeah, you're showing them the truth. You're not just going to swerve to agree with them, but don't get in debates. You're an ambassador. Okay, turn to Proverbs 13 and verse 17. Proverbs 13, so it's around the middle of your Bibles, just after the book of Psalms. Proverbs 13 and verse 17 says, a wicked messenger falleth into mischief, but a faithful ambassador is health. Okay, don't be that wicked messenger where you end up in rows fights. If you're constantly getting in arguments and debates and rows, you're doing something wrong. Okay, yeah, you'll get funny people, sure you will, but don't be getting in rows and arguments and stuff on the doors. Don't be that wicked messenger, because you're just hindering the gospel like that. And remember, a faithful ambassador is health, and it's eternal health, isn't it? Okay, verse 19, back to 2 Corinthians. Chapter 5, verse 19. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Okay, to wit is to say, to know. And imputing is not charging to their account, okay? So where he says he was not charging to their account their trespasses, their sins, the things that they've done wrong unto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Okay, we talked about this last week. Obviously, it's a word of reconciliation. How do we present the word of reconciliation? It's a word that saves. Firstly, it sounds obvious, use a Bible. Use the Bible, okay? It has authority. And when I say use the Bible, don't just read it to yourself to them. Show them the verses. Show them the verses from the Bible. It has a commanding authority that we don't have. Now, I have given people the gospel. I've got people saying without a Bible, and I would say to everyone, please memorize. If there's any verses you're going to choose to memorize first, do salvation scriptures. This is our number one role as Christians. We're ambassadors. Memorize the verses. Because it does help. Sometimes you can show people, and you know what? You don't even have to try and peer over and look at it, especially with some people who want distance right now, okay? So you can just show them and read it if you've memorized these verses. Okay, but when you're preaching the gospel, you should be using a Bible. You should be showing that it's in the Bible, because people are hearing a lot of lies everywhere, and we're showing it's a word of God that we're preaching to people. Okay, if you don't, if you're like, well, I just don't know where to turn, it's really easy. I know it, again, it sounds simple to most here, but some people haven't been there. Just remember, one verse, the first verse, for most people it'll be Romans 3.10 or 3.23 with the classic Romans wrote, you know, salvation. All you have to do is remember that. Put a tag in it. I put a tag in it, because I just want to get there quickly. I don't want people to be there when I'm flicking about, especially in the wind and rain and stuff, when it can be hard to get to pages. And then all you have to do is write down afterwards each verse you go through. So if I start at Romans 3.10, I write Romans 3.23. At Romans 3.23, you write maybe Romans 6.23. And you don't have to have some handout that you're reading out from the back if you do it that way. And look, if there's anything you're going to spend time, you should be spending time doing, it's perfecting your Gospel presentation, okay? You should be spending that time to highlight, to make sure that your Bible is prepared for it. And if it's not, be a silent partner till you can have that time to do it. Okay, it might sound obvious, yeah, but actually we'll go to that in a minute. Okay, number one, number one. They have to admit they're a sinner. They have to admit they're a sinner. Now we ease them in gently with this, don't we? Because if you knock on someone's door and within a couple of questions you say, right, you're a sinner. Some people get really offended by that. And some people get angry by that and that's when they'll shut the door. Okay, so we ease them in. How do we ease them in? I'll always start at Romans 3.10 to ease them in. So if you turn in your Bible to Romans 3, chapter 3, verse 10. Okay, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Now, that for us, for most people in this room, as safe, born-again Christians, that's easy to understand. Remember, they don't have the Holy Spirit, okay? They don't understand the Bible. You have to explain the verses, okay? You have to, and it can be easy to forget. You're just reeling them off. But you have to explain them. Okay, when you explain it, how do you explain that? Well, there is none righteous, no, not one. Look, I'll just say to them, it's the Bible. I like to say, like God is saying here, because I want to make it clear this is God talking to you because there's a lot of misconceptions in this country. Remember, we're not the states here as well. There's people that literally don't even, there are people that don't even know what the Bible is now in this country, kids. Okay, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is no one perfect. There's no one perfect. That's a good way to ease someone in. Clearly, you're not perfect, I'm not perfect. Okay, and that's a good thing. And obviously make a point that you're not either. You're not their door guy. You're not perfect at trying to act like you are. Okay, from Romans 3.10, obviously Romans 3.10. Now, I'm not, by the way, before we carry on through this, I'm not telling you this is what you've all got to do exactly this way, but what I am saying is it should be something along these lines. And a couple of orders I'm going to talk about in a minute. If you've never given the Gospel, just do something similar to this. If you've never given the Gospel, please, please, two hours and 20 of your life, go and watch Pastor Jimenez's seminar series on presenting the Gospel. One of the best things I did was watch that. Great, really goes in depth, and I'm not going to do that in the space of an hour sermon, but I'm just going to go through the sort of standard sort of Gospel presentation I give. Most experienced soul winners here will all have something similar. If it's a lot different, there's completely just, you know, you do things a whole different way, then, yeah, please come and talk to me after the service and I'll tell you to stop doing that. No, no, this isn't the only way. It's not that it's the only way, but we feel that this is the best way. This church feels that this is the best way of doing it. It's something along these lines that, of course, there's alternate verses you can use. So from 3.10, I'll go to Romans 3.23. So if you just go over there, Romans 3.23. For all have sinned and come short with the glory of God. Do you know how many people don't even know what a sin is? There are kids, especially, when you try to present the Gospel to kids. Do you know what a sin is? No? Okay, don't just expect them to know what that is. Don't expect them to know. Explain again. What is a sin? What is a sin? Explain what a sin is. Now, with Romans 3.23, here's a point I want to make with this. We want to be thorough. This church wants to be thorough with their Gospel presentations. We're not doing a one, two, three repeat after me. And, you know, obviously, the unsaved and the people who don't solve it will try and accuse that anyway of it being that, regardless, even if you spend 45 minutes. Because, really, they're not doing it themselves. They're trying to find fault in it. But on the flip side, you've only got a certain amount of time with people's attention spans a lot of the time. People are literally stuck on tablets, phones, whatever, screens. Yeah, they can't. They can't focus for that long. Don't hammer home points that they get straight away. If they get it, move on to the next point. Because you've only got a certain amount of time. I like the analogy of it. They're like a fish. You know, once you've got them on the hook, you want to get them in the boat quick. Okay? Now, I'm not saying rush through it. But if they get the point, move on. So, for that reason, and also, it can take a while flicking through pages while someone's standing there, and in the end, their mind starts wondering, you want to keep them in this Gospel. You want to keep them thinking about this Gospel. So, for that reason, I will generally quote a couple of verses if I need to, if I think they're not getting the point. Some people are like, yeah, 100%, no, I'm a sinner. Move on, okay? And if you knock on someone's door and they say to you, no, I'm going to hell, I'm a sinner, do you have to go to Romans 3.10? I wouldn't. Why go to Romans 3.10? You're like, look, you know you're a sinner. Yeah, the Bible says Romans 3.23, for all have said to come short the glory of God. We're all sinners. Yeah, you know you're a sinner. And even then, you know, you don't have to spend a long time on that because there might be another point you need to spend a bit more time on. Okay, so, I will sometimes quote, or I rarely go, but some people do James 2.10, for whosoever should keep the whole law yet and yet offended one point is guilty of all. I will a lot of the time just quote the thought of foolishness is sin and that's from Proverbs 24.9. And I will sometimes quote 1 John 3.4, sin is a transgression of the law. Again, depending on how much they understand, but some people you can move straight on for Romans 3.23. And again, explain it, explain that we come short of a perfect God, that if his past mark's 100%, none of us are getting there. That is his past mark. Okay, right, from there, number two, Okay, they need to accept that the punishment for sin is hell. This is an uncomfortable, this is probably the most uncomfortable part, isn't it? Because you want to preach them the good news, you want to preach them the gospel. People need to know they're going to hell. They're going to hell without faith in Jesus Christ. Okay, Romans 6.23 is what I now just will go to and usually move on from there. I used to go to Romans 5.12 quite a bit. I just find I have to explain that a lot more, Romans 5.12, and it can sometimes open up a bit of a debate about creation, evolution, when you start talking about the first man, Adam. So Romans 6.23, I'll just use the beginning of that. So 6.23A for the wages of sin is death. Really simple. Explain what wages are if you need to. I don't think you always need to, but some people, it doesn't hurt to just say, look, if you go to work, you get wages. The Bible says here, what you get for sinning is death. Okay, now, like I said, if you need to, or people are a bit unsure, thinking, really, I don't get it. And obviously explain, that's not automatic. Not every, oh, you think, well, maybe I haven't sinned because I haven't just been struck dead. Some people need explanation. We've learned, a lot of, pretty much everyone here has learned how to give the gospel from pastors mainly in the United States. They do generally have a bit of a different audience. Okay, the people there are a lot more Bible savvy there. There's a lot more Bible knowledge. Here in this country, like we said, especially with the youngsters, and even with what's up, they literally don't have a clue. Some of them don't even know really what hell is or anything else. Okay, so you need to explain things. Okay, I like to go to 623A, like I said, sometimes Revelation 5, 12, and it kind of continues the point. I'll go to Revelation 21A. I go straight there. Some people want to go to, you know, Revelation maybe 20, is it, 2014, and wherever they want to go first, you need to explain about hell, the second death, the lake of fire, and I find that 21A generally solves that. I'll stop the four liars, so Revelation 21, verse 8, at the end of your Bibles, I'll stop usually and pause and just say, look, that's a list. Some of them are some bad sins, yeah, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters. Right, then I'll just say, look, if I told you a lie now, what would you call me? And nine times out of ten, they'll say a liar, okay. Then you can say, okay, and we've all lied, and then again, instead of flicking back and turning this into a 40-minute presentation where they might just lose interest halfway through, I will usually just quote as well that, you know, let God be true in every man a liar, okay. Now, you know, it's up to you, you could turn them to Romans 3.4, I just think, unless you're really quick at getting to those pages, you're just slowing it down. Everyone knows that you don't have to cover every single verse and kill them with it, I believe. I think, look, go to Revelation 21A, all liars shall have their partner lake which burneth with fire and rib sun, which is the second death. Now, you don't have to go into a long explanation of the second death at hell and be, yeah, sure, if you're going to Revelation 24, it's shown that it's cast into the lake of fire, that death and hell were cast into there, but I'll just show, because it is hell, you know, just show them what hell, explain to them that they are going there. Now, if they're a bit funny, well, what about white lies, et cetera? Well, for me, I think Revelation, is it 21, 27, I have it marked in my Bible, 21, 27, and there shall in no wise enter into anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or makeeth a lie. Okay, and everyone's told a lie. And when you have people that are literally saying, they're saying they haven't told a lie, you can't really move on from there. If they're trying to say they haven't sinned, a lot of the time, that person, that's kind of done, that's rejection time. Now, try, if you want, try and show them fearful unbelieving, they're really trying to tell you that you've never been scared, they've never been unbelieving, but if you can't move on, you can't move on from there. So, well, anyway, let's just carry on, because they're not accepting their need for salvation. Okay, 2010, I find illustrates, helps illustrate that it's forever. Again, we don't know, like, yeah, in the States, a lot of people are aware that hell is ever locked here, like, people don't have a clue. You need to show them that what the hell is it, just a dip in a lake, fire in an outset, they're thinking, well, it's probably not so bad. No, it's forever, yeah, they're burning forever and ever. And, yeah, like I say, Revelation 20, 14 to 15, some people like to show. I kind of don't, I just don't want to get onto the Book of Life and start answering questions on that when I'm still trying to go through the Gospel, so I generally don't go there. Okay, if they're a bit blase, a bit like, you know, whatever about hell, I will sometimes quote maybe Matthew 30, 42, just mentioned they'll be wailing, gnashing of teeth. Just explain how horrendous it is. It's not like a party down there with the devil and a load of, like, hell's angels type, so, like, yeah, we're going to see you at hell. Like, it's a cool place where all the wicked just meet up and carry on with wickedness. No, it is eternal torment. It's horrendous, and if they're blase, by all means, show them a bit more. Show them some scriptures on hell as well. Like I said, Matthew 30, 42 is good for that. Okay, this is a good time to check in. So, you know, you can say something like, just make sure I'm explaining it right. Don't turn it into a test where they start, because people get nervous where you just, like, ask little questions. They understood it, but then they're a bit like, I'm on the spot here. Just check it out. I'm explaining it right. Are we all sinners? Are you a sinner then? Am I a sinner, or am I a sinner? Yeah, are you a sinner? You know, make them to acknowledge that they're a sinner. And where does the Bible say that all sinners are going? Okay, if questions are good, it involves it. Something I didn't used to do enough of. Get them involved, make it a conversation, so it's not just you talking and wondering if they're paying attention. Okay, make sure that they get that. If they don't, go back over it. Okay, keep it on track, guys, as well. People try and take you off into other directions. Yeah, yeah, well, what do you think about this COVID right now? Or what do you think about, you know, are we at the end times or whatever else? Yeah, yeah, that's a good question. Let me come back to that at the end. If you'll ask me at the end once I've finished this, just because I'll lose track of where I am, you know, put it on yourself. Because you don't want to get distracted in the middle, and people will do that sometimes. Okay, number three, again. So, on that presentation, and again, I just think it's a bit different in this country. I think it's really important to show them that Jesus is God, and not just kind of mentioned in the Gospel. I like to go to some verses. Again, we have a lot of Islam in this country. We have a lot of people who just don't understand anything about the Bible at all. They don't get that bit, that Jesus is God. Okay, I will usually go to 5-8. Romans 5-8 is a good bridge. Yeah, and go to 5-8 if you like. But again, you know, like I say, you don't have to do it word for word, but something along these lines. But God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So I like to show them that Christ died for us, then talk to them about who Jesus Christ is. So I generally ask, who's Jesus Christ? And just, you know, obviously, if they start going off on a long, long thing, then I find a polite way to cut in. You don't want them to lead the conversation. But it's a good question, because you might have someone say, oh, the Son of God, God in the flesh. Then you don't really have to go over verse after verse. I might just quite quickly part of 1 Timothy 3-16. But in general, I'll go to 1 Timothy 3-16. After that, great is mystery to God, unless God was manifest in the flesh. Okay, and maybe I'll show a little bit more to show that is Jesus Christ. 1 John 5-7, Gospel of John chapter 1, 1 to 3, verse 14, just show that the Word was manifested in the flesh, yeah, and just show who that is. And like I said, depending on their response, I might just quote that. You don't have to go through three different verses, and you're still waiting to get to the point of the Gospel, and then something happens, the door gets shut, and they just drift off. Okay, if they get it, they get it, move on, yeah? Jesus is God, but I still make it clear. Show them, I think, show them at least one verse showing that. If you want, quote other verses. I'll ask someone to just quote the beginning of John, you know, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, the same as in the beginning with God. Just show that all things were made by him. That's Jesus Christ. That was not anything made that was made. But if you get it memorised, great. If not, you know, don't kill them with it. Explain the Trinity. There's a lot of false teachings out there. I like to explain the Trinity. Colossians 1, 15-17, Hebrews 1-8, they're all good additions to this as well. Explain the Trinity to them. They need to agree with who Jesus is, okay? They can't be worshipping a false Jesus. And ask the question, so who's Jesus? God in the flesh. Okay, show them the Gospel and some people go to the free gift now. I know Pastor Jimenez goes to the free gift. I personally like to go to the Gospel. Again, up to you. I like to now go to the Gospel. Okay, I like to quickly run through Jesus' life and just explain a few things, just say a few things. I usually do it quite quick. Just the beginning and how he got arrested, beaten, tortured, whipped, abused. Just show, like, we've just explained he's God and why did that happen? And however you want to do that, that's up to you. But again, I say use some verses. Now, 2 Corinthians 5, 21 is good. I like it. It's where we've just been. It does need explanation. You just reel off that he had made him to be sin for us and you know sin that we might have made the righteousness of God in him. Okay, get it, move on. People don't get that, especially, even save people. Sometimes you have to slow down when you read that. Who are the he's? Take your time, explain it. He, God the Father, has made him, Jesus Christ, to be sin for us. Okay, he took the punishment for us. Who knew no sin? He was sinless that we might have made the righteousness of God in him. So his righteousness is given to us in God's eyes. Explain it, show them what that means. Okay, other options, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 to 4 is good. 1 Peter 2, 1 Luke 24, 39 could be good as well in this. They're good things you can add in. Again, if people are a bit stuck, there's a bit of a problem, they're not really accepting it, then start using extra verses. But, but again, just show them what you need to show them. Acts 2, 31 for showing that Jesus was in hell. Matthew 12, 40 is a good backup to that. You might have some people that want to argue that point a bit. Rarely do you get that, I find. Okay, check in with them again. Check in, what do they understand by that? Who's Jesus? Okay, what was he doing when he was up at that cross? What was the point in him dying on a cross? And make it clear that he died, he rose again three days later. Make it clear, it's a death, burial, resurrection is the gospel. Not just that Jesus died on the cross, that's it. Okay, you've got to show them the gospel, explain the gospel. Okay, number 5, they need to believe. They need to believe, this is where you show and believe. Now, there is verse after verse, and I'm not going to go through every verse you can go to. I go to Acts 16, 30. Okay, I would generally say something like, look, I showed you about hell. I showed you, you know, that we're all, based on our sin, going to hell. But you don't want to go there. A good question might be, well, how can I be saved? What must I do to be saved? And then I show them that. Okay, Acts 16, verse 30, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. And that's strong, isn't it? But it's a verse on its own, and people are wary because the cults take verses and run with them off in all sorts of directions, don't they? So with this point being so contrary to what people believe, hammer it. John 3.16, John 3.18, I'll usually just go do quick fire straight away. But again, break them down. Show them what they mean. Show them that belief is trust. Now, I like the fireman analogy, if some of you have heard this. I will say, for example, say this place, God forbid, was on fire, and you managed to get up onto the roof or the top floor, and I was a fireman, and I turned up, and I said to you, jump, I'm going to catch you, and you're looking at me, and you're thinking, this guy ain't going to catch me. I'm going to crack my head open on the floor. And I said, look, look, believe in me. Then I'll just say, am I saying that you believe I'm a real person? And usually they'll say, well, no. Believe I'm a fireman, no. I'm saying trust me, and I'm showing what that believing in is. Same with, I also, because a lot of the time I'm with my son Jack, I'll say another one. And again, like these, I think they need the analogies. You need to show these points and get them to understand this point. I'll say, I used to manage his football team, and if we were a goal down, and I really need a goal, he's on the bench, and I say to Jack, all right, you can do this, get this goal. I believe in you. Am I saying I believe in my son? No. Am I saying I believe that you exist? No. Am I believe that you're real? No. Then explain that. Don't just do the analogy. Explain what you're meaning there, that it's about trusting, and a lot of people believe that Jesus Christ is a real person, but they haven't trusted him. They haven't put their belief in him. Okay. Like, there are other scriptures, obviously. You know, Luke 23, 39 and 43, the thief on the cross, quite a powerful example, just to show how simple it is. And again, now here, I don't check in yet, because this is the key, this is the real point of the Gospel, isn't it, now? And for what they have to understand, which is so contrary to what everyone else is teaching, I'll now go straight to the gift before I check in with them. Okay, so, I like to go to 623, because we've spoken about that, and I want to remind him again about hell. So, I like to say, look, in case you've forgotten, the way to sin is death, and that's death in hell. We showed that, yeah? Yeah? Yeah, okay, I get that, yeah. Okay. But the gift of God is the total life through Jesus Christ the Lord. So, Romans 623b. Okay, now, I myself, you can go straight to Ephesians 2, 8, 9, or whatever you want to go to. I personally like to use the gift analogy now. So, for me, the Bible's easiest. And just with this, because sometimes you go around the house a bit with this, and people are like, oh, it depends on what sort of gift and everything else. Just start with money. Just go, if I said, this is a gift, here's a Bible that you've got to give me, and make sure it's something that it's not worth. Don't go, but you've got to give me five pounds. Think, well, that's a little bit of a gift, because that Bible looks quite nice. No, just start with, like, 20 quid, yeah? Here's a gift, here's a Bible, you've got to give me 20 pounds. Is that a gift? Oh, I don't want to pay you 20 pounds for that, you know? They're not even saved. They probably know what, at this point, yeah? Okay, so, start with money, then it's easy for that, I find. Then go to wash my car, or whatever else. I like to go to, what if I came back? Because eternal security is a problem for a lot of people, isn't it? So I like to say, but what about if I came back in two weeks, and you told one lie, and I took it back? Was it still a gift? That's how I like to do it. Again, something along those lines. Again, why am I showing them that? Because then I say, look, in the same way, look at Ephesians 2, verse 8 to 9, in exactly the same way, that's what the gift of salvation is. Then show them Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. Okay, so, that's how I do it. Again, what order do you want to do that? Make sure you're showing it's a gift, okay? For by grace you say, through faith and that, not of yourselves. Explain it. Explain that grace is free, okay, through faith, it's belief. And again, a lot of you think, oh, they must get all these words. A lot of people don't. They're completely, they've never been in a church, they've never heard any teachings. A lot of schools, they're hardly showing anything. It's at a young age. And a lot of people are from cultures where they've never heard anything of the Bible, in this country especially. So, we need to make it clear what that means, yeah? By grace you say, through faith and that, not of yourselves. Okay, it's not about what you do, yeah? It is a gift of God. Look, it's a gift. See what I just said? It's a gift, yeah? Not of works. Explain what works is. It sounds obvious. What is works? It thinks it's got over people's heads. Explain. Lest any man should boast. Okay, I would have Romans 5.18. I just have it mop my Bible up my sleeve, just in case people are trying to argue about whether a gift is free or not, showing that it's a free gift. Romans 4.5 can be thrown in at any point. A good thing to throw in as well. Right, and in Romans 11.6, and if by grace it no longer of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if it be of works, is it no longer of grace, otherwise works, no more work, is a great verse I find as well. Again, when people are hung up, you don't have to hammer these points, but if they're a little bit unsure, you can see, like discern what people, do they look like they agree? Are they saying they agree? Are they going, I don't know about that? Then go to more verses. Okay, eternal security. Eternal security, number seven. Right, I like to go to John 1.12 straight away. I like to go to explaining a son now. Or first John 3.1 you can, if not, to show that we're sons of God. And there's obviously other verses that you might prefer as well. Okay, I like to show that we become a son of God when we believe. So John 1.12 is really easy for that. Then I like to use another analogy of my son, and if I'm with my daughter, I just say, because again, like some people, especially in our culture now, women are a bit like, what about me? You know, we're children of God, yeah? Sons is talking about being children of God, and we see that used in other places as a child of God as well. Okay, I then use my son, and just say, look, if my son now, and I just give him a picture, I say, usually you're on a door set, say he runs across the road now and just does something terrible, like smashes something over, you know, you use something really graphic, smashes something over someone's head or whatever else, has he suddenly stopped being my son? No, will he ever stop being my son? No, he might not get on, but he'll always be my son, won't he? And that's a good one to show again. He's never going to stop. And then again, bring it back to what your point is. I then go to Hebrews 12, 5 and 6, because people are just like, what, are you saying I can do anything? They've been hammered with work salvation all their life, through one way or another. Show them that you get punished in life by God, because it just does not make sense to the human mind otherwise. Show them Hebrews 12, 5 to 6. You can go to 7 and 8 too, again, depending on how they are, and show them that that's why people don't get punished, because it says they are bastards, they're not really sons of God. But show them, show them the punishment. Explain the verse, explain what chastisement is. Explain what scourging is, it's whipping, chastisement, being punishment. Explain what rebuke is, explain all of that. I like to then go to John 3.36. I like to just keep adding in something about the wrath of God or hell. So I like to show that. So John 3.36, and in fact go there anyway, because I find, yeah, if you just regularly remind you of that, because that's what we're trying, we're trying to put them out of the fire. He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now at some point, and usually around here, a good time to ask, how long is everlasting? And make it clear, what's everlasting? Forever, isn't it? It's forever, that's everlasting. And have as well is present tense, you have everlasting life. John 5.24, I've started using it a bit more recently, I like as well. Because John 5.24, this is where, you know, really, I want to go through some eternal security verses as well, just to really make that point. And 5.24 says, verily, verily, I send to you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, present tense, you have it, it's everlasting, it's forever, and shall not come into condemnation. Now this bit I like as well, and I make a point of this, but is passed from death unto life, not will be, you are, that's it, the second you believe, you're saved, done deal, okay? Is passed from death unto life. Okay, I like, some of us will just quote John 6.47, verily, verily, I send to thee, he that believeth on me, hath everlasting life, again, present tense, you have it, when you believe, it's a done deal, that's it. And great verse to use as well, John 10.27 to 29. And sometimes I'll use an analogy here, if I think they're still not getting it, I'll just, maybe I'll talk about, again, I'm with my kids a lot, so I'll say, look, if I have my kid on the lead, you know, some people do that, and just say I was a really, I was like the strongest guy in the world. Some of you are a bit bigger and stronger than me, so you could maybe, you know, you don't have to give the analogy that you're a really big, strong guy, and you're saying, look, and are they ever going to be able to pull off that lead if I'm the strongest man in the world and I have them on the lead? No, they can do what they want while they're on that lead, they can do many things, they can kick and struggle and everything else, but they'll always, I'll always hold on to me. God's saying he will always hold on to you in John 10. Okay, other ones as loads, John 11.25 to 26, 1 John 5.13 is good, isn't it, that you may know, John 8.38 to 39, and there's many, many, and again, choose what you like, choose what you can break down and explain easily and it's natural to you. So something I've found, before I've tried to copy exactly other people's presentations, they use, oh, I like that, I'll use that, and then it just doesn't come out right for me. Again, I'm not saying you have to copy me, but I want these sorts of verses. Okay, check that they understand now. Now you've got to make it clear. They have to, if they don't, go back and show them a verse. You can show them the same verse again, if they don't know all these verses. Again, like I said, this should be something, you should be going home after this service if you haven't already and marked up your violin, put alternate, so I just highlight all the verses that I might use. I know the ones that I like to go to, but sometimes if I need an extra one, they're highlighted and I might have a few options there as well for it. If this comes up with, at the bottom of a section, like maybe if I'm finishing, like I said, John 5.24 or something else with eternal security or John 10.27, I might then in pencil have a few alternate verses. And again, that could be good, or just go back to the same ones. There's nothing wrong with hammering home the same point, just explain the verse, explain what it means. Okay, at this point I then go through the key points, and these are the key points, guys. Are you a sinner, is what you asked them. What's the punishment for sin? They've got to accept that they're going to hell because they're a sinner. Who's Jesus Christ? Okay, they need to accept, they need to believe that he's God. Why did he die on the cross and rise from the dead? Okay, that's the gospel. Why did he do that? To save us. What's the only thing that you have to do to be saved? It's the only thing you have to do. Obviously believe, trust Jesus Christ, yeah. Is there any way that you can lose your salvation? That has to be a no. If they don't say any of those, don't just go, oh no, no, you're wrong on that, tell them, and then go, okay, let's pray. Go back and show them the verses. They have to believe that. It has to come out of their mouth that they believe that. Otherwise, they're not going to get saved just because you've cajoled them into saying a prayer with you. Okay, at this point now, at this point is when I'll say, can you see that the Bible says something different to what you believed before? Okay, and that's repentance. It's not repent of your sins, that's repentance. Okay, it's changing their mind from what they did believe to believing what God says you have to do. Okay, make a point of that. And again, if they're going, well, yeah, because you'd be surprised that people who then at that point will go, well, yeah, but I do think my church, you know, they just didn't explain it exactly, but that's what I meant. Well, no, no, no, you didn't believe that. Pride is massive, isn't it? And again, that's why we're trying. Well, you've got to tread carefully with people, but they need to understand those points because pride just gets in the way. Okay, and that's the repentance that's needed. And some people, they're already half of it. They don't really need to believe. They don't really believe anything other than the fact that they're going to hell. You don't have to then go, oh, you can see. Well, no, because they were right. So again, it doesn't just have to be a script. You have to adapt a little bit to people. Okay, right. I then like to use a gift analogy again. We've already gone through it. I just say so again. If this Bible's a gift, it's wrapped, it's tagged, it's here, but I'm holding it away for you. Is it yours yet? It's not. What do you have to do? Well, you have to take it, don't you? You have to take a gift and let them answer. Something I used to probably still do sometimes is I try and fill the silence, you know, and I try and give their answer. Don't do that. Let them think about it and make the answer. Then once they get that point and have to take it, you still have to take a gift. Well, how do you take a gift? You have to ask Jesus. Okay, Romans 10.9, great, and 10.13. Okay, and remember with 10.9, 10.9, if you go there quickly, Romans 10.9. Okay, Romans 10.9. That if thou shalt confess to thy mouth the Lord Jesus, again, a lot of people have heard a lot of Catholic brainwash for years and now they think you have to go to confession. Well, no, confess to thy mouth is admitting him, is calling on him. Okay, the Lord Jesus, and shout believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead. When you believe in your heart that God has raised you from the dead, you're basically believing the death, burial, and resurrection. Okay, but you've got to explain it to some degree and they have to believe that. They have to believe that. Thou shalt be saved. And then you can go through 10, 11, 12. I usually just jump to verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Okay, right, I will then say now, don't go, would you like to, or do you want to do a prayer? Because people might, like, some people will think that you're saying you've got to start, they've got to start a prayer. Now, once someone says no, some people are really hard to get back, some people are really stubborn. Now, they got it wrong what you're asking them, but they just, oh, no, no, I wouldn't know what to pray. And then you go, no, no, I'll lead you to it. And they're like, they're already saying no, so they just carry on saying no. And a lot of people, you probably, if you think about it, so we could be like that sometimes. You said no to something, you just keep saying no. Okay, I'll just say something like, all you have to do is ask me now, it's easy, I'll just lead you in a short 10-second prayer. Okay, easy, I'll lead you in a short 10-second prayer. Okay, but it's what you believe that's important. Right, now, if they reject now, and people do, don't they? Like we talked about this the other day, people will hear it all, believe all the points, they'll go, no, no, no, not ready. Okay, now this is when I call for the backup. Okay, and you know, quite a few times now, I can remember when people, I've got to at the end, they're not willing, they're not ready, they don't want to call the name of the Lord, and then when I read the story, I go, can I just show you one other thing in the Bible then? Luke 16, 19 to 31, the rich man, Lazarus in hell, a few times now, I've had people, at the end of that, they hear it all, explain a few points, and they're like, yeah, okay, because that is a pretty strong picture, isn't it? Okay, so Luke 16, I won't read through it, 19 to 31. And again, Matthew 7, and I used to use this in different places, again, it's something I use now sometimes, I'll add in at the end, Matthew 7, 21 to 23, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in our name, in our name, and cast our devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works, yeah? And yeah, I'll use, yeah, with that, you've got to go to John 6, 40, don't you, and show what that is, that he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven, yeah, show what that is, because then people start to think works again, don't they, if you're going the will of his father, but the will of his father is that they see the Son and believe on him. Okay, so, right, I like to ask them if the prayer would save them if they didn't believe, because you've got like, you know, and probably heard a preacher of this before, again, and I'm not just picking on the Catholics, there's many people in different places that just, they'll pray all day long and think, yeah, pray solved it, but just make them understand it's what they believe, that's why they're praying, it's not the prayer that saves them. Okay, now I like to, in the prayer, I like to run over the key points, so I like to go through what they believe in the prayer, it's like my last chance to hammer it in, okay, so a good prayer would be something like this, dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, I know I deserve to go to hell, but I believe that you are God, you came, died on the cross, rose again, and that's paid for all my past and future sins, I'm trusting in you and only you, please take me to heaven when I die, amen. Now, amen to that. And, you know, I haven't always worded it like this, and I can't, but I just think, go through the key points in the prayer, it's a good way of just cementing it. Okay, job done, high five, walk off. No, that's not what we do, is it? We're ambassadors for Christ, yeah, we want to get people saved, we do have other jobs, don't we, as ambassadors. We need to give them a Bible, please make sure you take Bibles with you, soul-winning. Now, if you haven't got much room in a bag, and you're out for a bit, and you think, okay, I'll take a couple of big Bibles, still just have a couple of the little ones as backup, because it's nothing worse, you get someone, say you have a really good day, and you're just getting next door, you get someone saved, next door you get, now you're out of Bibles, and they need the word of God after, so make sure you take enough Bibles, but please then don't trash them in a bag all week, which I've done myself, I haven't been a rucksack, and then at home they're all crumpled up with other things, I've squeezed them, put them back in here when we come back off for soul-winning. Try to take at least an email off people, please, get at least an email off them, don't just leave them to them, we now have a church, amen, we've got a church we can actually invite saved people to, and not just be, I don't know if I even want them to go, like all the churches we've been trying to put up with, you don't even want to send anyone there, it's crazy, I don't really want to take a new believer there. Okay, we have a proper church, yeah, okay, get an email at least, encourage them, now they're saved, now they're saved, if you've done it right, if you've been thorough, not overly, not, you know, 40 minute gospel presentations, unless they need that, unless there's a problem, but you've been thorough, now is a good time to explain to them about living for Christ, and that's different to the gospel, that's different to salvation, but living for Jesus, and it would have been confusing beforehand, to read their Bible, get them to start in John, best place to start for a new believer, Gospel of John, I'll always just, I'll open it up, get to John, put a bookmark in there or fold down the page, to pray, show them that now they can start a prayer life, because before they weren't praying to God, not the God of the Bible, so make sure they pray, to want to learn how to save family and friends, that's a good thing to put on people, and at that point, why not say to them, is there anyone there you'd like me to also show the gospel to, the amount of times that's happened for people, that's happened especially when I have my eldest daughter, who at the same time, or afterwards, I say, would you like your child to hear, and maybe halfway through, they're being a distraction, and then you can start getting the gospel given, and some of you older kids here, you know, I want to be encouraging them to start learning to give the gospel, so that you can do that, you can get two, three saved at the same time, and that's amazing when that happens, you get a whole house saved, I mean, wow, so, yeah, you know, and encourage them to want to learn that, and that's going to come from coming to church, isn't it, and so it was like this, hopefully, okay, if there are any there that you could show the gospel to on another day, you could say to them, look, you know, is there a day I could come back, maybe show you, because really, and it's funny, isn't it, you could get people saved, you know they're saved, and then they're, oh yeah, the selfishness in people, anyway, yeah, sued, sued, or whatever else, try and encourage that, to come to church, obviously, we want them to come to church, we build up and learn, and eventually be able to go out and do the same thing, to want to get baptised, that's important, isn't it, we're told to go out, we're told to baptise, so try and get them there, like I said, get an email address, and we want to follow up in a few days' time, so before I leave it a bit longer, I'm thinking, strike while you're high, and so I'll give them a couple of days, follow up with an email, or a call if people are happy for you to call, and pray for them, pray for them at least for that week after you get them saved, because you know they're going to have a hard time sometimes, it's going to be the devil coming in and trying to test them, and everything else, pray for them. Okay, right, back to 2 Corinthians, back to 2 Corinthians 5, and like I said, if there's something that you do completely different there, or you're unsure about, by all means come and ask me about it, and like I said, it's not my way, it's not the only way, everyone does it slightly different, but that structure is, something along those lines is tried and tested and proven, and the same way, if you're like, I don't really do it like that, I don't really know that, be a silent partner, we need silent partners, okay, be a silent partner, you don't have to be a talker, if you're still a bit unsure, take a bit longer, I'm not trying to discourage people, yeah, we want people, it's good to be able to talk, at the same time, learn a bit longer if you need to, or mix it up a bit, some days you can, depending on how you feel, but yeah, we want, eventually, everyone wants to be able to give the gospel, there's nothing wrong with being a silent partner, we need silent partners, it's hard going out on your own, and it's good, you need people, so please do that, okay, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 20, okay, verse 20 says, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, right, pray you is to supplicate, to treat, to urge, like we're pleading with people, basically, we're pleading then, please be reconciled to God, that's why we're going out, and we should have that motivation, shouldn't we, we're pleading with them, go with a desire, go with a desire to get people saved, don't go out with just a desire to add some numbers, or a desire to just, well at least I'm out there, go with a desire, you want to get people saved, okay, it's not to be seen of men, and that might sound obvious, but I tell you what, how many people here, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, sometimes you're going out to give the gospel because everyone else is, or because then you can tell people about it, you know, mention it, or whatever else, Christians around the world, you know, soul winning Christians, which sadly there aren't very many, will do that, and we should be going out with a desire to get people saved, and definitely don't start boasting about it either, we're ambassadors, yeah, and here's something to remember, as an ambassador it's not our only job, it's not your only job, okay, and it can be easy to get puffed up about soul winning, okay, to think that it makes up for the rest of your Christian life, and people will do that, you know, and that's an accusation that gets thrown at soul winning Christians, a lot of the time it's just out of envy, it's out of people that don't do it, and want to find some fault and start picking on your sins, but don't get puffed up, it doesn't give you a bonus point or anything else, and oh well, I get a bit more leeway in the other sins in my life, no, it's a great thing we should do, it's only part of the armour of God, see, your feet, you know, shod with the gospel of peace, that's only part of it, and there's other parts of the armour, look at chapter 6 and from verse 1, yeah, we then as workers together with him beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain, for he said I have heard thee in a time accepted in a day of salvation, I have secured thee, behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation, giving no offence in anything that the ministry be not blamed, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. Okay, I'll just go through a couple of quick points here. In verse one it's talking about we're workers together, we said that before, okay, we are workers together. Okay, beseeching, beseeching people to get saved and that's what we should be doing, yeah, and it's not received in vain, that just means an emptiness where you don't really believe, the grace of God to even have the opportunity to hear the Gospel. And how frustrating is it when you go to people's doors, they're just not interested at all, how sad. Okay, verse three here, yeah, giving no offence in anything that the ministry be not blamed. We don't want the ministry to be blamed, we don't want this church to be blamed. Yeah, I don't mind it being blamed obviously for going out and giving the Gospel, but not when it's other stuff, okay. People are saying stuff like, well, you know, they might go out door to door but they're so arrogant, they're so prideful, they're so this or that and that's around other Christians, okay. And we'll be around other Christians, we want them to see us and look at us and go, that's what I want to do. I want to go out and give the Gospel. Remember, it's not just what you do, you should be a shining light so other people want to live like you. Be like, okay, yeah, my church is a load of rubbish, my version of Christianity is a load of junk because look at how these guys live and look what they're doing, look at what they're all doing, they're out giving the Gospel, they're loving people, they're trying to get them saved. Yeah, so we need to be really aware of that because the knock-on effect could be massive. Say you could affect two, three people in your life and they go on and they're families and everyone else and suddenly you're multiplying and multiplying people that also end up going out and getting people saved. There's only so much you can do on your own. You being a soul winner doesn't make up for every other part of your life. Okay, verse four, in all things approving ourselves, it says here, you might think your sin doesn't affect soul winning, you might think, well, yeah, well, at least I still go out, I'm still getting people saved, it's obviously not a block, whatever, you know, you're doing at home in your life away from church. But there is a knock-on effect to those around us. So you can weaken other Christians who end up backsliding and then they're not soul winning. And now you're affecting three, four, five, maybe you affect the whole family because you're sinful, you're giving the devil a foothold in your life. Suddenly you're just saying, you don't even know, you're saying things to people that's just completely destroying them, you don't even know it. You know, you're allowing yourself to be a vessel to be used to weaken other people in the church. So, again, don't just say, oh, well, at least I'm soul winning. And you will affect your kids as well sometimes and their eventual fruitfulness. So if you're just, yeah, okay, well, I'm a soul winner, but I'm doing everything else, they're watching you, just thinking, yeah, great, you know, you're not really that great person. And that's not, yeah, I'm not saying we want to be great people, we want to try and live the right life, live righteously, as much as possible. And it's more than just going out and knocking on doors once a week, twice a week, whatever it is you do. Verse 4 to 5, it's talking about enduring persecution without sinning. And on the doors especially we want to be doing that, don't we? Because we're going to get persecuted, we're going to get grief for people, you shouldn't be getting aroused, you shouldn't be insulting people, you should, like I said before, remember, they didn't invite you. Verse 6, it's talking about being pure, we should try to be pure. The knowledge, the knowledge comes from the word, long suffering. And again, it's not just talking about when they're out knocking doors, but to put up with rude people, it should be long suffering. Kindness to people, whether they want to hear it or not, be kind to them. They're going to hell, remember that. Well, you didn't want to listen, too late. No, it's terrible, it's terrible that they didn't want to listen. Be filled with the Holy Ghost, and not the fake love for people, just be seen in men. People can tell that when you're on the door and you just don't really care. It's just because everyone else is going soul winning. Have some love for people. Verse 7, approving ourselves by the word and power of God. So here, it's a word, isn't it? The word of truth, the power of God. And that's the Gospel, but also the armour of righteousness. It makes you think about, like I said, that full armour of God. It's not just about your feet. You should have the armour of righteousness. And like I said, because you'll affect others around you, and it will affect you, and you might be soul winning now, but give it five years, ten years, and that sin is just affecting your life, and then you fall away. Okay, verse 8, honour amongst the brethren. Dishonour in the world's eyes is what it's saying here, by honour and dishonour. So honour amongst the brethren. But it's dishonour in the world's eyes, and just accept that. They're not looking at you going, what an honourable person. A lot of them are thinking, what a pain. Even report a good report. That's of the world, isn't it? A good report. Hope is of the Lord as deceivers. Some of them look at you as deceivers. I've had this a lot where people go, oh, well, actually I was talking to someone yesterday, so a guy's going to do our removals, who I kind of half know. He used to coach his kids, and he's going to, I was talking to him, and I was trying to give him the gospel, and he'd say, oh, well, in your position, a lot of people look up to you. That's why they'll listen tight. He's trying to say it politely. Basically, as a coach, I was deceiving people, because they were looking up to me, and they had to listen to me, and people try and come up with that. Someone else who I've been working for recently in my other job was saying to me, well, you obviously must, because I'm trying to talk, and I've given her the gospel a couple of times, I've known her for a while, and, oh, well, you're obviously good at talking to people. No, it's the word of God. I'll say that. I'll just say, no, it's the power of God. But in their mind, they're trying to justify how you're going out and getting people saved, how we're doing that, and they put us down as deceivers. But we're not, are we? We're not deceivers. We're just showing them what the Bible says. Yeah, verse 9 as well. Verse 9 says, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed. So it's unknown by most. We're not going to get famous giving the gospel, but we're known by Christ, and we're loved by Christ as well. And dying there, I think, in the flesh, but we have eternal life, don't we? And we all get physical punishment, and maybe not always chastised by God, maybe by others as well. But God will keep you alive. If you're living for God, he will keep you alive, I think, you know, until you're no longer of use, which we don't want to get to that point. And verse 10, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many riches, having nothing and yet possessing all things. So life can be hard, can't it? And life, like, it's not, oh, it's just an easy life as a Christian. But we should always be rejoicing in salvation, at least, because we're saved. And what a thing to rejoice about. We should always rejoice about that. And the fact that we're trusted as ambassadors to go out and get other people saved. What an amazing thing we've been given to do. Okay, Christians, you know, we're really wealthy, are we? But the message we bring is worth more than all riches, isn't it? Well, I'm nearly finished now. And we don't have much earthly possessions. In general, most Christians won't, because it will distract them. But we possess everything, don't we, that's important. And why do we possess all things? So what is it that we possess? Well, we all know, don't we? If you go back just to chapter 5, the last verse here, verse 21, it says, For he had made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So God the Father has punished Jesus Christ for all the sin that we have ever or will ever do, so that we can be seen as righteous enough to enter heaven. It's just absolutely amazing. It's amazing when you think about it like that. It's an amazing truth. So we need to share it, don't we? And when we share it, we want to do it properly. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we're saved. We thank you that we're saved Christians here and that we have the gift of eternal life. We thank you for other soul winners that resulted in us getting saved, however that was. And Father, we pray that you'll help us to be the same, to go out and do the same and to be ambassadors for you, to live right, to walk right and to get others saved and to show them that they can be reconciled to you and they can have eternal life like us. And help us when we do that this afternoon. Lead us to the right doors, please, to the right people. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.