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Amen. Okay, so for those of you that don't know me, my name is brother Ian Tavener, I'm the evangelist down at Shaw Foundation Baptist Church in the UK. We have a church there, we're a satellite church at Shaw Foundation in Vancouver, Washington and we were planted about two and a half years ago now and in that time been leading the church there and this is my first time in South Africa and I've had a great time so far. I want to thank everyone here but especially brother Nick for just everything he's managed to arrange and organize and sort out for our trip here. We're in a nice hotel, got a good night's sleep last night which we really enjoy, don't we brother? And yeah, it's just been great so far. This is brilliant, I love this room as well. I'm looking forward to preaching. So we're gonna get started. So right, if you look down at Jeremiah chapter 12, have a look from verse 1, Jeremiah 12 one, which reads, Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they that happy that deal very treacherously? Thou has planted them, yea they have taken root. They grow, yea they bring forth fruit. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins. But thou, O Lord, knowest me, thou has seen me and tried mine heart toward thee. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter and prepare them for the day of slaughter. How long shall the land mourn and the herbs of every field wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts are consumed and the birds because they said, He shall not see our last end. And have a look at verse 5 now, it says, If thou has run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? And the title of my sermon today is, It's Time to Get Busy. It's Time to Get Busy. I'd like to pray myself before we continue. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for everyone here. Thank you for just this whole trip Lord so far. I just pray right now that you just help everyone to just really pay attention, listening to what you've laid on my heart, Lord, to preach here. Help me to just be filled with your spirit, Lord, and just preach accurately and boldly and clearly, Lord, this message and just help everyone here to really just take in what you've got to say and put it into their lives, Lord. In Jesus' name, pray all of this. Amen. All right, so here in Jeremiah chapter 12, Jeremiah's lamenting how bad it's got at this point, sort of pre-destruction and carrying a way to Babylon of the Jewish people. Here in verse 5, he's basically saying that it's too late for these people. He's basically saying it's done. It's already done at this point. They couldn't hack it. They failed when things were easier. Now they've got no chance, okay? So these guys, it's already done for them. And then we see there's a 70-year kind of time when they've been carried away and they have to wait until they have that return. He goes on to say here they've been forsaken, you know, destruction's coming. And it's God's people, look, that's a scary place to be, isn't it? We don't want to get to the point where he's like, look, I'm done with you now, okay? Enough's enough. I've given you enough chances. It's too late. And look, we don't want to get there, but there's a way of avoiding that by getting busy for God, okay? By getting busy for God. For me, look, it's time to get busy, okay? It's time to get busy for people here. It's time to get busy for us back in the UK. It's time to get busy, right? You've got numbers here, okay? Look, there are people here. We might be sitting here and go, oh, there's not that many in the room. Look, God does a lot with a small group of people. And you have other people around this nation that are willing to get involved, get soul-winning, come and meet us. How many did we have out yesterday? 20, 30 people. And look, God can do a lot with those sorts of people, willing to just go out with the Word of God and get people saved, yeah? We've got some people here. It's receptive. It's really receptive here. Look, you want to see some of our soul-winning in the UK compared with this. We had a marathon yesterday, and I think it was, by all accounts, so maybe it was a bit more Islamic, the area, than they would have liked, which is generally unreceptive. They had similar numbers that we had out yesterday. They had seven salvations, okay? And they spent all day soul-winning. We spent all day soul-winning, and maybe not quite as long as they spent, and we end up with 57 salvations yesterday. You've got a place where people are willing to hear the gospel. They're ready to hear the gospel, okay? And you have it sounds like there are at least, there are some churches, you know, you've got the church down in Cape Town. Maybe there are some other churches around as well. Maybe they have the right gospel. I don't know. Here, you have men here organizing regular marathons as well, okay? You've got Brother Nicholas organizing marathons, and again, like, that's, a lot of nations don't have that. A lot of nations, there are people there that are saved and just thinking, I don't even know who to talk to. I don't even know who to get involved with. I'm just gonna watch stuff on YouTube and just, you know, pray or something, but you've got people organizing stuff. There's a lot going on here, and you do as well, and this is something that's more recent now. You have access to basically the best preachers in the English speaking world. You can go on your phone, you can go on your tablet, you can go on your laptops, whatever it is, and click, and suddenly you're listening to some of the best preachers out there preaching the Word of God to you, and again, this is recent. In times past, people didn't have that. I mean, recordings from maybe, what would you say, the last century onwards, and that was it, okay? Before that, people couldn't do that, but you have that. You have so much going for you here. You've even got nice weather as well, okay? You've got nice weather. I mean, Brother Nicholas was worried about the weather yesterday. I thought that was a glorious day compared with England. I mean, me and Brother Adam nearly had our sunglasses out, and we were thinking, scrap the sun, let's get sunbathing, but look, you've got nice weather, you've got, look, there's a lot going for you here, right? And what I'm saying is, there's a lot more maybe going for you out here than you might realise, because I think sometimes you can feel like we're in a bit of a wilderness. Where's the churches? Where's the people? You know, it's a big vast place, so you've got a church in Cape Town, but where else do we go? What do we do? But there is a lot going for you. Believe me, I speak to people all over the world, and they haven't got anywhere near as much going for them there as you have here, right? To be able to serve God, to do things for God, and yes, look, the way of the wicked is prospering, sure, and I know a lot of people talk about the violence here and stuff as well, and yeah, sure, there is, the way the wicked does prosper everywhere, doesn't it? In a way, the wicked prospers, and maybe they do seem happy that deal treacherously. Sometimes you can look at it and you just say, how do these people get away with this? Why is this okay? Why do we see this, and see all these wicked politicians, these wicked people, you know, and you think, what's going on? Fake Christians with their wicked, treacherous compromising as well, and that could be frustrating, can't it? When you're looking around and seeing these guys, these false churches, these false prophets everywhere, and it's frustrating, isn't it? And you can look at it, you just say, how do they get away with this? Why is this okay? Well, in verse three, Jeremiah said, pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. Look, their time is short, okay? It is short. They might prosper for a bit, they might, those that deal treacherously, they might seem happy for a time, but their time's short. Let them keep trusting in their repented sins all the way down to hell, yeah? Leave them to it. These false prophets, they're wicked, just leave them to it. Let them try to keep their false salvation, try and keep it to the end with whatever way they think they can. Let them keep that all the way down to the pit. Look, they're like sheep just getting plucked out. Eventually, whether it's this life or whether it's when it comes to final judgment, they're gonna be, they're gonna be burning for the rest of eternity, right? You don't have to worry about those people, but amongst all that filth, you're still just running with the footmen here. So you might look at that and think, look, it's tough here, we've got the work salvationists, we've got the government issues, we've got the violence, we've got, you know, there's people getting killed in these places, all of that. You know you're still running with the footmen here, you really are. Look down at verse 5, it says, If thou has run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest say wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? And for me Jeremiah is saying, look, if you can't take the pace, if you can't keep up with your fellow soldiers, with the easy stuff, with running from A to B basically, then how are you gonna take on the cavalry? How are you gonna take on the cavalry? How are you gonna fight off the mounted warrior? And look, I imagine that trained soldiers, look, I'm not into kind of old-fashioned warfare too much, I find it I'd imagine a trained soldier on the top of a battle horse is a scary sight coming at you, isn't it? And this isn't like the movies where you're gonna do a somersault in the air and chop them off, you know, or something else, you're gonna probably just get trampled and speared to death or something or even worse, right? Okay, that's a scary prospect, isn't it? And I think what he's saying here, he's saying, look, if you can't run with the footmen, how are you gonna contend with those horses, right? He then said, And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustest, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? And for me, he's saying, look, if you can't keep going during peacetime, how are you gonna deal with the tough times, yeah? If you can't maintain the pace in peacetime, well, what are you gonna do when it's really tough, when it gets really rough? And now, he could be referring to Joshua leading the Children of Israel through the overflowing Jordan in Joshua 3, we're gonna look at that later, but ultimately, there, they were crossing into battle, okay? They were crossing Jordan into battle, and if you're tired in peacetime, then basically, how are you gonna deal with full-on war, yeah? How are you gonna deal with full-on war? And that's what he's saying here. And as tough as it might be compared to some nations, you're not contending with horses, you're not in out-and-out war yet here, okay? So like I said, you might look at places like our school, they've got a church, you know it's alright, you know, they don't have, for example, what it seems Pastor Bogart's going through with the persecution and everything else for just preaching, preaching to counsel of God, right? Okay, maybe not, okay? But you know there are nations that are much worse off, and I don't think, you're not at war yet here, okay? You're not at war yet here. So it's time to get busy, and when I say get busy, what do I mean? Do I mean get busy in your workplace? Obviously not. Get busy stocking up your tribulation bunker, you know the people out there like that, okay? They're just stocking up, getting the tin beans in, you know, mounting up guns and ammunition there, that's not what I'm talking about. Do I mean get busy listening to thousands of hours of sermons on YouTube? Is that what I mean? I'm not talking about getting busy doing that. I mean get busy serving God, yeah? Get busy serving God. And that is, let's be honest, probably the most important job a man, woman or child could ever do, isn't it? Yeah, get busy serving God. And when I say serving God, what do I really mean? What are we in the business of here? Winning fresh soul, aren't we? Yeah, you need to get busy winning fresh soul, okay? That's what we're here for. That's our job. That's our role in life. If you turn to 2 Corinthians 5, that is your job, Christian, okay? That's every believer's job. Every believer's job. That's our business. And look, we're in the... Soul winning business is a competitive business out there. Whilst we're out winning souls for heaven, our competitors are out there winning souls for hell, okay? That's basically what's going on. We even had it yesterday. I don't know if you guys noticed, but you know, around that park where we were soul winning, in the afternoon, suddenly the false prophets started coming out. And while we're out trying to win people to heaven, there's some wicked false prophet out there with packs of welcome packs to their false church, out trying to win people to hell. And these guys, I mean, he was a smiling devil. I don't know if anyone sees that. Anyone see that guy out there? Yeah, he was a smiling devil with his big grin on his face. Weird as well, didn't he? And he's just talking at them and talking at them and talking at them. And he was talking to two young ladies who basically just rejected the gospel straight away with me. He was talking to them for about 20 minutes. Well, I think you two at all was giving the gospel to that man and that lady right next to us. This guy's just talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. He's smiling, smiling. By the end, they're walking off with a pack for his church. I mean, these guys are wicked. These guys, look, there's some competition out there for souls. There's some competition out there, which means that we all need to work hard because they play dirty, don't they, as well? These guys play dirty. They try any which way. They're grinning while they're just grinning. It's like the old cartoons. You can see why they're grinning and talk to them. In their mind, they're just like imagining them just plucked and ready to just eat, aren't they? In their mind, there's this picture of this plucked chicken with the steam coming off and everything else. This is what these guys are like, man. But they're fake, aren't they? They're like, you come to our church, you're going to be so happy there and everything else. But really, he just wants to flay them alive, doesn't he? And it's a batter out there. It's a competition out there for souls, which means, yeah, we do need to work harder. And it's not just, look, it's not just one or two people need to work hard. We need the whole workforce, don't we? Work force working hard, out winning souls for heaven. And look, you are in the workforce, okay? If you're here and you're saved, you're in the workforce, you know, going out soul winning, it's not optional, okay? It never has been optional. It never will be optional. Now, look, there are plenty lame and false churches trying to preach that it's a job for some people. Do you have the gift of soul winning? Or maybe that's not really your thing. Maybe your thing's just kind of sitting there and reading the Bible or something else. No, no, no. Everyone, everyone's job is soul winning, okay? You're in 2 Corinthians 5. The option isn't whether or not you're soul winning. The option is whether or not you slack on the job, okay? Because you got given this job the second you got saved. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Are you in Christ? I hope everyone here is in Christ. Well, then basically, if you're in Christ, you landed a new job. Okay, you land a new job the second you got saved. Verse 18 says, and all things are of God who has reconciled us. Notice he us here, us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us, same us, the ministry of reconciliation. Okay, if you've been reconciled to Christ, you've been given the ministry of reconciliation. It's the same us. Look at verse 19, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us, same us, the word of reconciliation. That's your King James Bible. Okay, you got a King James Bible. That's the word of reconciliation. He then said in verse 20, Now then, we, we are ambassadors for Christ. So God did beseech you. He's saying as a general you, we are now reconciling with people the same be you reconciled. So we're preaching people and beseeching them and saying be you reconciled to God. Verse 21 says, for he has made him to be sin for us. That's the same, same us, isn't it? Who knew no sin that we, that's the same we, might be made the righteousness of God in him. If you've, if you've been reconciled, if you've, if you've basically had Jesus Christ made sin for you, so you might be made the righteousness of God in him. You're the same us and we in here, aren't we? And you're, and everyone here who's saved has been given the ministry of reconciliation. Okay, it's every single person's job. And is there anything more worthwhile? Is there any more worthwhile job out there than pulling people out of a fire? There's nothing is there? Is there anything more worthwhile in life than pulling people out of eternal flames into the glory of heaven? What a job? What an amazing job that is, isn't it? It's a great job. And look, of course, part of that job does include in house training. Yeah, part of that job does include other things around the job. You need somewhere to be sent out to do that job. You need to you need to learn how to use the tools as a trade, don't you as well, you know, learn how to use that word of God, you need to be encouraged in the word of God, you need all of that. And it also includes part of the job includes meeting at job headquarters, doesn't it? You know, a lot of you had different jobs here. And I was talking to brother Nicholas about about his job. And yes, then brother to toe as well. And look, the job isn't just turn up and do the job. Because sometimes you still got to get to the place to do the job. You've got to be told what to do at the job, you're going to have stuff that goes around the job in house training and stuff like that. training new recruits as well. That's part of the job, isn't it? But the aim, the business target in our business is maximum soul saved. Okay, the aim isn't come and come to headquarters to slap each other on the back and feel good about life. And eat some night. I don't know. I don't know if you guys eat the biscuits afterwards at some of these churches. But you know, in our case, all about the biscuits. People are like, wait, I remember we had a guy come to our churches, I go to this other church, because they do really good biscuits. Needless to say, did last yeah. Biscuits weren't up to scratch. But that's the truth out there. You know, that's what that's what the lame churches, but our aim, our mission goal, okay, our aim as a business is winning as many souls as possible, isn't it? Okay. Now, part of that, it's not like it's just saving them. Because if we can train them up to win people, amen. Yeah, if we can encourage people to go out, then we're going to win more souls, aren't we as well. But the first thing first things first is getting them saved in the first place. We don't run discipleship programs for 10 months and they get saved at the end of it. Now we go out and preach the gospel and get them saved at the end of hopefully more like we need to get busy, right? We need to get busy. And that is our goal. But if you've got a church, then look, I don't know if I'm talking to anyone that does. But if you have a church, in fact, one here, maybe, that has the word of reconciliation, okay, that believes the only way of reconciliation, and that goes out with the ministry of reconciliation, amen, get busy for that church. Yeah, get busy for that church. And go back to Jeremiah 12, where you do, but if you don't, if you don't have that, then look, for some you can't access a proper church, still get busy doing the work. Okay. So if you look, you don't have that place to go. And look, you need to make sure it's a church, you're going somewhere. Yeah, I'm sick and tired of people just trying to justify false prophets and hell holes that winds me up. Okay. But if you don't, if you really like, if you just don't have a church, you can still get out soul winning, can't you? Okay, you can still get out doing the work. Because look, the truth is, it's only going to get harder. So once I get a church, then I'll do it. Look, life's gonna get harder. Okay, life will only get harder. Look at Jeremiah 12, five, he said, if thou has run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustest, say wearied thee, then how will thou do in the swelling of Jordan? For even my brethren and the house of my father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee, yea, they have called a multitude after thee, believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. The title is it's time to get busy. And point number one, before the trials of life get harder, okay, before the trials of life get harder, before we even get into people dealing treacherously with you, there are many trials in life that hinder us working for God, don't they? Okay, there are a lot of trials just in life itself. And some of these aren't to be scoffed at. I think sometimes people think, well, you got the Lord, what could really affect you? There are things that are hard in life, aren't there? Life can be hard. And there are things that our church has seen, and other churches will regularly see these sorts of things, miscarriages, other deaths in the family, lost jobs, marriage problems, estranged kids, chronic illnesses, losing homes, let alone the fall-outs between church members, okay, that stuff happens. The smaller things like car trouble, train cancellations, not being able to get to church for public transport issues. And do you know what, there's also positive things in life that affect us serving God as well, getting married. You know, we've seen people get married and then they seem to disappear. Having babies, moving house, getting a new job. And do you know what stops you using those things as an excuse to backslide? Because a lot of the time they are used as an excuse, right? Do you know what stops that? What stops the regular disappearing acts? Because you have people that just regularly disappear from church, regularly disappear just from the work of God. You'll probably have it, people that regularly disappear from soul winning. You know, you see them for a bit, then they disappear for a bit, then you see them for a bit, then they disappear for a bit. The inconsistent church attendance, the inconsistent soul winning. Getting busy before that stuff happens, okay? You get busy before life gets in the way. That's the trick. Because in our church, you'll notice people that are just solid week in, week out. They're soul winning midweek, they're soul winning on the weekend, they make every marathon, they're at every church service, barring illness or something serious. And those people, when they then go through the trials, guess where they still are within a week or two after something that's stopped them going to church, they're back in church. Guess where they're out midweek knocking doors. Guess where they're out on a weekend on that Sunday knocking doors. Guess where they are when the next marathon is, they're there knocking doors. Because it's a routine, they've gotten that routine when things were easier. Because if you don't get in that routine when it's easy, it's really hard to get in that routine when things are hard. And look, life, you're going to have trials, you're going to have problems, you're going to have issues, you've got to get busy while you can, right? It's all about routine. Look, life for me, I like routine. I'm a big routine person. I used to train a lot in sports and I even enjoyed, even while I was doing the sports, I'd be out running and in my mind I'd be like working out my new routine. I'd be like, I'm going to change this routine slightly again. I just like a routine. I like knowing what I'm doing. I like being set, having just, right, this is what I do on this day, this is what I do on this time. And it's easy to maintain. When you've got it down and you've got it set and you've got it set in stone, it's easy to maintain. But you've got to do that while you're able to because it's hard to make a routine when your life's up in the air. It's hard to make a routine when you're going through some struggles, some troubles, some trials, some issues, and that stuff just happens. And then what happens is when you get that routine going, it all becomes normal life. Okay, suddenly that's just normal. My normal life is I get up in the morning and I read my Bible and nothing gets in the way of that. That's my routine. I pray to God, that's my routine. You know, I pray to God throughout the day, that's my routine. I'm going to church every single Wednesday and Sunday without fail, that's my routine. You know, my routine is I soul win, I soul win in the week, I soul win on the weekend, and once a month I do a soul-winning marathon, that's my routine. And that ain't changing. And because it's my routine, it's just what you do. Whereas as soon as you're like, well, I might do this, I might, I don't see what happens. Do you know what happens? It doesn't, it never happens. You know, that's the truth. Routine is great. Get in a routine, get in there where you're able to. Once it's routine, it's so much harder to break. And when, when you do break the routine, you get back on track quick. Okay, when it's routine, you will get back on track. I was run with a footman and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest, say wearied thee, then how will thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Persevere now while you're able, okay? Persevere now while you're able to, while it doesn't feel like everything is getting in the way of you serving God. And people go through that, where just everything's getting in the way, life's just getting in the way. Look, the fact that you're here on a Sunday, the fact that you were soul winning yesterday means that you are able to serve God right now. So you get soul winning, right? And another thing with that is being busy is good, okay? If you're thinking, yeah, but that sounds a little bit much, brother, you know what, soul winning midweek, soul winning weekends, church Wednesday, church Sunday, you know, all the other stuff that goes with that. Busy is good though. You know, busy really is good because we live in a life where they dangle the carrot of laziness. Like somehow that's what you're striving for. If I just earn a bit more money, then I can be lazy. Then I can retire and do nothing. Like that's kind of like, that's the goal of many people in life, isn't it? Early retirement. The kind of, the lazy holiday, the lazy time, the easy job. A lot of people are like, man, if I do something, if I work a bit now, then I can have the easy job. Then I can have the things that make life easier. But being busy is actually good. Being lazy isn't good. And we are made to work, aren't we? Yeah. Are we not made? Look, Adam was a gardener before the, before the fall. Adam was a gardener, wasn't he? Eve was made not as this, you know, helpful looking bit of meat. No, she was a meat which is suitable for him. She was made as a help for the, she was basically a gardener's labourer. She was probably doing all the weeding. Well, no, I'm kidding. Well, he was pushing the lawnmower. No, I'm joking, man. But, but look, look, we are made to work here. Then after the fall, what did God say? He said, curse is the ground for thy sake. For thy, he said, it's for your own good. Now you're, now you have that knowledge, you're good and evil. Now that you're sinful, you need to work harder now. Okay? We have to, look, the truth is if you're not working hard, when I see people who don't have much to do, really I'm just thinking, man, you must have a lot of temptation in your life. That's the truth, isn't it? Because when you're not doing stuff, when you're not busy, when you've got too much time on your hand, the sin is just coming at you in all different angles. Do this, try that, try, and look, you've got to cut that stuff out. You've got to make sure you're busy. Have a look at, turn to 2 Samuel 11. Even if, like I said, it's just keep you occupied away from the temptations in life, labour is profitable. Okay. In every way. But the penury there, look, there's a lot of people that talk a good game. Yeah. They talk a good game. They sound, you know, like they've kind of got it going on and everything else. But, but what are you really doing? Are you walking that walk? Are you really living that busy life? And when you're labouring and when you're doing stuff and when you're, when you're hard working, you're so much less likely to get into sin. Look at Samuel, 2 Samuel 11, where we see David lazing around. Okay. And David was a great man, wasn't he? But this is a terrible moment for him in life. And where does it start? It started with laziness. That's what it started with. It started with not being busy. Verse one says, it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle. So he should have been going forth to battle, shouldn't he? Listen, by the way, if you're, if you're saved here, you're all priests and kings here, you should be going forth to battle. At the time when kings go forth to battle, when the other people were out battling, he was sitting around. He wasn't out and we could apply that to ourselves. That's, this is basically the same person that ain't soul winning. They're not going forth to battle like they should do. And instead they're hanging around going, what should I be doing with myself tonight? I don't know what to do tonight. You shouldn't be going, I just don't know what to do. There's so much to do, isn't there? Get out and win some souls, right? Well, he's sitting around, yeah? And David sent Joab and his servants with him in all Israel, okay? And they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabah, but David tarried still at Jerusalem. So David's hanging around. Verse two says that it came to pass in an evening tide that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from the roof, he saw a woman washing herself and a woman was very beautiful to look upon. So instead of grafting, instead of getting on with things, he's wandering around on the rooftop looking at half-dressed women, basically. And look, don't like, listen, Bathsheba shouldn't have been washing in any sight of anyone, right? But he shouldn't have been wandering around the rooftop either, should he? Looking around and he should have been busy. He should have been at war, okay? He should have been at battle leading his people. It's sent and inquired after the woman and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliim, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her and she came in unto him and he lay with her for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned unto her house. So it started with laziness and it ended with adultery and attempted murder. And what was the start? He wasn't busy. He wasn't busy. Look, being busy is important, right? Being busy, we need to be busy, okay? We need to be busy and what a better thing to do. Is there any better thing to do than to be busy serving God and winning souls? I don't think so. Go back to Jeremiah 12. It's time to get busy, okay? Number one, it's time to get busy before the trials of life get harder, okay? Before the trials of life get harder, right? And point number two, it's time to get busy before the persecution gets stronger, okay? Before the persecution gets stronger. We're just going to keep, I just want to keep reminding you of these verses. Hopefully you're going to go away and think about these verses. Verse five there back in Jeremiah 12 says, if thou has run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? For even thy brethren in the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee. Yea, they have called a multitude after thee. Believe them not though they speak fair words. Look, the truth is you're going to deal with false brethren. You're going to deal with so-called family and friends turning on you. Some will call the multitudes of alphabet. Okay, that will probably happen at some point. Maybe you're going to have to deal with the authorities like some it seems already are in this nation as well. There's one thing that you can take to the bank, okay? If you're serving God, the persecution is going to get stronger, okay? That's just life. That's the Christian life. The enemies will increase. The more you all do for God, do you know what the truth is? The devils will be popping up everywhere, okay? Everywhere. It's not just going to be, oh, it's just going to be those weird sodomites outside, you know, wherever we're preaching and doing stuff. You know, if we get a church, they're going to be outside doing it. Look, Paul said in 2 Timothy 3-12, we don't have to turn there, he said, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, okay? You've got to just, you've got to accept that early on, right? You will suffer persecution if you're living godly in Christ Jesus and if you're not living godly in Christ Jesus, oh, you're probably going to suffer chastisement. So, one way or the other, you're going to have to deal with some stuff. I much prefer to deal with the persecution than the chastisement, okay? That's my choice. I hope everyone else makes that same choice because I want to serve God, right? I hope everyone here wants to serve God as well. The persecution is coming and like with the trials of life, if you're already in a good routine, you're more likely to persevere through the persecution, right? It's time to get busy and you know when our church started, right? We were expecting, we just thought we're just going to get more grief from the authorities. I was thinking early days, police, we're going to have stuff and we had a little bit of that, okay? We had a little bit, at the beginning, we had like Covid issues and stuff and Covid police trying to come and and give us grief for having church services during it and going out soul winning and stuff. We had a bit of that stuff but you know what? That was child's play, really. We also thought, because we did think as well, we thought we're going to have the protests. As soon as we start, and there were people that wanted that, you know? You get like these weird people that just, I just so want to have like, you know, then we can feel really gangster if we've got the sodomites outside and stuff like that. They're almost trying to encourage somehow like, you know, try and get that to happen but again, that weren't the issue and that hasn't come really yet, not to that degree. We haven't had a lot of protests or anything else like that. I think a lot of the British are too lazy for that, okay? I just can't be bothered. But do you know what we had from the very beginning, where Mosi came from? Was he inside? Was he inside? And that can be the hardest devils to deal with, okay? The devil planted them in early, really early. You know, they were planted in, right? They were planted in before we even had our church and I'm not, you know, trying to do a devil witch hunt here, okay? But that was the truth, you know? They were planted in early. When we were soul winning, as a soul winning group, there were people getting kicked out of the soul winning group in our church and then we had our church and we ended up kicking out 25 people and some of those were families, yeah? However, I think almost every single one of them, most of them were involved in our soul winning group before we even were a church. They were just waiting in the wings. Our pastor calls them sleeper cell reprobates. So they act and all, you just think they're normal and then suddenly they're activated. It's like, must destroy church, must destroy, you know? Well, some of those guys seem to be okay, you know? Although some of them weren't really okay. I mean, looking back, they were weirdos from the beginning, right? But look, and that's hard grief, okay? And then suddenly you're getting persecuted from people on the inside and people that you know and they're just trying to tear you down, tear down the church, all this stuff. It could be rough, yeah? And it's not easy stuff to deal with. And look, turn to 1 Corinthians 16, because you could be sitting there going, well, maybe it's just better to do a bit of soul winning. Well, look, you're going to get it in a soul winning group. If you're doing work for God, eventually the devils are going to try and pop up. They're going to be planted in there. They're going to be doing stuff. They're going to be trying. They're going to be activated at some point and they're going to try and stop the work of God. And why is that? Well, 1 Corinthians 16 shows us that when doors are open for the work of God, the rats will come scurrying through, okay? That's just what happens. You open doors to do the work of God and the rats come scurrying, one way or another. And like I said, it is the nature of the Christian life. And just before we read that, look, if you're going, well, yeah, but I haven't seen that down at Repent of Your Sins Baptist Church. Do you wonder why though? Because at Repent of Your Sins Baptist Church, hardly anything's going on for God. Well, I haven't seen that down at the kind of Give Your Life to Christ Community Church or whatever else you might have been involved in or seen around. Yeah, because the devil's at the front of the church. Why would they try and tear up that church? They're already doing the devil's work. The devil who's up there, who says grace through faith one minute, and then subtly just a little bit about, well, you've got to at least try not to sin in the future. You've got to at least, you know, you've got to at least, you know, it's like a bit whispered, depending on who he's talking to. He's already up there. He's already poisoned people. He's already just killing their spiritual life at the least if they're saved. And if they're not, he's just beating them all. You're not going to get it down there. But when there's real soul winning going on, when there's real preaching going on, which is changing lives, yeah? And preaching could change lives. But you've got to let it change your life. You've got to come to a church and when you listen to preaching, you listen to the hard preaching, you go, I want this preaching to hit me. I want to get changed. I'm not coming in to just hear the preaching on everyone else. I can't deal with it when it's about my issues, yeah? But when you're there, when you're involved in that stuff, you're seeing life changing. What's the life, what's the point of life changing? Is it so you can slap yourself on the back and go, yeah, I got it right? No, it's so then you go out and do more work for God. That's the whole point. Because all that filth, all that muck, all that sin will get in the way in the end. It's like just waiting there to stop you serving God. That's why we need to preach it out, right? Okay, but when you're in somewhere that's doing, Paul tells us what happens. He says, for a great door and effectual is opened unto me and there are many adversaries. He didn't say there were some adversaries, did he? He said there were some adversaries? Not a few liberal eternal students with green or blue hair. He didn't say that, did he? Oh, well, if a great and effectual door is opened to me, there's going to be some weird students that turn up and try and like put a bit of pressure on. He said there are many adversaries, many. Look, I'm sure some of you have dealt with a bit so far, but do you know what the truth is? The cavalry haven't charged yet here, have they? The cavalry haven't charged on you guys, okay? You might have dealt with a few idiots here, but I don't know if you have yet. You might have had to like kick a couple of people to the curb now and again. You might have had to deal with, maybe you've dealt with some stuff in your private lives, your personal lives. Maybe you've dealt with family friends issues like that, a bit of persecution here and there, but you definitely haven't been charged by the mounted horse, the mounted cavalry, have you? I don't think you're there yet because it will get harder. Turn to 2nd King 6. It's time to get busy, but you don't have to fear that mounted assault, by the way, in case you go, oh man, if I want to deal with this. Because if you're busy for God, you know he will be busy for you. If you're busy for God, he'll be busy protecting you. Turn to 2nd Corinthians 6 while I read Deuteronomy 20 verse 1. Deuteronomy 20 verse 1 says, when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies and seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. There's nothing to fear yet. If you're living and working for God, you're doing stuff for him. Look, you're going to watch him, you're going to watch him crushing your enemies. We've seen that already in our church. We've seen people crushed. Like I said, we kicked out those people. They got monumentally crushed as well. God just crushed them. They got exposed to the whole church. God will crush your enemies if you're working for him. If you're living for him, if you're doing things for him, you don't have to fear it. You really don't. You're just going to get to watch him crush your enemies. And it's better that than trying to go alone as well. You think, oh, well, I'll just give up this life. It sounds like the persecution's coming. You're just going to get grief anyway. You're a Christian. You've got a target on your back. But if you serve and you work for him, he's going to protect you through it all. When you do great things for God, yeah, the adversaries increase. Like I said, so does the protection. Look at 2 Corinthians 6. So the king of Syria here, he wants to take the prophet Elisha. Verse 13 says, and he said, go and spy where he is. And obviously Elisha is this great, powerful prophet. And he says, go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, behold, he's in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great host. And they came by night and compass the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host compass the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? So basically, they're coming to get him. He's got like this whole army coming for just him and his servant. And he's like, sometimes it feels like that. Believe me, sometimes in this game, when you're doing stuff for God, sometimes you feel like you're just surrounded by the enemy. You just, you can look in a church sometimes. Before, like I said, our church, I'm preaching on certain nights. Well, I'm looking around, I'm like, most of these people are devils, and I just haven't been able to kick them out yet. And I'm thinking, man, like this could be, you can feel like you're just surrounded by the enemy. You just feel like this is going to be tough. What shall we do? It's just like, what are we going to do? What do we do with all these people? And maybe it's the Sodomite protesters. Maybe it's the authorities. Maybe whatever it is, you can feel like that a lot of the time. The Christian life, you do get those times. And he answered, fear not. That's the answer. For they that be with us are more than they that be with them. What's he talking about? He's talking about saving people. No, look. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray that you open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And look, that's some spiritual protection he had there. And you know what? Maybe if I've said this before at our church, if we had our spiritual glasses on now, you're not doing the work of God here. Anyone sitting here going, well, there's not that many of us. I mean, come on brother here. Look, show me this many saved people somewhere else in South Africa right now, barring maybe down at your church in Cape Town. Where are they? Look, there's a battle going on. Okay, there really is a battle going on. And look, we need the protection. And if you're serving God, you're doing things for God, you will have that protection. Elisha here with that two men there had literally an army of angels surrounding them ready to protect him. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, smite this people, I pray thee with blindness. And he smite them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. He just dealt with them like 12. The truth is though that all that smiting of God's enemies, yeah, it is a bit time consuming. Okay, and it to do that until you've got the armies coming around you and you need your spiritual armies to protect you. It's time to get busy. Okay, until then it's time to get busy. Verse number one, point number one was before the trials of life get harder. Point number two is before the persecution gets stronger. And last point, point number three is before the tribulation gets started. Before the tribulation gets started. Look at verse five, it says, if thou is run with the footmen, and they have worried thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustest, they wear thee, then how wilt thou do in the sweat of Jordan? And by the way, no, the COVID vaccine wasn't the mark of the beast. Okay, if anyone's wondering, if anyone watched a couple of YouTube videos, it was a mark, wasn't it? No, it wasn't. But you know what it was? It was amazing to see how quickly the world changed, didn't it? How quickly life just suddenly became so restricted. I know you guys had it quite bad here. Look, it wasn't too bad in the UK. It was to some degree, but all over the world. It was still nuts, wasn't it? How quickly that happened. How easily, that was crazy seeing how easily most of the world literally lined up like zombies to get injected in their arm with something they didn't even know what it was. Please inject me. And for what reason? Some of them, it was to go on holiday. Where we are, there were people going, well, yeah, but if I don't get the jab, I'm never going to be able to go on holiday again and get drunk for two weeks. And justify it. And not have to say I'm an alcoholic. So that's a big culture thing in our country. It's like, save up all year and then we can go and get drunk for two weeks. That's what people do. And they were lining up and taking all sorts of poison jabbed into them. Then it was like, well, now you need the booster. And the booster, well, you're not triple vax. You still can't go on holiday. And everyone else is like, the normal people went, well, I'm going to get that filth put in me. And then five minutes later, everyone could go back on holiday again. It was bizarre. But it was interesting to see, wasn't it? What on earth happened in that time? And the whole world went nuts, didn't it? And that was interesting. And look, as far as we know, it could happen in our lifetime, couldn't it? To see how quickly that was, because I'll be honest, before that point, I was thinking, no chance, we're nowhere near. I can't see it getting to that point that quickly. We're near that. And then in that time, we had the whole COVID thing. And the more for me, just going into places, I work sometimes in central London. And because we know it's going to be, and I believe it's not just talking about the fact that they were eating and drinking and giving in marriage and everything else. But when Jesus Christ said, as in the days a lot, as in the days of Noah, I think we're talking about spiritually as well. There's just going to be reprobate sodomites everywhere. And of course, the mark of the beast is going to reprobate people. But even before that, and in the UK, we're seeing that a lot more. I mean, there are just filthy weirdos everywhere. There's just more and more and more and more. And you're probably seeing that here as well. And you're going to see that around. And I think we are getting, it does feel like we're getting there, aren't we? With COVID, how quickly the world got locked down and everything. But no, yeah, you know, it might not come for another 100 years, right? It might be another 500 years. We don't really know. What we do know is it could come. And when that does come, and or maybe when it if it comes in our children's lives, we want to make sure that we or them are able to contend with those horses, right? And we want to survive that rapid river, don't we? Because when it comes, it's going to get rough, isn't it out there? Okay. And do you know how we're going to do that? It's by getting busy now. Okay, it's time to get busy now. Turn over to Matthew 4, where we see the way that you'll get through the tribulation. Did you know that getting through the tribulation is not by having more guns than everyone else? And look, at the end of the day, the horse is prepared against their battle. I'm not saying that you've got to, you know, you should just be walking around, you know, with absolutely nothing at all, you know, with all your all your valuables and everything and going that God's got me unprotected. That's just foolish. Okay, that's foolish. However, that's not how you're going to survive the tribulation. Okay, it's not by having more guns. It's not by living in the most remote place you can possibly find, because a lot of people are trying to find out if I could just kind of go out in the countryside and get self sufficient or something that so some people think don't know, that's not how you survive the tribulation. It says in verse 4, Matthew 24, 4, And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. And look, there are a lot of people, aren't they, trying to deceive you about this subject. Yeah, let's be honest, they're everywhere. I mean, the false prophets, obviously, and there seem to be, there are safe people out there as well, aren't there, that sadly are still deceiving you about this subject. And deceiving, verse five says, For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. You shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. Now, look, that stuff could happen. And again, like we obviously were always seeing of wars and rumours of wars, but the world scene does seem a bit odd right now, doesn't it? You know, obviously, with what seems to be at least a kind of a cold war going on, you could argue with Russia right now using Ukraine as a middleman, but it's basically warfare right now, isn't it, to some degree. And there's plenty of other weird stuff going on. I know people talk about the pestilences, obviously, with COVID and whatever your view is on that. There are some earthquakes in some strange places as well. I don't know if you ever look into that stuff, but it does, you could argue, yeah, look, you know, we're probably not a long way off. He said, all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nation for my name's sake. Now, that's proper tribulation, isn't it? Yeah, taken up and killed. Okay. And again, there are people in certain nations around this world where that does and would happen for believers, but that's going to be more worldwide, isn't it? Verse 10, and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another, and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure until the end, the same, shall be saved. So how do you endure until the end? Well, this isn't talking about salvation, obviously. Okay. This isn't talking about giving back your salvation. People come out with that. So as long as you don't give back your salvation, then you've endured to the end. No, of course not. This is, this is, uh, this is talking about a physical saving from a physical death. Okay. We're talking about the end times here. We're talking about people. He's just talked about people trying to kill you. Okay. Being delivered up and killed. This is a saving we're talking about here. It's basically, it's about making it to the rapture without being beheaded or something similar. So how do you do that? How do you get through that tribulation without having a nasty physical death before then going to heaven? Well, is it just the rapture situation? Is that what it's saying? Well, as long as you're kind of a bit fast on your toes, you're a bit sneaky, you've got a good kind of route out and, and place to hide. Well, well, I don't, I don't think that's the point yet. Okay. That's not now. That's not at this point. That's when we know it's the end. Okay. It's time to flee. When we see the abomination of desolation sounding in the Holy place, then it's like, okay, just leg it now. But that is kind of, that is the end. Okay. That's like, when you know, that's like, right, a hundred percent now we're here and that is the end, but you have to endure to that point. Okay. How do you endure until that point? Well, until those 75 days, which is what it seems to be of that great tribulation, the way that we endure is by preaching the gospel. That's how you endure is by preaching the gospel. Look at verse 12, verse 12 said, and said that the love of many shall wax cold. He said the love of many shall wax cold. What's the first love? Preaching the gospel, isn't it? That's what, that's what real love is, isn't it? It's going out and getting, it's not, it's not telling people how great they are. You keep going with your false religion. You'll be okay. That's not love. Love is preaching the gospel. That's why he said, he then said, but he said, the love of many shall wax cold. That shall endure until the end. It's preaching the gospel. That's enduring until the end. That's why verse 14 says straight away, right after, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. Do you know the only way you're going to endure is with that, is with that basically spiritual protection. And that comes from preaching the gospel, from serving God, from abiding under the shadow of the almighty. Yeah. And you're doing that by basically living for God. Yeah. By being close to God, by, by clinging to God. And we do that when we go out and preach the gospel and we serve God. And you do that by not letting your, your love wax cold, by preaching the gospel. And then when the end comes, when then the beast is set up and it's like the time has gone, then it's time to leg it. Okay. That's when it's time to leg it. But until then, our goal is to preach the gospel. I say this to our church, someone, do you know what? Yeah. If you, if you didn't have spiritual protection, preaching the gospel would be really a lot more dangerous than it is. Do you know that? If, if you didn't have that protection that comes from the Lord, from serving him and for being in his will and going out preaching the gospel, you probably wouldn't last five minutes before someone stabbed you. The truth, but you do last, why? You go to, even in the UK, we go to dangerous places preaching the gospel and we're fine because we're serving God, because we're preaching the gospel, because we're doing the things of the Lord. And that's how you're going to make it through the end times. You're not going to make it through with that target on your back for being saved. Where, where basically you should be getting beheaded by sitting on your backsides doing nothing. It's by preaching the gospel. But back in Jeremiah 12, 5, he said this, he said, if thou has run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustest they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Basically, how are you going to do any of that if you can't stomach it now? How on earth are you going to make it through the tribulation if you can't even preach the gospel when there's no tribulation happening right now? And look, it's time to get busy. It's time to get busy, right? Amen? Amen. It's time to get busy. Now, look, just in case you're thinking that whole tribulation doesn't sound so fun, okay? I don't know. How are you even going to preach the gospel here? Do you know what? It sounds receptive, doesn't it? Don't you think? War, famine, death, martyrdom, that's receptive. That's when the harvest is just there ready to be plucked. You know, when COVID that whole lot first happened, it was just before our church started, a few of us, we were like, right, okay. And everyone was like indoors, they had all this, you can't go out apart from for essential stuff. So we were like, this is a good time to soul win, yeah? We're like, they're not going to answer the door. So what do we do? So we basically, we set up a table with like, we had Gospels of John, and we had like three Gospels of John, and a little sign on the front. And we just stood and we've set them up outside little shops on housing estates, okay? And what happened is, we at one point, I remember there were literally queues of people just waiting to hear the gospel. It was amazing. And people that would never have heard it before. It was the most receptive time, because people were scared. They were in fear, they were thinking we're going to die, or at least we're going to be locked down forever or something else, yeah? And they just want to hear the gospel. And that was just COVID. It was a load of people in fear, they were worried, they were scared, and they were like, that is a good time to hear the gospel, isn't it? That's a good time. That's when they were humble, when the pride was down, when they were just like, there were people literally saying things like, what must I do to be saved? And we would just say, this is great, and getting out and preaching the gospel, and that's what it will be like. And yeah, you'll be getting hunted down for it, but you know what, God will protect you if you're doing that, won't he? He that shall endure until the end, yeah? That's who's going to get saved, isn't it? Turn to Joshua chapter three, just to make this point, because as time goes on, and it feels more, and it will get more receptive as well, okay? It is going to get more receptive. Because, and just a last point on this, because we've just been looking at this verse time and time again, then how will thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Do you know when the swelling of Jordan took place? Anyone know when the swelling of Jordan took place? No? Sorry to do a little quiz there, just, I didn't know this, I'm not trying to go, I always knew this, I was just looking at this at this sermon. We'll have a look down at verse 14 here, I'll show you when. Verse 14 of Joshua 3 says, and it came to pass when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as they that bear the ark will come unto Jordan, the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water. Now look at this in brackets, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest, it's harvest time, that's when the Jordan overflows, it's harvest time, that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon and heaped very far from the city, Adam that is beside Zaratan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea failed and were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jericho, and the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. Verse 15 said, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest. So for me when Jeremiah said, and you don't have to turn there, when Jeremiah said in verse five, if thou is one with a footman and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest say wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Do you know what he's saying? He's saying if you can't get busy now, how are you going to when it's harvest time? Look, it might be receptive here, but it ain't harvest time yet. You're going to get people saved, yeah, you're going to get those early, those first fruits, but when harvest time comes, when it's tribulation time, that's when the swelling of Jordan is. When there's trouble out there, that's when people are most receptive, and if you can't do it now, how are you going to do it when it really counts, when it really matters, when people are literally just begging to get saved? It's time to get busy, right? It's time to get busy. On that, let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word, I thank you just for the many truths we get out of it, and you know, that one that we've looked at today, that truth that, look, you know, it's well things, well we're able, well things are easier, well things, well it, you know, we're not having that tribulation, that persecution that we could be having, Lord, well we're not in that kind of those most dangerous times. It can be dangerous at times, it's not like it will get eventually, Lord, and before we go through some of the worst trials of life, even though I'm sure many of us have been through some trials right now, it's time to get busy, Lord, it's time to get working for you, it's time to just say, look, we're here, here am I, Lord, send me, send me to the lost, help me get people saved, help me just to persevere, to get a routine, to just say, this is when I'm preaching the gospel, this is when I'm going to do it, I'm going to preach the gospel, and I'm going to get out there and just work for you, Lord, and no matter what, Lord, no matter what, and help us to all just today, everyone here, to just say, yeah, that's what I want to do, Lord, and to then motivate others to do the same, to be a solid force, to be like Gideon's 300 that just do great things for you, Lord, and hopefully with time we'll build as well so that we can get even more done for you as well, and Lord, I pray that you just bless our day, bless our soul winning, bless our time together, and help us all return for this evening service as well, in Jesus' name, for all of this, amen.