 And then all right, so Luke chapter four, look down at verse number 18, that's gonna be where we're mainly focused in Luke chapter four, the Bible says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised. So it kind of struck me when I was looking at sermon topics that I haven't really done, a complete full sermon on the topic of soul winning. I know I've talked about it a lot in sermons before. So this morning I do wanna talk about soul winning and specifically the sermon this morning is called lessons from soul winning and things that you will learn from soul winning. I wanna talk to you about some stories from soul winning and what just personal experiences from soul winning and what that has taught me and what we can learn from our experiences out soul winning. So what is soul winning in general? I mean, when we start, you know, we look at Luke 4, 18, you know, he's talking about preaching the gospel to the poor and in Mark 16, 15, the Bible says, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Matthew 28, 19 says, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Luke 14, 23 says, and the Lord said unto the servant, go out on the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. Turn to Revelation chapter two. So we see that soul winning, you know, going out and preaching the gospel is a direct command from Jesus. It's one of the last things that he told us to do before he left this earth after his resurrection. It's considered to be, you know, the first work or one of the first works that we're supposed to do as Christians, it's very important which is why it's such a, there's such a heavy emphasis on it and there always will be a heavy emphasis on it here in this ministry. So look at Revelation two in verse number five. It's so serious that if we would ever stop doing it or we would ever veer away from soul winning, I mean, the Bible even has some harsh words there. The Bible says in Revelation two, five, it says, remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent. Jesus talking to a church here and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent. So all that to say this, you know, it's a big deal. I mean, the candlestick is, you know, represents the presence of God or the, you know, the approval of God that this is his church. And if that candlestick is removed, you know, this is no longer God's church. You can't fake that. And the Bible here is saying is that if we stop doing the first works, that candlestick will be removed unless we repent and start doing those first works again. So we never wanna get to a point where we're not doing those first works where we're stopping soul winning, where we're stopping preaching the gospel. It's the first works. So this morning, I just wanna give you some lessons in soul winning. I wanna talk to you about just some things that, you know, we can learn from soul winning, some things that will happen to you when you go out soul winning, things that you'll learn and you will experience to prepare you for, you know, as you get to be a more experienced soul winner, you're going to see these things. You'll start to have your own examples of these stories that I'm gonna tell you and these things that I'm gonna explain to you this morning. So, you know, let me just, I don't tell you a lot of stories, but I'm going to tell you some personal stories this morning and then I'll relate that to some lessons that we can learn. And then when those things happen to you, hopefully you remember this sermon and say, yeah, you know, what brother Jared said there was the truth. And this is just another example of that truth. So let's get right into it this morning. Keep your place in Luke chapter four. We're gonna come back there. But the first lesson I wanna give you this morning on soul winning is this. It's that the spiritual war in this world is very real. That's the first thing that I wanna tell you about that you're going to learn and you're going to see as you become a soul winner and as you go out soul winning more and more, you are going to see first, I mean, it's kind of exciting, right? That you're gonna see firsthand that the spiritual war is real. I mean, we had a situation here that happened just a few months ago where the ladies ran into a situation like this. I saw the tail end of it, but the ladies, they were knocking a door. They were up in an apartment building where there was two doors and they were knocking a door that was across from this other door and this other door had all sorts of weird symbols in the window and all kinds of Bible verses and like religious sounding things in the window of this door where they knew something strange was going on with that person that lived there and that person actually came out while they were talking to the person next door and just started screaming at them and they tried to give an invite to this lady and try to tell them we're from a Baptist church and this lady just started, after she said a couple things that sounded religious, she just kind of went off and started acting crazy and saying all kinds of crazy things to the ladies to the point where they had to actually leave the situation, come get us and tell us, hey, could you go finish knocking the door on the other side because we're afraid of this lady that's right across the hallway and one of the things that my wife told me that the lady had said was she actually said to them, they handed her an invitation but she didn't even really look at the invitation but she said to the lady, she said, I'm King James only two, she said as she's screaming and yelling and acting all crazy and my wife hadn't even told her anything about our church at all and as you look at the invite, I went and I looked back at the invite of the church and at the only place it says we're King James only is in very small lettering on the back of the invite and she didn't see it and so I mean the point is, is that the spiritual war is real, turn over to Luke chapter eight but because we know that the spiritual war is real, these things like demon possession and these things that we read about in the Bible, they exist today and they are very real today and you will run into that today, out in the world, out in Fresno, California, you will see this, look at Luke chapter eight and look at verse number 27, look what the Bible says in verse number 27 of Luke chapter eight and there's many places in the Bible that talk about this but in verse number 27 of Luke eight, the Bible says, and when he went forth to the land there met him out of a city of certain man which had devils a long time and he wear no clothes, neither a boat in any house but in the tombs and when he saw Jesus he cried out and fell down before him with a loud voice and said, what have I now to do with thee Jesus thou son of God most high I beseech thee, torment me not so look these demons, these spirits, these evil spirits from Satan they know who Jesus is even in the last part of Luke chapter four it talks about how the demons they knew that Jesus was the Christ Jesus didn't enter, I mean look everybody in Luke chapter four was doubting who Jesus was but not the demons they didn't doubt who he was number one they knew who he was and number two they were afraid of him they were afraid of Jesus and James chapter two and verse 19 I'll just read it to you the Bible says thou believe us that there is one God thou do us well the devils also believe and tremble so look Satan's angels on this earth know who Jesus is they're afraid of Jesus and they know who you are because you're carrying the message for Jesus but look they tremble before Jesus these demons the Bible you can see that when any time a demon talks to Jesus he's like torment me not he's like what are you gonna do to me you know I mean even Legion was like hey don't just send us out send us into the swine they're pleading with Jesus to not destroy them to not torment them so it's kind of like what you're going to deal with out there it's kind of like there's this king okay it's kind of like there's this king that nobody can challenge this super powerful king exists here's an analogy for you no one would even think about challenging him however you're carrying the message for this king you're an ambassador to this king who do you think that the enemies of the king are going to attack they're not gonna attack the king himself because it's they know that it's he's too powerful they can't do it guess what in second Corinthians chapter five the Bible says that we are ambassadors for Christ so he is that powerful king the evil spirits the demons of this world know exactly who we are and we are going to run into this they can't attack the king they will attack the ambassadors to the king so look just remember this this is the lesson for you the more effective you become in this Christian life the more under attack you will be you say well that doesn't sound good well that's the reality of it that's why I'm telling you so you won't be offended this war is real and you will be you will see moments that remind you of this that show you that this war is real out soul winning you're gonna see look when you go out soul winning the vast majority of people that you run into are just going to be indifferent they're just going to you know they're just not gonna have time they're not gonna have time to listen to the gospel they're gonna be watching football they're gonna be cooking ramen noodles they're gonna be doing nothing they're gonna be playing video games they're gonna come to the door with a video game controller in their hand I can't listen man I'm really busy right now that that's the vast majority of what you're going to see but you will run into people who absolutely hate the fact that you're there before you say word I mean this is the false prophets this is the sodomites and yes even demon possessed people you will run into out there they absolutely imagine they absolutely hate you and you've not said a word you're standing on their doorstep you're standing on the sidewalk with a Bible in your hand and they hate the fact that you're there you're gonna run into this and you say why is that because the spiritual war is real that's why there's wicked people out there Satan himself is out there on this earth walking around okay it's real it's not it's not a fairytale that's the first lesson you know and look he's out there and he's walking around with all his minions and all these demons on this earth and we're out there and we're walking around as ambassadors with a the word of God in our hand with the with the two-edged sword of the word of God in our hand so we're all walking around we're bound to run into each other as we're all walking around out there it's not fake it's not a mythical thing it's real and you're going to see it so be prepared you're like I want to be a soul winner I want to get experience doing this be ready you're going to see this a hundred percent you're going to see it we will cross paths with the evil forces of Satan in this world okay and they know who you are they know who you are I'm not trying to scare you I'm just letting you know so you're not offended when it happens the second lesson is this go back to verse number eighteen of Luke chapter four Luke chapter four look at verse number eighteen actually go back to verse seventeen Jesus here in verse number eighteen he's actually quoting a verse from Isaiah which is a which is a messianic prophecy of Isaiah so he's in you know he's talking to these people they don't believe who he is he gets up and he quotes this prophecy about the Messiah and then at the end you know a couple verses later after verse eighteen he's like by the way it's me basically is what he says okay and that's why you know they didn't believe him they're from you know he's like a prophet's not accepted they didn't accept him he was front this was the people in his area that he grew up in but look at verse seventeen the bible says there was delivered to him under him the book of the prophet Isaiah and when he had opened the book he found a place where it was written the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he had anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor so here's another thing you're gonna learn out soul winning you're going to learn you're going to understand the poor and you're going to understand why turn to matthew chapter eleven that there is an emphasis in the bible on getting the gospel to the poor you're gonna understand that you're gonna see that demonstrated in your life now look when i think about the poor i don't really think about you know this country i'm glad that i've been able to go to you know another country and do soul winning there where there's like real life poor people for real like i don't consider the the stuff that we see here poverty this is like voluntary poverty this is like i don't want to work i want to do drugs so i'm gonna that i'm gonna live under a bridge that's not poverty there's people in the philippines there's people that they just don't they they just they just live on the street there's kids that that you know we ran into this girl in the philippines that i saw her both years i was there she just lived in front of this catholic mission with her parents on a cardboard box on a piece of cardboard that's where she lived imagine i was there with the first year i was there i was there we saw her we walk by her every day thank god that brother jeff was able to sit down with her and her family and get them saved you're able to get the gospel to them they're very receptive but they were the poor they were the poor and then you come back is very humbling as you come back the next year and they live in the same place it's still there's one year later same family same little girl same place that's where she lives you know that's hard for americans it's good for you know these kids that would go over there these teenagers that would go over there from this country to see that type of thing that look that's real poverty we met guys that would come to the church events that they were sleeping in the park because they came from two hours away from their town that they lived in outside of manila they came looking for work and they just slept in the park because they didn't have money to get a place to sleep so they would just sleep under a tree in the park because they would get up and go to work or go look for work and they slept in the park that's what they did they just didn't have the money they were poor they were the poor so look uh... the bible says that were to get the gospel to the poor look at matthew chapter eleven in verse number four jesus jesus answered and said to them go and show john again those things which you do here in c the blind received their site in the lame walk and the lepers are cleansed in the deaf here the debtor raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them and blessed is he who shall not be offended in me so you will clearly understand as a soul winner even in the united states why it is this way even in the united states when we go into lower-end neighborhoods in fresno in any other city when you go into the lower-end neighborhoods which by the way a lower-end neighborhood in united states is a rich person in other parts of the world but you will still see this play out as a soul winner you will go into the lower-end neighborhoods in fresno and they will be ten times more receptive to the gospel then the upper-class neighborhoods in fresno every single time that's why the bible is talking about you know having the poor preach the gospel to the poor because they're the ones that will receive it they're the ones that are receptive to the truth to the word of god turned to matthew nineteen matthew nineteen we see the story of the rich young ruler this man who had great possessions he went up to jesus and he told jesus he was perfect and he wanted to follow jesus and what do i need to do to go to heaven and he basically lied to jesus saying that he's never made a mistake before and then jesus sums it up in verse twenty three of matthew nineteen this is the other side this is the rich this is the rich jesus says then jesus said unto his disciples verily i say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven well i mean is that fair just because you're rich you can't go to heaven well let's read a little bit further and see what jesus is talking about and again i say to you it is easier for a camel to go to the i have a needle and for a rich man to enter in the kingdom of god well it must be impossible for a rich person to get saved and his disciples said this exact same thing in the following verse it's impossible then and his disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazing who then can be saved but jesus beheld them and said unto them with men this is impossible but with god all things are possible it's not going to be nearly as receptive but it's still possible to get somebody who's rich saved we go to nice neighborhoods we're still going to see some people say that's why we're going to go soul winning everywhere because we will still see salvation in the nice upper-class neighborhoods it just won't be nearly as many it just won't be nearly as turn to proverbs chapter eleven it just doesn't happen nearly as often so it's much more fruitful to preach the gospel to the poor i mean why wouldn't we go and preach to a group of people if we just i mean we just know they're all going to accept the gospel i mean we got to get to people like that as fast as we possibly can because we're not going to be wasting time there they're just going to want to know that's why it's so receptive in poorer countries in the world you go there and it's the poor and they just they all want to know they all want to know the truth they're not proud they're not lifted up they just you show them the bible yeah i want to know what that says i want to know what that means and that's why jesus was trying to get the gospel to the poor that doesn't mean the rich can't get saved with god all things are possible it's just that with the poor and look this will be demonstrated to you as a soul winner this will be demonstrated to you as a soul winner as you become an experienced soul winner when we roll up to these nice neighborhoods you're going to have that feeling inside you that's like i mean it's not that it's a good thing to have that feeling but you're going to roll up to certain neighborhoods and be like this is going to be great and you're going to roll up to certain neighborhoods and you're going to be like this is going to be tough we're going to get a lot of fellowship in today you get a lot of talking to my soul winning partner today because you just know certain neighborhoods have you know the rich people in it the upper class they're just not going to be that receptive it's just it's just the way it is and the bible tells us that that's the way it is next lesson in soul winning are you at proverbs eleven or look at the front of your bulletin it's the verse of the week proverbs eleven thirty says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is why so here's some good news for you if you become a soul winner and you go out so winning and you get experience so winning the bible says that you will become wise the bible says you will gain wisdom out of that because what part of your fruit and doesn't say the fruit of righteousness is a tree of life part of your fruit in your life as a christian person should be having soul saved that should be part of your fruit basket that you're you're getting people saved you're leading people to the lord and the bible says you know there's some benefit to that that he that winneth souls if you're out there and you're winning souls and you're preaching the gospel to people you will be wise and he that winneth souls is wise that's a pretty direct statement you're gonna gain wisdom from that turn to matthew chapter ten turn to matthew chapter ten so look i mean i want to be wise i don't want to be a fool i mean who wants to be a fool so here's a benefit to soul winning it makes sense that if we're doing the first works for god that god is gonna you know repay us with some sort of benefit i mean it just makes sense if you know how god is and how god takes care of us and blesses us in our lives this is one of the blessings that you're gonna receive as a soul winner you're gonna be wise the bible says look at matthew chapter ten in verse sixteen the bible says this it says behold i send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves so look our wisdom soul winning will also be our defense the bible says here look i mean overall wisdom that you're gonna receive out soul winning here's some here's some wisdom that you're gonna receive as you get experience as a soul winner you are going to see and i've said this many times but you are going to see the state of the people in the area that you live in the area that you're soul winning in you're going to see the state of the country that we're in like like nobody else you're gonna see the actual truth you're gonna see what am i talking about i'm seeing you're gonna you're gonna realize the reality of the world that we live in when you go out soul winning you're gonna realize that you know hey haters of god are very real from homosexuals to false prophets you'll find out who really hates god out there i mean it would just be proven to you again and again and again this political correct society that we're living in what it's doing is people are so confused they they don't know what's true they don't know what the truth is they don't know you know if if the news or tv or whatever's telling them the truth they don't really know but you will know as a soul winner you will have your finger on the pulse of the population that you live amongst like nobody else out there you'll know like you know the poor neighborhoods versus the rich neighborhoods you'll know where the nasty people really live i mean you will know i mean i remember growing up look i grew up in nowhere villanort dakota i i remember my mom and my dad used to watch tv shows like perry mason you guys probably don't even know what i'm talking about like murder she wrote was like a mystery show on on tv it's like i was scared to death of the big city as i was growing up in the middle of the country in north dakota i was scared of the big city i'm like they're just killing people left and right there i mean they're just like murdering people like all the time they're just bodies everywhere people just walk by the bodies i mean that's what i thought seriously of the big city of the big city but look it's not i mean it's not the truth you know it's not the truth saying you know i'm not saying that that bad things don't happen to innocent people in the city but look the vast majority of people that are getting killed in big cities all across the country are people that are involved in stuff they shouldn't be involved in you know i mean obviously innocent people get hurt turn to second time of the chapter two but look i mean people wore me before i moved to california people from you know the same kind of environment that i grew up in you know you know rural america they wore me before i moved to california they and more people wore me before i moved to fresno they're like hey there's gangs everywhere in in sacramento you know as we're moving to sacramento they're like there's gangs everywhere i'm like well you know i'm not going to join one you know so i think i'll be fine as long as you don't join when people said the same thing there's gangs everywhere in fresno i'm sure there are i'm sure there are gangs everywhere in fresno i'm not condoning it but what soul winning will tell you the truth about this stuff soul winning will show you the truth about you know the gangs in all the big cities like it's a bunch of misguided kids that are you know influenced by a few evil people is what's going on why i mean it's like why because most of the ones that i've talked to are pretty receptive to the to the word of god we've gotten a lot of gang members saved in this ministry here for sure so look i mean that should be our goal is a great opportunity to you know get the gospel to some of these kids and get them in church get them saved and you know before they ruin their lives i mean that's the truth of it the truth of it is we can turn you know these kids we could take this energy that's being put into you know this bad direction or whatever and we could put it into you know turning them into soldiers for christ is what we could do look at second timothy chapter two in verse number two the bible says and the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ no man that warren entangled himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who have chosen him to be a soldier and if a man also strive for masteries yet is not crowned except he strive lawfully maybe we could take some of this energy and put it in a lawful direction and get these people who seem to be pretty receptive to the gospel certainly not haters of god the ones i've met and get them saved and get that direction turned in a lawful direction and turn them into soldiers for christ i mean that's the truth of the poor neighborhoods that's the opportunity that exists in these lower end neighborhoods in the cities that we live i mean there's hope there i mean doesn't the bible tells me why would jesus send us to a place where there's no hope there's hope there it's not this picture that the news paints of of these neighborhoods and i mean most people would be terrified people most people that were i grew up would be terrified watching us walk through the neighborhoods that we walked through but it's great i get in the neighborhoods like that i'm sure you're the same you just like this is going to be a great day this is going to be a great day i mean the bonus of soul winning is that as you get somebody saved and they change their life and you get them in church you turn them into a soul winner i mean that's a force multiplier for the gospel right there now they're out and they're a soldier and they're an ambassador and they're going out and they're getting somebody saved so look i mean being a soul winner can it will allow you to be part of stories like this and we all know of stories like this more wisdom that you'll gain more wisdom that you'll gain from soul winning is this you will have better command of the bible then anybody once you become a experienced soul winner because look you're going to be in real-time situations out there you're going to be in real-time situations with real people who have real questions and i'm not saying you're going to have every answer especially as you start soul winning but look that that makes you better it sharpens you because you're like okay that guy asked me this question you can go and you can find better places to go answer that same question it becomes it makes you a great uh... a great it gives you much more knowledge of the bible when you're out there actually using it i mean how many things have you looked up and read about how to do but unless you actually do those things you'd you will never really remember how to do it that's so when that's so winning with the bible i mean when you're out there and you're actually using the sword it it shows you and it gives you experience with that so i mean the only thing that gives you experience is actually doing it you're gonna be out there using the word of god you're gonna get i mean cuz look here's a thing the more you go soul winning in the more experience you have soul winning the more you're gonna realize that nobody really knows anything about the bible that the general population of the united states and i don't know if it used to always be like this you know but ever since i've been soul winning i'm shocked at how little people know about the bible and people will claim to know about the bible but if you're an experienced soul winner it's very easy to see that people know nothing about the bible i mean i was out i'm soul winning with somebody i can't remember who it was and some guy was sitting there bragging to the first of all this person's not gonna get saved you know don't waste time with someone who's bragging to you about how much they know about the bible but he's bragging about how much he knows about the bible he's misquoting things he's saying in my soul winning partner just went he's like you really read the whole bible and you understand the whole thing he's like he's like oh yeah he's like i read the whole thing multiple times i understand everything's like even the book of jerusalem he's like oh yeah even that one especially that one you know i mean nobody knows anything about the bible but for some reason it's one book that no one's read that they claim that they know everything about it's weird you would never do that about any other book but people do it and soul winning will give you command of the word of god here's another piece of wisdom that you'll get and this was reminded to me twice yesterday twice yesterday this was reminded to me what is the problem we have all these liberal churches that preach nothing but good news messages and god is nothing but love and god would never send anybody to hell i mean it could even get into your own mind where you're just like even when you're reading about hell in the bible and you think about a punishment so terrible you can even have that thought as a bible-believing saved christian to believe like you know what somebody that's a really nice guy somebody that's a really nice guy but just dies and just doesn't believe in jesus it's like man hell seems harsh you you could really i mean you can even wonder you know why you know why would god create such a harsh place but listen i'm telling you soul winning will give you reminders of why god created hell you say why well here's a here's an example from yesterday i'm giving the gospel on on a porch it was a strange situation i'm up on a porch and i'm with brother francisco and there's two people sitting on the porch and i could tell something wasn't quite right in the situation but i was given the gospel they seem to be listening so i'm like i'll just give them the gospel whether or not they get saved or not at least they'll hear it once at least they'll have a chance to hear it so i take the time i'm giving the gospel these people it's a little bit of work i'm like going back and forth to these people and this guy comes out of the house and his eyes are all red and like something's wrong with this guy right the guy pretends to listen the guy pretends to listen he asked a couple questions here and there and he pretends to go along with this and for all intents and purposes these other two people were listening for what i could tell and this guy lets me go for about ten minutes and about the eleventh minute he just blasts fiends the lord jesus christ i won't even repeat what he said it was the most terrible thing you could you could say and i'm just like i'm thinking to myself i'm like right away i showed the two guys on the invitations because they both chuckled so they weren't probably listening either but something was wrong with this situation and he just blasts fiends the lord jesus christ after i had given like half the gospel he'd already heard the word of god that i was speaking just blasts fiends the lord right there and look i'm just walking away and i'm like you know that's why god created hell i mean it's a reminder for us you know it's a reminder for us i'm giving the gospel again yesterday to a lady to a lady she's got her children there totally receptive totally gets saved just like perfect the only it's the reason we went out yesterday was to meet this lady and about three quarters of the way through the gospel presentation she kind of tells me a little bit about some of the things that she's gone through in her life and tells me about some horrible situations uh... that she's dealt with and some horrible people that did horrible things to people in her family and you know i spent another ten minutes after the gospel presentation and after this lady got saved i was just like hey you know what i can answer all that for you at the end but the nice thing was i explained hell at the beginning of the gospel presentation to this lady you know as the gospel presentation as we need to understand what we deserve what our punishment for our own sins are and she understood it completely and then i use that same hell to explain it to give her comfort at the end of the gospel presentation showing her that god will handle these situations god will handle these situations these people that have done terrible things to her and her life and to people in her family god will take care of it because there's a place called hell remember and god will burn them in the lowest parts of hell and you don't have to worry about that and then i explained roman's 828 to her i explained that hey you know what that's her kids are running around behind her look at how wise you are now i bet your protective of your children aren't you he said yes absolutely and that is god turning that situation for good for you i mean it was a great it was a great demonstration of the word of god and how not only can it lead somebody to salvation but it can give somebody comfort in their life and i mean it was all using hell when you think about it so i used it in a bad way at the beginning for her personally well a good way i guess and then in a good way at the end to help her with the comfort that she needed to hear in her life go back to matthew number ten matthew chapter ten so look you're gonna see you're just gonna have so many truths in your life you're gonna have so many questions that maybe you have about the bible maybe you have about god you're just gonna have all these things really clear to up for you when you go out soul-winning and you get this experience and i mean this is just one example on hell that i'm giving you well you're just gonna you're gonna become such a more you're gonna have so much more wisdom as far as the world that you live in your purpose in this world and i mean it's it's a great blessing for being a soul winner look at matthew chapter ten of verse number sixteen there's something which is interesting if you look uh... at matthew chapter ten of verse sixteen there's something that comes along with the wisdom though and i want to make sure that i explain that as well look at uh... this verse again behold i send you forth a sheep in the midst of wolves be therefore wise as serpents so we're gonna be wise were to be wise and harmless as doves so we see that there's something attached to the wisdom here and it's this idea that were to be harmless as doves as well and you're like what sense does that make you know i mean i'm gonna be wise and to be a soul winner here's the thing though as you get this wisdom as you get more command of the bible so you know that anybody around you you're gonna have i mean i said this to my wife many times when we were going to church in sacramento just like that people here know so much about the bible it's ridiculous i mean people here know so much i mean this group of people at this church know so much about the bible i've never seen a group of people in in a in close proximity to each other that know so much about the bible as as as a whole it's because they're soul winners that's why but what that's gonna happen that's gonna happen as we go so when you're gonna get great knowledge and great command of the word of god but what don't let this wisdom turning into a jerk is basically what matthew ten sixteen is talking about let me give you a little lesson here on how to not get people saved you're like what like i'm gonna here's how you not get people saved beat them over the head with your religion is like religion i'm just talking about the bible no beat but to somebody who's not saved what you're pitching is a religion take somebody that you know that you work with whatever and just get in constant arguments over religious things that's how to not get people saved right there i mean people will despise you but you're like i know more about the bible than them doesn't matter they'll be disgusted with you i mean think about this here's a tip at work at work people need to like you did you know that you're saying what i mean don't you teach separation at this church of course are you saying that i need to go out after what i know uh... did i say be friends with people at work like no you need to get along with people at work you need to get along with people you need to have you know people you know you need to have people like you it's very simple you say how do i do that how do i do that i'm not supposed to be their friend i don't want to hang out with people after work no none of that but here's how you do it here's how you get people to like you you'd be respectful you'd be respectful in in action and in words it will set you apart look especially today it will set you apart immediately watch your mouth don't swear did you i mean that used to be something that wouldn't set you apart you know fifteen years ago that will set you apart in the first day at work today in the first day if you don't swear it will set you apart immediately people recognize it right away they recognize it probably in the first conversation that they have with you i mean the christian who swears is messing up big time i'm telling you say what's the big deal the big deal is because the words coming out of your mouth identify who you are it has become a huge way today for the christian to be able to separate himself from other people in a respectful way people will know something is different about you here's another way be respectful here's another one be appropriate people don't like being treated inappropriately you know all these all these anti-harassment classes that i've been forced to go to over the the last several years of of my life and my career look i'm for it actually i don't think anybody should be harassed at work i don't want to be harassed for for you know my beliefs i don't think you know some woman should be harassed at work why would i why would you ever think that that's a good thing so be appropriate because guess what nobody's appropriate at work and here's the thing if you're respectful and appropriate two things are going to happen two things are going to happen if you're respectful and appropriate at work the first thing that's going to happen people that live sinless sinful lives that are out drinking and partying they're not going to want to be around you perfect perfect because guess what people that are in sin and they're living these lives and they come to work and they tell everybody about this stuff you know what they're looking for they're looking for validation and if you don't do those things and they know that you don't do those things they're just gonna assume that you're judgmental about those things not because you say anything they're just gonna assume that and that's good that's good that they assume that that means you don't have to listen to that stuff well here's another thing that's gonna happen the first thing is that you're gonna those people aren't gonna come and tell you all those things they're not going to come and show you all those jokes. They're not going to come because you can show disapproval, and they're going to know that you don't do those things, and they're not going to get validation from you. That's the first thing. The second thing is this. Decent people will be interested in knowing more about you because, hopefully, you work with some decent people. If you don't work with any decent people, maybe it's time to find a different job. But look, they want to know why you don't swear. They're going to want to know why you don't go out after work with everybody else. They're going to want to know, deeper, they're going to want to know why you homeschooled. They're going to want to know more about that because guess what? They're actually probably at first, they're actually probably going to think you're boring. But then they're going to pick up things that you actually have a lot of friends, and you're actually pretty busy with stuff. I mean, look, we're keeping you pretty busy here. And you're very busy in your life, and you're happy, and the people out there, look, here's the thing. These people out there, these decent people that are not saved, guess what? They're concerned about their kids, too. They're looking at the public school system and the fruit that's coming out of that, and they're concerned about that. They're worried about that. They're upset over that stuff. They're concerned about drinking and drugs and fornication. Look, they're concerned about those things. Normal parents out there. They're worried about that stuff. And guess what? They're concerned where the country's headed with the morals and all these different things. They don't like it, and guess what? You have the answer. You have the answer. And if you're kind and hardworking and successful and respectful and appropriate, they will want to know more. You might actually be given an opportunity to be influential in their life. That's been my experience. But look, if you're this arrogant, judgmental jerk, you will never influence everyone, anyone. You'll never influence anyone. And it doesn't even matter. It doesn't even matter if you're right. You'll just never have that opportunity to influence anyone. So look, just because the temptation is there to want to preach to people every single moment that you hear something that's wrong, you can't do this because you'll drive people away. You'll drive people away. Look, you're at work anyway. You should be working. I mean, you should be working at work. People will, and people will eventually, if you're doing this at work, and I've seen this, I don't know, maybe a billion times. Probably not a billion, that's an exaggeration. But I've seen it a lot. If you're doing this at work, you will be identified as a disruptive force in that work environment, and it will not end well. You might even get fired. You might even get fired. How about online? How about being influential online? How to not get people saved online? You know, basically, you know, people just make jerks and idiots of themselves online. I mean, what in the world is going on? Because people think that, you know, there's this idea now that there's this thing that I would never say that to your face, but I can type it on a keyboard. And people just make jerks of themselves. We're never gonna influence, look, no one has ever had their mind changed by an internet comment or debate, ever. I mean, why? It just shows that you're prideful. And you know what? If people know where you go to church, you're gonna embarrass this ministry, too. I'm not saying anyone does this, but I'm just saying. I mean, you can make a jerk out of all of us. Did you know that? Because people know who everybody is. You know, I mean, so let's break it down. I mean, here's the trick, folks. If you wanna be influential, you're like, but I'm right. I'm right, and everybody needs to know that I'm right. That was your first problem, okay? But look, here's the trick. If you wanna confront people with the gospel, you show up on Saturday and Sunday. If you wanna confront people with the gospel, if you wanna knock on a door and just be like, would you like to hear the gospel? Would you like to know how to get to heaven? If you wanna do that, we will give you opportunities. Just show up to soul winning times here. Because you know what? Some people out there will listen to you. Some people out there whose door you knock on, they will listen, and they don't know you. They don't know you, but look. They don't know whether or not you have it together. They don't know what your family life is like. They don't know what your life is like. They don't know if you have any credibility. But just the fact that you're holding a Bible and you're from a Baptist church, that gives you enough credibility where people will say, yeah, you can show me. That will happen. So look, whether or not you have any credibility to show up here, if you wanna just confront people with the gospel in a nice and respectful and appropriate way, we'll show you how to do that here. Turn to 1st Timothy chapter three. But here's the thing, with people you know, with people that you know online, with people that you know at work, with people that you know in your families, here's the thing, you have to prove that you're credible. And you know what that takes? That takes time. That takes time. That doesn't take, hey, I got saved yesterday. Let me smack you in the face with this Bible 500 times. You know, that takes proving to people that your life, this Christian life that you're living, is not just a bottle rocket for you. That this is something that's real and that you're, you know, that's a real thing. And it's not just temporary. I mean, think about this. I mean, this is one of the qualifications for a pastor, but guess what? It fits for you too, because look, 1st Timothy three in verse number four says, one that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. Verse number five, for a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Here's the theory. If I'm a complete disaster, why would anyone here listen to anything I have to say? If pastor Jimenez doesn't follow this or doesn't fit into this qualification, who would ever go to his church? If his family life was a wreck, look, the same applies for you. The same applies for you as you go to show somebody the truth. You got to have credibility. Otherwise, who would listen to you? You know, if you're this hard-hearted, arrogant, just person that's just got to shove your opinion unsolicited down people's throat constantly, people are just gonna be like, you know what? You're just a bad human being with a bad heart and I wouldn't want to be like you no matter what the truth is. That's the way people will think. That's why, I mean, look, this is your life. This is your testimony and this is why it matters. I mean, this is, you know, living your life. I mean, look, it works. It works especially in work environments. I'm not saying, look, I've gotten several people that I worked with saved, but it takes a long time because you got to build some credibility. You got to build some credibility and you got to show people, look, it's a demonstration of your life in those situations because, look, they don't know you. If you're a mess, you can't hold a job, your family's a mess. I mean, you go around forcing your opinions on people. It's like, you're gonna be a joke to people. That's all it's gonna be. People will hate you. And then a lot of people blame, you know, they blame, you know, persecution. You know, they're like, oh, I'm just being persecuted. Well, maybe you're just a jerk. There's two choices, right? Oh man, I'm under persecution. I got fired at work. It's like, I'm under persecution. Well, that's possible. Or maybe you're just a jerk. And that's why they fired you. Oh yeah, and I didn't show up. Oh yeah, and I was lazy. And oh yeah, everybody hated me. Oh yeah, people must think I'm stupid because I've heard these excuses a lot. Look, harmless as doves comes along with the wisdom. Okay? You're gonna get wisdom. You're gonna know the Bible. You're gonna know the truth. You're gonna know when people are talking and having dumb conversations, then they're misquoting verses and they don't even know what they're talking about. Look, you're gonna know that. But you gotta be harmless as doves. You gotta be harmless as doves. You have to have those soft skills. And then you'll build that credibility as you're respectful with people. You're appropriate with people. People see that there's a difference with you. They see that there's a difference with you and your kids. And they see that your kids are growing up and they're not doing what all the other kids are doing. Look, this takes time. This takes time. I've known people for years. It takes time for them to realize that hey, all these things that are happening to us and all our families, it just doesn't seem to be happening over here. That takes time. That takes time to build that kind of credibility. So harmless as doves. It comes along with the wisdom. Don't ever forget that. Because it's possible that you could be too right. Just because you're right, doesn't give you the right to act however you want, okay? So we see lessons in soul winning. We see that there's a real life, spiritual war out there, folks. It's real. You're going to experience it. You're like, sounds exciting. It is kind of exciting. I mean, it kind of steps you back a little bit, but it's exciting. I love seeing the Bible prove true no matter what. If it's a good part or a bad part, it's nice to see the Bible prove true again and again. You're going to see that when you go soul winning. You're going to see the state of the world. You will have the state of the world, the state of our country, the state of your city figured out better than anybody out there. You will know how things really are. It doesn't matter what the news says. It doesn't matter what any of the media says, what the TV says. You will know the truth as you're going out and you're knocking doors as a soul winner. You will have that wisdom. And you'll gain wisdom about God's word. I mean, what a gem. I mean, what a treasure to have in your life to be able to take the Bible, to be able to take the Bible and be able to answer people's questions about the Bible, to be able to be the kind of person where maybe if it's not even the gospel at first, if somebody just has questions about the Bible to just be able to just flip to verses and just explain those things from the Bible to them that gives you that credibility that maybe you could then have an opportunity to teach them what the gospel is and show them the gospel. I mean, that is a huge blessing. That is like the number one thing, just getting that wisdom of God's word and getting that ability and that knowledge and how to use this sword effectively with people. But then that same verse also gives us this idea that we're to be harmless with that wisdom because that's a big responsibility. Right, we're ambassadors. That's a huge responsibility to be an ambassador. So soul winning is a command from Jesus. It's like the command before he left is like go preach the gospel. Soul winning, this ministry, this soul winning ministry is a huge blessing to the world. If every Christian was soul winning, I mean, what would happen in this world would be amazing. But with anything else that has great importance, it also has great responsibility. So soul winning, let's pray.