 Amen, Acts chapter one. So we're gonna be preaching through, looking through, studying through the book of Acts. So I've been wanting to do this for a long time. So finally, we got here. So we're in Acts chapter one. We're gonna take a couple of weeks to get through the first chapter in Acts. Acts chapter one, especially the first part of the chapter has kind of a special place in my life. And I wanna kinda, I'll share that with you tonight. But let's go ahead and look at Acts chapter one. I think it's fitting. I've been setting this up for the last few weeks, by the way. The Easter season and the resurrection of Christ. We've been kind of, I'm studying up to the point of Acts chapter one. So look at Acts chapter one and verse number one. So here, Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus has risen from the dead and he's shown himself to his disciples. And the Bible continues and picks up in Acts chapter one. Acts, of course, written by, we talked about this a few weeks ago, written by the apostle Luke, the physician, who we talked about in Colossians chapter four. Look down at Acts chapter one and verse one. The former treaties I have made, O theopolis, of all that Jesus began to do and teach. Until the day when I was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So of course, Jesus coming back, we talked about this Sunday morning, Jesus coming back and kind of getting everyone focused, getting everyone refocused on what they need to do. Not only did he have to show them that he did rise again from the dead and kind of open their eyes to what he's been telling them and what the prophecies of the Old Testament had told them. Now he's getting them ready for the mission in front of them, which is really the book of Acts, is the Acts of the apostles. Look at verse number four. And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he have heard of me, for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Jesus is talking about something that's about to come up that we'll talk about in Acts chapter two. So he's preparing them to begin this great ministry of the gospel. Look at verse number six. And we will talk about that in Acts chapter two. When they therefore came together, they asked of him saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? And Jesus said, face palm. Again, the disciples again are just constantly, you know, it seems like they're just constantly not being directed to what Jesus wants them to be directed to. They finally, they get on track here in a little bit, don't worry. But what do they ask him right after he says, he says, I'm gonna perform this great miracle through you and you're going to, you know, be baptized with the Holy Ghost. They don't understand what that means. They're about to understand. But then they ask him right away. It shows you where their mindset is. They ask him, you know, will thou, are you gonna now conquer? You know, are you gonna conquer the Romans now? I mean, are you gonna be that worldly earthly king now? They're still looking for that worldly victory. All these people are still looking for that worldly victory. It shows you that it was just a preconceived idea that the Jews had. It was a preconceived idea that the children of Israel, that the Jews at this time, they just had and it's really hard to get that out of their head. Even the disciples who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ were saved and were pretty much focused on what they needed to do at this point. They're still looking for Jesus to come and conquer. Right? So they, you know, it threw off. But the point, I just wanna make a small point here, is that this preconceived idea, it threw off things that Jesus was telling them. They weren't really hearing the truth. So I mean, try to, when you read the Bible, when you read the Word of God, try to just get, I mean, it's tough to do, but try to get rid of any preconceived ideas that you have from your upbringing, from your culture, whatever that is. You gotta try to just, just, you and the Holy Ghost in the Bible is what you kinda have to do. And then you don't have any preconceived ideas that are gonna kinda sidetrack you. I mean, here Jesus is talking to them directly about a miracle that's about to happen. And this preconceived idea that he's gonna be this worldly king that comes back and conquers is still with them. So look, look down at verse number seven. Just try to look past your preconceptions. I know that's easier said than done. But when you read the Bible, just try to, you know, hey, just me in the Bible. Whatever this thing says, whatever this word says, that's it. Well, what about this idea I had, forget that. Just read the Bible. This is what I'm trying to say there. Look at verse number seven. And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. So they were kind of like, at this time, they were kind of looking at the things that were gonna happen in the end before the game got started. So they were kind of looking at things that were like end times things. They were too focused on end time stuff, basically, is what Jesus is saying. And he's saying, just forget about that stuff. He's like, it's not known when to you, when that stuff's gonna happen. He's like, forget about that. We have to get focused on the beginning of the game. This is what Jesus is talking about. I mean, just think about, think about Jesus' perspective here. Just think about what we know but Jesus must have known at this time. I mean, the world's not gonna end. For these guys, Jesus is sitting there and Jesus knows that the world's not, I mean, Jesus knows when the world's gonna end, but it's not gonna end for another 2,000 years. He's kind of like, at least 2,000 years. He's like, hey, forget about that. Let's focus on the task at hand. On the acts that I need you to do is what Jesus is saying. I mean, think about the perspective of the disciples, though. I mean, think about what Jesus said here. He said, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons. So he's saying that to them. Okay, so he's saying to the disciples, it's not for you, the disciples, you 11, to know the times or the seasons. Think about where they were coming from. They probably didn't have, I don't know what they had as far as the Old Testament, but they probably didn't have the ease that we do. As far as the written word of God, they didn't have the book of Revelation, for sure. It wasn't written when Jesus mentioned this at the time and that is kind of our go-to book, our map of the end times. So they didn't even, that wasn't even revealed to them at that time. Jesus is just trying to get them to get focused on starting the game. And he's like, you guys are looking for the end already? We haven't even begun, is what Jesus is saying. But look, even for us, even for us, I mean, you see that today. I mean, you see that today. People that are just super focused on the end. You know, they're super focused on the end. And look, I get it, you know, we know more, I understand, we know more. That glass is just a little less dark for us. We have the book of Revelation. We can see things happening. We can see, look, but we're watching, right? We're watching. We can see things happening. We can see technology developing. We can see things in the world kind of coming together. Look, it's good to notice those things. But the point is, even for us, that should not be the focus. That should not be the focus. Matthew 24, 14, I was just talking to somebody not too long ago, not part of this church, not part of any church that we know, but somebody who was just really focused on like overseas missions. And he was thinking, he was talking about overseas missions and a lot of other types of churches that even might have the right gospel, they focus on this idea that the gospel has to get around the world like Matthew 24, 14 says. That the gospel, you know, before the time of the end, why don't you just go there? We'll just read it. Matthew 24, and we'll just read Matthew 24, 14. I was just talking to somebody about this a few weeks ago. Matthew 24, 14, Jesus says that the gospel, the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness until all nations and then shall the end come. So you have missions and pastors and preachers and evangelists out there that push this as a way to motivate people to like go and do missions around the world. Like, look, we have to get the gospel around the world and then the end can come. And I'm just like, okay, well, do you want the end to come or what's going on? You know, I mean, like they're gonna have something to do with, and this guy told me, he's like, well, the gospel, there's not many Christians in this one area. So the gospel needs to get there before, you know, the end times can be. And I'm like, well, are you in control of the end times? What are you even talking about? First of all, he was talking about areas that were right around, you know, Jerusalem, you know, less than a thousand miles from Jerusalem, which, you know, just because they're not Christian today doesn't mean I believe Matthew 24, 14 has been fulfilled. The gospel has been around the world, folks. The gospel has been around the world. Whether places are Christian or not today, you know, is irrelevant, but the gospel has definitely been around the world. Look, information is easy to get around the world at this point, but the point is, it's like, hey, you know, let's not take our eye off the ball just like Jesus was saying to the disciples here. You know, I mean, it's not about, I mean, we're not like some like death cult or something that's like just looking for the end to come. I mean, I can get it if you were going through horrible persecution, you know, like the disciples actually went through in a few years after Jesus was talking to them here, but for us, I mean, for me, I mean, I'm kind of thinking, you know, like Matthew nine, like, you know, I'm hoping that the harvest goes on a little bit longer. I mean, Jesus says, you know, pray therefore that, you know, you'll find more people to harvest. You know, it's like, there's, there's two things you can do. You can find more people to harvest or you can have a longer harvest. Not a lot of more people to get saved. So I mean, I'm not just like, not that we have any control of it. So it's silly from both perspectives to just be focused completely on the end times, especially even thinking that we could like drive it into fruition or something by what we do. No, this is in God's hands. Jesus said it here. It's like, it's not for you. It's not for you. Those things are set in motion. They're gonna happen. I just hope, and I just pray that we get more time, you know, that we have more time. I pray that I hope it's not in my day. You know, I hope it's not in my children's day. I mean, I'd like to see my children grow up and have children and raise, you know, kids that are out soul winning and get more people saved. That's ultimately what it's about. Okay, we can get more men and we can get more time would help us get more people saved. So Jesus is trying to just get them focused here. Look down at verse number eight. He says in verse, we need to think like, you know, we need to think like farmers, basically. We need to think like farmers who are gonna go harvest, not like people with our bags packed, like ready to go. You know, like some of these Christians. The problem, see, because the problem is with that philosophy. The problem is with that philosophy that I'm gonna motivate you to go soul winning by thinking that the end is coming is that if the end doesn't come then like your foundation is lost. And I mean, how many cults that we look at, it's a super popular way to get people attracted to a ministry by saying, you know, I've found something special that the world's gonna end on this day or whatever. I mean, it's not, look, we should watch. We should watch, but it's not for us to know when it's gonna happen. Look down at verse number eight. Look down at verse number eight. I mean, soul winning and the reason we're doing what we're doing is two reasons, really. It's because we're commanded to do it and that should just be enough. And number two, just like we prayed in the prayer, you know, we should, it's about the lost. It's about the people who weren't saved. Look at verse number eight, excuse me. But you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. Now notice the order there. Notice the order there, he says in Jerusalem. Like, it's like, the first is the area you're at, then gets out a little bit further, a little bit further. The uttermost, meaning the far reaches of places, I mean, that's listed last. All right, this rate here is, again, this same conversation I had a few weeks ago with this person, it's just like, he was in all these training classes to become a missionary and all this kind of stuff with this organization. And I'm just like, hey man, you know, I mean, we'll make you a missionary like Saturday. You know, I mean, come with us. You know, we'll make you a missionary right away. I mean, when we were at our church in North Dakota, we met a missionary that was a traveling missionary. He was a missionary to Chile, but he had never been to Chile. He had a missionary to Chile, he had never been to the country, and instead he had been driving around the United States visiting, you know, IFB churches for two years, for two years to prepare himself for the ministry, to learn, you know, the language, and to, you know, raise money to get, you know, $25 a month from this church and that church and whatever, and like all the things that was funny because all the things that he needed from our church that he asked for donations and things were things so he could continue his drive around the country. They weren't things that would get him to Chile and get him out. And while he's around the country, he's not going out, soul winning, they're not, I mean, there's, it's crazy. We met a guy even at the satellite. I don't know if you guys remember this. We met a guy there who was visiting the church for a couple of weeks, and I actually went and I visited his house, and he's showing me like this missionary program that he's involved in. And he's like learning to be a missionary. I'm like, we will make you a missionary like here. We will make you a missionary Saturday. You know, we will make you, people are way too focused on certificates and not, you know, competence is the problem today. You know, we can make you a missionary here and guess what, we'll start in Jerusalem. And the one thing nice about the United States and especially California is you will find people from the uttermost right here. I mean, we go out soul winning, we'll find people from everywhere, from everywhere in the world. It's great. It's like Jerusalem's here and the uttermost is here. All you have to do is go. And look, we'll train you, we won't even charge you. And you'll be ready to go in just a few weeks if you want to do it. So I'm not sure what the draw is for all this. I think the draw of it with some people is kind of this end times, you know, driving the end times into reality, which is just weird. That's not what Jesus wanted. That's kind of what he's shunning the disciples away from. He's like, no, no, no, no, you know, he's like, the game has to start before it can finish. Okay, look at verse number nine, look at verse number nine. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up. Now Jesus goes up to the heavens. He goes up to heaven. And a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. So they're standing there and they're watching Jesus be taken up into the clouds, into heaven, which also said, and these two angels are standing there and they say, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. He went up into the clouds, he's gonna come down from the clouds, is what they say. But what this angel says in verse number 11, is like, why are you just standing there? Why are you standing there just gazing up into heaven? Now, there's a sermon that was preached on this verse, Acts chapter one in verse number 11, that literally changed my life. It was a sermon, it was called, don't just stand there, is what the sermon was called. And a few years ago, I heard this sermon and that one single sermon had great influence on my decision to move to California. This idea that we should go, and it's the idea of the book of Acts, that these two angels stand there and it was this sermon, and look, it's not what I'm gonna preach on tonight. It's not what I'm gonna preach on tonight. I mean, it's taken a little bit different direction, but the point is the sermon was that, why are we just standing here? You know, you actually have to do something. You actually have to take action. You have to act in your life if you want to make a difference for anyone or anybody anywhere. You have to act. Why are you just standing there? And the whole sermon was about there because you know what? That's what I was doing. That's what I was doing. I was standing there and I was gazing into heaven. You know what I was doing? I was doing that. I was doing that. I was standing there and I was gazing into YouTube. I was in North Dakota and boy, I tell you what, I could watch some sermons. I could watch sermons like the best of them. I could watch sermons. But that's what I was doing when I sat there and I listened to this sermon, this preacher getting up and yelling at people for just standing there. For just watching instead of acting. And look, that's what I was doing. I was sitting there and I was watching. I was watching the whole thing. And it got me to thinking, you know, because it's nice. So yes. Yes, it's encouraging to me. I often think back on that because it's encouraging to me that a sermon can actually influence someone. A sermon can actually change somebody's life. It's actually kind of nice. I'll travel, I'll go to Verity or I'll go somewhere. And sometimes people will come up to me and they will say, hey, I watched that sermon on, you know, whatever. And that really caused me to change some things. And I tell you what, that is one of the most encouraging things that I can hear as a pastor. If you have a situation like that and you see a pastor that is preaching a sermon like that, you should tell it. Because it's a very encouraging thing to him. Because like pastors can get discouraged. They can think like, man, I'm preaching all this stuff. Is anyone like listening to this stuff? Is anyone like listening? But it's saying like, hey, somebody's listening. And I often think back to that one sermon and how that influenced me to just kind of, you know, even just encourage myself that yes, sermons can really influence people. The word of God can influence people. So tonight I want to give you two things. I want to give you two things that you won't know until you get to heaven is the title of the sermon tonight. All that, all that was introduction. But I want to give you two things tonight. And this is a fact that you will not know these things until you get to heaven. And I'll prove it from the Bible to you. But there's two things that you will not know. You think I'm going to know everything. I read the Bible. I go out soul winning. I'm going to church. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. You will not know these two things until you get to heaven. I guarantee it and I'll show you tonight. The first one is this. The first one is the first thing that you will not know until you get to heaven. I'm going to encourage you tonight. I'm going to encourage you tonight. And I want you to think about this tonight. I want you to think about some of the things, think about both sides of this coin as I talk about this tonight. Think about let me get to the points and then I'll explain both sides of the coin. But here's two things that you will not know until you get to heaven. The first one is this. You will not know how many people on this Earth you have affected until you get to heaven. You say, but I go out soul winning, and we get people saved. Sometimes we don't, and sometimes we get people saved. You will not know your complete impact until you get to heaven. I'm not talking about, you know, I'm not talking about just your kids. You say, but I'm gonna raise my kids in church, and I'm gonna raise my kids the way the Bible says, and I'm gonna see that impact. Yes, you're gonna see that impact. You're gonna see that impact. You're gonna see the impact on your wife. You're gonna see the impact on your husband. You're gonna see the impact on the closest to you, but you will never know the complete impact that you, as an acting Christian, have had on people until you get to glory. Guaranteed. Look, it's the same as a pastor. It's the same thing. Every now and then, somebody will come up to you and say, hey, you help me, but how many people just never talk to you about that? How many people, you know, saw something, heard something you said, and just never talked to you about it? Look, it's more, you know, the impact on my life, just think about, as I tell you this story, think about your own story. The impact on my life, it was more than just that one sermon. I mean, it wasn't just one sermon that impacted my life. You know, it all started with me, just on some guy that was just kind of confused. I was just like, I was just confused on my beliefs. They didn't logically work out. I didn't understand how this doctrine that I believed is a Lutheran, it didn't match up. It wasn't logical, I didn't get it. And as I was working some extra job, some online business that I had as a side business, I was working with customers, sometimes it'd be late, and I'd waste time on YouTube. And I ran across and I'd watch second amendment stuff on YouTube, like these idiots that would carry guns through town and all this kind of second amendment, right, silly stuff? And I started getting into these border checkpoint radios, you know, people that would go to these border checkpoints and roll down the wind, they wouldn't even like, they'd just crack their window and the border agent's like, give me your ID. And he was just like, no. And it was just like the most entertaining thing to kill time doing that. And I run across this one guy, and they're just like, he's in like the best ones of these videos. You know, these border checkpoints, he's just defying these people. They're like, are you a citizen of the United States? He's like, no, I'm a citizen of Israel. And I'm like, what in the world? I'm like, what's this guy all about? Well, I start looking into it, you know, who this is, here, he's a pastor in Arizona. Is like doing these border checkpoint videos. I stumble across some sermons that have answers from this guy of questions that I had. Like, I don't know, once saved, always saved? Can you lose your salvation? You know, how could I know that I'm saved if I have to keep doing all these works to, you know, stay saved? How could I ever know that I'm saved? You know, but then there was answers. And guess what? Through that ministry, I got saved. You know that, I mean, that was one way, that was one step. And then we run across documentaries that were made by this church, by Pastor Anderson, and we find a guy named Pastor Jimenez, who's friends with Pastor Anderson. And they get in some trouble in 216, or 2016, where they're being protested by a bunch of homos from, you know, just preaching the word of God. And we're like, you know what? We should support that, and we should stop just standing here, so we go visit. So we go visit the Red Hot Preaching Conference in 2016. We visited a Variety Baptist Church. And then I met Pastor Jimenez. And then I heard the sermon, don't just stand there, at the Red Hot Preaching Conference. You know, look, all these things in your life, all these things are influenced. You should remember, you know, where the people that influenced you to where you are today. Look, all those people that I just named, they had a lot of influence on me standing right here. And you know, I'm thankful for that. And we should never forget those types of things. But the point is, the exciting thing about this ministry, about your ministry, is that you never know, you never know the kind of impact that you are going to have on somebody. When you were out souling, you just never know when you're going to stumble across that next soldier for Christ. When you just stumble across that next person, that is just a little bit confused and just needs the right person to explain the gospel to them. And maybe you're just the first step. Because guess what? I didn't move to faithful word Baptist Church. But you know what? That ministry had a huge boost in the reason that we're even here. You know, just because maybe you didn't harvest that seed, doesn't mean that you don't have a huge impact on people's lives. And this is what you will see when you get to heaven. You will get to see this full picture put together for you. I mean, you don't know when you're going to find that next guy. You just don't know. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter three. You don't know when you're going to stumble across that next person that could, maybe you could be one link in that chain and that person could lead a church and that person could be the next great pastor of a church somewhere. You know, you could be the one that plants the seed. Just because you, look, it's not just about harvesting. I mean, I like that we keep track of the salvations and that's kind of a nice little metric and things like that. But look, that's not even close to the whole story. That's not the whole story. The whole story you will not see until you get to heaven. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter three in verse number six. I have planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that give the increase. I mean, just think, think of the work. Think of the work. And I'm not talking about the work that I did or the work that you did, but think about the work that went into the ministry. Think about the work that went in for just the gospel of Jesus Christ before we even became a satellite church. Think of the hours that men and women put together and just served faithfully for years and years and years and years. The planting, the watering, and now we harvest. But they planted, you know, they watered and we get to do some harvesting. It's nice, right? We don't just plant, we don't just water. We do get to harvest. When you go out and somebody's like just ready to be harvested, we get to harvest. It's nice, so it's not like we just plant. It's a blessing, but it's the same exact thing. The things that I'm talking about as far as pastors and ministries and churches, it is the exact same thing with your personal ministry. You know, that's why I'm so adamant about, you know, we need to leave a good impression. We need to leave a good impression. We're ever gonna do to force someone to listen to the gospel that doesn't wanna listen to it. Look, if we could force them, if there was like some things you could say to just like, or you could put their arm behind their back and be like argh, and then they would listen and get saved, I'd be all for that. But it's not, it doesn't work. It doesn't work, it's never gonna work, but guess what? We need to plant, we need to water because we're gonna knock that door again. So that's why I'm so adamant about just being friendly, just being like, you know, at least, you know, I at least want to be nice enough and sincere enough at the door to where I can get people to see that I actually care about their eternal future. You know, and then maybe, maybe they'll think about that guy and be like, you know what, that guy seemed like he really cared, I'll watch this. I'll watch this video. You know, that's planting. You know, it's just a matter of how deep you plant that seed. You know, so planting, planting's a real skill too. Planting's a real skill too. Because I mean, it'd be easy, it'd be easy to just identify people that didn't want to listen and just walk away. Just be like, oh hey, you just, oh you're not the fish, see you later. That'd be easy, but planting takes some personal skills. Planting, planting's hard to fake actually. You actually have to be in the right spirit to where you actually, because I think, I think people can tell if you care or not. I think when you're at the door and you care, I think people can see that. So don't forget that we're planting and guess what? You're gonna find out what happened to those seeds when you get to heaven. That's one thing that you're gonna see. So don't come back soul-winning and be like, oh we didn't get any salvation. Say look, you're gonna find out how that day went when you're in heaven. Remember that. Look, here's another thing. It's not just soul-winning. It's not just soul-winning. It's your life. Think about your personal walk in your life. Here's the thing. As you live a separated Christian life, as you live this life that is peculiar, as you live this life that is separated from the world, guess what? Everybody's watching you. Did you know that? People that you know, people that don't agree with how you're living your life, raising your kids, whatever, they may not, you know, look, you know what they're thinking? You know what they're thinking? They're watching you. You say, oh, maybe they're watching from you to fall. Maybe, but they're watching you. Turn to Philippians too. You know what they're also thinking though? You know what they're also thinking though, because I'm an optimist as far as people that aren't saved. I believe that people don't like the way things are going. I believe that people don't like what's happening in public school. I believe people don't like what's happening to their kids. I believe that when I've seen people's kids go from 10 to 15, and they just fall off a cliff. Look, no parent that I know likes that. And I've seen it again and again and again. But guess what? They're watching you, and you know what they're thinking in the back of their head, even though they'll never tell you? They're thinking, has he figured something out? Have they figured something out? Look at Philippians 2.15. The Bible says that you may be blameless and harmless. The sons of God, that's you. Lowercase S, the adopted children of God. The saved people. This is how you should be. When people watch you and they look at you, that you should be without rebuke. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, you should be different than everybody else. And they notice that you're different than everybody else. And look, that's why they don't like it. They don't like it because you're different from them. But guess what? They're watching you. You say, why me? Because you are the one who is acting different. You are the one who's acting peculiar. You are the one who is acting separated. You're actually doing something. And here's just that stupid irony of the whole thing. That I just can't, I mean, it's not logical at all and you just have to accept this. But they want the results. They want the same results. But you know what? They don't want to act. They might even be saved. They might even be saved in some cases. But if they don't act, they don't separate, they don't become peculiar. They just join the world. They're not part of a church. You know what? I hate to throw a blanket statements and just like, just overreaching statements, but they have no chance. They have no chance today. They have no chance because you know what's going on? You know what's going on here? As you're peculiar and as you're separated, you know what's going on here? Hebrews 10, 25 says that there's exhorting going on here. There's exhorting going on here. Colossians 3 says that there's admonishing going on here. Colossians 3 said that there's teaching going on here. There's things that are happening here. Deuteronomy 6 is happening here and in your home. There's things that are happening here that are actions that are making the difference. So saved or not, if there's no actions, but this is what, it's the actions people don't like, but it's the actions they need. It's not logical, but people aren't. People aren't. People, they don't like the results they're getting, yet they do what everybody else does just because everybody else does those things. It makes no sense. But it's the actions. It's the actions that matter. But look, these people are watching you. These people are watching you. And this is the power of your witness right here. We're not into, look, lifestyle evangelism should just be like natural to you. It should just come with who you are. It's not our main evangelism. We go out and we bring the gospel to people, but lifestyle evangelism should just happen. It should be like breathing to a Christian who has the actions that he's supposed to have. And these people are watching you, and you will not know. You will not know how much you have affected these people. You all know who are, everybody in this room, every adult in this room has people they're thinking about right now when I'm talking about this. They have people in their mind that they're thinking about that don't agree with you and maybe have spoken out against you and all this, but you will never know how much you have affected them until you get to heaven because they won't tell you, but you're affecting them. And this is a power, that's the power. Look, that's the power of your witness right there. You will never know. Look, the first point is just this, it's very simple. You will never know when I think back in my life and you think back in your life and you think about all the people that influenced you to get you to where you are today. Sitting in this church in a Bible preaching church that look that nobody wants today and acting out the Christian life, you will never know the impact that you will have until you get to heaven. It's one of the things I'm really, really looking forward to in heaven. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter three. It's one of the things that I'm really looking forward to. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter three, look at verse number eight. 1 Corinthians chapter three, verse number eight. 1 Corinthians chapter three and verse number eight. The Bible says, now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. It's like, hey, we're all on the same team here. It's like, he that planteth, he that watereth are one. And every man, this is segueing into my second point, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. Here's another thing that you will not know until you get to heaven. Who will be rewarded for what? You will not know. You say, why? I can see like who the people are who are doing the best things and all this kind of stuff. I can see great pastors. I can see all this stuff. Here's the thing. Here's what I think. Here's what I think, and the Bible actually says this. Here's what I think. The people who aren't necessarily in the front, I think, are gonna get a lot of rewards in this life. I think there's gonna be a lot of people living on the nice side of heaven that we're like, whoa. What was that all about? You never said much. But look, it's not about what people see. Look at first, go to Matthew chapter six. Go to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. The women at the tomb, so to speak. You know, they weren't in the front of the pack. They weren't leading the ministry, but they were there. They just never stopped being there. They were there at everything. They just kept showing up. Those types of people is what I'm talking about. Look at Matthew chapter six. Look at verse number one. The Bible says, take heed that you not do your alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise, you have no reward of your father, which is in heaven. Look, that doesn't say that you're not given alms. It just says, if you do it to be seen of men, look at verse two. Therefore, when thou doest alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory of men. Verily, I say it in you, they have their reward. So if every time you're doing good works or you're making sure that any time you read your Bible or whatever, you gotta make sure that somebody's walking by, like. You know, look, you have your reward. Because people think, I mean, this is the person, turn to 1 Timothy chapter five. This is the person who just like, and look, here's the thing, it works. It works. Because if you see somebody reading their Bible all the time, you see people praying all the time. You see people talking spiritual all the time. You're like, that guy's super spiritual. It works. That's why people do it. That's why people do it. Look at 1 Timothy chapter five. 1 Timothy chapter five. The Bible says, look, they have their reward. There'll be no reward for that. It doesn't mean like it's bad. I mean, it's just to be like there's no reward for it if you're doing it just to be seen of men. You know, so it is kind of bad. All right, look at 1 Timothy chapter five. Look at verse number 24. Verse number 24, it says, this is a really interesting concept right here. 1 Timothy chapter five and verse number 24. Some men sins, now we're talking about sins, but it's a concept we're introducing you to here. Some men sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, going before to judgment. And some men, they follow after. So it's saying, I mean, isn't this true? Isn't this true that some people have secret sins and some people have like outward sins? I mean, you kind of like, you think about it, you're like, okay, you know, I'd rather have secret sins than outward sins, but here's the point, there's still gonna be judgment there. But it's just some people, they appear to be more of a sinner than other people. Look at verse number 25. Now also the works, also the good works. Likewise also, just like this same concept it says, the good works of some are manifest beforehand. That means, you know what that means? Manifest means shown. That means like the good works of some are just seen by everybody. So I mean, this is why like, you know, a pastor gets up and I was like, oh, you know, he's the greatest, you know, some other pastor. So you know, he's a good pastor or whatever and look at him and all that. He's kind of like the figurehead or whatever. He's the one people see. But the point is, is that some good works are manifest or shown beforehand and some otherwise cannot be hid and that they are otherwise cannot be hid. So the point is there's some works that you see, some works that you don't. And you shouldn't be doing works to be seen of men in the first place, but the point is, I think we're gonna be really, really surprised at some of the people that have rewards in heaven. That's all I'm trying to say. So we're gonna be surprised at all the influence that we've had in heaven and we're gonna be surprised at the people that just quietly and consistently serve the Lord with their lives because those people are gonna have heaps and heaps and heaps of rewards. And you know what? Those people, let me just compound onto this. Those people that quietly and consistently serve the Lord with their lives, those people are going to be such a powerful witness that they will effect others greatly in their lives. And those people, they will get to heaven and we will all be shocked at the rewards that they have and we will all be shocked at the people that they have influenced in their lives. So the whole point of this whole sermon is this. There's a lot we don't see. There's a lot we don't see. I can't wait to get to heaven and hear from people, maybe people that I've never met or I just planted a seed or you just planted a seed. Maybe I watered a seed. You know, maybe, I mean, we will see, you will see, if you continue to do what you're doing, you will see generational impacts when you get to heaven. You will see people where you planted a seed where their children got saved and their children's children got saved because of that seed that you planted and you saw nothing in your life on this earth. Look, it's exciting. I mean, that's exciting to think about. We're also gonna see who's living on the good side of town. Like my wife's gonna be living way away from me on the nice part of town. Hope she comes and lets me visit every now and then. Turn to Isaiah 55, but I think both of these things, folks, I think both of these things will surprise us and I know it will happen and here's how I know it's gonna happen. Look at Isaiah 55. This is how I know that this is gonna happen. Say, how do you know? You're just an optimist. You're just, you know, up there and you're just telling us that it's just gonna be great and you don't know, but I do know and it's because of what the word of God says. Look at Isaiah 55. Look at verse number 11. Isaiah 55 and verse number 11. The Bible says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing wherein to I sent it. You know where God sent his word? God sent his word to us. The Bible says that we are ambassadors of his word, meaning we carry. It is our responsibility. This is what Jesus is doing. He is telling the disciples, get your heads in the right place. He's like, you are the ambassadors of my word. He's like, I am sending my word to you. I am the word and you need to carry this out. He sent it to us in Isaiah 55. Put a little arrow there that says us. That's us and you know what? It will not return to him void. That's God's promise. He sends it to us. If we do what we're supposed to do, it will not come back void because it's the word that has power, not us. It has nothing to do with that. So the point is, as we act, as we start through the book of Acts, we are taking Isaiah 55.11 into acting and then that will make God's word return profitable and he promises that. So we are that connector. We are that connector in Isaiah 55.11 and that's how I know that we will get to heaven, we will be shocked. So keep serving, serve your whole life. Go your whole life given the gospel and nobody gets saved for the rest of your life. It's not gonna happen but go and do that and you will be shocked at the impact that you have. You will be shocked at what happened to those seeds that you planted, those seeds that you wanted. I guarantee it. God guarantees it. Forget my guarantee. God guarantees it and here's another thing. Think about the people that have had impacts on your life. Think about the reasons that you're sitting in the chair that you are today. Think about the influence that people have had on you. People that watered you, people that planted you. You know what? Be thankful for those people. Be thankful for those people. You know, be thankful for them. If you see them, thank them. If it's a pastor, if it's a friend, if it's a brother, if it's a relative, just thank them. Just be like, you know, I wanna thank you for the influence that you've had on my life. I wanna thank you. I wanna tell you what I'm doing now. I wanna tell you what I'm doing now because of the influence that you had by preaching a sermon, by starting a church, by leading a ministry for 10 years, 12 years, through pain and suffering and abuse and whatever, that you stuck it out, you had great influence on me. Tell them that. And you know what? That will help them be encouraged to help more people. To plant more seeds, water more seeds, as we do the same. This Christianity, this acting, this book of acts, this should be like a pandemic that spreads over the world like wildfire. All we have to do is act. This should be something that is just completely unstoppable. And guess what it is? It is unstoppable. You know, that's why you see, no matter where you go, you see the gospel everywhere. Because it is unstoppable. It should be more so because we need more action. But just think about that. Think about the people that have influenced you. And just remember, when you get to heaven, those are two things that I know you're gonna be surprised and I know you should look forward to. Is the people that you've influenced in this life and the people that have gotten rewards in this life because it'll surprise us, both of them. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.