He said, go as long as I want. Did y'all hear him say that? You should have heard him say that. Well, it is good to be, once again, teaching the best subject that I know of, one that has trained thousands and thousands of people on how to give the gospel. Because when we talk about serving the Lord, it should be how to reach people. because that's why we're here. We can't do any soul winning in heaven, but we can sure do a lot of it while we're here. In 1960, I was 18 years old. I trusted Christ as my savior. Betty, her dad led me to the Lord in a little old living room, Athens, Georgia. And so after I trusted Christ as my savior, I began to grow in the Lord a little bit. But I just had a concern about all the people that didn't know what I knew. I knew I had eternal life. I knew I was going to heaven. How in the world can I reach people? Her dad told me, Yankee, you ought to go soul winning. But he never told me how. Just that I need to do it. And I would knock on the door. They'd open the door. I says, are you saved? Slam. Okay. Are you saved? From what? I'll pray for you. Next story. I was so rough. I had no clue how to open a conversation. I didn't know what the content was supposed to be. I did not know how to close the situation. But after four years, a wife and two kids, I took off for Florida Bible College down in Miami, Florida. And I was living at that time up in Shreveport, Louisiana. And I had gone up to Tennessee Temple for a few months, went to a summer school there. And then I heard about Florida Bible College and I went. And it was a church no bigger than what you have here on old South Dixie Highway. And I met a man named Ray Stanford. I was then at that time, I was 22 years old, young, knew it all. Not really. But I had a lot of things to learn. I had no plans on being a pastor or an evangelist. I just wanted to tell people how to go to heaven. I wanted to learn the Bible. But I had a lot of things that I did need to learn. In personal evangelism class, which was taught by Dr. Ray Stanford, he taught me at that time what I want to teach you. And so this is a I guess you could say a little bit of the treasure of knowledge that he gave to us. And I have found that has been very useful for the rest of my life. So for 61 years, What I'm going to teach is the foundation for which I have taught thousands of others. And there's many people that are now in the ministry or serving the Lord even now, a lot of them people have gone on to be with the Lord that have been reached because I explained the gospel where they could understand it and then give them a tool by which they can explain it to others. So this is called a soul winner's manual. It's kind of just giving you what you need. In my class of personal evangelism, it's 48 lectures. When I teach cult evangelism, it's another 48 lectures. We're talking about 10 or 11 lectures. So we're kind of crunching it all down. But what I want to give you is the basic of what you need. And I have so many people say, well, I already know the gospel. It's all the other things that you need to know so you can stay strong, keep doing that. One of the things that has helped me over the years, not only to know it, But I keep doing it, not only individually, but also in church and then teach it in a Bible college. So it stays fresh in my mind so that I don't forget it because it's the foundation for which everything else comes from. And so. I had, as a beginning, a decision for every Christian to make. Now, I don't see anything up on the screen, but lo and behold, there it is. The Soul Winner's Manual for Florida Bible College, outlined by Ralph Yankey Arnold, and a decision for every Christian to make. Because, see, you don't just automatically become a soul winner. You have to make a decision. You didn't just become a Christian. you had to make a decision to, not only after hearing the gospel, to believe the gospel. And so you trusted Christ as Savior. And I always like it if you're going to cast a net, draw the net. In other words, you want to catch some fish. You want to be able to see people that you've won to Christ. So over the years, I have been blessed to live long enough to see some of the results of people that I've reached throughout the years. So before you learn how to win people to the Lord, you need to learn why. Why should I do it? If I told you, go upstairs and close that window, and you say, well, I don't feel like going upstairs and closing a window. I said, well, you left your guitar right under the window, and the window's open, and there's a thunderstorm coming. Oh, that changes everything. Now they have a reason to close the window, not just because you said it. Sometimes we can tell people, you ought to go sow in them. All right, now give me a reason why. Why should I do this? What is so important about it that it could change and revolutionize my life? So we need to find out that every life has a purpose. And the purpose of every man's, well, is to find it. What is the purpose of your living? Now, I've done this before and I would say, you know, what's this? They used to ask the pen. Well, what's the purpose of the pen? It's to write. But what if the pen doesn't write? Well, you can use it to point. You can put it behind your ear and look important. You can pick your nose with it if you want, or you can hold your place in a book. But the purpose of the pen is to write, and if it doesn't write, you can use it for something else. And I would believe that majority of Christians are not serving the purpose God intended, because they don't want to do that one thing God says do, because that's the most difficult thing you'll ever do in your life, is winning people to Christ. It's so easy to find yourself doing everything but that. We can talk about it, know we should do it, willing to do it, but just never seem to do it. And so the years pass by, next thing you know, you can grow up to be an old man and never have done it yet. But I'm going to one day. No, but we need to find out what it is. A man may live, you know, for money and power and fame. But whatever he lives for constitutes this purpose for his life. So the question to ask is, what does God say should be my purpose for living? Do you think God has a reason for us to live? Wouldn't you want to find out what it is? Scripture states plainly the purpose of the Christian life, even in the book of Mark, in chapter 8, verse 35. This phrase that I'm going to show you is mentioned twice, once here in the book of Mark. It's also mentioned in the book of John, chapter 3, verse 16, the word whosoever, because it's a choice. Here, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same. That's the person that will save his life. In other words, when he lives for what I intended, for what I want, but everybody has the tendency, well, what do I want out of life? What do I want to be? What do I want to do? What do I want to know? What do I want to have? Well, let's ask God and see what God's word has to say. But the word whosoever, but in John 3, 16 is a promise to whosoever, that's those who are lost. You see, Mark is talking about those who already have trusted Christ as their Savior, and it's a choice, a decision that everybody must make. So, whosoever is lost, that they may be saved. John 3, 16 promises that whosoever, anybody, believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, it's one thing to say just believe in Jesus, trust Christ as your Savior. So, those are easy phrases. He that believeth on him hath everlasting life. That's true. But it's not all you need to know. Many religions are teaching that you trust Christ as Savior. But what does that mean? That doesn't really tell you anything. It doesn't tell you how to do it and why you should. Salvation has to deal with an issue like you're going to hell and you need to be saved. You need a savior to save you from something. And that's more important about where you're going is about where you're coming from, what you're escaping. And the scripture says, you know, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? So that's what we need to keep in mind in what's going to happen to everyone that does not know Christ as Savior. So the wise man will decide to trust Christ as the Savior. So that's what God wants a lost man to do. But Mark 8.35 is a promise to whosoever is saved that they may serve him. Mark clearly and plainly states the purpose for the Christian life. Whosoever refers to believers. And it's talking about whosoever will lose his life for my sake, my sake. and the gospels. You see, you can't serve Christ without the gospel, and you can't be faithful to the gospel unless you're faithful to Christ, because you can't separate Christ from the gospel, and you can't separate the gospel from Christ. It's that message, that story that God's given to us that we're supposed to tell. This means that any believer who will live for Christ and the gospel will save his life and Christ gives the scripture, not for salvation, but for discipleship. Salvation is one thing, service is another. Don't mix them up or you'll have people trying to serve in order to be saved. And that's not the way it's going to happen. And God is going to save a man because he trusts Christ. But God wants you that know Christ as Savior to serve him, but not to get to heaven, but to serve him because God has a reason for you here. What is that purpose? So it is a believer's choice whether he will live for Christ and the gospel or live for himself. It's a decision each believer must make. Now, whether you like it or not, you didn't ask to be born with any of us that I have. I don't want to know anybody who did, but we're here. There is a heaven, there's a hell, and people are going to one or the other. So God says, since we've all sinned, we're all going to a place called hell. We're already condemned. Not that we're going to be condemned, no, we're already condemned. So he says for us, he said, that he that believeth in him is not condemned. But he that believeth not, he's already condemned because he doesn't believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So there is a reason why it's a choice. God hasn't predetermined who's going and who isn't. It's just that God chose to save everyone who will choose to be saved. So it's a very important decision that every Christian needs to make. What was the purpose of Christ's life? God only had one son. He was a missionary. He was on a mission, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. That was why he came. Christ lived and died for the lost man. Now, many Christians are not living today for the lost man. If they were, the churches would be packed because so many Christians who know Christ as Savior, they do it out of convenience, their dedication. How does it benefit me? What do I want? And so they don't seem to see the urgency. I was asked to speak a couple of years ago at a grace conference in Texas. And so I was talking to them about the ministry that I had in Colorado. I says, one thing didn't work with the teenagers. I tried to give them the importance of two main things. One is your friends. If they don't know Christ as Savior, you may think they got a lot of time because you're young. I says, but we don't know when Christ is coming back. So I try to burn it into their mind, the imminency of Christ coming any moment. And also your friends could die at any moment and spend eternity in hell. I wanted kids to serve the Lord, but I wanted them to know why they should. because teenagers reach teenagers, adults reach adults. We can do what we should do if we only let those things burn in our mind of what's the important reason for me living. So you can work together and accomplish so much more. People come together as a body of believers, and they can give their funds, and they can do more things, and get on radio, television, whatever the ministries may be, and so much can be accomplished if you work together. But most God's children are mavericks. They're on their own, do their own thing. They're not tuned in to what God says and what God wants them to do. So live for the sake of the gospel. It is good news for the lost man to know that he can have eternal life by trusting in Christ. But to live for the gospel sake is to live for the sake of the lost man. Over the years, and I would say it's been over 60 years, My one main goal is I don't want people to go to hell. So whatever I've done, whether it's been with a Christian school, whether it's been with a college, with a bus ministry, or the youth ministry, or the church, the radio, TV, whatever it has been is always for these two main things. Win them, train them, win them, train them. Purpose of the church, win them, train them, train them to win them, and win them to train them. There isn't anything else as important as that. So we find a way. I did this one day, I was reading the book of Romans in chapter 12, and I liked every once in a while to do a little Yankeeology, so I rewrote the verse. Well, I didn't really rewrite the verse, I just put it in there what I thought, this is what he's talking about. When he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And then I broke it down to this. Why? Why should I present my body? Why should I be conformed? to the word of God and not to the world. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, that you might win souls. By the mercies of God, in view of what Christ has done for us, that you might win souls. That you present your body as a living sacrifice, that you might win souls. Holy, that you might win souls. Acceptable unto God, that you might win souls. Which is your reasonable service. that you might win souls. Let's see, presenting your body to the Lord in service and giving your so-called life to Christ is after you're saved, never before you're saved. So does God want me to give him my life? And it's so easy for people to dedicate their life, what they don't have, and fail to give them the day that they do have. You don't have tomorrow, you got today. But when you serve the Lord today and do what you're supposed to do today, I believe it's very, very important. So he says, and be not conformed to this worldwide that you might win souls, but be transformed. Why do I study the Bible? That you might renew your mind, that you can win souls, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, that you might win souls. Do you ever wonder why God left you here? Because after you were saved, he could have took you on home, but he left you here. He left us here because there's something he wants us to do. I wonder if it could be that he wants us to win souls. I got a lot of other verses I could show you, but we won't get into all those because I wanted to show you why we should do it before I actually teach you how we should do it. And I believe that the way that we win souls and the wallet illustration, the seven steps that we use is the best. I've lived long enough and I've watched a lot of people come and go. I've watched and seen a lot of ministries. I've never seen anything that makes the gospel clear than the way we do it. Because if they were doing it better, I'd want to do it their way. But I believe that what God has blessed me with is being able to learn it from a man named Dr. Ray Stanford, and I have no problem in giving him the credit because he taught it to me. But I'm thankful to the Lord that I was able to be there and saw it and watched it and learn from it. And then I want to be copyable. So to serve the Lord, you've got to be a copyable person. People can copy you. Where you're not so super duper and so dynamic. No, just be plain, simple you. But be all the you you can be, but dedicated. So I used to use an illustration about a flagpole. I said, here's a flagpole. And I remember they used to have guide wires on them. And telephone poles don't have sometime guide wires. But see, you don't need the guide wires if there's no flag to fly. But if you're going to fly a flag, you put it in a pole and you put the guide wire. But see, those guide wires are something like church, Bible study, prayer. You see, all those are things that we need to do. They keep flying the flag. And so that'll be your flag. What are you living for? What is your purpose? And that's to bring honor and glory to the Lord, as he says, for my sake and the gospel. So think, how does my life profit the lost man? Satan, the enemy of man's soul, will seek to sidetrack every Christian from this one main purpose. And so he says, Satan captures the believers and he blinds the lost. He blinds the law, but he captures believers. So in Timothy, it talks about us being recovered from his snare by obeying the truth. So you can't discern error unless you know truth. So you study the truth of God's word so you can discern the error and the philosophies of this world. The Bible says like waves, they come in and we are moved. by the various winds of doctrine, and you don't even know it's happening because it deceives you. Anyway, very important. Keep this in mind, a Christian's life is made up of many areas, Bible study, prayer, finances, family, work, church, but none of these areas are to be his main purpose for living, but to help him accomplish his purpose. These guidelines or guide wires will keep Christ and the gospel, your purpose for living. It is so easy over the years for me to get sidetracked. I've had people try to get me sidetracked so many times. We used to have people come into our ministry, and that's when I had about 300 something in our Christian school, and we had 60 to 100 in our college, and the ranch was running about 400 or 500, and everything was great. And so they came and said, Yankee, you realize if you got involved in, Vestline and Shackley's or Shakeley's or something like that. And they had all these different things that were coming on the scene and like pyramid schemes. Boy, I can make a lot of money because you get all the pop and you got all these people working and you got all these families. I said, yeah, but I'd look at every person as a dollar bill. I can't run the risk, so I'm not going to do it. And I don't want you to come in my ministry for the purpose of trying to make contacts so you can get rich." So I had a few people leave. You say, I would have done that. Well, I did. I have a different reason. So why should I be a soul winner? Because one of the rewards in eternity, now there's other reasons I put down there, the four cries. The four cries are this reason. The four cries is there's a cry from above, there's a cry from below, there's a cry from without, and there's a cry from within. But years ago they put out a little video called The Silent Scream. It was about babies being aborted in the womb, and the child's screaming, but you can't hear it. The silent screams. Think about what that must have been like if you was a little baby and they were pulling your arms and all that stuff apart, killing them in the womb. It ought to be the safest place in the world. But there's a cry from above because God is telling us what he wants us to do. The people that went to hell, they're telling us what they want us to do. They want us to reach people. And the people that are out said, will you come and help me? There's a cry from within because of the Holy Spirit that lives within us. And therefore we should be willing to hear. And that's why the scripture says over and over again, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And I don't believe many of God's children are listening. When you lose your interest and desires in this life for those of Jesus Christ, you gain what will last for eternity. Salvation of lost souls and the training of soul winners. Anything else you live for, riches, power, and fame will soon be lost as you die. Because one of these days, you're going to die. One of these days, I'm going to die. King Solomon, a man who turned away from God and decided to live for himself, realized this when he wrote. Then I looked on all the work that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do. And behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." In other words, you can have all the wisdom in the world, gain all the wealth in the world, and waste your life. What's going to count is what did you do for Christ. And that's why it's so important to put the Lord first. Paul the apostle lived his life for the sake of the lost man. He said this, Even as I please all men and all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved." In other words, there's a reason behind what Paul went through. Paul was the example of the Christian life, of what you go through, the price that you pay to reach people. All the things that happened to him was a reason. That was the price Paul was willing to pay to reach souls. He could have eliminated all of that by doing absolutely nothing. And many of God's people suffer nothing because they do nothing. They're going nowhere, accomplishing nothing. All they want to do is just pad themselves and what they've got. So that one day they may be old enough, they're going to have to retire and they want to have enough. Take care of yourself and let the rest of the world go to hell. Now those things are not wrong, but you're leaving something undone. We have to have food to eat, clothes to wear on our back. I mean, we have to have a vehicle maybe to get around and a place to live. God's not talking about that and neither am I. But when you live only for that, you need to check and find out why do I want to live. Paul said this, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Because you see in 1 Corinthians 9, he says, I do this that I might gain. I do this that I might gain. I do this that I might gain. But whenever I die, I gained. Your whole life is made of a profit and loss, winning or losing. What's the value of your life? So living for the Lord Jesus Christ brought Paul peace and satisfaction in this life and eternally rewards later when he got to heaven. And he says, there's later for me a treasure in heaven because he was looking for the Lord to come back and loved his appearing. In the book of Matthew, chapter 6, it says this, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. The reason is because down here you can lose it. Laying up there, you can't lose it. Now, a wise man can understand what he said. You want to live for that which is eternal. Laying up treasures in heaven, not here. It's one thing to say, look what I got. You know, there's some of these people that are dying, and even some of these famous people that have been movie stars and wrestlers and all the rest of them, they die. You know how much of the stuff they had that they took with them? Left every bit of it. Naked into this world did you come, and naked you will go. And only what you've done for the Lord is going to last. So the souls Paul's won to Christ would be his most precious treasure in heaven. Look what he says. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? You want to get to heaven and get the crowns? Here's a crown. The crown of rejoicing. What is that? Are not ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? When they get to heaven and see the people He reached for the Lord while He was here. When you get to heaven, don't you want to see all those people that are there because of you? Because of your efforts? I've lived long enough now that I haven't seen a lot of people that I've reached, a lot of them are dying. I'm outliving them. But I am not afraid to die. I thought I was going to go several times already, even this year. As you know, Betty has had a heart attack and two strokes. I've had two heart attacks and swot on my lung and double pneumonia. That's just in the last six months. But I didn't die. Because maybe the Lord kept me here just a little bit longer. Well, if I stay here a little bit longer, what do you think should be my purpose for living? Should it change? Or maybe I'm about ready to go over to the beach and finally get my lemonade and just sit there and enjoy the sunshine. Or maybe I'll get in my motor home and head across the country. We'll see how that goes. Paul's life was the gain because he lost it for Christ. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. We refers to the believer. Every Christian must decide and appear before the judgment seat of Christ, not to determine salvation, but rewards. You see, salvation, going to heaven, that's a gift. Rewards are earned. So you're earning things that's going to last forever, and they are eternal rewards. You see, are you willing to give up a wasted life? Because not one person can make another person trust Christ, and nobody can make somebody else serve God. You can't make somebody else serve God. You can't make them love God, love his will. You can't do it. If you could, I'd have tried that a long time ago. It just don't work. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Should I be a soul winner? Because the need of the law. Salvation is to avoid hell. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. There must be a reason. And that's how you and I must see it. It's necessity. It's necessary. How shall they hear without a preacher? So it is necessary to preach the gospel. The lost people in this world need Christians to shine the light and reveal the way to heaven. That light is the gospel. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine unto them. So this is what God's word says. Now in the book of Philippians in chapter two, it makes a statement in verse 15 saying, in whom in this world we shine forth as lights holding forth. the word of God. So you shine as light in this world, holding forth the word of God. So whenever people come to church and you preach from the word, they're given light, knowledge, to understand. So important. Satan, the god of this world, seeks to hinder the shine of the light of the gospel. Thus it will seek to hinder those who are supposed to shine with the light. For God has commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Now get this, has shined in our hearts to give, shined in us to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel where people can see God. Without understanding and clear picture of the gospel, the lost man can't see God. They don't know who he is and what he's done and what he will do. Because that's how you describe God, as a God of love, and only through the gospel message is that revealed. It is every Christian's responsibility to give this light to the lost man. Now in Matthew chapter 5, it does make this statement. It says, let men see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. if they see your good works and glorify your father. You want to glorify God? Let people see your good works. Let them see the truth, the gospel, the light that God has given to you. In Luke 16, Christ speaks of two men, rich man and a beggar. They both died. The rich man, the lost man, in hell he lifted up his eyes but in torment. So he had conscience. And then the Bible says that he asked two main things. He says he was tormented in this flame and all he wanted was Abraham to say to Lazarus, he may come and dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame. And his request was denied. And so he asked, can he go back and see my brothers and witness to my five brothers? This is a man that's in hell. The request was denied. You see, your days of winning people to the Lord, it might be over. Now, whether or not in the millennium we can still win people to the Lord, I think that'd be great, but I don't know for sure. He says, I cannot send them back, he says, unless they come to this place of torment. Do you see what hell is like? Do you understand? That's why we read these things. It's not on every page. But that's why it's a story that once you understand, and that's what the gospel is, the presentation of the gospel is learning how to tell the gospel story. And it's so important. We're sent by Christ into the world for the same purpose the Father sent Christ into the world. And as thou has sent me into the world, even so send I them. So I have sent them. So we're also sent into the world to do to give the message that God wants. So Christ was sent to seek and to save. So are we. So you know why you should do what you're doing. So you see the reason why we need to have a one. You see the reason why you need to have the trunk thing that you want to put out there for people to come. It might reach some people. They're just hooks in the water. Every ministry is about putting hooks in the water so you can catch some fish. And that's the reason for the internet ministry. No, the Bible line, the YouTube ministry, whatever ministry we have, trying to catch more fish, one way or another, because of the love of Christ. Because the Bible says, for the love of Christ constraineth us, or motivates us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then all were dead. That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. We should live for the one who died for us. Now, if he died for you, should you live for him? The Bible says that, yes, we should. So we're prisoners of the Lord. The Greek word is doulos. It means that we are bond slaves of the Lord. So you have to voluntarily choose, will you be a bond slave, a voluntary love slave of the Lord? And when you do, God says that, He will use you in a great and wonderful way. You'll find the purpose of your life. There is no happiness. You know, I have never yet found one person that I led to the Lord that I resent. Man, I wish I'd have never led him to the Lord. Boy, that was a waste of time. I've always been glad. And the people that I lead to the Lord, one day they're going to be more thankful than they are now. The little kids don't usually thank you too much. But when they start getting older and they realize, you know, I'm glad somebody reached me when I was a little kid. I'd have loved somebody to reach me when I was a little kid. But it is what it is. But afterwards, so you're free to choose. You can choose to serve the Lord or you can choose not to. So it boils down to obedience or disobedience. If you obey, God will bless. If you disobey, God will chasten. It's your choice. You're free. The choose, the choice you will make. His love for the Lord made Paul a prisoner to the desires of the Lord. So he asked Peter, says, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? He said, you know I do. I'd love to have been there and watched that whole thing and the expressions on his face. I got a message I'm going to do on that one of these days about Peter. But anyway, Christ never asked Peter if he loved the sheep. He just said, do you love me? Do you love me? So I put this down this way. You should want to, well, if you love the Lord, then love the sheep. Let the Lord love the sheep through us. We're just channels. So you don't have to say, I love everybody. No, I don't, there's a lot of people I don't really probably love, but I know that God loves them. And I want to love those people for the Lord. You do it for him, for his sake, for the gospel's sake. And if you love me, he says, then serve me. Tell people. I could say love commands. A wife may love her husband, but she doesn't usually have to put up a sign around the house, or you don't. Thou shalt wash the dishes. Thou shalt take out the trash. And thou shalt fix my dinners. When Betty had her stroke, I found out I had to do all of that. And a man's work's never done. I've had to learn how to cook. God bless microwaves. And go to the store and it's already packaged. All you got to do is just put it in the microwave. And so I told my wife, I said, honey, I'm going to take you out to eat every day. Every day I take my wife out to eat. Now you tell me what other man does that for his wife. But I was brought to this, because it's either if I don't, I gotta cook the food and then wash the dishes and take out the trash, and there's no end to it. So I really have appreciated all my wife has done for me all these years. But you see, her love usually motivates to do even more. And I told her one day, I said, honey, you took care of me for 64 years. I says, it ain't going to hurt me to take care of you for a year or two years or whatever God's got left for us. I says, I've enjoyed doing it. Do you realize picking up that little red wagon over there and putting it in the car and taking it out, taking it out, just building me up? You probably wonder how come I'm so strong. The way I used to build up my muscles, I used to take and fill the bathtub full of water, then I'd pull the plug and then fight the current. Williams, I thought you'd like that. You did. But anyway, there's things that we know that we should do, and we have to be willing to let the Lord love people through us. And nobody can make you. They can't force you to do it. Who would make a better taskmaster, the Lord or the devil? Well, which one you want to serve? Christ says, if you love me, serve me. And if men serve me, he says, then will my father honor. You will not serve the Lord if you do not love him, but keep doing what's right until you do. It's still right to do right, regardless of your motive, but it's good to have a right motive. So we should love the Lord. We should love him because he first loved us. And Paul says that he was separated unto the gospel. In other words, of all the things there are to do in the world and all the things you could do and be, wouldn't it be great if everybody was separated unto the gospel. You see, when you take and understand that, then you know why I need to know the Bible better. Because there's people that are going to try to twist me in winds of doctrine and philosophies. But I need to know the truth. So you come on Sunday morning, you come on Sunday night, you come on Wednesday night, you learn all you can. Why? Because there's a reason. But you see, when that reason is out, then it's just, of course, however I need it. It's just all if I need it or not. How I feel, well, I just don't know. I'm still 83, almost 84. I still go to church. When I'm here, I still come to church. True? Have you seen me here? I usually don't come in sneaking in. I sit right back there, and Steve Yance always takes my chair. But the last one I want to give you is because of the command from above. There is a command from God to go into all the world and to preach the gospel. So God wants us to do this. And so these notes that we have here, and what you will have, and those that will be taking the classes down the road, they will be having some quizzes. Aren't you glad you don't have to take them here? But they will. and they got notes that they can read and they can study and get the rest of the thing. So you want to have right motives and those are in your notes. You need to read it. Wrong motives, you need to read it. And keep these things in mind because your joy should come from fulfilling your responsibility. When you know what God wants you to do and you do it, you're just so glad. I am so glad that out of all the years that I've lived, for 60-something years, I went ahead and did what God says do. I ain't been perfected. You don't have to be, but you're going in the right direction. And you'd be surprised what it is like to be able to train people to know the Lord and to love the Lord. So there should not be one place we're not willing to go, or one person that we're not willing to reach. We should be willing to do it all. So the Bible says that we should go and to teach all nations, and that's where we get the great commission from, the great command. So we do that, we teach people, and we're to observe all things what he had commanded us. So the people that we win, we train them to reach others also. So go in all the world and preach the gospel to every preacher. Wouldn't it be great if we could preach the gospel to every preacher? Most of them don't know the gospel, but we need clear people that are willing to go and to preach the gospel. So it is a command. And the great commission was given before the church, and therefore it was to be done when the church began, which is on the day of Pentecost. So I'll skip over these here because these are some of the things you can live. But remember the rewards for eternity, the need of the lost, the love of Christ, and the command from above, as you consider the most important decision in your whole life, It is my prayer that these studies will give you knowledge that will help you become an effective servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, winning lost souls, and then training them to reach others. Winning them and training them. There's no better purpose in life than the gospel-driven life. Now look up here as we close here for this first lecture, but I want you to notice this. Here is what I do. I'll be teaching a lot more about this later. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, hates our sin. For us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in a literal fire burning hell. That's what we need to be saved from. This has to be part of the story because why do you need a savior? Unless you're in trouble, we're in trouble. So the Bible says that God loves us, wants us to go to heaven, but to go to heaven we've got to be perfect, as righteous as God, and none of us are perfect. So God says you cannot save yourself. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He's the Lord God in the flesh. Came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin, because our sin separates us from him. So what Christ did for one person, he did for everybody. He had no sin, didn't have to die, so he took all the sin of all the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. And the only thing he wanted us to do about what he did was to believe he did it for us. So when I believe it, he puts that payment to my account, and I have a payment for my sins. So the reason I can't go to hell, I don't have any sins to pay for. Christ paid for my sins. So that's how I know I'm going to heaven because I know that I cannot go to hell. I have been saved from it because I've already paid for all of my sins. Got it? Let's pray, shall we? With heads bowed and eyes closed, no one looking around. If you're here tonight, and if you've never trusted Christ as Savior, or if you're watching on the internet, online, would you write where you are and trust Christ as your Savior? Would you believe that when Christ died, He died for you and paid for your sins? And if you trust Him right now, He would save you and give you the free gift of everlasting life. So in the quietness of this moment, with heads bowed and eyes closed, is there anyone at all, say, preacher, that made sense to me? And I will trust Christ as my Savior, and I'd like for you to pray for me. Would you just lift your hand up very quickly, put it right back down, and here we go. Father, we thank you again for your blessings. Thank you for all you do for us, for the free gift of everlasting life. And Lord, we pray that there'll be many of your children that will see the need to serve you, because we love you. We thank you for what you've done for us in Christ's name we pray, amen.