and considering what he did for us is learning to give back to him and taking his burden, taking his message, taking his life to a lost world that needs Jesus Christ. as their Lord and Savior. We're going to be in Acts 18 this morning. It's page 1153 in the Black Bible, if you have the Black Bible this morning. Acts chapter 18, and we're going to begin right away with verse 1, which says, And after these things Paul departed from Athens. and came to Corinth. And that phrase, after these things, is a very simple phrase, but it's packed full of meaning, because Paul has gone through a lot, and we're not going to study all of what he went through in the book of Acts. this morning. But because it does say after these things, I want to look back at chapter 17. It's referring to the end of chapter 17, but I want to look back to the beginning of chapter 17 to get an idea of where Paul's coming from as he comes to Corinth. And so if you go to Acts chapter 17 then, and the beginning of that, they're in Thessalonica. Thessalonica is a city where the gospel is going to take root. It's one of the cities that Paul's going to write back to the church at Thessalonica. Our books in our Bible are 1 and 2 Thessalonians, written to the Thessalonian people of Thessalonica. Acts 17 verse 1 says, Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Christ whom I preached Or this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ Christ is the New Testament term Messiah Okay, the anointed one that would come In verse 4 and some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few but the Jews which believed not moved with envy and took unto them certain good fellows of a baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found him not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come. hither also. I don't know if you follow the news much, but if you do, you've seen the yellow vest. Riots have been taking place in France the last, I think, three or four weekends as they protested a tax rise. And so these people gather together, and they're riotists. And they're angry. They're upset about something. And in that case, in France, they're seeking to overthrow government policy. And they're seeking to do it by violence. As we look at Acts chapter 17, we'll see this more than once, but their animosity is not towards the government, their animosity is towards God and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and their rioting against God and his messengers. And so Paul's there, Thessalonica, now where is he going to go? Well, he goes to Berea. And so verse 10, because of that persecution, the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming further went into the synagogue of the Jews. So verse 11, these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind. and search the scripture daily whether those things were so. In Sunday school we're talking about how scripture is rich in the light. We talk about Jesus is light. Men love dark and spread in light because their deeds are evil. So though the illumination is there, men don't want it. But men who do can have it. And so in Berea, notice that there was a hunger for the Word of God. And as Paul preaches, they get into the Bible, and they study it, and they look at it, and they say, is that what God's Word says? Notice what happens because of that. It says, therefore, because of that, many of them believed. also of honorable women, which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached to Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people, so that the guys at Thessalonica that hated Paul, and were riotous, and got Paul out of there, and the hero is taking place at Berea, they come to Berea, and they begin to poison the hearts of the people there, and there's further rioting. Then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea, but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. So two of the servants of God that were with Paul stayed, but they get Paul out of there and send him on his way. And you know this idea of People that are put off with the Gospel, getting involved and actively going against the Gospel is not new to the story of Acts where we find it here. It had happened previously in Acts 14 at Iconium. And just to, again, give us a sense of what Paul is facing as he is a gospel messenger for God. If you want to turn back in your Bible to that, you can. But Acts chapter 14, verse 1. It came to pass in Iconia that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil-affected against the brethren." God hates heresy. God hates false teaching. God hates those things that make men two-fold more the child of hell than others. That thing that hinders somebody. You put, you went into yourself and you hindered them that wanted to enter in. And so, it's taking place at Iconium. The Gospel is going out in power, people are going to be saved, and the insidious people get in there, and they corrupt men's hearts, and turn them away from the messengers of God, the message of God. But a long time, therefore, abode they, speaking boldly to the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of this grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done in their hands. It's a battle, but it's going on. And then they tried to stone them, and they departed from there. Let's go back to Acts chapter 17 now, and we find Paul at Athens. At verse 15, And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens. And receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some said, what will this babbler say? Others some, he seemed to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Replicas, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears. We would know, therefore, what these things mean. And so they gave him an opportunity. But they say, he's a set of forth of kind of weird ideas, strange doctrine. We want to hear what it is. And so preached to us. Fast forward to verse 32. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Now this time he doesn't depart because of persecution, but there's scoffers, there's mockers, some of, you know, people have heard, now it's time to depart. And we're coming up to our text in Acts chapter 18, now Paul's in Corinth. And so Acts 18 verse 1, after these things. OK, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. Paul does not quit. Paul doesn't give up. Paul doesn't look at it and say, well, you know, it's been pretty tough lately. It's been pretty hard. And Paul does not quit. And I want to just step back in Paul's life a little bit to his conversion in Acts chapter 9. Paul, as you know, was a against guy. a witness against Stephen. He took the men's clothes. He had the authority, it seems, in that place. As Stephen is condemned, calling upon God, the great preacher Stephen is martyred for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul hated Christians. He went into houses. He hailed men and women and committed them to prison. And when it came to the sentence of death, he gave his voice against them. Paul hated God because he hated the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, Acts chapter 9 verse 4 says, Paul fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And in the mercy of God, Jesus Christ opens Paul's eyes. This is what we talked about, that idea of the light shining in. All the mercy of God, right? Why would a man that is so anti-God, so against God, so ungodly, just like, I think it was last week, I used the illustration of John Sorenberger, that was a very wicked criminal in Minnesota, Wisconsin area, the upper Midwest of the United States, that God in His mercy saved, that received a judicial pardon. and became a preacher of the gospel. It's incredible. God's mercy reaching down. And so Paul gets saved, but he gets saved to tell others. Verse 15, But the Lord said to him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me. What a statement. You know, I just saw him this morning here in my ward, Sidney, and God has mercy. He's looking for somebody to call, and he has a specific plan for that person's life. He has a glorious gospel plan for all of our lives, as he says to us, going into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And God says, just think about it with regard to your heart this morning, He's a chosen vessel unto me. That there's a plan that I have that is a gospel plan to bear my name before the Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel. And yet with that gospel call, Paul was told about the suffering he would face, verse 16, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. See, I think in our hearts there's a desire to say to God, oh God, send me, I hope in your heart, as I have sung this morning from that text in Isaiah chapter six, that something in your heart said to God, God, send me, right? There's a desire to be that Christian hero that would take up the gospel and charge for the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, as we do that for God, the reality is it's not without cost. It's not without suffering for his sake. And so Paul, having gotten saved, commissioned, and suffering, he never stopped. He didn't quit. Are you struck by that? When you read the book of Acts, does that strike you that Paul didn't have it easy? Paul had it very hard, and yet Paul, by the grace of God, was gospel guns blazing to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ till he entered the grave, he finished his course. I read a Barry Webb's prayer letter, and I'm smiling because he speaks about his dad writing a sermon illustration for a preacher that was preaching at his memorial service. A pastor shared a story about that. His dad, Hal Webb, traveled in evangelism for 67 years. By the way, Dr. Ed Nelson, who's a friend of ours, he just turned 95. He's still preaching. I mean, some of these men are just stuck with it for God, being faithful to God. Hal Webb was one of those men that was faithful to God to the end. And so the pastor shared this story about Hal Webb wrecking a sermon illustration for him. He shared it at the memorial service. He says, the pastor was preaching about discouragement and was stating that everyone has times in their lives when they get discouraged and want to quit. My father was seated in the congregation. The pastor looked at my father and made a statement like, why Dr. Webb, I'll bet there have been times even in your life in ministry that you've wanted to quit. He was expecting Dad to nod his head or show his agreement in some other way. Instead, my father furrowed his heavy eyebrows, got a determined look on his face, and replied in a clear, loud voice, never! That's a funny story, isn't it? I mean, I could feel for the preacher. You know, you want him to support you. And Hal Webb says, never! You know? Because probably all of us would say, God, Help me to be like that. Help me to say, never say quit. And that's the message I want to preach this morning. Never say quit. You know, it might be this morning you thought Christianity would be easier than it is. I have people all the time doing evangelism, and they'll say Christianity is a crutch. And I'll say back to them, no, Christianity is not a crutch, it's a cross. It's dying daily. Yes, praise God, there are many blessings to being a Christian, but there is a toughness of spiritual work. There is a toughness of spiritual sowing and reaping and farming. There is a toughness of spiritual running and getting up and disciplining ourselves to be the best runner that we can be for the Gospel. You might have thought people would be more receptive to the Gospel. Because what we're speaking about today, specifically, never getting up in the gospel, never getting up and seeking to reach men with the truth that they can be saved. You might have thought people get excited that you're a Christian, or you're tempted to quit. And so, the message again, just simply, is never say quit. Paul never did. And our text is Acts 18, and let's pray and ask God to bless our time in His Word today. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would encourage us. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would strengthen us. Father, I look to you now as I have the privilege of preaching the Word of God this morning. I pray that the Spirit of God would guide my lips. Father, guide my heart. I pray that I could preach biblically, Father, practically, Father, lovingly. Father, give us ears to hear this morning. And Father, be encouraged, take hope. Lord, I appreciate what Hal Webb was saying. I praise you for the man of God that says never quit. God, give us grace to echo that in our hearts. Never say quit. Lord, may it not be our inner vocabulary. May it not be something that we consider. May it not be something that we ponder. And so, Father, to that end, may the Spirit of God take the precious truth of the Word of God and give us grace to go on to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. And so Paul is our example, never say quit, Acts 18. So what will keep us from quitting? What can we see, and Paul is an example for us this morning, as we look at the text, Acts 18, and what we see God doing in his heart, his mind, his vision, what was it about him, what God did with him that gave him that grace to keep on for the Lord? And so this morning, never say quit, first of all, because people need persuading. People need persuading. Verse 4 says, And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews in Greece. Paul's a faithful persuader. He would get in there with the gospel and he'd begin to reason with them from the scriptures and to teach them about Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Messiah, specifically as he's dealing with the Jews. In Thessalonica, Acts chapter 17, as we already read, Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them. and three Sabbath days reasoned with him out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ, the Messiah, must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. So Paul's message was simple to the Jews. They knew the Old Testament. They knew that the Messiah was coming. Paul would go in and he'd reason from the Bible that he had to suffer. Isaiah 53. He was wounded by transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The Psalms where it says his soul was not, he was not allowed to see corruption as Peter preached at Pentecost. And Paul would reason with them. That's the Messiah. He had to suffer. He had to die. He had to rise again. And this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Messiah. Paul, what a statement, as his manner was. Paul got up on the Sabbath. He was preaching in the synagogue. He'd get up on that day, and he'd go declare the truth of the word of God, as his manner was. And the next week would come, and as his manner was, he'd be there preaching. was, he would be the faithfulness of the Apostle Paul. I'm going to share a trade secret of ministry, at least this is based on my experience, okay? And I guess, in speaking with other pastors, I think they might feel similarly. But there's something of the Sunday night, Monday morning blues that you face in ministry. You study hard all week, you prepare hard all week, you evangelize hard all week, you preach hard all week, and then you finish, and you start over. And you study, and you prepare, and you evangelize, and you preach, right? And it takes the grace of God to get up Monday morning and to be faithful to God. It took the grace of God for Paul to get up the next day and to preach again. And by the way, I'm preaching mostly to believers. Paul's preaching mostly to unbelievers. And the animosity against God, and the hatred against God, and the things that are coming at him physically. And yet Paul has his manner runs. Why? Because people need persuading. Have you started evangelism? You know, you realize as you witness to somebody, you know, people's hearts are pretty hard. It's discouraging, it's disheartening, and it's, I'll tell you this, knocking on doors, there's times of uplift, but it's not always, you don't walk away going, wow, that was so refreshing to hear somebody blaspheme God, to hear the hardness of men's hearts against God, to hear their disbelief or their contentment with going to hell. It's not something that refreshes us. Maybe you started that process. You thought, you know, that's not what I thought it would be. You thought maybe that evangelism was just explaining it. If you could explain it well enough, you know, and I thought this early in my ministry, I just thought the problem was intellectual. I thought, if I could explain the gospel to somebody in a way that they could comprehend and understand, surely they'd get saved, because the gospel is so very rational. If that's the idea of your heart, you might get to the point of saying, what's the point of evangelizing? But men need to be persuaded. It's what Ethiopian eunuchs said to Philip, how can I accept some man as showman? Do you understand what you're reading? That God has given us the message to come alongside somebody and say, look, you know, it is the Word of God. It does have a comprehensive message. It does meet the need. It was the privileged God gave me yesterday. I was speaking with a Jehovah Witness woman, and the Spirit of God bringing very quickly to my mind the truth about the deity of Jesus Christ that He's worshiped. That He's the Creator. That He forgives sins. That to see Him is to see the Father. That all those truths are Bible truths. And I'm saying it to a woman in that case that all her life, her mother was a Jehovah's Witness. She became a Jehovah's Witness. And this woman was, I wouldn't say elderly, but she was old. And again, I'm speaking to her, trying to persuade her. It's not easy. You might have witnessed a family of friends and thought, oh, you know, what's the point? Why bring it up again? Why talk about it? They're just so hard. They're so against it. Yet, the Bible is to be taken by the grace of God to people and to seek to help them understand. The Bible says, in meekness, instructing those that oppose thyself, if God for a venture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. That there is a biblical persuasiveness that we must have, and that's why we can't quit. Because what about those people that need persuading? What about those people that need us to challenge them with the truth of the Word of God? You know, some, by the grace of God, will be persuaded. Acts 13, verse 43. It says, now when the congregation was broken up, Many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. Praise God, some will be persuaded. Don't give up and say, what's the point? People are so hard against God. Listen, some will be persuaded. Yes, many will reject. Yes, many will turn from the truth. But by the grace of God, let's continue and say, you know what? I'm gonna keep on this week. I'm gonna do evangelism this week because people need to be persuaded. And that's what Paul did. He reasoned with them and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Never say quit because people need persuading. Never say quit, keep a burden for the gospel. Keep a burden for the gospel. Verse 5 says, And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. Paul had a burden. Paul would say this, he'd say, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. Paul would say, I would be damned for my kinsmen according to the flesh. If they could get saved, I would do that so they can get saved. See, Paul's gospel burden was not just a head knowledge about the fact what God said, going into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. There was something in the heart of Paul that burdened his heart to get involved in gospel ministry. Again, we already read it this morning, but Acts 17, when he's in Athens, and verse 16. Now while Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. You know, do you have any burden today for the gospel? Don't quit, because keep that burden for the gospel light in your heart. Paul didn't quit because it wasn't just something God said to do. It was something Paul was passionate about doing, but he didn't get the burden sitting in his home, and in his work, and in his business, or in his place of privacy away from those that needed the gospel. Paul, as he got out in the multitude, he looked at them for what they were. Have you ever been in a huge assembly? I know in the United States, I would go to baseball games, and you're in a stadium that is filled with thousands of people, and you look at the masses. Or you go down to Princess Street Garden, and don't go there right now, unless you're going to preach, because it is chaos with the Christmas market and everything. I mean, it's wall-to-wall people, literally. I mean, sardines. But you look at all those people, and I've been down there doing evangelism when it's very busy like that during the festival, and I thought, God, what's the point? In a sense, there's so many people, and you look at their eyes, and you think about the fact, am I looking into the soul of somebody that's going to spend eternity in hell? Is that person, if they died right now, would they be judged by God and cast into the lake of fire for all eternity? See, there ought to be something in our heart that is, and if it's not there, we ought to say to God, dear God, what is wrong with my heart that I'm not burdened about the gospel, that I have no gospel affirmancy, no desire, I don't want to get out, I don't care if they go to hell. You see what I'm saying? But there has to be that, Lord, please put a fire in my bones to carry the gospel to people for whom Jesus Christ died. You know, that burden. that God can cultivate there, and that burden is from God. That's the Spirit of God in Paul, being passionate about those people. He's very desirous of their salvation, and they hear the messaging. He's stirring up the heart of the possible. You know, compassion makes a difference. Compassion, caring for the lost, it makes a difference. Jude 1.22.23 says, of some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. There has to be that interest in their soul, you know, that neighbors that live next to us, and we need to be concerned about their spiritual condition, concerned about their soul, concerned about, like the man that I met yesterday, he said to me, he said, when I die, I go in the grave, and I said to him, have you known anybody that got a heart transplant? He said no, and I said, well, if they did, when they get off the table, would they be a different person? Because who they are is not their body, who they are is their soul. Have you any concern for that neighbor? Have you done anything to reach out to them, to speak to them about the Lord? Pastor David O'Gorman's family, you know Pastor O'Gorman if you've heard him preach, he's been here even this past year, but Pastor O'Gorman took into his house a teenager that as a child had been in this ministry, had gotten away from the Lord, came back into the church as a teenager. In fact, I think when he came back into the church, he was high on something. Pastoral Horman took this young man to his house until he found him with a needle in his arm and passed out in his bathroom. Then they sent him to a men's home in Scotland. And he got saved. And God changed his life. And we know him now as Leighton Kelly, the missionary that we support in Ireland. That is Leighton. Leighton is saved today by the grace of God because a preacher had a burden for a kid that was in his church and had compassion for him. Because of that compassion, God changed the life of a young man. When Leighton came last time he was here, he had another man with him. His name was Aidan. Aiden stood up here, and I know Aiden from men's camp. You've heard us maybe talk about men's camp. Today it's coming up in March. If you want to go, please go. It's a great opportunity to go to Ireland and to be with a bunch of men that love the Lord and be challenged by the Word of God. Leighton and Aiden and the men from the men's home that they have will be there. But Aiden stood up here and he said, I'm just going to share my testimony. He was involved with a gang and drugs in Ireland. He lost some money. I don't know how he lost it. It's not a good thing to lose money from the gang. There's going to be an accounting. They took him out in the woods. They broke his arms. They broke his legs. They bit off part of his ear. He was bludgeoned. He stayed in his room after that attack, God in His grace spared his life. He stayed in his room for three years after that, never going out of his room. I think that he said he had like a bucket in his room for the toilet, okay? A man knocked on the door, and Aiden was thinking, I think, about committing suicide. A man knocked on his door, he was a preacher, and found out about the son, and said, can I talk to him? Came into the stench of that room, and said to Aiden, Aiden, there's hope. took him to a men's home in scotland told him this is funny he said we'll give you pee and B. Okay? P and B. And Aidan was thinking it was medicine or something to help him come off the drugs. And so he gets there and he finds out it's prayer and Bible study or something like that, okay? Or paracetamol and Bible study or something. And he goes walking away from the place. I'm not taking this. And the spirit of God convicted him. He turned around and went back. God spared his life. Why? Because some have compassion. We might look at people and think there's no way... You know what? Some have compassion making a difference. Let's keep our... keeping on that burden for the gospel. Our Lord was known for His compassion. Matthew 9 verse 36. And when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd. Matthew 14, 14 Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Mark 1, 41 And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him and said unto him, I will be thou clean. Mark 6, 34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd, and began to teach them many things. When's the last time you were moved to share the gospel? I wrote something back when I was in ministry in the United States. It's kind of a poem, kind of not, I guess, but what have you done their souls to be one? Did you yell to warn them of eternal doom? Did you go out of your way today? What if Christ had not gone out of His way? What if He in Heaven had chosen to stay? There would be hell to pay at the sinner's cost, but Christ paid the debt on Calvary's cross. What have you done? There's souls to be mourned. Now when's the last time the Spirit of God said to you, give that person a track and you said yes Lord? Or you looked at somebody and thought, you know what, they need the Lord, and you went out of your way to step over to them and to speak to them about the Lord. When's the last time that, in your heart, in prayer time, you're just praying to God, saying, dear God, please save souls. We had a precious prayer time here at the end of the Van Gelderen evangelistic meetings. And there were tears asking God, God, please save souls. When's the last time that the Lord really rekindled that burden in your heart? The part of not quitting is asking God, God, please keep that burden alive. Keep that burden of the gospel that Paul had in my heart. Never say quit. Keep that burden. And then never say quit or you will be blood guilty. Never say quit or you will be blood guilty. Verse six says that when they oppose themselves in blaspheme, He shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean. From henceforth I'll go unto the Gentiles. And so Paul's there in Corinth. He's in the synagogue as his manner was. He's declaring to the Jews the gospel. He has a great desire to see them get saved, but they reject it and they don't want it. And Paul says, okay. And you might think, well, pastor, you're saying don't quit, but it looks like Paul quit because he says henceforth I'll go into the Gentiles. But notice what Paul said. Paul had discharged his gospel duty to the Jews. He says, your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean. He's saying, my gospel duty to you is fulfilled. Paul, by the way, Paul had fulfilled it greatly. He had gone there, he had reasoned, he had sought to persuade. They rejected, they rejected, they rejected. Finally he goes, God wants me to go elsewhere. You see, Paul had that burden about, you know what, I have a gospel responsibility to carry the gospel into the synagogue. It wasn't that Paul just, as his manner was, it's that Paul, as his manner was, obeyed the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And Paul saw that if he didn't do that with his hands, that there was blood on his hands. And that to get his hands clean, he had to discharge his gospel duty. He took the truth that was shared to Ezekiel in the Old Testament as a New Testament truth. It's the story of the watchman in Ezekiel chapter 3, verse 17. It says, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me. And so Ezekiel, as a messenger, remember Ezekiel's calling was not easy. He's told, if I were to send you to the foreign speaking people, they'd repent. But I'm sending you to the Israelite people, a stiff-necked and rebellious generation. And his duty is to go to them and say, God is angry at your sin. And God is going to judge your sin. Get right with God. It's a tough message. It's like our message is, isn't it? Our message is, whosoever is not found, written in the book of life, is cast into the lake of fire. Who said that? God. It's God's message, but we're God's messenger. God's message is, whosoever is not found, written in the book of life, is cast into the lake of fire. We've got to carry that message to the wicked that need that gospel that can set them free from their sin. Verse 18 of Ezekiel, when I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life. The same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Why? Because you're the watchman. You know, the watchman was a person on the city wall that would watch out for the enemy. And when the enemy is coming and advancing, they would cry out to the city. City, the enemy is coming. The danger is at hand. Ready yourself. Get ready for battle. Why? Because they're the watchman. Because they're sleeping on duty. They're negligent of their duty. The enemy comes. They didn't cause the enemy to come. But because they were negligent in their duty, when the enemy came, and the consequences of that, the blood was on their hands for what the enemy did. Does that make sense? And so God says to us today, it's not that when somebody dies and goes to hell, it's our fault. It's that we have the remedy. Like a doctor that can save somebody, and they choose not to do so for whatever reason, it's malpractice because they have the remedy, they didn't apply it. It's now practice for us as believers when we have the gospel We understand the power that we talked about in Romans chapter 3 that the Lord Jesus Christ has through his shed blood to remit sin and to cover sin and to save sinners and We don't tell them That when they die they go to hell because of their sin, but God says there is a blood guiltiness upon our hands. Because again, as Paul is preaching, or speaking in Acts chapter 18 verse 6, he is speaking in the New Testament and he says, I am clean. Your blood be on your own hands. Can we say as a church today, to our community, I'm clean. your blood be upon your own hands. I believe, honestly, as a preacher in this community, as far as what we've done as a church with the gospel, I believe I can say that, I can tell you today, we've given the gospel in Liberton, in Gilmerton, in Longhead, in Bilston, in Roslyn, in West Linton, in Bigger, in Bonnyrid, in New York, where the Miami Museum is, Newton Grange, North Middleton, Temple, okay, we put the gospel out, we've done evangelism in Edinburgh, we've witnessed to many people, we've spoken directly to many people. Can we say today, as a church, our hands are clean? I believe we can, by God's grace. But can we say individually, my hands are clean? Or are there people that God wants us to speak to? By the way, the relationships that you have at work, that you have with your neighbors, that you have with your family are relationships that this pastor does not have, nor will I ever have, probably. That the gospel is not to the pastor. The gospel is not to just deacons or anything, leadership of the church. The gospel is to the church to give to the world, right? And that to neglect that duty is to have blood on our hands. You know, a sinner cannot get saved without someone telling him the gospel. That's a powerful truth to stop and consider because there is in our heart a great concern. God, what about those that have never heard? And we don't have to solve that today in our hearts and minds because the question would be this. What about those that should have heard from us but never heard because we never told them the gospel? That's the question for us. Just like the question for a sinner is not, what about that murderer or child molester that's in prison? Would God really forgive them? That's not the question. The question is, what about you, sir, and your sin against God, and your need for the gospel, and your need to get saved? That's the question. And so for us this morning, it is, what about those that have never heard because I can't comprehend how God could get the gospel to somebody on some far off island? But God, what about my near neighbors? What about my community? What about those that I need to speak to about the Lord? Because if they don't hear it from my lips, they may never hear it from any lips. And to not hear it is to never get saved, according to Romans 10 and 13-15, which says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Praise God. It's a beautiful thing today. God looks at our feet. By the way, the gospel is in the feet. Remember, in the armor of God, it's the feet shot with the preparation of the gospel piece. That is the only advancement of God's work for God's glory. It's a feat. If the gospel feet aren't working, the church isn't moving, the enemy is not on the run, the church is defeated. The gospel is, you could say, the sole purpose for why Christ died. It's the sole purpose of what God's given us to do as a church. It's the gospel. I'm carrying the gospel. And so we've got to carry it so they can hear. To go back to Paul, fast forward now. We've looked at Paul's history a bit. Fast forward to chapter 20. Paul's nearing the end. He's getting ready to go to Jerusalem. And by the way, it's not the end. He's going to suffer a lot more for Christ. But the end of his last missionary journey. And so he's preaching. And he says to them about his blood guiltlessness. He said, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. You know, there's a lot of churches today that are keeping back a lot of profit from the Word of God. They're not preaching on hell. They're not preaching on heaven. They're not preaching on sin. They're not standing for the absolute authority of the truth of the Word of God. They're not standing up for the Creator God who created in six literal days and then came, entered into His creation and became the sacrifice for men's sin. Yet as a Bible-believing church today, praise God, it's our desire to preach the whole counsel of God. And to be able to, with integrity, say, I've not kept back anything that was proper for you, you're in sin, I confronted you. I didn't say that sin was okay, because it's not okay in God's sight. I spoke to you about it. Can we say that today? They worked tirelessly to get that message out, continuing in chapter 20. And have showed unto you, and have taught you publicly, from house to house. You know, Paul's ministry was everywhere. He's street preaching. He's knocking on doors. He's doing house churches. He's going into synagogue. Paul could honestly say, I have no blood in my hands because I have gotten out there. I've gotten the gospel to the world. He worked tirelessly. He went everywhere, spoke to everyone to get out the gospel. Verse 21. of Acts 20, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go down in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bombs and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me. Look at Paul, again, as an example of not quitting. I mean, it's so tough. Bonds and afflictions abide there in Jerusalem, and yet, doesn't move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take ye to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. I'm pure. Why? Because in summary, he didn't quit. Verse point seven, for I have not shunned or declared unto you all the counsel of God. Christian, when we have the gospel, And we quit giving it, we've got blood on our hands. That alone motivated us where we say, you know, Joe's Witnesses, they are motivated by the fact that if they don't do so much evangelism, they're not going to get in. There's a lot of self-righteous religions who are motivated by the fact that if they're not good enough, God's not going to accept them, they're not going to make it to heaven. We know as believers, we're saved by the grace of God, that we've got it, right? But there ought to be a sense in our heart of indebtedness to God and indebtedness to the world. And a literal charge that God has given to us that if we don't discharge it, we're going to have blood on our hands. And so, never quit. Never say quit. Don't give up with the gospel. Say, I tried, I don't like it. Just say, by the grace of God, I'm going to be faithful. Because I don't want guilt on my hands. I want to obey God with the gospel charge. Then never say quit, because harvest day is coming. Harvest day is coming. Verse 7, and he departed thence and entered into a certain man's house, named Justice, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. It was tough. In the synagogue, it was very, very difficult. And Paul doesn't quit. He goes out, he goes into this house next door, he gives the gospel, and they begin to get saved. I said it before, I'll say it again, sometimes Satan resists most strongly just before God's going to do something great. We've seen that in evangelism, many times where all of a sudden you have a big reaction from somebody, and it's to discourage you, and if you just keep on, there's going to be a great harvest that God is going to give. Even so, it is in our passage here. And some of you weren't able to make it this past Thursday to our Bible study. We're studying Genesis and in our story we're at the part of the story where Isaac is back in the land of promise. He comes back in the land and the wells that Abraham had dug had been filled in. And there's wonderful pictures of the church and the fact that other generations had dug wells, they found water, they prospered. But those wells are filled in. There's something about the toughness for us of going back and having to re-dig those wells. But as we re-dig them, not only are they stopped up, but then as they get done and we rejoice and we go, hey, praise God, there's water. Just like in Isaac's story, the enemy comes in, of them like any servants. And they say, those are our wells. And the blessing that they thought we finally got is taken away. Then they go and they dig another well. This time it's living water. It seems even more promising. It's a spring of water. And praise God, and they're rejoicing. And then that well's taken away. But finally, they find water, and God establishes them in the land. And so it says in Genesis 26.2, and he removed from thence and digged another well. And for that they strove not. And he called the name of it Rehoboth. And he said, for now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. Harvesting, you know, it's here. Finally. Praise God fruitfulness. Praise God I mean I can understand what the servants are talking about. It's so hard You gotta obey God stay in the land be faithful to the land dig those wells in the land. They dig them and they're taken away They gotta dig another well. I want to challenge you today, dig another well. With evangelism, dig another well. With our church, dig another well. There's going to be ups and downs in church plan. There's a lot of great truth we can see in that passage in Genesis about that. Dig another well. Oh, we thought it was great. We thought it was a good well. We thought it was going to last. Fizzle. Dig another well. Because there's coming a time where God's blessing, and that time will come, by the way, think about it, just in a generation of a church, at some point that church is going to be established, have property, have people, have, you know what I'm saying? The blessing is going to exponentially grow, but you've got to dig another well. You've got to keep on. So it is with the gospel, because harvest day is coming. I've run out of time this morning, but I do want to give you the last point. And that is this, never say quit because Jesus never quits on you. See, never say quit because Jesus doesn't quit on us. He says to Paul, be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace. If you have a red letter edition of the scriptures, it's in red. Why? Because Jesus said it. Be not afraid, but speak. Hold not thy peace. The Lord would say to us today, you know what? Don't be afraid. And maybe that's it with evangelism. Maybe you're just scared to knock on somebody's door. You're scared to give somebody a check. You're scared to let them know about the truth of the Bible or that you're a Christian, that you believe God. And yet Jesus says to us as he said to Paul, be not afraid, but speak. Hold not thy peace. Don't clam up. Isn't it what Satan wants us to do? And here's how he does it. Door-to-door doesn't work. Here's how he does it. Street preaching doesn't work. Here's how he does it. Evangelism doesn't work. I had a guy ask me, do flyers work? Listen, we put out over a quarter of a million of flyers, and I still, by the grace of God, want to say, yes, they work. Why? Because God's Word doesn't return void. Right? Satan comes and it's pointless. No, it is not pointless because there's a harvest day coming and Jesus didn't quit on us, neither should we quit. And he comes to us and says, hey, be not afraid, but speak. Hold not thy peace. Why? Because I'm with thee. Verse 10. I'm with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. Have you forgotten as you knock on doors that God is with you? I said to my children as they got ready to fly to Spain, you know, here I'm putting my 14-year-old and my 16-year-old on a plane. I praise God, God gave me the courage to do it. Benson's fine. I mean, he would have gone on that plane probably when he was five. Kayla, on the other hand, not as brave, right? She really had to trust the Lord to go. But I said to them, remember there's three of you going. Let Him lead you. Right? Why? Because when I go as a Christian, I'm not knocking on doors. I can be woe is me. I'm undone. You know, like Elijah. Because lo, even I only am left. And there's none others. And yes, there's seven other others, but in our New Testament experience by God's grace, we're not standing alone. Why? Because Jesus is with us. And why should I be afraid if God is with me? No man shall set on thee to hurt thee. The third thing, he didn't quit. He told Paul, I'm gonna bless your speaking. Notice the statement, this is where we end this morning. For I have much people in this city. But Lord, I just got here. Yeah, okay, we saw Christmas in this house, we saw some people get saved. I have much people in this city? You know what it's speaking about? It's speaking about those that would get saved. It's teaching. Do you believe that today? I mean, we look at our congregation today and our attendance isn't huge. It's been bigger than this. But, I mean, even if you had full attendance today, we look at our congregation and say, you know, it's not huge. But do you have this idea in your heart that there's a great host that God is going to save? I say this from my heart, just sharing a testimony with you, back when I was, this is probably going back at least 10 years. And I know where I was in Illinois, sitting in my car having my devotions by a pond that's near my aunt's house. And just praying, asking God for promise about, you know, ministry in Scotland, it's not known to be easy. In the last 60 years, there's been very little that you could see and say, wow, you know, that works and that's been accomplished. But the Lord gave me this passage. I haven't yet met people in that city. You know, we got this large city of Edinburgh here that needs God, and we're a suburb of that. We're just outside the city limits, and here in these villages that I already mentioned that is our area, our Jerusalem that God's given to us. We may look at it and say, but God, where are the people that are going to trust Christ? I praise God this morning that Karen's here. She trusted Christ at the last moment. Praise God. There's others that we've seen recently trust Christ as their Savior and what we've got to be reminded of is we don't know the future. We don't know what God desires to do. We ought to attempt great things for God, as William Carey said, I think. Expect great things from God. And say, Jesus hasn't failed me. Why should I quit? I have many people in that city. So this morning, I just want to challenge you. Are you tempted to quit? Paul continued there a year and six months teaching the Word of God. He didn't quit. Don't quit. It's a simple message, isn't it? But by God's grace, that means this week I need to evangelize. I need to persuade. I need to make sure I don't have blood guiltiness on my hands. I'm faithful. And I don't think today that the Lord wants us to go around paranoid that we're going to get blood on our hands. I think he does want us to go around soul conscious so that when somebody comes near us and the Spirit of God says, hey, speak to them about the Lord, that we have a tract, we have our gospel done, ready, we've got tracts in the back table to hand to somebody, right-handed one. By the way, those white tracts that just say, one question. I found her very easy to give to people, and I just tell them, if I'm at a business transaction, here's something to do on your break. There's one question, it's the most important question in the world, I hope you know the right answer. And you know what? People respond really well to that. And they've got the question there, if you're to stand before God, what reason would you give that God should let you into heaven? Do you know that one question is enough to begin that work of grace in somebody's heart where their eyes are open like, wow, I need to know if I die I'm going to go to heaven. I need to know the truth. And so may God help us not to quit today. May the Spirit of God apply the truth of the Word of God to our hearts this morning. Let's bow our heads and pray. Father, I pray that your Spirit would speak to our hearts. Father, I ask this now in the integrity of each heart as we bow before the living God who knows our heart. Father, I want to ask you before all of us to individually show us if we've got blood on our hands, or if we've quit. Father, if we've given up, if we've made excuses, And Father, I just pray that the Spirit of God would help us never to quit with the Gospel. Father, it would be very bold to speak the truth about Jesus Christ. I pray for the harvest. I pray for the harvest, for the glory of God. I pray for the people to get saved. But Lord, you didn't tell us to go and to preach the Gospel because there was going to be an incredible harvest. There will be a harvest. But Father, it's required and it's words that a man be found faithful. Father, it's what we do with the talent that you've given to us. It's how we invest it and use it. So Lord, I pray, may our hearts just be tender to you in this time. Lord, you may be speaking to somebody's heart about going into missions or going into evangelism. Father, about maybe taking the first step and saying, you know, I want to do glory to our... It's on Saturdays, Lord, but anybody in the church can do it. Father, I want to put some of those Gospel leaflets out, those invitations to come to the carol scene. Father, help us to decide. Help us not just to be challenged by the need to not quit giving the Gospel. Help us to decide how we're going to not quit. And so may the Spirit of God apply the truth of the Word of God to our hearts now. It's in Christ's name we pray.