Well I surely have enjoyed being here now. Hard to believe this is Tuesday night and we have just one more evening together. And how many of you are planning to be back tomorrow evening? Let me just see your hand. There we go. And those of you at Shenandoah we want you up the road, amen, at 7 o'clock. But I am thrilled that some of the folks that I love more than I love any other folks in this world that I've had the privilege of pastoring and serving with. I'm glad that they've come, many of them tonight to support this meeting. sure glad that churches can get along in the same region, amen. And because we are going the same direction and we believe the same book, amen. And you know what? Well I've already been blessed this evening already. Man, the testimony and the singing and all of it has just been extra special. And the Lord just kind of prompted me here that I'm going to change up something here. I know that we've been kind of going through a little bit of a each night maybe taking 8 or 10 minutes. And you know I had this grand idea 3 weeks ago. I was preparing for the meeting. I called up Brother Duncan I said, what do you think about this? I have about 40 minutes to preach let me take about 10 minutes and kind of do a little teaching a little bit each night. And he, oh it's a great idea. And I've got a great outline in all of this and we're not making very much progress through this, number one, alright. And I didn't surprise anybody from Shenandoah, all right. I am known as the series preacher, amen. If we don't get done this night we just pick it up the next night and on and on. And in one church of mine we went through the book of Revelation on Wednesday night, three and a half years later. telling the truth. Three and a half years later we are still in Revelation. And so Brother Duncan, Brother Cawley with your OK on this can we just not do this tonight and tomorrow night? And maybe tomorrow while I'm here can I just make copies of the answers? And maybe tomorrow night we can just pass it out. And that way you'll still get the information but it doesn't cut into my preaching time. Everybody okay with that? All right. So let's get our Bibles out tonight, please. The book of Acts, chapter number 8. You know, sometimes preachers think they have good ideas that just don't kind of work out. And I thought it was a good idea. We'll do a little teaching and a little preaching, but I felt like my preaching is getting cut into and I don't want that to happen. Amen? Acts chapter number 8. Acts chapter number 8. Brother Willard thank you for being here tonight my friend. This is the new pastor at Shenandoah Bible Baptist. Brother John raise your hand if you don't mind please. And I'm sorry I woke you up. I'm sorry about that. But He is the man that transitioned as the senior pastor when 14 months ago the Lord led me to resign and move into this new era of ministry. And thank God there wasn't one Sunday between my last Sunday and his Sunday being voted in. The church did not miss a beat. Amen. And praise the Lord for that. You know that is of God when that happens. And this is a good man right here. He is a soul winner. as well. And of course Brother Williams there, one of his assistant pastors, and got to ordain that young man into the ministry. Got to marry he and his wife. And just so thankful for his four boys growing up there. Now stay off the streets. David has a driver's license now. So if you go into Martinsburg and you see that young man, just go to the right quickly. Get off the road. Amen. but praise the Lord, that's awesome. Well, Acts chapter number eight, we're gonna come to just one passage tonight here as our text, and that's gonna be verse number eight, although we're gonna be preaching really from verses one through eight, and we're gonna be in a lot of other passages of scripture this evening, so you kind of follow along. How many will just track with me tonight? If we go to a passage, you'll turn. Let me see your hands. You're gonna follow with me there, and we'll eventually make our way back to Acts chapter number eight. Notice, please, if you don't mind, verse number eight. just one statement, and then from this statement, I take my title this evening, and we read in Acts 8 and verse number 8, these words, and there was great joy in that city. Would you read that statement with me please? And there was great joy in that city. I'd like to preach to you for a little while, and I have extra time now that we're not doing our worksheet, amen? I'd like to preach to you a little bit on the subject, how to bring joy to our city. How to bring joy to our city. We're gonna find it right in the passage, and obviously we are in a soul winning conference this evening. Let me just stop and say before we pray, Ransom, West Virginia, that would be the first city we might think about. That's the city that this church has been placed in for all of these decades. And obviously we know that Inwood, West Virginia is just up the road, and we know Martinsburg, West Virginia is just beyond that, and Hedgesville, West Virginia, and then you begin to think about Charlestown, you begin to think about all of these cities and towns. Aren't you glad that in 1976, Brother Witham, did I get that right, that God led Pastor Witham to plant a church in Ransom, West Virginia? May I say, for the last 40 plus years, the preaching of the Word of God has brought joy to Ransom, West Virginia. They may not have known it, but it has brought great joy. Because anywhere Jesus is, there's great joy, amen? And we're gonna find tonight a little bit of a recipe. And I'd like folks at Shenandoah, I'd like you to go back to Martinsburg. I know it's just a few miles up the road, and I'd like you to continue making Martinsburg really happy for what we find in Acts chapter number eight as our recipe. Let's bow our heads and let's pray tonight. I surely want to thank you for this great church, and Lord, really two great churches represented here, two sister churches. Lord, I'm thankful that over these decades, Lord, Pastor Don Smith years ago and Pastor Witham, that same era of time, both now leading churches to be soul winning stations and reaching people and running buses and vans and knocking on doors. And God, we thank you for all of the fruit that has been born and fruit that has remained over all of these years. And then Lord, tonight we come to 2023 And now Pastor Coley has taken the helm here. And Pastor Duncan, you've brought this young man, not even a year yet on staff. And Father, I thank you for his zeal and his energy and his youth. And Lord, I thank you that you've brought a great team here with these three men. And I want to thank you for this team of lay folk too, these teachers and soul winners and junior church preachers and nursery workers and singers. And Lord, all of these folks here at First Baptist and Ransom, Lord, we want to do our part to bring Jesus to the people around us, because they need great joy. Without Him, they have not. And so I pray that you'll bless the message and the direction, Lord, in this soul-winning conference, that we would be more encouraged, more passioned, more on purpose, that we would be taking Jesus to our city. May it be so tonight, I pray. And we ask this in His precious and holy name. Amen. Any place without Jesus Christ being in His rightful place is a very unhappy place. I'm going to start by giving a few illustrations here. This world is a very unhappy place. I don't know if you see what I see as we find our way around in our daily lives, in our shopping, and in our living of lives, and kind of rubbing shoulders with what we might call the world. We find an awful lot of unhappiness out there. You know, I try when I'm out and around folks to speak to them and kind of give a smile. And, you know, it's hard sometimes to even get a grunt from somebody, right? It just seems like they're in their rut. They are in their own little world. And it seems as if there's no happiness, there's no joy, there's only heartache and seemingly despair. And we as believers know that that is because they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And may I just say, and I'm saddened, not only as a pastor for 30 plus years, but now as I travel from church to church, it seems as if I even meet some of those same folks in the church house. And they may know Christ as their Savior, but boy, they haven't told their face yet, amen, that they're saved. They may say they have the joy of the Lord in their heart, but you never could tell it by looking at their countenance. You know, the Bible talks about a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, amen? And when we have problems of life and issues of life and the hardships of life, we can get through it because the Bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength. But because this world has not put Jesus in its rightful place, it has become a very, very unhappy place. 1 John 2 and verse 5, if you want to turn there quickly, the Bible says this, love not the world, Neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And I want you to notice verse 17, friends. And the world passeth away in the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. In verse number 15, that word world there in the Greek language is the word cosmos. And it doesn't just mean the actual terrestrial ball that we're living on. It has to do with the culture or the arrangement of the world. That's actually what the Greek word is, the way it is arranged. And may I just say to you that the world is arranged trying to find happiness in the three things that we just read there, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Lust means desire. So if I can desire something, and it doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, it doesn't matter if it's good or evil, if I want it, I'm just gonna get it, and they think that's gonna make them happy. So if I want an illicit relationship that is outside the bounds of marriage, then that's what I'm going to do. If I can find a little happiness in the bottom of a bottle in a bar setting somewhere, then that's what I'm going to do. And they think they're going to find happiness and joy there. But my friend, all they find is despair. All they find is that the lust of the flesh leads them to the pride of life, thinking they can do it without God. And the Bible says in verse 17 that this world is one day going to pass away. And so what they're seeking for, they will never find. And so because the world has not put Christ in its rightful place, the world is a very unhappy place. But that is not what God wants for those of us who know Him as our Savior. Look at 1 John 1 verse 4, would you? Just go back a few verses. 1 John chapter number 1. And verse number four, and he tells us right out of the get-go, right at the beginning of this chapter, and these things write we unto you that your, talk to me church, your joy may be, hey, 1 John's written to the believer. And because we know that Jesus belongs on the throne of our life, that Jesus is to be preeminent in everything that we do in life, then we can have the promise of having his joy to become full in our lives. So the world is not happy because they don't know Christ. But we as believers can be happy and full of the happiness of the Lord because we know Him in a personal way. You see, people are likened in the Bible to sheep and goats. Take your Bible and go to John chapter number 10 with me. You know that the Bible is very clear, all we like sheep, right, have gone astray. And Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. So we know that we as people, the people that live in this world, we understand that we're likened to sheep and to goats. And John chapter number 10, In the early passages there, it tells us that the sheep hear his voice and they follow him. And we know that that shepherd, the great shepherd, is none other than Jesus. Note with me, please, John 10 and verse number 11. If you're there, please. I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. We are able to know his voice. Hey, when we put Jesus on the throne of our life, he is our shepherd, we understand his voice, we know his leading. I mentioned a moment ago, Psalm 23, we understand the provision that comes with that. the personalization that comes. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He's taking care of my needs. He leads me to the pastures and to the still waters. Even if we go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Isn't that a wonderful thing to know that even as sheep, we have a loving, faithful shepherd? And I don't know about you, that brings me great joy, right? But I want you to notice in John 10 that the people that don't know the shepherd, I want you to look and see what their lot is. Look at John 10 and verse number 10. The Bible says, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. Now let's stop right there. Those of us who know the scriptures, who is that thief? Who's it talking about? Satan, right? The one that would love to come in and steal the joy of one's life, to steal away the Word. Remember the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter number 13, and there was some seed that was sown on some stony grounds. And the Bible says the birds of the air came and they stole it away, just like Satan will come and steal the Word away. Why? He doesn't want them to find the joy of the Lord. He doesn't want them to know the happiness that is found in Jesus And so watched a verse 2 10 again the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy But read with me church, but I am come that they might have life and that they might have it Hey, hey, hey, that's the kind of life I want. How about you? Come on now and Isn't that the kind of life that we would like the world to know as well. I You see, but they don't know it because they're living in this cosmos, this arrangement of trying to find happiness and joy in all of the wrong places. You know, in your home and in your marriage, if you don't put Jesus in his rightful place, your home won't be happy either. Jesus needs to be in the center of every marriage in this room tonight. I will, June the 1st, celebrate 33 years with my sweet, wonderful wife, Karen. We met at Bible college and we have served the Lord faithfully all of these years together. And I don't know what I'd do without her. And what a wonderful, sweet helpmate she has been and a great mother to my two daughters. a loving GG, amen, to a four-year-old little grandson that has autism. And we're just loving life and loving ministry and loving all of these things. And I'll tell you why you can have a marriage like that. It's not because we're perfect. It's not because we've done all things right. It's not because we've never had problems or issues or hard times in life. It's because we've tried to put Jesus in his rightful place. And your marriage can be happy if you'll put Jesus in his rightful place. But I want you to think about this world and their marriages. Why do we have a 60% divorce rate today? Well, it's because they they can't find any happiness And they can try three or four or five wives and may I just say to you that is not the answer Do you remember in John chapter 4 Jesus was talking to a lady a woman at the well She had five husbands and she was still seeking something. Come on now I'm just trying to say, my friends, this world is looking for something that can only be found in Jesus Christ. And so when he's in his rightful place, whether it's in the world, in their own personal lives, in their home, in their marriage, may I say, if government doesn't put Jesus in his rightful place, government will continue to crumble. My friend, the culture wars that we are having today, and I'm not trying to get political about it, and it's not about a Democrat or Republican or a conservative or a liberal, it's that we have put Jesus out of where He belongs in America. No wonder we're not a happy culture. No wonder we're fighting and divided, why? Because Jesus is not where he should be. And may I just say, as you're turning to Colossians 1, now stay with me as I'm laying the foundation here. If you've learned anything about me in my preaching, my foundation is usually the most lengthy part of the sermon, amen? And so we wanna lay this biblical foundation so we can then take a few thoughts from our text. The same thing is true in the church. You're turning right now to Colossians in chapter number one. Colossians in chapter number 1. The same thing is true even in the church that if Jesus does not have His rightful place the church cannot be happy. Can I just ask you if you have your text there would you just look back at me? Can I ask you a question? Are you happy serving Jesus tonight? Are you happy sitting in the pews of First Baptist Church of Ransom? Is Shenandoah Bible Baptist Church a happy place? And you know what a happy place is not dependent on who stands in the pulpit. You see, just because I left after nine years doesn't mean that Shenandoah just needs to fall apart. You know why? Because Shenandoah was not dependent on a pastor or a man. Shenandoah was built just like First Baptist Church of Ransom was not built on Pastor Mike Witham, and it's not built on Pastor Cawley. It's certainly not built on Pastor Duncan. Amen. Come on now. We know the church is built on one person and one person only, and that is Jesus Christ. And when Jesus finds his rightful place in the church, it's a happy place. And we can be happy serving Jesus. Instead of, oh, I gotta go to church tonight. Well, we gotta go soul winning. Huh? It's a soul winning conference, right? Maybe we should be looking at, we get to go and talk about the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords because Jesus is in his rightful place. Look at Colossians 1, where is that rightful place in the church? Let's begin reading verse 14. whom and we know that that in whom goes back to the last word of verse number 13 the kingdom of his dear Son its capital Jesus Christ the very Son of God in whom we have Redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins. How many of you are glad your sins are forgiven tonight? Aren't you glad you've been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Aren't you glad 1 John 1, 9 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, not just sin once and, yes, He forgave our sin once and for all on the cross, but the sins that we continue to commit. Aren't you glad that same blood continues to forgive? and allows me to have that open and sweet relationship with Jesus Christ. Verse 14, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who, speaking of the Son, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him, There's no period. This is, hey, talk about a run-on sentence, friends. Look at me. But there's no better place to keep on running on and running on and running on than about Jesus Christ. Keep reading. Verse 17, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. You say, well, preacher, we haven't gotten to the church yet. That's what verse 18 says. And he is the head of the body, the what? The church, how many of you are part of the church tonight? Can I see your hand? How many are glad you're part of the church tonight? How many of you are glad that you and I know where Jesus' rightful place is right here in the church? The pastor is not the one in charge, he is in charge. The board of deacons is not in charge. The trustees are not in charge. Ain't nobody in charge. Ain't, that's a bad word, I'm sorry. That's wrong English, but it's really good preaching, amen? I'm saying to you, there's one person and one person only who is to be preeminent in the church, and that's Jesus Christ. Because in him, we're gonna find joy. That's where we're going, look at verse 18. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in how many things, church? All things, he might have the preeminence. The Christian and the church, as we see him as the head and all of that embodiment of the Godhead, the Bible talks about the fullness of the Godhead bodily is in Jesus Christ. So if Jesus and all that he is, is preeminent in the church, then that can bring us great joy. My question is, what are we supposed to do with that joy? What are we supposed to do, for instance, with the love that God is? Does the Bible say that God has love? Yes, but does the Bible also say that God is love? So if we have God, we have love, right? Just like we're getting to the place here, if we have the joy of Jesus, we have the joy of knowing Christ, that we're supposed to do something with that. That's the point of the message tonight. Don't miss the transition and the point of the message. So if Jesus is in His rightful place, and Jesus can bring joy and great happiness and great fulfillment, because He is all in all, and by Him all things consist, and if He's preeminent in the church, and He is love, and He is compassion, and He is forgiveness, and He is salvation, then we as the church are supposed to be a conduit to get that from God, to the world around us that has no joy because they know not Christ. So soul winning basically is the conduit, the means by which we are to introduce Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Now that being said, let's come back to our text in Acts chapter number eight, please. Acts eight. And I want you to remember the background quickly of Acts chapter eight. The last couple of verses in chapter number seven, we have Stephen's martyrdom. The first man that gave his life for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, the first martyr. We won't get into that story tonight, but I think you know it. In Acts chapter eight, then in verse number one, we find Saul's persecution. So not only Stephen's martyrdom, verse one and verse three, we find Saul's persecution. Look at it in Saul. was consenting unto his death, and at that time there was great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all, and I want you to note the word, scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles. Skip down to verse number four. Therefore they, that were, here it is again, scattered abroad, went everywhere preaching the word. So look this way. So at the end of chapter seven, we have Stephen's martyrdom. At the beginning of chapter eight, we have Saul's persecution. And also in the beginning of chapter number eight, we see the saints scattering. Now, if you don't know the scriptures, that may not mean anything to you. In fact, look back at verse number one. Let me do a little teaching right here. Look at verse one again. Notice where they were scattered. It says, look at the middle verse, the great persecution against the church, which was at, and what's the name of the city right in the middle of verse number one? Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of where? Okay, watch watch watch how many of you remember acts 1 and verse number 8 don't turn back there But remember just before the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? He is he has been crucified three days later He rose again. And can I just stop and say thank God for the resurrection eight man the risen Savior He's in the world today lives within my heart. I know him in a personal way that resurrected Savior is For 40 days ministered to those to whom he saw and he showed himself alive after his passion. And then we get to Acts chapter number one, he's about ready to go back to heaven. And he leaves one last time what we call the Great Commission, Acts 1 to 8. shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost will come upon you and you shall be witnesses." Remember, that's another word for soul winning, right? You shall be witnesses unto me, watch this, both in Jerusalem Now, is that the town that we just read about in Acts 8-1? Look at 8-1 again. The persecution now is going on in the church in Jerusalem, and then there's a scattering to the places of Judea and Samaria. Watch this. So for whatever reason, from Acts 1 all the way to Acts 8, they've not fulfilled the commission of Acts 1-8. They just stayed in Jerusalem. But Acts 1.8 said, I want you to be witnesses both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the outermost parts of the world. That's the Great Commission, right? They weren't supposed to just stay in Jerusalem. But for the first eight chapters, that's what they've done. And why, maybe, is the church not fulfilling its potential as it should? Oh, I'm not saying they didn't have some great days. The great day of Pentecost, 3,000 people saved, and there were some miracles that took place, and the lame man that was healed by Peter and John, and all of that. But you're also gonna find great persecution. They're being thrown into prison. Acts chapter 6, the widows start having problems and issues, and they're murmuring against the Grecians. Kind of sounds like an independent fundamental Baptist church that can't get along with each other, maybe because we're not fulfilling the commission that we were given. Did everybody get that point? That took me a long time to get there, but that's the transition right there. And so in Acts 8, so we've got Acts 1.8, I just talked about Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, uttermost. Acts 8.1, God makes sure they do what they're supposed to be doing. So he brings persecution to scatter them. Are you with me? And tell me, go back to verse number one, what were the two regions that they, as they left Jerusalem, what were the two regions that they begin scattering into? Judea. Here's what God said. This is a good principle for all of us. He would much rather us be obedient to Him willingly, but sometimes He puts a little pressure on us to do what we're supposed to do. And maybe that's what a soul winning conference is all about. You know what you're supposed to do. I know what I'm supposed to do. Maybe this conference is gonna just kind of put you in a spot where the conviction of the Holy Ghost of God comes upon you and you realize starting on Sunday night, the greatness of the gospel. And we realize that we have been given so much and that we are to give it to the world and that we have the answer through Jesus Christ. And may I just say to you that maybe we need to get out of our comfort zone. We need to maybe leave Jerusalem so we can go into Judea and Samaria and yea, the uttermost parts of the world to be witnesses so that they can hear about Jesus as well. So they were scattered abroad in verse number one. Verse four, they were scattered abroad. So what was it that made the difference? and brought joy to this city. Skip to verse eight. Remember, that's our text verse. Would you read verse eight with me, ready? And there was great joy in that city. So let's find out, here's the message, here's the body of the message. So what were some things that were prevalent, that were present in this story in Acts eight that ended up bringing joy to the city? Can I give you from verse number five, the first point? Look at chapter eight, verse five. Therefore they that were scattered abroad I'm reading verse 4 now to kind of give us the background went everywhere preaching the word and Philip then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and Would you read the phrase with me church preached Christ? Unto them if you're taking notes tonight number one here it is they all start with letter P The first thing that's gonna bring joy to Ransom, West Virginia, the first thing that's gonna bring joy to Martinsburg, West Virginia, the first thing that's gonna bring joy to America, the thing that's gonna bring joy to this world is a preacher preaching Christ. Philip was a preacher. Thank God for Philip. Now, we're not going to get into all the weeds in the study about Philip. It's a great study for you to do on your own, and you'll find there were some things that God did with this evangelist and this very specially used of God man. But I want you to, tonight, we're just going to call him a preacher. Because verse number five says that he preached, Christ unto them. I read a story not too long ago about an old-timey preacher about 50 years ago, and he was telling this story on himself. He was preaching on a Sunday morning from 1 John chapter 5 and verse number 12. And that verse or that phrase that he kind of was preaching on or emphasizing was the phrase, and he that hath the son hath life. And the story went that he got to preaching, he that hath the son hath life, and then he couldn't remember what to say next. So he kind of backed up and he said, he that hath the son hath life. And he kind of forgot what he was supposed to say next. He didn't remember what the next part of the outline was. So he stepped back again and he said, he that hath the son hath life. The story went that after the sermon at home, his daughter began to talk with him. That great preacher, the prince of preachers, if I said his name, you would know who I'm talking about. The daughter said to her preacher daddy, How come, Dad, you're repeating yourself over and over today?" Now, that's only as a PK daughter can do to her dad, amen? I had two daughters that picked on me unmercifully, amen? They never heard all the millions of words that I said right, but they would get the one that I flipped over, you know, that I didn't say right, that I messed up in some way. And so his daughter said, Dad, why did you repeat yourself over and over? It looks like you got stuck a little bit today. and the preacher answered his daughter, what better place to get stuck than on the son? He that hath the son hath life. Can I say to you, that's what's gonna bring joy to Ransom, West Virginia, is Pastor Coley getting up in this pulpit, as Pastor Witham did for 40 plus years, and every Sunday, and every Wednesday, and every revival meeting, and every missions conference, is a preacher preaching about the son, Jesus Christ. That's gonna bring joy. Acts 4 verse number 12, you know it. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. It's always about the name of Jesus. And that's what soul winning is about, friends. It's always about the name of Jesus. Hey, look this way. Yes, I think we should promote our churches when we go out. So when you got to talk about first Baptist Church in Ransom You got to talk about Shenandoah Bible back. Yes, absolutely And there's a place in a time for that But my friend more than you are trying to get them in the door of a church You are trying to get them in the door of Jesus. Jesus said I am the door. Amen He said I am the way the truth and the life we want to preach Jesus unto them. I And so there's no other name that is gonna bring that great joy than the name of Christ. Look at Acts 9. You're close there. Look at Acts 9, verse 20. I told you we're gonna use a lot of scripture tonight. And straightway, he, talking about this newly saved Saul, who becomes the apostle Paul, chapter 9, verse number... 20, and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is the Son of God. Go to Romans chapter number one, quickly, Romans chapter number one. We were here last evening. Here's what Paul said in Romans 115. So as much as in me is, I am ready to... Preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Take your Bible quick. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 1. 1 Corinthians chapter number 1. I just want to show you over and over and over. Why was the church powerfully used in the New Testament there? Because they preached Christ. And preaching Christ is what's going to bring joy to the city. Look at 1 Corinthians 1, verses 17 and 18. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved, It is the power of God. How many of you know when Jesus gets preached, that great power and great conviction can come upon mankind that hears it? It may seem foolish to the world. That's what it says. It may seem what we do is foolish. They may look at us as a bunch of kooks, but my friend, because I know Jesus and because Jesus lives in my heart, it's made me a I'm a really happy guy and I know where my eternity is and I know what I'm doing and what my purpose in life is. Why? Because I was introduced to a man named Jesus Christ, that's why. And I have joy and you can have joy as they will have joy if Christ is preached to them. There must be a preacher preaching Christ. Skip down to verse 23 of 1 Corinthians chapter number one. The Bible says this. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. I understand, back to Acts 8, I understand the world may not understand what our message is. The world may not understand why we talk so much about the Lord Jesus Christ. But how many of us do you understand tonight? Jesus has made an ultimate difference in your life, right? Love your testimony, my friend, tonight. And I likewise wish you could have gotten saved earlier in life and maybe not wasted so many years and thankful for that testimony. I'm glad you did get it settled, amen? And things are different and things are changed because you met Jesus Christ. Here's the second thing that's gonna make a city happy though. Back to Acts 8. Number one, we said a preacher preaching Christ. Go back to Acts 8 in verse number four. What's another element of this city in Samaria finding great joy? Verse four. Therefore they that were scattered abroad now notice they notice the plural See verse 5 was Philip. That was a singular preacher preaching Christ Therefore they that were scattered abroad went Everywhere, what's the next three words church? preaching the word remember last night we talked about the word preach and We said the word preach doesn't just mean what we do in the pulpit as a God-ordained preacher or pastor. Preacher means a teller of good news. Would you notice here in the text everybody look at me now watch don't don't don't fall asleep now Don't don't lose me here now because this is really where it's at as it relates to the church Congregation. Oh, yeah, I think we all would say verse 5 Yeah Philip needs to be preaching the word and Philip needs to be lifting up Jesus and and thank God and how many of you are thankful? Pastor Cawley preaches Jesus. Amen. Amen, and and he's supposed to do that but verse 4 says they the plurality of the others that were scattered. And they weren't just preachers, because the end of verse number one says, accept the apostles. I'm not gonna get into all of that, but I want you just to know that the next group that we're gonna find that is doing what is supposed to be done that brings joy to the city, didn't just come from the pulpit, it came from the pew, if we can say it that way. They, you, us, I'm part of the congregation tonight too, us. They went everywhere, scattered abroad, doing what? Preaching the word. Hey, isn't that what soul winning is? You're preaching the word. You're going up to a door and you knock, and it's like you take your open Bible and say, thank you, sir, for opening the door. Would you please take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter number eight? No, you don't really do it that way, right? But when you are giving the gospel, is this what you use? Brother Witham, was it your testimony that you said the soul winners that came, they didn't have the little soul winning New Testaments, right? They brought their big Bibles. And don't bring your big family Bible, right? You know, the big one like this, and you're walking like this, and you're knocking on the door, you know. You're gonna scare them to death, right? But watch. But isn't that what soul winning is? We go to the people, we scatter everywhere preaching the word of God. That is soul winning. And I want you to notice that was not just the preachers. Oh yeah, Philip in verse five is preaching. Oh yeah, we know that Saul's gonna be a great preacher, and Barnabas is gonna be a great preacher, and Silas is gonna be a great preacher, and Timothy's gonna be a great preacher. But can I remind you, those four or five men can't reach the whole world like they were supposed to. can I remind you that in Acts 17 verse number 6 it was said of this first century church, these are they that have turned the world upside down. That didn't happen by two or three or four fellas. That happened because there was a whole bunch of Christians sharing what had happened in their life. Is everybody with me tonight? Well, maybe give some invitation like right now, huh? Because this is about us. Oh, it's awesome for the preacher to preach Christ. And we all say amen about that. And we're really good about coming in on Sunday and giving an amen to the preacher because he's preaching Christ. But what about when we walk out those doors on Monday and Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning and all the other times of our lives when we're around people that are so unhappy? They need to hear about Jesus. They need to have someone that is willing to preach the word unto them. Can I make this statement? A soul winning church will impact their city for Christ. A soul winning church will impact their city, their community, their county, the Eastern Panhandle, the state of West Virginia, our nation, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the world. What's going to change this world? Jesus Christ is. What's going to bring joy to this world? The preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was sharing with the men on Monday, I pastors. We had lunch together here Monday afternoon and I think we spent about three hours together just kind of talking shop, and ministry, and questions, and answers. And boy it was wonderful. And we were talking brother with them a little bit about Pastor Don Smith. And I'm really only saying this because there are some Shenandoah folks here. Pastor Don Smith and Mike Bagehot, those were two men that were used at Shenandoah in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s as the great Shenandoah Bible Baptist Church became such a great soul winning station. At that same time, Pastor Witham is starting this church and soul winning is going on here. And I made this statement to them. Pastor Willard, I don't know if this has been your testimony or not at this point after 14 months. But I told these men, hardly in the nine years that I pastored in Martinsburg, hardly a week went by as I was outdoor knocking, as I was talking to people, hardly a week, and I mean that, hardly a week went by that I did not meet somebody who said, when they found out I was from Shenandoah Bible Baptist Church, they would say something like, oh yeah, Pastor Don Smith led me to the Lord. Brother Mike Bajit picked me up on a bus brother Mike Bajit was my junior church preacher and he led me to Christ and baptized me I mean I heard that over and over and over and over in nine years Don't tell me that a soul winning church cannot impact a city for Christ Catch your question has ransom been impacted To what degree has Martinsburg continued to be impacted? We cannot live off of the laurels of the past, my friends. We must do what we must do in this generation to get the gospel to the world. So you want Ranson to be happy? Better start preaching Christ to him. And not just Pastor Cauley from the pulpit. Oh yeah, that's a part of it. A preacher preaching Christ. Number two, people preaching the word. Can I give you number, verse number six, the third thing is people in one accord. Look at verse six, church. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake as he was preaching, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Can I just talk real plainly right now to First Baptist Church in Ransom? Listen to me, please, carefully. And I'm the hired gun, all right? So I'm the one that comes in and I'm gonna leave on Thursday morning, all right? So you can like or lump what I'm about to say here, all right? But I promise you that this church will not reach her potential unless you are unified behind a common cause. One accord, unity, sameness, togetherness. I've pastored for 32 years. There was nothing that was as disappointing as to have a mission that God has given to you, and a leadership that you're supposed to bring to your church, and a vision that you cast, and you know this is of the Lord, and you maybe get up. Pastor Coley, I know you've only been the senior pastor just a short time, but I'm sure that your heart has been about certain things. You know that God wants for this church, and you know that this is the direction, And you know that this is biblical and you pour your heart out and it seems to fall on deaf ears. And it seems to fall on people that say, OK, well, that can be your vision. Just go ahead and try to take care of it yourself. But don't ask me to lift a finger. Don't ask me to get involved. We pay you to go soul winning. Church, can I say something please? The paycheck you give these men does not negate you from the responsibility personally of taking the Gospel to your world. Amen. You see, I think we kind of, okay, this is a great missions church, but sometimes we're talking about money here, right? Okay. I'm feeling really comfortable. I've been here now three times, three nights. I'm just really comfortable here. I'm just ready just to unload the whole truck tonight. Sometimes we write a check to missions and we should, and you do, but that does not negate your personal responsibility to give the gospel to your local region. I soothe my conscience because I give X amount of dollars every month to missions to go to Africa. And we should do that because that's a part of the uttermost. But don't forget Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria. You see, we must be unified, church. I wonder what could happen to First Baptist Church in Ranson if we had 100% of this congregation that got excited about winning souls. What could we do in this region? Same thing in Martinsburg, same thing in any town. You know what most unsafe people think about church? They think it's a bunch of fighting Christians, kind of fighting over the color of the carpet or the paint on the walls or some, you know, all these committees and none of them can get along. And the world laughs at us because we've acted that way. Instead of there being one main purpose and cause for what we do at church. purpose and cause? Well, number one we know we are supposed to give glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to glorify Him with our lives. But what was the last thing He told us to do? Go into all the world and preach the Gospel. That's our mission. That is our mission. That's your mission. That's my mission. That's the preacher's mission. We are to be unified and in one accord. Let me say soul winning will bring a church closer and faster than anything else. Let me say it again. Soul winning will bring a church closer and faster than anything else. Do you know the Bible example in the New Testament particularly that Jesus used that talks about this particular manner here, and it is the matter of being in a yoke together. You know, Jesus said it this way, Matthew 11. Don't turn there, but if you want to study Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30, Jesus said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, right? And you shall find rest unto your souls. Here's what Jesus said, get in the yoke with me. What was a yoke? We don't understand it now. We're not an agrarian culture like they used to be in Bible days. We get on our tractors, right? And we take care of all of that. But you understand that when they had to pull the plow, they had to get some oxen going the same direction. So they would take two big ol' ox and they'd put them together in a yoke and they'd point them in the right direction and they'd put that plow behind and they'd say, whoop, giddy up now, right? And what's gonna happen if one ox is going this way and the other one's pointed this way and they're trying to do this? Sometimes that's what happens in the church. The deacon's trying to go over here and the pastor's trying to lead over here and the women are trying to do over here and this committee's trying to do over here. What could we do if we all got unified behind the word of God in reaching our society for Jesus Christ? unified and in one accord. I'm almost done here. Verse 6 says that, number 4, the people were living out what is preached. Would you look at verse number six? I read it a moment ago. And the people with one accord, they did what? They gave heed. They listened unto those things which Philip spake. Philip's the one preaching in verse number five, right? And they heard and they saw, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. The people living out what is preached. The word became their way. The word became their way. Hey, church, what's the way? What's the path? What's the direction? How do I know what I'm supposed to do and live in life? Can I just tell you, if you'll come every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, you'll get a lot of great direction from the Word of God about the way you're supposed to walk. And he says, that's what happened. These people heard Philip preach, and they heard and gave heed. Those are two different things. Look at me, church. In fact, we'll say it because it's 819. Some of you are still maybe hearing what I'm saying verbally right here, but you're not heeding much of what I'm saying because you didn't like what the content was. So you stop listening. I wonder how many times we stop listening to the Lord. I wonder how many times we stop listening to the preaching. Oh well, here he is again talking about soul winning. Okay, it's missions conference time again. Pastor Witham got up there for all those decades and wants me to give more money. And now Pastor Colley, he's kind of gotten indoctrinated as well and it's all about giving more to missions. Hey, that's how we're gonna get the gospel to the world, friends. And can I just say that we all need to heed what is being preached. And as we unify behind, again, not because of the man that's preaching it, because of the word that is being preached. The people were living out what is preached. The last point is this, there was a performance of miracles. Did you see that at the end of verse number six? The Bible says that hearing and seeing the miracles which he did, verse 7, for unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies that were lame were healed. May I say to you please, and I understand that The New Testament age now that we are living in, I understand that miracles like this, this was the apostolic age, I understand that. But may I say to you, there are still spiritual miracles that are taking place in our day. Every salvation is a miracle of the grace of God. And may I say to you, verse seven, unclean spirits. Can I tell you, when there is someone that is possessed with devils, and can I say to you, in our culture, that's becoming more and more prevalent. We're dealing with occultism, unlike any time ever in our generation and in our culture. It's like our society has given over to it. And may I say to you, there's one thing and one thing only that can release someone from the power of Satan, and that is the power of Jesus Christ because of what he did on the cross. Salvation's a miracle, friends. When you look about the lame man and you look about the palsied man, we think about someone who has no power of their own self. And yes, they were healed physically, but weren't the physical healings also a picture of spiritual healings? How many times did Jesus say, yeah, take up your bed and walk, but he also said, thy sins be forgiven thee. You know why? He was saying, you can't get up of your own accord. You don't have the power to walk. I will give you that power through the name of Jesus Christ. May I say to you, people that don't have Christ, they don't have the power to get up and go to heaven. They have no means wherewith to do that, but through Christ they can. And it's our job to give it to them. And so I'm saying to you that there was a performance of miracles. And all of that being said, we come to the last verse, which was our text, verse eight. Would you read verse eight with me? Ready? And there was great joy in that city. You thought I'd forgotten the whole text and title, right? How to bring joy to Ransom, West Virginia. What brought joy to the city of Samaria? What will bring joy to the city of Martinsburg or this area in which we live? I'll tell you what. Preaching Christ. People going everywhere preaching the word. Churches being unified behind the word of God and the vision of the power of the scriptures and a great missions program and a happy and joyful spirit inside the church. Can I just stop and say, when a guest comes in that may doesn't know the Lord Jesus like you and I know, do they feel a friendly, happy spirit when they walk in here to First Baptist Church in Ransom? Do they feel like this is a family? And watch, be careful that it doesn't feel like it's just your family and that they're kind of invading in your space. Come on now. Don't we want unsaved people to walk in on a Sunday and feel that they're welcomed here so they can hear the gospel? Hey church, it's not to be us four and no more. No, no, no, no, no. It is all that will come. We want you to come. You're welcomed here. Let us give you the gospel. Let us introduce you to Jesus Christ who's made a difference in all of our lives. And the Bible said when all of those things happened, joy in that city. Can I ask you tonight, please, as we close, let's close our Bibles tonight, we're done. May I ask you this evening, is there great joy here in your church? Is there great joy in your own heart? Is there great joy in the way that you've chosen to live your life? But again, in the text, the joy came back to the preaching of Jesus. And that's really what soul winning is. And so tonight, as we come to the invitation of this Tuesday evening, we have one more night. Oh, you've been such a wonderful crowd. You've been so receptive and so kind to allow another voice and a stranger to you to come in and just to preach the word of God. And I've not said anything that you haven't heard for years, but maybe a different voice saying what you already know will light a fire. I'd love for this church to be the happiest church in Ransom, West Virginia. That'd be a good place for you to say amen right there. Because this is your church. There may be other gospel preaching churches in this area, in this region. We're talking about your church. You know how you're gonna get that? Let's make much of Christ. Let's make much of Christ. Let's stand together, please. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Father, tonight I've poured my heart out. Lord, I've given everything that I have. I've tried to preach a Bible message and Lord, we've looked at multiple scriptures and we've looked at the name of Christ and the preeminence of Christ in the church and who you are and Lord, what our mission, what our goal is. And then Lord, tonight we've just found some real practical things that we can really all apply. Lord, I know Pastor Cawley's gonna continue preaching the word and preaching about Jesus, so we know we got that box checked. Lord, I guess I wonder about that second box. Are the people in this church gonna go everywhere preaching the word? Are we gonna take that seriously? Are we gonna pray that there'll be spiritual miracles that would take place because of the power of the cross? Lord, that happened in this story. Can we likewise pray for miracles? The miracle of salvation, the miracle of addictions broken, Lord, the miracle of marriages being salvaged and put back together, or the miracle of teenagers, instead of rebelling and walking away from the things of God, but Lord, teenagers that get on fire for the Lord and maybe even are called into ministry and preachers that come out of this church and missionaries that go to the foreign field, Lord, I don't know what you're gonna do. But Lord, unless we're surrendered, none of it can happen. And so tonight we want to surrender ourselves. Lord, this church wants to surrender herself right now. Lord, to what you want, what your desire is. Lord, I pray that you bless now this invitation. Maybe some need to come to an altar and make a vow to you. to ask you to help them in this next step of their lives to truly take soul winning seriously. May it be so, I pray. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. The invitation, hymn 296, please, tonight. Would you just play it once? Just start playing it right now, and then when she gets to the end, Brother Duncan, you sing that first verse when she gets to that next stop. How many of you tonight, maybe you just need to come and say, I'm just going to kneel on an altar. I'm going to take some time to tell God in this soul on a Tuesday night, something about the message touched my heart. I want to be tender. I want to be surrendered. I want to be happy. Are you happy in Christ? Maybe tonight you don't have your joy where it should be. How are you ever going to share that joy with the lost? if you don't even understand what it is that God, through Christ, wants to give to you. The altar's open tonight. Brother Duncan will sing that first stanza.