Mark 16, let's pray together. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to be in church today. Lord, thank you for saving our souls from hell through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Thank you for those that made that truth available to us, those that took the time to witness to us. to our parents, to our friends, so that eventually we could come to the knowledge of that truth. And pray that if there's anyone here that's not saved, that they would trust in Jesus Christ before the day is out, before maybe even we leave this class. And we pray that you help us as we go through these lessons to learn more about witnessing, to think more about witnessing, and that you bless our time in the church house today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. This Thursday, we will be six weeks away from our departure date to the Navajo Nation, if that puts it in perspective for you. We're very, very close and looking at the activities we have for the month of May and looking forward to the month of June, it's gonna be a busy few months. And so I believe it'll be just a blink of an eye and all of a sudden we'll be right there ready to leave. So I hope that you're looking forward to the time that we'll have together there and everything that we'll do. Our trip, I assume, will be full of activity. We'll spend time with each other and that'll be a blessing. I am sure, I hope we'll make new friends, we'll see old friends, we'll enjoy time in God's creation. But by far the most important activity we will have while we're out on the reservation will be lots and lots of evangelism, lots and lots of outreach and opportunities to tell people about the Lord and what he's done for them. We're gonna be conducting a VBS, hopefully lots of opportunities to witness to people of all ages. We'll be going out and doing inviting and canvassing for that VBS, and included in that will be opportunities for you to tell people about the Lord, opportunities for you to witness to people about their soul, about their eternity, opportunities for you to give them the gospel. Our main goal, on this trip, although it'll be fun, although it'll be lots of enjoyable things for us to do, and there'll be other things that'll be beneficial, right? Just the fun time together is a beneficial thing for your spiritual life and for your life in general. The time in God's creation is a beneficial thing for your spiritual life and just your life in general. But our main goal And our main prayer and our main emphasis is that someone comes to know Jesus Christ through our efforts and through our outreach during our time on the reservation. And I think, from reading the prayer letters and hearing the reports, that the Lord is doing a work on the Navajo reservation. Certainly Brother Joel is working hard, and certainly Brother Jake is working hard, and certainly the others that are involved in those ministries are working hard and making an effort, and they're doing well, but it seems to me that there in particular, the Lord is really doing something. A lot of people are getting saved there, and a lot of people are getting excited there, and a lot of people are coming to churches, and churches are being planted, and churches are growing, and I think that's a wonderful thing, and I hope that you're excited to be a part of that. The time that we'll spend there will be an opportunity for you to get in on that, and have a part in the work that the Lord is doing. Now, wouldn't it be a shame Wouldn't it be a shame for Brother David and Brother Joel to make all these plans and do all this planning and all this work for you to spend your time working, raising money, for you to spend $1,000 to go on a trip, for you to travel across the country, for you to take all that time out of your work schedule, out of your life, for the chaperones to take time off work and to travel out there with you to go through the physical exhaustion of running a VBS and a missions trip. And for someone whose heart God himself is working on, comes to you and asks questions about salvation and you don't know what to say. Wouldn't it be a shame for all this preparation to go into a trip like this and God brings someone to our group and God himself has been working on and working in and convicting that soul and they come to you and you're not prepared to give them the gospel. where you say something incorrect. I'm not trying to scare you away from witnessing, but you say something incorrect that causes them to have confusion surrounding the gospel. I know that God is ultimately the one who saves the soul, but he does it through the witness of people. That's how he's always done it. Since Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, the gospel has been preached by Christians to the lost. That is God's chosen method. You say, well, I think that if God wanted to save somebody, he could work on them and he could Ever since Christ ascended into heaven, he has worked through Christians. And he gives us the responsibility of being able to and being willing to witness to the lost. It is possible. It is possible that someone is ready to be saved or at least interested in hearing more about salvation, but they leave a conversation or an interaction with a Christian unsaved or confused concerning the gospel because that Christian was not properly equipped to witness to them. That is a possibility. There are instances, there are cases that somebody wants to know more about the Lord and they leave that conversation with a false assurance of salvation. because that Christian did not give them a clear or thorough witness, because that Christian maybe rushed them through some words that that lost person did not understand, and then because they said those words, the Christian says, you're good to go, don't ever worry about it again, and that lost person leaves with a false assurance of salvation because you as the witness didn't know how to handle the situation. That exists, that happens. And it's very possible that you will have a chance to witness to somebody directly on this trip. A vacation Bible school, there is a chance that you, if you're attending this trip, will have an opportunity to sit down with a child and share with them the gospel. And if you're not going on the trip, I hope that you will have the opportunity throughout your Christian life to share the gospel with lost people. And we don't want that thought to scare you. We don't want that thought to intimidate you. We want that thought to excite you. We want you to be prepared. We want you to be ready. We want you to be looking for opportunities to be able to share the gospel with people. We don't want you to be intimidated by the thought of sharing the gospel because you don't know what to say, or you don't know what to do, or you don't know how to handle the situation. So we're going to take the next six Sundays, and we're going to teach a series of lessons on witnessing. And our plan, our goal is to make these lessons very practical. We don't wanna just talk about witnessing, we want to try to teach you how to witness. And maybe you're very aware of how to witness, maybe you've been through classes like this before, maybe you've read books on the subject, but it's a good refresher. It's always good to think about these things and to remind yourself what you're supposed to say and how you're supposed to say it, what the Bible says about these matters. We're gonna show you what verses you can use and different conversation starters. Maybe you're witnessing, you feel like every time I witness to somebody, it just doesn't really go anywhere. I feel like it's just a dead end and I don't really know where to go and I don't really know what to say. And maybe the time we have together in these lessons will help you be able to be a better witness. We're gonna look at lessons on how to deal with children specifically. And it's our goal to equip you with the knowledge that you need so that if you get the opportunity to lead someone to the Lord, you'll be ready. you'll be ready. So we don't want to scare you. I don't want to make it sound like a lot of people don't witness at all because they feel like I don't know what to say. And we don't want to give you the idea that you have to be the absolute perfect witness or else you might as well just keep your mouth shut. We don't want to give you the idea that if you're not a great witness, then you shouldn't be witnessing at all. But at the same time, we want to do everything we can to prepare you So when you're out on the reservation, or you're out on the street corner on Friday, or you're out involved in witnessing, you know what to say and you know where to go. Because it is, like I said, it is possible and it happens that a lost person is interested and then the Christian witness through inability, through a lack of knowledge, through a lack of preparation, either fails to give them the information that they need or sometimes unfortunately gives them false information. And so we don't want that, we want to avoid that. And so that's what we're gonna do over the next six Sundays until we leave for the reservation. Today we're gonna talk about biblical reasons for witnessing, biblical reasons And the future lessons will be a little bit more practical and give you a little bit more of the how-to, and this is going to be more to get you thinking about how necessary it is for you to be a witness and why the Bible says you ought to be a witness. And you've heard lessons like this one before, but it'll be a good reminder. We don't want to go out to that reservation and just be on vacation, right? We want to hit the ground in Arizona with a missionary mindset. We want to get off that airplane and have the same mentality that a missionary would have if they were just entering the mission field. We want to be out there with the goal of winning lost people to Jesus Christ. So hopefully this lesson will excite us to that end and give us some motivation for being a better witness both here and there. So, biblical reasons for witnessing. The Bible has a lot to say about witnessing. And we don't witness like we witness because it's Baptist tradition. We don't witness like we witness because Brother James encourages us to do so. We don't witness the way that we witness because, well, this is Bible Baptist Church and this is just what we've always done and what we'll always do. We witness the way that we witness. We spend hundreds and thousands of dollars and hundreds and hundreds of hours trying to get the gospel out because it is a very biblical Concept. We do what we do because the Bible teaches it. And that's very important for you to realize. If you get your faith and your practice from only your parents, not saying that that's a bad place to get it, but if it is only your parents, or only your church, or only your pastor, you're going to have a very shallow Christianity that probably will not stand the test of time. You need to understand that we do what we do and we believe what we believe because it is what the Bible says. And so if the Bible is true at all, if we can have any trust in this Bible, the natural outcome will be witnessing. And witnessing a lot. And witnessing in the way that we do it. So, what are some biblical reasons for witnessing? Just gonna look at a few. You could go lots and lots of different directions with this, but gonna give you the main ones for you to think about. Number one, it's commanded. It's commanded, and that's why we're in Mark chapter number 16. Look at verse number 15. Jesus is risen from the dead. He's appeared unto his disciples, upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, which is a blessing because even unbelieving people can be used in the ministry of the Lord. Look at verse number 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Jesus Christ commanded his church to go into the world and preach the gospel. Witnessing is not a suggestion. It is not optional. It is not a, you should probably do this because it would be best for you. Witnessing is a commandment from God. And if you are not witnessing as a Christian, you are not obeying God in your Christian life. You are not living the Christian life if you are not doing something to try to get the gospel out. If you are not personally taking the Great Commission as your responsibility, you are not living the obedient Christian life. A lot of Christians, I just don't see what's so good about Christianity. I'm trying to live like a Christian. And they've not lifted one finger, not lifted one finger to preach the gospel. They don't view the Great Commission as their personal responsibility. No wonder you're not getting satisfaction and joy out of the Christian life. You're not living it. You're not doing it. Witnessing is a commandment. Your parents have probably said, I've said to my children, more than I thought I would say as a parent, because I said so. Well, why should I do it? Because I said so. And that might not be the complete answer. That might not be the answer that we necessarily want. And it might not be viewed as completely satisfactory. And sometimes that's the only answer your parents give you. God gives us other answers as well. But one of the answers that God gives us for why should I be a witness is because God said so. And that should really be enough. If there was not another reason, that should be plenty of reason. God said to do it and I'm gonna be obedient to what God said. Come to Acts chapter number one. Acts chapter number one. It's a matter of obedience. I don't feel like it. Okay, well, do it anyway. I don't think I'm called. I don't think I'm equipped. I don't think I'm good enough. I don't think I've been saved long enough. I don't speak very well. None of that's in that verse. He said, go do it. It's a commandment. Verse number eight, Acts 1-8, but ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses, ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number nine. 1 Corinthians chapter number nine. 1 Corinthians nine. Verse number 16, this is Paul speaking, but I don't think this statement is exclusive to Paul. Look at verse 16. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Paul says, I'm not doing anything special by going out and preaching the gospel. You can't glory in me because I'm fulfilling my duty as a witness. It's a necessity. I must do it. Woe is me if I preach not the gospel. And that ought to be the mindset you have surrounding witnessing. It is a necessity in your Christian life. It is not optional. It's not, oh, I did something really special today. I was a witness. It ought to be just status quo. For the born again Christian, it is necessity. It is what God has commanded you. Preach the gospel. Look at 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. Now then, verse number 20. We are ambassadors for Christ. That is what you are. whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, you are in this world to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. You are put on this earth. The reason why God left you here and did not take you out of this earth as soon as you got saved is so that you could be a witness to other people. And that's God's commandment to us is to be a witness. Now don't be a rebel. I know how it is. Somebody tells you what to do and there's something instinctive inside of us that doesn't want to do what somebody else told us to do just because somebody else told us to do it. Even if I was going to do it anyway, I don't want to do it now because you told me to do it. We don't like to be told what to do. Some of us struggle with that more than others. Some of us are more submissive. Some of us are more, just want to do it our own way and don't want people instructing us or telling us what to do. And the Bible says that is a very bad way to be. Rebellion is something that you need to get out of your life and get out of your heart. Because if you take that attitude with your parents, it's going to hurt you. And if you take that attitude with the boss at work, it is going to hurt you. And if you take that attitude with the laws of the land, it's gonna hurt you. And if you take that attitude with your pastors in church, it's going to hurt you. But if you take that attitude with God, If God says, if you've got a problem with the preacher saying you should witness because God said it and you're supposed to listen to God, and if that causes something to well up in your heart, like who are you or who is God to tell me what to do, that is a big problem that is really, really, really going to hurt you down the road. Not even down the road, tomorrow, today. If when somebody says God said it, that settles it, you ought to just do it because God commanded it. If that causes a rebellious spirit inside of you, you need to get a hold of that. You need to repent of that. You need to get before God and get that fixed. Get that figured out. Figure out what's wrong with your heart. and get it right, because that is going to destroy your life. So I hope that's not a problem to anyone here to say that God commanded it, and you should listen to God's commandments. He purchased you. You're not your own. If you're born again, you're His. You belong to Him. He redeemed you. And it shouldn't be any issue at all that He demands something of you. So one, it's commanded, but then two, it pleases God. Let's pretend that God didn't command it. Let's pretend that God said, I'm going to leave it up to you, but I'd just like you to know that it pleases me when you witness. Why would that not be enough to be a gospel witness? Knowing that it pleases God when lost people get the gospel. Knowing that it pleases God when somebody gets saved. That there's rejoicing in heaven when somebody trusts in Jesus Christ. Why is that not good enough? Why do we need A commandment, going back to, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments and my commandments aren't grievous. If you love God, you'll do what he likes, you'll do what pleases him without a commandment. I'm thankful for the commandment because I'll be honest with you, it keeps me in line when I don't feel like it, but if it pleases God, why don't we feel like it? Why is it not motivation enough on a Friday afternoon to know that if I go out there and preach the gospel, God is going to like it? God is going to be pleased. God is going to look down from heaven on me and smile. And not that that does anything for me. Why is it not just good enough that it pleases him and I want to make him happy? It's Mother's Day, and I hope you did something nice for Mom, and I hope the reason you did something nice for Mom is not to fulfill an obligation. I hope it's because you love Mom, and you appreciate Mom, and you wanna make her happy, and you did something to please her. Same kind of idea here. God died on a cross for your sins, so you don't have to go to hell. Why is it that big of a deal to try to please Him? Witnessing makes God happy above probably anything else. You getting out there and telling lost people about Jesus and people getting saved is why God gave His Son. It's why Jesus Christ was tortured on that cross and did everything that He did for you so lost people can get saved. And it pleases Him when you're a witness. It pleases Him when lost people come to Christ. And so why don't we just witness because it makes God happy. I think oftentimes we lose that perspective on the matter. It makes God happy, and I hope that's motivation enough, and if it's not, maybe we need to do a heart checkup and see why we're not excited about pleasing God, and why pleasing God doesn't motivate us to witness for Him. Number three reasons to witness, the joy of being saved. The joy of being saved. Do you enjoy your salvation? This is why a lot of Christians aren't a witness, because they have no enjoyment in their own salvation. When something good happens to you, and you have the opportunity to share that with somebody else, you are excited to do so. When something positive happens in your life, you want to find a way to bring it up in conversation because you just wanna talk about that good thing that happened to you. You got a good new job, you got a good, a new toy, a new item, something that, you're going somewhere exciting, you're doing something exciting, you wanna tell people. Especially if you have the opportunity to bestow that same gift on someone else. Hey, I signed up for this and got $100 for signing up. Let me tell you about it so that you can get the money too. Something so meaningless. Why don't we have that same attitude when it comes to being saved? Do you enjoy your salvation? Are you excited that it happened to you? Or is it just something that happened in the past and now it's over with and you're not going to hell and you don't think about it much anymore? Do you enjoy all the benefits of being saved? Why would you not want somebody else to have that same joy? Why would you not want somebody else to enjoy those same benefits? Why would you not want someone else to take part in what you are taking part in? A lot of times it's just not all that exciting to us and so we don't even think to talk about it. We don't even think to bring it up in a conversation because it's really not a source of joy and excitement to us on a daily basis. So I hope that you enjoy your salvation. I hope it's exciting to you. I hope it's something that's wonderful to you that makes your life worth living. And then I hope you'd have the decency to share that with somebody else. If you had something really, really good, I hope you'd share it with me. If you had something that you could share with me that would make my life significantly better, I hope that you'd bring it up in conversation so that I could make my life significantly better. The joy of being saved is a great reason to share the gospel with other people. And then the reality of hell. The reality of hell. This is where I'd like to spend the rest of our time because I think this should be a major motivation for us. Look at Luke 16, Luke chapter number 16. Luke chapter number 16. The reality of hell is the reason we ought to be a gospel witness. Verse number 19. who was laid at his gate full of sores. There are those who would incorrectly suppose that this is just another parable of Jesus Christ, and they try to say that you can't take this as literal teaching because it's a parable. You'll notice that it is a certain rich man. He's not named because the Bible says when somebody dies lost, the Lord says, what, I never knew you. He's not given a name, but he is a certain man. Many parables start out with, this is a certain particular rich man, and then there is a beggar named Lazarus. He's given a name. People in parables don't have names. This is a real man named Lazarus who really existed. This is not a parable, this is a story. This is a real rich man who really existed. This is a real scenario. This is a history lesson. not a parable, and Jesus is using it to teach a lesson. He says, there's a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day, and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. This is not a Bible story. This is something that actually happened. This real rich man really died and was really buried. And this real historical figure named Lazarus, who was laid at this very real rich man's gate, actually died and was carried by real angels into Abraham's bosom. And in hell, he, the rich man, lift up his eyes being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Notice that in hell, you still have your senses. You still have your senses. The rich man is seeing. He sees Abraham, he sees Lazarus. He hasn't lost his eyesight. He's feeling. He's tormented in the flame. He's talking. He's speaking. He's hearing. He can hear Abraham speaking back to him. If you die in your sins and you end up in hell, you will have full consciousness and awareness of what is happening to you. You will be very much alive in that sense, but eternally dying. You will hear, you will see. You'll hear the screams. You'll hear the weeping. You'll hear the wailing. You yourself will be capable of screaming and weeping and wailing. If you ended up in your sins, God forbid, and died and went to hell, you would feel the very real heat. You would smell and taste the smoke. you'll have your senses in hell. Lost people that die and go to hell have every sense that you have here and experience all the torment that you would experience being in a place like that. Notice that hell is a place of torment. Four times in this chapter, the word torment is used. The definition is extreme pain, anguish, the utmost degree of misery, either of body or mind, There's no fun in hell. There's no enjoyment in hell. There's no reprieve in hell. You won't be hanging out with your friends in hell. You won't be seeing people that you knew in hell. You won't be having a good time or having a party in the lake of fire like foolish lost people say. They don't actually believe that. They're just trying to say something to get a rise out of a Christian. Hell isn't just separation from God, like some people would suppose. Hell is not just ceasing to exist, like some people would suppose. Hell is real, actual torment. What kind of torment? It's physical torment. Notice that the rich man says that he is tormented in this flame in verse number 24. Hell is a place of real fire that really burns people and really torments people. There are people that speculate that although there is fire in hell, that the worst part about hell is going to be separation from God. Yeah, hell is a place of darkness and fire and torment, but the worst part about hell is the fact that you're gonna be separated from God for all eternity. I don't think that's a true statement. I think the worst part about hell is going to be being in fire for eternity and never getting out. There's people in this world that don't think about God. They don't have any knowledge of God. They don't read about God. They don't pray to God. They don't talk to God. God doesn't communicate with them. They don't have any interaction with God. And honestly, they think that they're just fine. It's not hell on earth. Some of them are quite enjoying life. And hell is gonna be the same way. No God, no talking to God, no fellowship with God, no interaction with God. You know what the worst part about hell is gonna be, though? Sitting in fire for all eternity and being tormented. I think that's gonna be the worst part about hell. I'm not saying separation from God is something to be taken lightly, but I don't think the people in hell are saying, you know, this fire's pretty bad, but I just wish I could be around God. I think they're tormented in that flame forever. If you end up in hell, you'll feel the flame, real flame, burning you. There's no water in hell. Imagine being in a fire for a day, for a week, for a month, and never getting one single drop of water. I imagine if you can thirst, you can get hungry. Imagine going a week, a month. Two months, a year, three years, five years in fire, in torment, no water, no food, no sleep, no rest. If you can thirst and you can feel pain, I'm sure there's a host of physical pains associated with being in a lake of fire that you maybe haven't considered. Smoke in your eyes, smoke in your throat. You've been by a campfire and the wind blows the wrong way and that burning feeling in your eyes for just a moment, that's terrible. You want that to stop and it lasts for what, three seconds? Eternity. Choking. Smelling. Burn wounds have all sorts of complications and itchiness and oozing and nastiness and pain that I believe will take place in hell. It's not just physical torment, it's mental torment. Look at verse number 25. Abraham said, Son, remember. Hell is a place of memory. Abraham calls upon the rich man to remember. And I don't know, this might be right up there with the fire and right up there with the physical torment. Could you imagine being tormented in a place like that and remembering? The rich man remembers Lazarus, identifies him, sees him, recognizes him. He remembers his family. at the end of the chapter, says, somebody go tell my brothers so they don't have to come to this place. He remembers what it was like to drink water, though he'll never get another drop. He remembers what it was like to enjoy good food. And as he's sitting in that place burning, he's thinking about these things. He remembers what it was like to wear soft clothing and to lie down in a clean bed and to enjoy himself and get some rest. He remembers being a child and being comforted by his mother. He remembers the birds singing. He remembers the breeze blowing. He remembers the enjoyment that he had in life. He remembers his children. He remembers his spouse. If you end up in hell, you will remember all the good things that you had in your life. And you will remember sitting in a Bible-believing church and hearing the gospel preached and rejecting it over and over again. And can you imagine being in hell for all eternity and having to deal with those memories forever? The regret, the mental torment of thinking about those things and never being able to enjoy them again, it's indescribable. Hell is a place of torment and hell is eternal. Hell is eternal. More specifically, the lake of fire, but we won't go all the way into that right now. There are those who believe that hell is temporary and that God will someday work out a way to save those who are in hell. That's not taught in scripture. According to the Bible, once you hit hell, there's no getting out. Could you imagine being in a place like hell and thinking, I just got to get through another day? And after that day, there's another one. I just got to get through another day. But knowing in the back of your mind as you try to comfort yourself with just get through this day, knowing that there's going to be no getting out. There's no reprieve. And a million years from then, you'll still be in that place thinking just one more day. And you won't be any closer to ever leaving. Our minds have a difficult time grasping eternity. Everything that we do revolves around time. I think the best way to sort of get a grasp on eternity is this scenario. I don't know who came up with it. I've heard it from multiple people. But imagine the beach. Go to the beach. Imagine Daytona Beach. And imagine that once every hundred years, a bird came to that beach and took one single grain of sand from the seashore. Eventually, there'd be no more sand left. And you'd still be in hell. Could you imagine how long that would take? and you'd still be there. And then he moves down to Smyrna and starts there. And when he got done, you'd still be in hell. So hell's an awful place. Why'd we bring this up? Why'd we go into this detail? You have the opportunity to rescue people from this place. If you had the cure for cancer and you kept it to yourself because you were too shy or too embarrassed or you didn't want to waste anybody's time or you didn't want to bother anybody, you didn't want anybody to get mad at you or you didn't think you could articulate it well, you'd be a terrible person to keep that to yourself. If you saw a child drowning and you knew how to swim and you could save them but you didn't because you were on your way to work and you didn't really have time, Be an awful sort of person. You have the solution to people dying and going to this place. We need to tell other people so they don't end up there. Remember, this story is real. Hell is a real place. That means that the rich man is still there right now. That as we sit in this air-conditioned building below our feet, that rich man is still in hell and hasn't gotten a drop of water. Thousands of years later, he is still right there suffering in the same way. They say, whoever they are, I don't know who's counting, they say 150,000 people die a day. That's about 1.75 people a second. Now, obviously, three quarters of the person can't die, but that's the average. I think it would be very optimistic, probably inaccurate, to say that 25% of the world's population is saved. It's probably far less than that. If you were to use those numbers, that means someone is dropping into hell every second. Someone hit there to never get out. Someone dropped in hell to never return. Someone's just now, for the first time, realizing where they are. Somebody's just now feeling it for the first time, and they'll never get out. That is a terrifying thought, or it ought to be. But the Bible says that God's not willing that any should perish. God doesn't want that for a single person. He gave his son so that we could have everlasting life, and he's given us the responsibility of reaching the world. So I hope that you take this seriously, and that you take these classes seriously, and you think about what's at stake here. It's hard to be a witness if you don't believe what you're saying. And so I hope that you have all been saved and that you're trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation and you're not going to this place. And then I hope you take your responsibility for saving others from this hell very seriously because there's a lot at stake here. This isn't fun and games. This isn't fake. This isn't a made up story. This is real and it's happening right now. So let's go into all the world and preach the gospel. Lord, thank you for this day. Pray that you'd help us all to get more serious about witnessing. There's a lot at stake. And it's not about us. It's not just about us being obedient. It's not just about us getting rewards or us even pleasing you. There's people dying and going to hell right now. And so we pray that you'd help us to consider all these reasons for witnessing and take it very seriously. In Jesus' name we pray.