Listen to him now as he comes and preach it. Nobody enjoys his own preaching more than this guy. Well, amen. Glad somebody likes it. Amen. God's been good. God's been good. And it's just a blessing what the Lord's doing there in Mexico City. You know, if you're not doing anything, then you're not going to have any troubles. Amen? So, we have enough troubles. I said, I guess we must be doing something right. Amen? Making the devil mad. So, it's a blessing. God's been good. We just had a... an evangelistic meeting in an area where the Catholic priest really keeps a tab on the people. We have a bus route there. So anyway, we had a meeting out there. We had about 280 some people that showed up to the park that was there, and we preached to them. And it was a real blessing. Several people got saved there. Many got saved. But that's in a bus route where one of our bus captains, he's doing a really good job and just really concerned about souls there. And we're excited about what the Lord's doing there. Just keep praying about that. Amen. Satan's had that territory for a long time. He's had control over it. And God is breaking through there. Amen. So it's a real blessing. And just to be a part of it. Amen. So just keep praying about that. Mom and Dad came down in November. And so I asked Dad, I said, Dad, I mean, come on, you've been working on the bus route for 30 some years, and I sure would like you to just give us something. I'm trying to get the bus routes really going. I mean, we have these bus routes, but I just really want to give these guys, get them going. And so they're bringing people in and everything, but I just really want this to go and set fire. And so he said, sure, I'll speak. And he says, we were sitting in my office right before he was getting ready to preach. And he said, now, Nick, I got about 15 minutes. That's it. And our people, they're used to an hour service on Sunday night at least. And I said, well, that's OK. It'll be 30 minutes, because I'll translate for you. It's 15. It'd be double. That'd be 30 minutes. And he said, oh, make it less. I probably won't even have that much. And so I said, well, we'll just do the best we can. And so we got up there and he went over the time that I normally preach, amen? So it was a real blessing. I mean, he preached over an hour, amen? Amen. Well, so, but anyway, it was a lot of fun. Our people enjoyed that. And so I said, I just want to glean off of your experience and I want you to help. What would you say to people that are trying to get a bus route going? And what would you say to these bus captains? and it was a real blessing. But since then, it's really been picking up. I mean, these guys have really been in there, and really genuine, and getting in there, and getting people to come to church, and getting people saved, and following up on them, and getting them, and staying after them, and and a lot of the points that he was saying, and so Lord willing, it'll just keep on going, amen? So we're praying that they'll come down again, and hopefully he'll have a little more than 15 minutes this time, right? But anyway, it was a real blessing. So we were talking and I said, so what would be some other things you would say? What would you do as a bus director just to get him talking? And he was telling me all these things and I'm like, oh man, I'm not even writing this. down I got to remember this you know I said well why don't you come down and tell us this these things here because what you're giving us is all good amen so it's a real blessing and we appreciate you we love you here I know you're holding the ropes for us here and we're very thankful for this and for that and you And God's been good, amen? But all the things that's going on there in Mexico, it wouldn't be possible if we didn't have a home church like Liberty Baptist Church behind us. That's the truth. And your prayers, your faithful support, and just we have a portion of our support comes here and it's processed for us and it's a huge help. to us because, you know, you just can't keep running back and forth, and you just got to do what the Lord wants you to do. But when you have people behind the scenes working on your behalf, and that love you and care about you, it's just a really good feeling, and we appreciate you and everything. Thank you, Brother Nichols, for all your help, too. Amen. And so, really a blessing. I want to preach tonight. I had an original title was, Does Your Heart Burn for the Lost? And then I got to thinking, and I thought, no, I'm going to put in here the list. And I want to give you the list tonight. And there's a lot of lists that we could probably go through. But this one here, I think it'll It'll help us to be better soul winners. Amen? We've got to reach this world for Christ, and it's a huge blessing. We'll go in our Bibles here, Luke chapter number 5, if you would, in your Bibles, Luke chapter number 5 and verse number 32, and if you'll stand, please, for the reading of God's Word, and we'll go over here. Put your finger there in Luke chapter number 6 and verse number 32, and then we'll go over to 1 Timothy 1, 5. 1st Timothy 1.15. I'm sorry. 1st Timothy 1.15. Holding our place there in Luke 5.32. And then go in here to 1st Timothy 1.15. And we had a good trip up here. Pray for Natalie. She was sick today and she's not feeling good. So she's got some stomach issues and things like that. So just pray for her. A lot of times, you know, when people go to Mexico, they get sick, amen? Not to mention Brother Nichols gets sick when he goes down there, but now when we come up here, we get sick, amen? But everything's doing fine. She's resting, and so just pray for her that she'll be better there. Okay, are we all there? Amen. 1 Timothy 1, 15. The Bible says here, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all of all expectation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now think about that. That's Paul, probably the greatest Christian in the New Testament, recorded in the New Testament. And here he's saying, and it says here, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all expectation. that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And here we are in Luke chapter number 5, in verse number 32, the Bible says here, I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this night. Thank you for everyone that came here tonight, Lord. I pray that we would get something tonight. Something that would burn in our hearts, Lord. Something that would take us forward. and expand your kingdom, Heavenly Father, that you would use us, that we would be used of you, Heavenly Father, to reach sinners, and that we would see sinners come to repentance, Heavenly Father. Thank you for your goodness, and I pray that your power would fall here tonight, and I pray for revival, Lord, in our hearts, and I pray and ask, Heavenly Father, that we would have personal revival and we thank you for your love and your goodness and your precious name we pray amen you may be seated that's what i'm praying for in in mexico city in our church i'm praying for revival amen and revival is what we need amen our community needs revival needs Christians to be on fire for God, amen? And the whole reason that Jesus came to this earth was to save sinners, amen? That's why he came. And there's a list of sins for not soul winning, amen? There's a list of sins that we commit when we don't win people to the Lord, all right? Now, listen, I'm not talking about going out soul winning. Going out soul winning and winning souls are two different worlds. Are you with me? We can go out and knock doors and not have any expectation of seeing someone saved. Or we can go out expecting to see someone saved, that the Holy Spirit would guide us to someone, put them in our path and us in their path. That they would come to know Christ as their personal Savior. That's the only way we're going to make a difference in this world. And it's going to be one person at a time. Amen? But the seven sins of not winning souls. There's the sin of disobedience to Christ. There's the sin of not loving Christ. There's the sin of not following Christ. There's the sin of not abiding in Christ. There's the sin of being absent or AWOL in the holy mission of reaching souls. There's also the sin of being a fool and not having a heavenly vision. There's also the sin of having sinner's blood on our hands. There's a list there a quite a big list if you ask me and let me tell you something I was guilty of this list and And I want to share a little bit about it and then try to help us to not be on Not not not have anything to do with this list. Amen I knew that the Holy Spirit was working in my life and in my heart. I'd just been saved I hadn't been saved very long just a little over about right around the month. I've been saved and And I just felt inside of me something was pressing me that I needed to be in Ohio, where I'm from. And I was at my base in Oklahoma City, and something was just pressing me that I just felt like I needed to be in Ohio. And I just couldn't figure out why I would need to be there. And I usually would go back to Ohio every fall in the fall time to go hunting and all that. But it was the summer and I just felt like I needed to be there. So I just went and I said, you know what, can I get leave? And really, Really, whenever you put in for leave, you've got to do it in advance. And this was just a few days or a day or two. I think I even went in the day before or something like that. And my first shirt, my first sergeant, he said, yeah, Nick, we'll give you leave. And I said, I just need a few days. That's all. I need to go back home. And so anyway, he said, sure, sure, no problem. So we put me down. And so that was a miracle right there. And so I jumped in my, I had a 68 Chevelle Supersport, 396, 425 horsepower on the dyno. And I drove about 55 mile an hour all the way from Oklahoma City to Ohio. It was about an 18 hour drive. And I'm telling you, that car was something else, amen? Just driving down the road, the windows down, and had my arm out the window with my hand up here on the steering wheel. And you know when people go by a classic like that, you know? They're getting ready to pass you and then they slow down to check out the car, you know? And then they go on about their way. And I loved every minute of it, amen? That was my idol, actually. And so I was having a great time going up there. And so anyway, that was an experience there. So I got to my mom and dad's. I pulled in the driveway. I didn't even let them know I was coming. I didn't know exactly why I was supposed to be there. But every time that I knew I was supposed to be there, my grandpa kept coming into my mind. And I knew that he was lost. I knew that he had a hard heart. He and I both did. And he wouldn't have anything to do with any Christians. And he was one of those, and really, he had a lot of reason, and I did too. I mean, we were both in the same boat, but we saw a lot of Christians, and he said, if that's what Christianity is, he says, I live better than that. And so his heart was hard, my heart was hard, and all that. But I ended up getting saved, and God broke through that hard heart. And so anyway, I thought, well, maybe that's why I'm supposed to be here. So I got there to Mom and Dad's house. I told them that I believe I need to see Grandpa. I don't know. I think it's just to tell him about the Lord, maybe that I got saved. I don't know. And I said, I don't even know how to tell someone to get saved. And so my mom said he was in the hospital. He's at the VA hospital. And they just put him in there. I didn't know he was in bad shape. I didn't even know he had cancer. And so anyway, I went there. I went to the, or my mom gave me this card, it had the plan of salvation on it, and she said, use this. It had the Romans wrote on it, and so anyway, I went there, and she said, now I can't go see him because there's a list of people that cannot go in there to see him. It's my religious family, and even my mom, his daughter was on that list, and he didn't want to see anybody that was, any Christians. And so anyway, she said, but I don't think your name is on there. So I went in, I went to the VA hospital. My name wasn't on the list. They let me in there. When I saw him laying on the bed, I thought it's too late. I mean, he was just looked like he was just, just on his last breath almost. And so I sat there and I talked to him and, and he wasn't responsive at all for a while and then And then he looked over, and he knew who I was, and I started talking to him, and I put water in his mouth on a little sponge, like a little sponge spoon thing, and I wetted his mouth and his tongue, and he started drinking out of a straw. for a little bit there, got him to sit up and ask him if he was hungry. So I gave him some jello they had there and some little things like that. And then I was talking to him and I told him how I got saved and the Holy Spirit was just there and working. And so I went through the plan of salvation with him. I told him, I said, Grandpa, you'll never see grandma again if you don't get saved. And I said, you've got to trust Jesus. I'm saved. Jesus saved me. He forgave me of my sins. And he came into my heart. So I witnessed to him there. Well, that night he trusted Christ as his Savior. And so the next day, I went home that night to my mom and dad's and then the next morning I went there and my mom said, I'm going with you. And I said, mom, your name is on that list. I saw the list. And so anyway, she says, I don't care. I want to go see them. And so we went there and there was no list there. And so we both went in there. And she, when there was no list there of people that could not go in there, she was really like, wow, something's different about this one. And so we went in there, and I needed to find out, I needed to make sure that he got saved. And so I just whispered. I didn't whisper near his ear or anything. I whispered down by his stomach. And I said, Grandpa, do you love Jesus? And he said, yes, I do. Man, my mom was in there whenever I said that. And so anyway, I was so happy that he got saved. And I mean, it's just a totally different situation. And so anyway, I left. I went back to my base. And while I was driving back to my base, my grandpa had passed away. I got home. I got to my house there in Oklahoma. And I got a phone call from my mom and dad. And they said that grandpa had passed away. And so he passed away while I was in route. And I wasn't surprised about that, but I knew where he was. So anyway, I told my first sergeant, and I said, my grandpa passed away. He was in really bad shape, he had cancer, and I'd like to go to his funeral, so I got emergency leave, and I went to Ohio, but I flew this time, and so I got there, and now he was very specific about this. He didn't want anybody coming to his viewing, except for his kids and his grandkids, that was it. no one else to be there, or to his funeral. So that was it. And so we went to the viewing, we went to the funeral, and then, or no, at the funeral was the only one where only his immediate family could be there. His kids, and my aunt, and my aunt and uncle, they could be there, and our families. That was it for the funeral part. And so, anyway, afterwards, we went over to another family member's house, my great aunt and uncle. We went to their house, and we had a dinner there. Well, while we were there, my Uncle Carl and I were talking, and the Lord said, telling. And I said, and I was like, oh, well, you know, tell him. And I knew that the Lord wanted me to witness to him, but I did not have a card on me. I did not have that card that I used for my grandpa. And I didn't know what to say. And so I got a little bit flustered there. I didn't know what to say or anything. And he said, tell him about me. The Lord just pressed on me to tell him, tell him. And so it was so bad that I said to my uncle Carl, I said, could you give me your address? Maybe write down your address for me, so that I could have your address. And he wrote his address down, and he wrote his phone number down also. And so, my idea was, I'm going to write, I'm going to send him a letter with a track in it. And I'll witness to him by giving him a track. You know, I'll send it to him in the mail. Well, my Uncle Carl, he wrote down on this little piece of paper here, he wrote down his address. Here's his address, and he put his phone number on there. Now, I didn't tell him the reason why I wanted his address. That's what I was thinking. So anyway, he wrote it down, he gave it to me, and so we went on, you know, and the Lord was saying, you need to tell him, you need to tell him. And so I said, I'm gonna write, I'm gonna send him a track in the mail, it'll be good, don't worry. So the next morning, I was out with my dad. We were at my mom and dad's house. I was out helping my dad. We were doing something in the yard. I think the very next day, I was to fly back out to go back to my base from emergency leave. So I was out there with them. We just kind of spent the day together. And it was in the morning still. And so I was out there helping them. And I remembered the phone rang in our house. And so my mom answered the phone. And we knew something happened. I don't know if it happened. We didn't know if it happened to her. She dropped something. She cut herself. What happened? I don't know whether it was bad news that was on the phone. But she screamed. And she began to say, no, no, no. But it was blood curdling screaming. And my dad and I dropped everything. We ran to the house. And we didn't know what to expect when we got in there. And she said, and so what happened was, we got the phone call that my Uncle Carl was killed in an accident on the way back to Tennessee from the funeral. And right along Interstate 71, right by Lebanon, Ohio, and I just couldn't believe it. I thought, oh, and the Lord was telling me I needed to tell him. within less than 24 hours from the time that he wrote his address right on this little piece of paper here, he was already gone. And I thought, oh no, what am I going to do? And so I knew what had happened less than 24 hours. As I was reading my Bible, trying to grow in the Lord, I came across these verses, and I knew that I would see my Uncle Carl again, but it wouldn't be under good circumstances. Look with me, if you would, over here to Revelation chapter number 20. The Bible says here, In verse number 11, the Bible says here, And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And this great white throne here, it's not to judge Christians. The condemned are going to get their final judgment here. Those that died without Christ are going to be judged here. Their final judgment for them. And the Bible says, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. You see, the dead. That's what someone is whenever they're not saved. They're dead. They're already condemned in that condition. They are already. When Jesus said, when we got saved, we passed from death unto life. From death unto life. Now the dead are standing before Jesus, before God. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and the death and hell were delivered up. delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. And that means eternally dead. Eternal death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And as I read my Bible more and more, and I realize that God is a loving God, but He's also a just God. He is absolutely, truly just. Which means that the condemned are not going to be before Him and judged without witnesses that are there, present. That's just the way God works. One day, I'm gonna see my uncle again. I will see him again at this great white throne of judgment. You see, people are gonna come to this throne where God is there, and they're gonna say to God, nobody told me, I didn't know the truth, I had my religion. And God's gonna show the people who he put in their paths to tell them the truth about Jesus. Someone who tried to give them a track, we're gonna watch it, I don't know, on some kind of a video, I don't know how it's gonna be, but it'll be presented very clearly. that they were God-witnessed to them. God spoke to them, and He prepared somebody to reach that person, or whatever it might be. And they'll show this person trying to give them a track, and just in passing, and they say, no, I don't want that. Or someone who knocks on the door of this person that's there, and the person says, I don't want anything to do with you. Get out of here before I call the police. Those situations, I believe, we're going to see there. Because God is just. He'll have witnesses. And the day that this happens, you see, this is going to happen in the future. Mark it down, it will happen. This is in our future. Whether you're saved or not saved, this event, the great white throne of judgment, is in our future. And when that day gets there, I know that my uncle will be there before the Lord. And he will say, no one told me. No one told me. Listen, I didn't know the truth. Nobody told me. And then he'll say, Nick, come here. I'm not looking forward to this day. He said, I told you, Nick. I put it in his heart to tell you. But he didn't tell you. He had you write down his address so that he could send you a track. But he didn't know that within less than 24 hours, you'd already be dead. It would be too late. I spoke to him. I used my Holy Spirit to speak to him, to tell you. And I just am not looking forward to that moment when he looks at me and he says, you knew the truth and you didn't tell me? What? You didn't tell me. All I can do is hang my head in shame. We have a Christianity today that soothes the conscience more than it soothes the soul. Are you with me? I'm talking about winning souls is a daily obligation of a Christian, a born again believer. Going soul winning and telling people about Jesus, that's God's business, but he put it in the hands of a Christian to do it. Getting people saved. Souls, winning people to the Lord and going out soul winning are two different things. Are you with me? It's easy to go out, but thank God at least someone's going out. And if you are going out, At least give out tracts to everyone you can. Are you with me? And do everything you can to try to get someone saved. Try to get them into church and everything. I mean, there are people around us, co-workers, family members. There are people around us, and if they don't get saved, God will say, I put this person in your life, in your path, to tell you about Jesus. I'm not looking forward to that day. And I've noticed something about this whole thing. I've noticed that the people who cause the most problems in our church, in our churches, are the ones that don't bring people down the aisle. Are you with me? We have too much time on our hands. And we're not thinking about what God really put us here for. He didn't just save us to save us. He didn't forgive us. He didn't come to this world so that we could just have a home in heaven, although that's part of the package. He wants to reach sinners. He came to save sinners. That's why He came. And listen, this is free. A lot of Christians today don't have a lot of joy or victory in our lives with such a long list of sins hanging over our heads. The list. You remember the list? The different sins? The sin of disobedience to Christ. The sin of not loving Christ. The sin of not following Christ. The sin of not abiding in Christ. The sin of being absent, AWOL, in a holy mission to reach the lost. The sin of being a fool and not having a heavenly vision. the sin of having the blood of sinners on our hands. With that kind of a list hanging over us, there's no way we can have victory in our lives. People talk about, oh, how God saved me from being a drunk, and I'm happy, I'm excited about that, because that's who I used to be, too. I remember where I came from. And people will say, I don't smoke, and I don't do this, and I don't do that. And I mean, it's all wonderful works that we don't do anymore. But what are we doing for Christ while we're here? The list, the list. The sin of disobedience to Christ. Matthew chapter number 28 and verse number 18. I know that everybody here, we know these verses, but look what it says. And if you notice, in the Gospels, in the New Testament, reaching the lost, the Great Commission is mentioned. five different times. And you know, when something is mentioned once in the Bible, it is of great importance if it's mentioned just one time. But when it's mentioned five times, there's only one other, two other commandments. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, and all thy mind, and love thy neighbor. Those are the two greatest commandments before the Great Commission. mentioned five times in the New Testament that we should get people saved, get them baptized, and teach them. The Bible says here in Matthew chapter number 28 and verse number 18, the Bible says here, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Now listen, this is the resurrected Christ that's talking here. He is talking to the church. He's talking to you and I, the resurrected Christ. The Bible says, if ye be risen with Christ, set your affection on the things above. Amen? Look what he's saying. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you even unto the end of the world. Amen. And Lord, I am with you. You see, it's the sin of disobedience. You see, there's the sin of commission, where we commit something that God says no. We step over the line and we commit a sin. And that's the sin of commission. And then we have the sin of omission, where we omit what God tells us that we need to be doing. And really, the sin of omission carries heavier consequences than the sin of commission. Because Jesus says today is the day of salvation, and if someone omits that from their life, they will spend eternity in a lake of fire. The sin of not loving Christ. Look what the Bible says here in John chapter number 14. The Bible says here, John chapter number 14, the Bible says here in verse number, John 14, 23, the Bible says here, Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, He will keep my words, and my Father will love Him, and we will come unto Him and make our abode with Him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." That's His divine word. And he said here, if you, he says here, if you, Jesus answered and said unto him, if any, if a man love me, he will keep my words. He'll keep my words. And then, the sin of not following Christ. Look what it says in Matthew chapter number four, Matthew chapter number four. It says here, Matthew chapter number 4, and the Bible says here in verse number 19, If we follow Christ, we will win souls. Amen? That's what Jesus did. He won souls. He said, He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. If we follow Him, we will be winning the lost. The sin of not abiding in Christ. Look what it says here in John, chapter number 15. John, chapter number 15. And this is the fruit-bearing chapter. And the Bible says here in verse number one, I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself. We can't win people. Only Jesus can win them. Amen? You and I, we can only give them the plan. We can show them the way. But the only way to produce fruit is with Jesus. Amen? He is the only one that can give fruit. And the Bible says, Love, joy, peace, long-suffering. But look what it says here. Except it abide in the vine, we have to abide in Christ to bear fruit. No more can ye. No more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches, that he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. And it's not referring to someone who is lost and being burned in the fire of hell. No, it's just saying that it'll be cast off. Christians that are not, they won't be used. They'll be set on the shelf if you don't bear fruit. And this will be a boring life for us here on earth, for sure. And look what it says here. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. Praise the Lord. That's a disciple, a real disciple. And listen, the sin of not abiding in Christ, when we don't win lost people to Christ, we are not abiding in Christ. the sin of being AWOL, or absent, in a holy, sacred mission of reaching the lost. Look what it says here in 1 Corinthians, chapter number 15. This is the resurrection chapter, and I mean, you can't read it without getting excited, amen? And if you can't get excited, you might want to check to see if you're saved. Look what the Bible says here in 1 Corinthians, 1534. Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Too many Christians, we are absent in reaching the lost. Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. And then look over here in Ezekiel chapter number 22. Ezekiel chapter number 2. We had Dr. Larry Brown preaching our church back in November, right after mom and dad came back home. Brother Brown and Mrs. Brown came and he preached at our church. And then his son, Joe Brown, Joseph Brown, he was preaching at our youth conference in at a youth conference in Tula with missionary Matt Johnson. And then he came to our church as a surprise and preached at our church. His son did. And, I mean, what a blessing. But here we were talking, and he's the first person that I ever met that said that his life verse, or that the verse that God used to call him in the ministry, was this very verse. And it's my life verse. And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found none. We need to stand in the gap between the lost and God. We are His ambassadors to tell people about Jesus. There's a reason why Jesus came to this earth. There was a preacher that was introduced to Helen Keller, and she told this preacher that she said, I've always known that there was a God, but I didn't know His name. Someone needs to tell people the name of our Savior. Amen. Ah, interesting. You see, a lot of Christians are AWOL in reaching the lost. The sin of being a fool who with no heavenly vision, Proverbs chapter number 11, Proverbs chapter number 11, the Bible says here, Proverbs chapter number 11 in verse number 30, the Bible says here, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. So what does that mean about someone who doesn't win souls? They're not very wise. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. The sin of being a fool. The last one that I have here, I'm sure there's probably even more, but these are the great ones. The sin of having. Sinner's blood the sin of having the blood of sinners on our hands Look at Ezekiel chapter number 3 Ezekiel chapter number 3 the Bible says here. I Know it's not a very in profound message here and and and and look what it says here in Ezekiel chapter number 3 in verse number 16 the Bible says here and it came to pass that At the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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. Then 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. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die, because Thou hast not given him warning. He shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live. because he is warned. Also, thou has delivered thy soul. You see, if we don't warn the wicked that there's a penalty and a price to pay for their sins, and we don't warn them, their blood will God require of our hands. Just thinking on my own, this is my own opinion, I believe that if God calls somebody to a place where they're supposed to be, whether it be a town, whether it be another country, whether it be another place, and that person does not go to that place. They don't end up making it to the place where God wanted them to be. I believe that he will require the blood of those people that will spend eternity in a lake of fire. These people will show up, and they'll say, no one came to me. And he'll say, I did prepare somebody, but they didn't come. Are you with me? Neighborhoods around here, who will go? Who will go? Who will pray? I remember working in my bus ride, I used to drive up and down them streets and I used to pray for those people in those houses. Sometimes you'd see kids out in front playing and make a note of that, there's kids in this house. And sometimes you'd see somebody leaving the house mad and getting in their car, throwing stuff in their car as obviously they're leaving there in a bad way. I even remember driving up and down the streets and praying for those neighbors, those neighborhoods, in my little car, and just praying that the Holy Spirit would lead us to these people and that they would respond to the gospel, that we could make a difference in someone's life and someone's home. I remember one time, I was witnessing to this guy. I mean, I'm not kidding. I went through the plan of salvation with him. It was on my bus route. We were knocking doors, and I mean, I gave him the plan of salvation, I'm not kidding, around 20 times. And I got to the part where I said, now would you like to get saved? Would you like to ask Jesus into your heart? And he'd say, no, no, not right now. I think, oh man, you know, I just went, you know, we've been through this a few times now. I don't think I'd ever been through this plan of salvation so many times. It helped me memorize it, amen? But anyway, he was memorizing the plan of salvation. But anyway, he never got saved. And so, this one Saturday morning, I woke up, and I determined in my heart, I am not going by that guy's house today. I'm not going by there. He is not going to get a visit from Nick today. I'm not even praying for him today. I'm not going to pray for him. That guy, I wasted so much time with him. I went through the plan of salvation 20 times probably. I don't know, maybe even more. I don't know, but at least 20 times. And I get to the part where you trust Jesus as your savior, and he says, no, I'm not going to do it. Well, why didn't you tell me before we just go through all this? I could go on and visit other people. I was mad. And I determined that morning, I'm not going to go visit the guy. That's it. I'm not even gonna pray for him either. So I get to church, and I got beat up all the way to church by the Lord. You need to go by and see him today. I said, I'm not going to go. He doesn't want to get saved. He said, later. I'll go by later. And so the Lord said, you need to go by there. So anyway, my pastor put me with an evangelist. An evangelist went out with me, and I thought, hey, I ain't got no power. Maybe he does. Amen? And he said, go by and see the guy. So I said, all right, I got the evangelist with me. Maybe he'll make a difference. So I drive up there. I drive into the guy's driveway. He was waiting at the door. He come flying out the house. I thought, oh man, he's going to kill me. I knew, I knew I should not have come here today. He come running out there, and I couldn't get out of the car. I mean, he got to the car so fast. All I could do was roll down the window. Here's the evangelist next to me. He's like, what's going on? I said, I don't know. And he came up to the window, and he said, I gotta get saved. And I said, what? I want to get saved today. And I said, and so I said, what? He said, I need to get saved. And he's standing at my window of the door, and I got the window down, and he said, and I said, well, I said, well, do you realize that you're saved? Yes, Romans 3 10. And he said, as it is written, there's none righteous, no not one. That's me! And then he said, Romans 3.23 also, for all have sinned to come to the glory of God. My sins are not going to let me into heaven. I mean, he had the thing memorized. The whole plan of salvation. He had the verses too. And I said, well, you know what to do. And he got, he said, I do, I do. He got down. He's holding onto my window like this. We have not gotten out of the car. We are just sitting there watching this guy. And he gets down on his knees and he said, oh Jesus, I'm a wicked sinner. Oh, please save me. Save my soul. Forgive me. Come into my heart and forgive me. He did it all on his own. And that part I never went through with him. I never got that far. And so, the evangelist is sitting over here. His eyes are about this big. And I did not tell him. I didn't say anything. I did not want to say anything. I just wanted it to just be, we're going to go here, and I'm just going to let him do all the talking. Maybe he'll get through to this guy. I did not say anything prior to getting there. So anyway, he said, what time will you be by to pick me up tomorrow? And I said, well, after this, after he got on his knees, he said he repented, he got saved. And I asked him where Jesus was. He says, he's in my heart. And I said, was he here in your heart before we got here? He said, no. He said, I just asked him into my heart. And he said, God, when I come to church tomorrow, what time can you pick me up? And the evangelist is like, his eyes were big before, and he's like, really big. And he said, you think I could get baptized tomorrow too? And I'm like, good night. This is really crazy. I was not going to come here today. And so we pulled out of there. And that evangelist is looking at me. And I looked at him. I said, happens all the time. Don't worry about that. He was like, what? And then I had to tell him the story. He was like, what just happened? And I said, well, to be honest with you, I wasn't even going to come by here today. I was determined not even to pray for the guy today. But the Lord said, you need to go by there. What are you doing? You see, Jesus came and he died for sinners. He came to this world to save sinners, that sinners would come to repentance. See, When I get off track, I have this to remind me. My flesh wants to take control. I don't have that fire like I think I should have. I have this to remind me. But you know what? I'm not the only one here with one of these. I'm not the only one here. the list. I'd rather just keep on getting people saved, so I don't have that list hanging over me. I'd really have a fire for God, a genuine fire in my heart, with the right motives, and abiding in the vine, which is Jesus, and just keep sticking with Him, and then taking it one soul at a time. You see, that's what all of us need to be doing. That's what God commanded us to do. Because if we don't reach them, no one's going to. You and I have the truth. All of us can be involved some way in getting people saved. Even the older people in our church. We have a man, his name is Brother Gregorio. He's in his 70s. He's been married for, wait a minute, yeah, he's in his 70s. He's been married for 57 years. Last Monday, not this Monday, but the last Monday, he and his wife had 57 years being married, their anniversary. His wife, Teresa, she is a soul winner. She comes every Thursday to the lady's soul wedding and goes out and wins people to the Lord. And Brother Gregorio, he can't get around. He's got to have a surgery on his knee. He can't get out and walk like he used to. But he says, Pastor, I pray every time you all go out, I pray that people get saved, that people would listen to the gospel. When he told me that, I knew he's fighting for souls on his knees. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your blessings. We're just sinners saved by grace, Lord. Help us to do our part. With every head bowed and every eye closed, would there be someone that said, God spoke to my heart tonight, here's my hand, would you pray for me? I'd like to pray for you, okay. Lord, thank you so much for your blessings in these folks that have raised their hands tonight. I just pray and ask, Heavenly Father, that you'd help us. Help us. to see the mission. Help us to see what's really important in this earth right now. Oh, Lord, our country needs it. We need a good dose of people getting saved, Lord, and lives being changed by you. I just pray and ask, Lord, that you'd speak to our hearts, continue to speak to our hearts. In your precious name we pray, amen.