If you would please, this afternoon, turn in your Bibles with me to two passages, Psalm 107, 107th Psalm, and also to 1 Samuel chapter 7 to begin the message. 1 Samuel 7. I actually have an extended list of sermon topics, things I need to preach on, issues that need to be addressed in this pulpit. As for one immediate need, I am planning to return next week, Lord willing, to, possibly the following week, we'll see how it goes, to our sermon series on harmony in the home and raising godly children. And I also need to bring a supplement to part three of our series about the King James Bible. to answer the question that many have posed about the Geneva Bibles and other translations from the Texas Receptus. I also need to refute some of the false accusations made against the King James Bible that there are errors and contradictions contained therein. and to show that there are no such errors or contradictions in the King James Bible. Lord willing, I'll be bringing that message next week. For today, though, I actually have a very important message. It is an important message, following up on Jade's first hour message. It's basically a word of both encouragement and of exhortation to us all that I want to offer about our duty as Christians to speak up both for and about the Lord in our everyday affairs and interactions with other people. And about three things that may actually be thought of either as states of mind or as character qualities that we as Christians are either enabled or disabled. actually from speaking out as we should on behalf of the Lord Jesus with the message of the gospel. And of those three, the first thing I want to talk about is fear, which actually may be seen as a state of mind. And then I will also address two character qualities of courage and boldness. And also, we'll be talking about the source, of course, for both of those character qualities, which are the Lord Jesus. We read in Psalm 107, verse 1, Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Verse 2 says, Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. and gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Then we read, verse 8, Oh, that men would praise the Lord, for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Verse 9, For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness, such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of the Lord, and contemned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands and sundered. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Some may think a psalm like this applies only in the literal sense, perhaps, to ancient Israel and the way the Lord many times delivered them from such enemies as the Philistines and others that came out against them, such as here in 1 Samuel 7, where the Lord did indeed deliver Israel from the Philistines. 1 Samuel 7, verse 7, we read, And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel, And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of Israel said to Samuel, cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. And Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it for a burnt offering, holy unto the Lord. And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. And as Samuel was offering up the offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against the Lord. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and it discomfited them, and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and smote them until they come unto Bethkar. And then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shem, and called the name of it Ebenezer. saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us. So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. And so this is the type of occasion that perhaps the psalmist may have had in view. In Psalm 107, 13, when he said, Israel cried unto the Lord in their trouble. And he literally, by the way, saved them out of their distresses. But we need to see that Psalm 107 actually applies just as literally to us, who also have been wonderfully delivered from the enemy of our soul, Satan, the devil, who at one time held us bound and bondage to sin. As Paul says in Ephesians chapter two, verse two, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Paul says, among whom also we all had our conversation or our conduct in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, For His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ, raised us up, resurrected us together in Christ. By grace He is saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2, 7, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us. through Christ Jesus. And as Paul also says in Colossians 1, verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us, we've been delivered from the enemy, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. So we too have been delivered from a very powerful enemy. And like ancient Israel, we have been delivered from the devil and his devices. And so just as we all sang in that great hymn moments ago, here I raise mine Ebenezer. So this psalm applies to us every bit as much as it does to ancient Israel. And therefore the Lord says to every one of us, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. We are to proclaim to those around us that we have been delivered from darkness. We are to proclaim the salvation of the Lord. And just like that pillar of stone that Samuel raised up to remind all who saw it how the Lord delivered them from their enemies, we are to do that as well. We too are to proclaim what the Lord has done to us. We are not to be silent. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter five, If you are saved, if you are a Christian today, you have not been called to silence. None of us as Christians have been called to be silent in our Christianity. We're to be loud Christians. We're to be speaking out. You've not been called just to serve yourself or just to serve your family. You have been called, all Christians, if you are a Christian, you have been called, every one of us has been called to serve the Lord. And we are to speak out on His behalf, every one of us. We don't all have the same spiritual gifts or abilities. That's clear, that's plain as day. But nevertheless, we all do have a command to tell others about our wonderful Savior. And by the way, you don't need a gift if you have a command. Because if you have a command, God will give you the gift when you need it. 2 Corinthians 5.11, Paul says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God. And I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. Down in verse 14, he says, for the love of Christ constraineth us. It compels us. Because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all. Paul says that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. We as Christians are not to live for ourselves. We're to be living for him every moment of the day. 16. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yet though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. In other words, Paul says, we who are born again now see the world We see our neighbor, we see our fellow man, those who we converse with and interact with in our daily lives, maybe online, wherever it may be, those who we bump into on the street or at Walmart or wherever. We're to see our fellow man in a different light, Paul says here. Not as mere mortal men who live and die, but as spiritual beings with an eternal soul, as destined either for heaven or for hell. either for eternal life or for the second death in the lake of fire. That's how we are to view our fellow man. We are to view life spiritually now, not in the flesh. We're to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. And so we're also to see our fellow man as those for whom we have therefore been given what the Bible says is the power of the tongue. The power of the tongue to speak life to their souls through the truth of the gospel, just as we read in Proverbs 18, 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. We have the power to speak life to people. Through proclaiming the gospel, we have the power, the Bible says, to bring them to Christ. So Paul says, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, If any man be in Christ, if you're a Christian today, you're a new creature. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. We talk about that verse a lot, don't we? About how true salvation means true transformation. Now there is, there is no salvation apart from transformation, but read on. And all things are of God. You're now a new creature and now all things are of God. Our focus now is on God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. And what's Paul saying? And has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. By the way, just as if any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. So this passage also says that if any man is in Christ, he has been given a ministry of reconciliation. Every Christian has been given a ministry of reconciliation, bar none, every one of us. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. That's not just the apostles, that's all of us as Christians. That's the context here. Paul says, verse 20, now then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So Paul says here, if any man be in Christ. He is a new creature. That means every Christian without exception, if any man be in Christ. I've preached many times about the new nature of the believer. And there is no such thing as salvation without transformation. But that's not all that Paul says here. He also says that there is a plan and a purpose for that new man to fulfill. And for which that man has been empowered with a new nature. And that is to be an ambassador for Christ, who has been given the ministry of reconciliation. Verse 17 is not to be yanked out of context. It flows right into verse 18. And as I said, just as every born again child of God is now a new creature, he has also been given a ministry. You have been given a ministry. To beseech those around us, as Paul says, to be reconciled to God. The redeemed are supposed to say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. We are supposed to speak and speak out on behalf of the Lord. The problem is that many of us fail to do so. We fail to speak up. And the primary reason that most Christians fail to execute this ministry that they have been given is due to fear. Fear, fear of man. Other factors enter in, of course, laziness, sin in the Christian's life, perhaps judgmentalism. We may be so judgmental and pharisaical that we may look at others and say, well, they don't look like someone that would really want to talk to me. You know, I've been so surprised at times by some people who look to be very rough and the last people I would have expected to receive the gospel, and they open right up when you start talking to them. We're not to be judgmental. So other factors do enter in. laziness, sin that may cause us to feel inadequate, that we are not adequate to the task of reaching out to others. But as we are out in the world, interacting with worldly people, and suddenly feel that the Lord wants us to tell someone about the Lord, I want to assure you of something. And you've probably experienced this. I think every born-again believer has probably experienced a nudge from the Lord to share the gospel with somebody. But I want to assure you, you can rest assured that that urging, or that nudge, did not come from you, from your flesh. If you felt a nudge to share the gospel with someone, that was the Holy Spirit telling you to do something, to speak up. And if we neglect to hear that voice and we disobey Him, we quench the spirits working in our lives. That's why Paul says, quench not the spirit. Paul said in Romans 7, verse 18, he says, for I know that in me, Romans 7, 18. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. That urge didn't come from your flesh. That nudge, that urging to share the gospel wasn't your flesh talking. It was the Holy Spirit trying to lead you to do His will. How often, though is it that when we have felt that knowledge or the knowledge that we ought to share the gospel with someone, we have instead refused to lead, to follow the leading of the Spirit. And it's due primarily to fear. To the fear of man. The fear of embarrassing ourselves perhaps by not knowing what to say. Or the fear of how we are being perceived by others. Too many of us are just so worried about how we are perceived by others. And by the way, that really is a very frightful thing to worry about, isn't it? A very frightful thing to be fearful of is how we're perceived by others. As for me, I'm far more concerned about how I am perceived by the Lord Jesus than how I am perceived by someone in this world that I will probably never, ever see again. We don't need to worry about how we're going to be perceived by someone else. And personally, I'd much rather be a fool. I'd much rather make a fool of myself and embarrass myself at the door of someone's house or at Walmart or on a job or preaching the gospel on a street corner or conversing online on Facebook or social media, whatever it may be, than to be embarrassed at the judgment seat of Christ. When I have zero fruit to bring because I've done zero labor for the Lord. If you're saved, you have been called to labor for the Lord. You have been called to serve Him. Every Christian is called to serve the Lord. We are, each one of us, called to win souls. Each one of us are called to win souls as Christians. The Bible uses that precise terminology, by the way, in reference to our ministry as ambassadors for Christ. As ambassadors for Christ, we are to win souls. Proverbs 11 verse 30 says, the fruit of righteousness is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. So it uses that terminology, winning souls. We are to be soul winners. Proverbs 11.30. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 22, To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. Paul says, I have made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. He would do whatever he had to do to get people saved. And Paul says, And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. So if you, as a Christian, have no desire No heart desire to win souls for Christ. Why is that? Are you perhaps maybe ashamed of the biblical doctrine of hell and the lake of fire, like some Christians are? So ashamed perhaps that you're afraid to tell someone that if they do not repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that's exactly where they are headed. We need to be able to tell people, if you don't repent and receive Christ as your savior, you are going to go to hell. Are you ashamed of that message? What was it the Lord Jesus said in Mark 8, 38? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy angels. The fear of man more than anything else. is what hinders us from being the ambassadors for Christ that we are called to be. Proverbs 29, verse 25, it's one of my favorite verses in Proverbs. It says, the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy to encourage Timothy not to fear man. and also to remind him to execute his ministry, not only in building up and teaching the church, but also in being a soul winner as well. 2 Timothy 1, verse 6, Paul said to Timothy, Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. He said, for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. By the way, if you have a spirit of love, you should love your fellow man enough to want to get him saved. But of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Perhaps Timothy was ashamed at times. Perhaps Timothy needed a bit of a rebuke here. Don't be ashamed of me, Paul says to Timothy. Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. It appears that perhaps Paul had a concern that Timothy had been slacking off a bit. Three chapters later, he admonishes Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Preach the word and be instant, in season, out of season. That means when it is popular and when it's not. When people want to hear it and when they don't. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. By the way, itching ears is what causes preachers to just preach what people want to hear. I'm just going to preach what these people want to hear. I'm going to build my church up and I can preach any negative messages. Let's preach what they want to hear so they'll like it and they'll come to church. Hence megachurches. Exactly. Smooth message. But after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Then they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things and do reflections, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. There are no super saints. There are no super saints. That includes, by the way, Timothy and Paul as well. All of us need to repent of our fear of man. And we need to determine to do what God has called us to do. And that, in effect, really is a good working definition of courage. Courage is not necessarily the absence of fear. It doesn't necessarily mean fearlessness. The courage is the determination to take proper action despite your fears. That's courage. The word courage is used 20 times in 20 verses in the Bible, 19 of which are in the Old Testament, only one in the New. Quite often it does appear in the context as fearlessness, of having no fear whatsoever of the enemy. However, I do believe that in most instances it still doesn't mean the absence of fear. It means the determination to act in obedience to God despite all fears to the contrary. in faith believing that God will enable us to do His will. And it's on that basis that we all should be soul winners, setting our fears aside and determining to obey God anyway. And when we do, God empowers us with boldness. Turn to Psalm 31. In the Bible, courage is never seen as something that man has in his own nature. It's always seen as an outworking of faith, in God to deliver and give the victory. We read in Deuteronomy 31.7-8, that Moses called unto Joshua and gave him Joshua's charge. We read Joshua 31.7, that Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him, In the sight of all Israel, be strong and have a good courage. For thou must go with his people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn of their fathers to give them, and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee, he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed. By the way, Moses gave that charge in front of all the people, and we also know that all the people heard him that day, because we read later that all the people reminded Joshua of that charge. In Joshua 1, we read in verse 17, the people said to Joshua, according as we hearken unto Moses and all things, so will we hearken unto thee, they said to Joshua. Only the Lord thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. Verse 18, they said, whoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment and will not hearken unto thy words and all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death. The people said to Joshua, only be strong and have good courage, just like Moses had told him. Be strong and have good courage. Read in Psalm 27, verse 14. Psalm 27, verse 14. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord." In that context, Psalm 27, verse 14. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and then He shall strengthen thine heart. So courage doesn't necessarily mean having a strong heart already. If you just determine to put your fears aside and obey God, He will strengthen your heart. We read the same thing in Psalm 31, verse 24. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. But why would we need God to strengthen our heart if we already have good courage? Because courage doesn't necessarily mean the absence of fear. Courage means you put your fears aside. You believe that God will empower you to do His will. He's called you to do something. He will empower you to do it. So you set your fears aside, that's courage, to do what you know you've been called to do, and then God will strengthen your heart. The preceding verse is good too. It says, oh, love the Lord. All ye his saints, as we said earlier, no such thing as a saint that doesn't love the Lord. For the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer alike. He preserveth the faithful, the proud doer though, he rewards with punishment, with discipline, whatever it may be. So then we read in verse 24, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the Lord. If we will determine to lay aside our fears, to act in obedience despite those fears, then the Lord will respond in kind and will strengthen our hearts. That's not just soul winning by the way, that's maybe getting up here in the pulpit, whatever the Lord's called you to do. Whatever God's called you to do, set your fears aside and obey the Lord. He will empower you to do whatever he's called you to do. That includes empowering us with boldness. Turn to Acts chapter 4. Boldness is something that we see in the New Testament that we can pray for for the Lord to give us as we determine in faith to do His will. Something that we are to pray for. We'll see that momentarily in Ephesians chapter 6, but we also see that in Acts chapter 4. After Peter and John had been released from the council had he been commanded by the way to preach no more in the name of Jesus. And after that happened, then the church came together to pray. We read here in verse 23, and being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God, which hath made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ." By the way, this is Psalm chapter two, second Psalm they're quoting here. And against his Christ, which we read is against his anointed in Psalm two. same word for 27 for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus your son Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done and now Lord behold their threatenings see Lord what they're threatening us with and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that with signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. We read many times of tales of courage in the Bible, Courage of Joshua, and David, and Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and of many others. But Christians too, just like Joshua, and David, and Daniel, can and must determine to be of good courage, meaning to set their fears aside and determine to do God's will in this area of ministering as God's ambassadors that we've all been called to do. And when they do, the Lord will respond in kind and will strengthen our hearts with boldness, which is why we read in Proverbs 28, verse one. Proverbs 28, verse one. The wicked flee when none pursueth. The wicked are fearful, but the righteous are bold as a lion. The righteous are to be bold as a lion. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. All you to hope in the Lord. Turn to first Corinthians chapter one. I am neither a Calvinist nor a fatalist. I do, however, believe in the complete and total sovereignty of God. He created this universe and He is sovereign over His creation. He wrote the rules and the laws for the way His universe operates. He is sovereign and He does what He chooses to do. The Bible is clear actually also that God's sovereignty applies in this area of salvation as well. And that's why all through the New Testament, we are called God's elect, which, like it or not, means God's chosen. And further, the Bible teaches that it is God that does the choosing, not man. When mankind fell into sin, God was under no obligation to redeem him from his sins. He did not have to redeem fallen mankind. But I thank God that in his love and his mercy, he did choose to do so. He didn't have to choose to save mankind by the foolishness of preaching, using weak vessels of fallen humanity. He didn't have to do that. However, in the mystery and the wisdom of God and the perfect plan and the unsearchable will of God, that's what He did choose. That's what Paul says here. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21. For after that, in the wisdom of God, verse 21, the world by wisdom, it's kind of wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. By the way, please notice that phrase, by the foolishness of preaching. That says that we can expect that more often than not, the people on the street we try to witness to will think that we are fools. They will think you're a fool. So don't worry about making a fool of yourself because they already think you're a fool. All right. Verse 24 here, in effect, says that the only people who will thank us or will consider us wise are those who will receive the Word and become saved, or who already are saved. And so we may as well stop worrying about how we are perceived by others and worry more about how we are perceived by the Lord Jesus. We may not understand the reason for it, but God has chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, and therefore we are to preach. The Lord Jesus said that we are to go into the world. We don't bring them in here to try to get them saved in here. We go out and get them saved. That's what we're supposed to do. Go out into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, Jesus said. And further, he said in Mark 16, that he who believes and is baptized shall be saved. But he who believes not, Jesus said, will be damned. Eternal hellfire. God is sovereign. He did not have to use and in a sense rely upon imperfect human vessels to preach the Gospel. He could have chosen actually to use His angels to preach the Gospel. He could have chosen to write the Gospel in the clouds, you know, in languages that every man could understand. He could have chosen to impart just a special revelation to every man, the knowledge of Him. But He didn't choose any of those. Instead, We read that in the wisdom of God, he chose by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So God has entrusted the eternal destinies of souls of men to us. That is a pretty awesome thought. God has entrusted the eternal destiny of the souls of men to us. And so it is therefore a sacred responsibility that God has entrusted to us, to his church, each one of us. But how many of us are faithful to that trust? How many of us pass the buck and say, that's not something I've been gifted to do, that's not my gift. You go do that, that's your gift. Others in the church have that calling, I don't have that calling. I'm not a good speaker, I'm just not able to confront people. Just like Moses said in Exodus chapter four, when the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush and told him to go back down to Egypt to tell Pharaoh, let my people go. What did Moses say? Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? He said, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am a slow speech and of a slow tongue. I love what the Lord said here to Moses in reply. And by the way, everyone who thinks that they are unable to speak, or that they can't go out and be a soul winner, really needs to listen to these words very carefully. Moses said, I am a slow speech and a slow tongue. Exodus 4.11, and the Lord said unto him, who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. But still Moses in Exodus 4.13 said, oh my Lord send I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. Verse 14, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. We all have weaknesses and inhibitions that if we let them will hinder us from sharing the gospel as we are called to do. The great apostle Paul also had great weaknesses. He reminded the Corinthians of that. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 1, he said, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. He said, For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, Paul said. And then he wrote this later about his weakness in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, he talked about his weakness, but then he said, and he, God, said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. for my strength is made perfect in weakness." And then so Paul said, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Paul said he glories in his weakness that God can use him in spite of his weakness and that's what we should do as well. Don't let your weakness hinder you from doing God's will. Paul did say in Romans 7 verse 18, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. But then he also said in Philippians 4 verse 13, knowing that there's no good in him, he then says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. The moment that we start to think that we are something in and of ourselves or that we are some kind of super saint and some great blessing to the cause of Christ, some great soul winner, that's the point when we need to be brought to nothing ourselves. When we need to be brought to repentance and realization that we can bear no fruit apart from what Jesus is doing in us. We are nothing without Christ. On the other hand, the moment that we think that we can't be soul winners because we lack the natural ability or are too nervous or can't speak as we should, then we need to repent of that also. We need to realize that all we need to do is put our faith in Christ rather than ourselves. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. I stated up front, we are, each one of us, called to win souls. If any man is in Christ, he is not only a new creature in Christ, he is also now appointed as an ambassador on his behalf. And we are also to be prepared to do so. Ephesians 6, verse 11. Paul says, Put on the whole armory of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armoury of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." Paul says, verse 15, "...and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." That's part of our armour. "...above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Paul makes a very important point here in verse 15. He says, we are to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Would anyone like to take a guess as to what that word preparation means in the Greek? Guess what it means, preparation. It means you must know and be prepared at all times to share the gospel of peace with others. Strong's definitions often provide several alternates in his definitions of various Greek words. But here at this word, only one word is given in the English, and that is the word preparation. That doesn't mean that we have to have the Bible memorized to share the gospel. It does mean that every one of us should be prepared to share the gospel with others. If you don't know the gospel well enough to be able to share it, it may be true that you need to examine yourself, actually, and see if you're really in the faith, like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13. If you're saved, you should have no trouble at all explaining to others how you got saved and what Jesus did for you when he saved you. Beyond that though, I would like to suggest today that one of the best ways that you can have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace is to always carry a few of these with you, our tracks, our gospel tracks. You don't have to have any of the verses memorized. These are very handy and you can simply use these tracks and actually the script to show people what the Bible says about their spiritual condition. And if you do that often enough, then you begin to memorize the verses, and you can commit important verses to memory to do this. I mentioned a few weeks back, I was in the Walmart in Tavares. I walked into an aisle to hear one employee talking to another about when he'd get to the pearly gates, if they let me in, he said. And of course, I took that as my cue from the Lord, and I immediately chimed in. Sir, can I tell you how you can know for sure that they'll let you in? And I didn't have a tracker with me at that time. Shame on me. But then, as often happens, the Lord just brought verses to my memory that I'd shared many times with people. And the other employee there was already saved. She sat there just smiling as I preached the gospel to this guy. And he just stood there listening. And I preached five minutes or so. Just went on and on. And you'd be surprised When you just break the ice, do nothing more than just break the ice. Can I tell you how you can be saved? Can I tell you how you can have eternal life? You'd be very surprised at how people will say, yeah, go ahead and tell me. Is that right, Jay? All the time it happens. This past week I was not able to make it up to Ocala for a door knocking event, but I was at Walmart a few times. I'm armed with gospel tracts this time. I typically approach folks and ask if I can take a moment of their time to tell them how they can have the free gift of eternal life. That's a typical icebreaker I use. And it's amazing how people will stand and listen to my statement and say, yeah, go ahead. Sometimes they'll take a track and say, no, I don't have time right now. But this past week, not one person said no. Not one person. I handed several tracks out this past week. One man in the freezer aisle pushed his card aside and stopped and said, yeah, go ahead. People want to hear. One man was a deaf mute. I started talking to him and he, you know, how deaf mutes kind of try to talk and they can't talk. And I just loudly lip synced. I said, read this. And he said, I will. You know, these are handy. This is being prepared with the gospel of peace. Keep these with you. And I learned from Brother Jade. I keep one in my wallet now, so I'm always armed with the gospel. Have your feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And so I went out in the parking lot at Walmart. There's a guy out there, short guy, always wears a cowboy hat. He's always out there, you know, getting the grocery carts and putting them away. And I came up to my car, and he was sweeping trash right next to my car. And I'd never talked to him before. I see him all the time. I said hi and stuff, you know. But he asked me how I was doing, and I said, well, I'm doing great, but can I share with you today how you can be saved from your sins and how you can have eternal life? And he said, yeah, you can do that. And as I began to share with him, I handed him a tract as I said that. As I shared that with him, he's reading through the tract, and I said, have you ever heard this before? And he said, no, never heard that. And by the way, he's one of the very few people who've ever said no to that question. I ask that question a lot. Have you ever heard this before? And most people say, yeah, I've heard all that. But he said no. And he stood there while I went through the entire tract. And he really, I mean, he wanted to hear it. And so it's very simple to take this tract out and just go through the gospel point by point. You just start at the top and go right down the line here. It's very simple. And I just go through every verse with him. So this is what God's word the Bible says about our spiritual condition. The Bible says our sin separates us from God and condemns us to death and eternal punishment. The Bible says your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hit his face from you that he will not hear. First Corinthians chapter six, we read, no, ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, that means false religionists, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. We also read in Revelation 21, but the unbelieving, those that reject the gospel, that reject Christ, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, again false religionists. Then it says, and all liars, and by the way, every man is a liar, every man is lied. And all liars shall have their part in a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. The Lord Jesus described hell, sir, in Matthew chapter 25 as everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, as everlasting punishment. You don't just cease to exist. It's everlasting punishment. You also need to understand, sir, that you cannot earn or merit eternal life by being a good person. The Bible says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of regeneration, we read, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. That means that by being born again, washing of regeneration, When God saves you, He gives you a new nature. The Bible says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things pass away and all things become new. And that's what this means, the washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Ghost. We read in Ephesians chapter 2, for by grace are you saved. That means it's a gift of God. For by grace are you saved through faith. That means by believing God's word. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Sir, you cannot work your way into heaven. You can't, by your good works and being a nice guy, get to heaven. Your good works will never pay your penalty for sin. Because the penalty is death, not good works. You can do all kinds of good works. You can pile good works all the way up to heaven. But your sin remains. And you have to deal with your sin. Next thing you need to know, is that because you're a sinner separated from God, you can't save yourself, but God loved you. And so therefore, God sent his son, his sinless son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly suffered, bled, and died on a Roman cross to pay our death penalty, to redeem us from our sin, and to offer us eternal life. He paid your penalty for sin. He took your sins in his body to the cross and he paid your penalty for you so that you could have eternal life. We read in Romans chapter five, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We read that the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And we read in John chapter three, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So Jesus paid your penalty for sin. So you wouldn't have to. But the story doesn't end there. We also have to understand, we have to believe that after three days, Jesus was bodily resurrected from the grave to prove that he was the Christ and his words were true. We read in Acts 2 that His disciples declared, This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses, many witnesses of His resurrection. We read, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, and that He hath raised Him from the dead, Acts 17. We also read, Sir, in Romans 4, that Jesus was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. That means the resurrection of Christ, through the resurrection, through raising up his son back to life, God declared to the world that he accepted his death as full payment for our sin. And therefore he declared us to be righteous through that. So what do you need to do? You need to believe these things. that I've shared with you and you need to repent of your sin, acknowledge your sin guilt before Him. You need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, believe that He died for you, that He paid your penalty for sin. Receive Him as your Savior and as your Lord and give your life to Him. If you'll do that, you can be saved and be born again. We read in Acts chapter three, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. We read in John chapter one, as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And then if, when they let me go through this entire tract with them, then I will ask them if they would like to receive Christ as their savior and Lord today. And they typically don't want to do that. I leave it with them and plant a seed typically. And I tell them if my phone number is on here and if they have any questions, give me a call. And so, this tract, as you see, it gives you a very simple script to share the Gospel with people. You just go right down through the tract, and therefore, all of us should keep these tracts with us at all times, to have your feet shot with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. All of us are called as ambassadors for Christ. And therefore all of us, all of us, every single one of us are exhorted in this passage to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That is part of our armor as Christians to know the gospel and to be able to share it with people. Notice what Paul then says next in Ephesians six, verse 19, he says, as for me, utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." See there are no super saints. Paul said he needed prayer also so he could speak boldly. Paul acknowledged his own weaknesses and that he needed the church at Ephesus to pray for him that he would have boldness. That applies to us today just as much as it did to Paul in his day. We should all pray for the Lord to empower us and have others pray for us also. For the Lord to empower us to open our mouths boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel for which we too are called as ambassadors. That we too may speak boldly as we ought to speak. Turn to Proverbs 24, I'm getting, I'm almost done. Important passage here in Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24, verse 11. It says, If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, if you fail to do that, and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? And shall he not render to every man according to his works? Some have cited this verse in support for Operation Rescue, you know, the effort to speak out on behalf of the unborn and against abortion and all that. And that's not a bad application of this verse, that's fine. But how much more does this verse apply to our duty as Christians to tell others about Christ? If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn into death, who are destined for hell. If you fail to tell them. If you say, I didn't know about that. God knows about that. and He will reward you according to your works, the Bible says. We are called to rescue those who are destined for second death, the lake of fire, as Jesus described it, to everlasting fire and prepare for the devil and his angels, and everlasting punishment, as Jesus described it. So, the Bible says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. If you are saved, if you are a Christian today, you have not been called to silence. nor have you been called to serve merely yourself or your family. You have been called, we have all been called, every one of us, to serve the Lord and to speak out on His behalf. And again, the moment that we think that we can't be soul winners just because we lack the natural ability or we're too nervous or we can't speak as we should, then we need to realize that all we need to do is put our faith in Christ. Put our fears aside, put our faith in the Lord, and He will empower us at the right time to speak for Him. We don't all have the same gifts and abilities, but we do all have a command to tell others about our wonderful Savior. So Psalm 31, 24, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the Lord. If we will simply recognize what Paul says in Philippians 4, 13, that I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. You can do it through Jesus. He can empower you to do it. We determine to set our fears aside and obey Christ despite our fears. Then the Lord will strengthen our hearts and give us boldness to speak out as we should. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works? I want to close by saying that last statement works both ways. Those who refuse to speak out as ambassadors for Christ will give an account to the Lord Jesus at the judgment seat of Christ. We will give an account. At the same time, though, the Bible also says that there is a special reward for those who set their fears and their inhibitions aside, their excuses, and who are therefore determined to obey the Lord in this area of their lives. Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 we read and at that time shall Michael stand up the great prince was Janet for the children of my people there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time my people shall be delivered everyone that shall be found written in the book verse 2 many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt Let me read in verse 3 of Daniel 12. We need to fall in that category, those who turn others to righteousness. So what a glorious future is ahead of us. Let's all determine to do as John exhorts us in 2 John 1 verse 8. Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord God, we do thank you for this church. Thank you for your word. I pray that you would empower each one of us to preach the word for you on your behalf. I pray that you would convict those of us who have not been ambassadors for you as we should have been. You convict us, and that you'd help us, Lord, to set our fears aside and to do as we've been called to do, to be ambassadors for Christ in our lives. In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen.