Well, greetings. So good to see all of you again. As I sit in here singing with you, I just realized anew that this is the strength of our country, what's going on here this morning. We join with Christians all over the globe this morning, singing praises to the same Savior, the loving Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, Jesus, how we trust him, how we've proved him, o'er and o'er. Please join me in a prayer. Father, we thank you that you are calling every tribe and language and nation, calling sinners home wherever they are. Thank you, Father, for this expression of your promise here in the town of Kinzers. We join, Father, with your people in every large city and your rural village, every mountain, every desert. There are people praising you this morning, and we're a part of that. Father, thank you for filling this world with the fragrance of your Glorious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, may we fulfill your words this morning by hearing from you, by listening carefully to what you have to say to us, to raise us up on our feet and to equip us and encourage us. Lord, I pray for each family here. Father, for the ones that are struggling, I pray, O God, your your carrying hand, your work as a Mason, just rebuilding and cementing and strengthening. For those families that are enjoying, Father, the nourishment of godly parents who are raising their children in the nurture of the Lord, I pray that the children, too, will see their responsibility to obey and trust. these first authorities that you've placed in their lives, these representatives of your ultimate personage in our lives. Father, we thank you for waking us up from the dead. For those that are here this morning that know you, we just praise you together. For those who are still not sure, Father, where they stand with you, may your love and grace overwhelm them. On this very morning, that the Lord Jesus loves them with an everlasting love, has given his only Life shed his precious blood on this earth. The one who came from heaven, who is above all, came and died a sinner's death, a criminal's death, a foreigner's death on our behalf. Lord Jesus, we love you, and we want to give you the reward that your sufferings have earned. May you fill us this morning with your hope, your glory, and your message. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Well, it is good to be with you. Gwen and I have missed you, but we realize that there's a season for everything, and it is good to, you're still sitting in the same spot. Clayton, is it? I remembered your name finally, Clayton. You are the future, Clayton. You know, it is so good to have Heinrich and Merv here and Suzanne, the generation that's carrying the torch. Mark and Gary and everyone here that loves the Lord Jesus. You are the generation. I'm the passing generation. I'm in the batter's box. I don't know when I'm going to be called out of it. No, I'm at the plate. You're in the batter's box. I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging bread. I had a unique experience on Wednesday. On Wednesdays, as Heinrich knows, I go to Chester County Prison, and the block that I do the prison mystery up on has four units that are surrounding a control room, and I go on to one of the units, and we do the Bible study right there on the chair, but one of the other units is the intake unit, and they're only there three days to maybe a week, and as I left, I encountered a bedraggled young man. His hair was a mess. He had just come in. He had all that the prison had allowed him for his clothing and his belongings in his hands, and he was heading up to the intake unit. He's just beginning his journey. That night, I was in Delaware County Prison. I go to two prisons each week. And I usually hit the main corridor heading to the block that I do the Bible study on. At the same time, they're releasing men on Wednesday nights. And this last Wednesday night, I passed two men in the tiers who were holding their earthly belongings, heading for the outdoor. And it's always, that's a much more pleasurable experience because you can encourage them. And I always say, find a good church on the way out. And I'll tell you, they've been humble. And it doesn't matter who they are, they'll say, thank you. God bless you too. They're just so glad to be heading out. But this, as Heinrich said, is the crucial time. What happens now? And it just struck me that in the morning I saw someone coming in, in the evening I'm seeing people leaving, and it struck me again that this will be going on long after I am gone. There will always be a need for messengers. There will always be a need for chaplains, always a need for volunteers, always a need for people going in, always a need for churches embracing them when they come out. Should the Lord tarry? There will always be a need for Ezekiels, and that's where we are today. Ezekiel chapter two. How'd you like that little segue? That was good. Ezekiel chapter two and three are among my favorites, because they have obvious prison ministry parallels. In fact, I've used this section in at times when we train volunteers to go into prison. Because there's a special calling here on Ezekiel's life. But with every true calling of God, there's an equipping. It is unthinkable that God would call us to something and not equip us to do it. And as we read this, and I'm gonna read chapter two and half of chapter three. And so I'm just gonna read it through. But as we read it, I want you to be thinking of why I would say that this is a passage that's apropos for prisoners and for those working in prison. And he said to me, chapter two, verse one, and he said to me, son of man, and this is after he'd seen the great vision of the Lord. He's blown away by seeing what very few men have seen. He's probably taken up to the third heaven and seen the creatures that inhabit it and the heavenly beings, but most of all the one who sits upon the throne. And after God blows him away with this great vision of who he is, now he has an assignment for him. In a way, that's happened to all of us. We may not have seen the great visions, but if you are a Christian here this morning, there was a time in your life where you were blown away by the glory of God and the forgiveness of your sins. We all, like Ezekiel, have been first invaded by God and his reality. And now, there's a commissioning taking place. And that's what we see. Some refer to this as the commissioning of Ezekiel, some the calling. And I'll repeat verse one. After this great vision, he said to me, son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak with you. And as he spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet. And I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impotent and stubborn. I send you to them and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God. And whether they hear or refuse to hear, some translations say whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet has been among them. What essentially is a prophet? The messenger, the one who speaks for God. God brings the message and he gives it to the prophet to speak to the people. In a sense, you and I are prophets, not with a capital P, but every time you declare the reality and the truth and the words of God to this dark and dying generation, you are in a prophetic role. And so there is a parallel between us and Ezekiel. In that sense, verse six, and you son of man, now that he is sending him into his countrymen, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words. This kind of, prison can be an awesome setting. It does intimidate people who first start going in. There is a setting there where you realize this is a house of rebellion. This is a house where rebellious people have been collected and placed. And so there's an encouragement here for Ezekiel. Ezekiel is going to the exiles who have rebelled against God, who are still often rebellious in their hearts. And he says, you, verse six, son of man, don't be afraid of them, nor afraid of their words, though briars and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words. nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you." Now he's addressing, he's got a message for his countrymen, but he's first got a message to Ezekiel, and it's this. Verse eight, but you son of man, hear what I say to you. Don't you be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me. And behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me and it had writing on the front and on the back. And there were written words on it of lamentation and mourning and woe. These are the words that Ezekiel is gonna be bringing. And he said to me, opening up chapter three, son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll and go. Speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. And he said to me, son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it. and was in my mouth as sweet as honey. And he said to me, son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel, not sending you to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to such, they would have listened to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you. For they are not willing to listen to me. Because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. But now notice the equipping in verse 8. But behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces. And your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like Emery, harder than flint. Some translations say adamant, a very hard stone. have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. Moreover, he said to me, son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears, and go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them, and say to them, thus saith the Lord God, whether they hear or refuse to hear. And then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake. Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures that he had seen in chapter one. As they touched one another, at the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake, the spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles of Tel Aviv, who were dwelling by the Kibar Canal. And I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them for seven days. And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. Let me repeat that. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked man from his wicked way in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his own iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his own iniquity, but you will have delivered your own soul. And he goes on to say that the obverse is also true. If he turns, he will be saved. So let me end there. The theme of this passage is the word of God. delivered first unto the messenger who is to go and speak it to the people. Now you could, as you read with me, did you see the obvious prison ministry parallels? The stubborn hearts, the rebellion. Did you see the equipping? He's gonna make our forehead as strong as theirs. And you know, do you not experience that when you're in there, Heinrich? There's just this favor, I would call it, this carrying grace that enables you to function in this environment. And you use it because you expect it, not presumptuously, not assuming that it will always be there, but I do expect God to do something supernatural because he called me in there for that purpose. Do pray for Heinrich. Pray for Suzanne, who also orchestrates the volunteer. Every volunteer that goes in there must first clear it with Suzanne at County Corrections Gospel Mission. Merv, you also are the next generation. You are the guys in the batter's box. In fact, you're in the box now. But, you know, it just does my heart good to see that no man is born a Christian. You must be born again. And here's the next generation going into prison, doing what God has blessed me to do and what he did with many, many thousands before me. This is a glorious ministry, but it is not the only ministry. Let me ask you a question. Is it only to prisoners that this applies? Is not our own country filled with briars and thorns and scorpions? the briars of immorality, the thorns of ungodly lives and rebellion, the scorpions of an anti-Christian, growing anti-Christian sentiment. And this is home base, the families of God. This is God's plan, his church, and in his church to raise godly children. Young people, you're the next generation. Clayton, I wasn't fooling, you are the next generation. When I'm home singing with the Lord and the saints who have gone before, you will be here because you've been raised with a godly heritage. You will be strong. There are young men here also, Shad and others, Faith, Candice, the next generation gaining information, gaining the word of God because we have parents who faithfully told us. I didn't have that experience. I did not have the blessing of a Christian home. I did not have the admonition of the Lord. I had rebellion in my heart. And I wound up where rebellious people go, as you know. But it was through that experience that even God used in my life. I tell the inmates all the time, I wouldn't be here in front of you if I hadn't gone to prison when I was young. Locked up not just once, but several times. And so at least an inmate can't tell me I don't know how he feels. I do know how he feels, but I don't know how he feels today because I am removed from sitting there 24 hours a day, minute by minute, separated from the people I love, anguishing over certain people that come into my mind in and out all day long and I can't be with them. I'm not there today, but I do have a message from the Lord for them. Repent of your sins. Acknowledge before God that you've sinned. This is an ouchie. Prison is a consequence of our sins. And thank God that they're still alive. I often ask them, how many of you have friends who are six feet under today who were out there doing the same thing you were doing with the same people at the same time? Why are you here hating every minute, but you're at least alive? And I bring them the word of the Lord. God has not forsaken you. God has not forgotten you. Sometimes when I used to go into the intake in infirmary, that would be the message, Heinrich, that I would give them over there. Come to men who had to be put in the infirmary when they first came into prison because they're so devastated by their experience they can't handle it. And so they put them in the infirmary to watch them. And along comes this smiley face Christian with a message from God and I tell them, God sent me today to give you a message. He has not forgotten you. And that's what they're feeling, forgotten. And I can't tell you how many grown tough men with the tears just coming down their face when they're feeling like everyone has forgotten them. When they feel like it's them against the entire world. And it sure looks like it. And along comes Ezekiel. God has not forsaken you. But I tell the volunteers, if we just tell them that God is there to be their friend, that's only a part of the message. He will certainly make them feel better. But that's not their greatest need. Their greatest need is to escape the prison of hell, which is a reality, which we believe from this very word. It seems unthinkable to us. It seems unthinkable surely to the natural man. That's why they even build churches and just say God is love. God would never send anybody to hell, but that's not the message. God is just, but out of his great heart of love, he sent his only son to satisfy that justice, to warn us we are in great danger. One of the traps of volunteers is to see their pain and just want to make them feel better, but they got a far greater need than just prison. And the converse is also true. Last Wednesday night, I just was moved to tell the men. And they were having a hard time. They came down from the tier, and there had been some grumbling and anger up on the tier, and they came down, many of them angry. And I said to you, I do know that this is miserable. And there is a church growing there in that group. And I told them, you know, as miserable as this is, you already have the pearl of great price. you already have the most important thing that you can ever find in this world. This is the treasure hidden in a field. Sell everything to get it. You already have it, and your free friends on the street, free so-called, don't have it. They are in worse shape than you are. And the Christians among them know that is true. And they needed their perspective changed. And I wanna tell you just with joy in my heart, they left that room that night, every one of them smiling, grinning, praising God, slapping each other on the back. Not because Lenny had anything good to say to them, other than, Trust Jesus, yeah, bring the message, bring the truth. Now, is it only to prisoners? This dying world needs it. God has not placed you where you are by accident any more than he placed me by accident. You live where you live for the purposes of God. How did Kinzers get reached? Why is there a church here? Because God cares about this locality. Just like he cares in places that you and I will never know. Names of towns we can't even pronounce. Heinrich and his wife Susanne are from South Africa. Found the Lord there, didn't you? What a glorious story they have of how God has used them, used their experiences for what they are doing today. And he's given you the high calling of ministering to those that the world called low. Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, because what world thinks is great is despised in the eyes of the Lord, and it's all vice versa. I don't measure spirituality by the things that we measure by numbers, quality, bigness. It's not measured in that way. It's did I love that person when I addressed him today. Do I forgive so-and-so who insulted me? Just the way us little Christians operate in this world is so different, isn't it, than the rest of the world. You are a molecule of grace, and God has filled this world with such molecules. I just love the thought. Look how much God cares for Kinzers that he should put such a strong church in its midst. That is not by accident. It's not just because, oh, we found a building. That was by design. God has a plan for you here. And it's going to be to carry his message, whether by word or by lifestyle. That message will be given. But first, before he can address the world, before he can address the exiles, which we particularly had Ezekiel for, before he can address the prisoners, before he can address your neighbors or your coworkers, he has to give us the message. He said, don't you be rebellious. I love this line here. Look at, where does he say that? Oh yeah, verse eight, this is great. In the middle of the verse it says, open your mouth and eat what I give you. Just love that. How many of you get mental pictures of younger brothers and siblings being fed by your mother when they're still in the high chair? I have mental images of that and I often see them going, as the food is coming on the spoon, all of a sudden the little kid goes, The food reaches their lips and they go. And that's what this sounds like. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. And we are like that. Little children are like that. We have grown up to be like this. Open your mouth daily and eat what I give you. And oftentimes we go. We're doing the same thing. I do it. That's why he has to address me every single day with this word. There are three words that repeat. How long do I have? This is just like prison. Okay. All right. There are three words that repeat here. And you find them in, well, it's all over the place, but look at verse, chapter three, verse one. And he said to me, son of man, eat whatever you find here. And now notice the three words. He repeats eat. Eat this scroll and go and speak. to the house of Israel. There's your three points for today. Eat, go, speak. Have to eat first. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. You must eat first. But notice what he tells. He has to tell Ezekiel this. He says in verse eight, but you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. Friends, we cannot give what we do not possess. We cannot give comfort if we have not ourselves been comforted. We cannot give wisdom if we do not have that wisdom. And it's like yesterday's manna, isn't it? Haven't we discovered that? If we just ate something last week and we're just so impressed by what God taught us and we go for the next two months on what he taught us last Tuesday, now two months ago, it doesn't work, does it? But as we eat daily, the benefits of yesterday's eating stays with me. It's a living word. But every day I need to hear him speak. Every day he has a message. But there are mornings when I wake up and I'm going, and I'm not willing to listen. I can go through, I guarantee you, I go through the motion every day. I read every day. I open with a psalm. Do you know I have to read a psalm three times? It's a bargain I've made with God. Because it takes me three times at least to start listening. To wake from my groggy night's sleep, I usually have a shower first, sit down, I read the psalm, I read it once, I read it again. Some of them along. So those days are particularly long. I better get up early for those. I read it three times. I go through the Psalms twice a year. So that means I read them six times a year. There's 150 of them. That's only good for five months. So I spend a month on Psalm 119. I read Psalm 119 twice a year. So two months of the year devoted to Psalm 119. And it says, blessed is the man who walks with the Lord. Blessed is the man. And David, I believe it's David, says your word is like honey. Is that not what he said here? Do you know, he says it in several places. He says it to John in Revelation. That scroll, eat that scroll. It'll taste like honey in your mouth, but the message is gonna turn your stomach bitter. But just the delight of the law of the Lord. I believe it's your characteristic as a Christian. I'm speaking to the choir here. Do you not love reading the word of God? Proverbs says, eat honey, my son. It tastes sweet. Honey from the honeycomb tastes sweet to the taste. But then it says, the next verse says, but know also that wisdom is sweet for your soul. We need to taste the honey of God's word daily. Waking up, do we not come to it expectantly? Do we not say, Lord, what do you have for me today? It's like breakfast. I would ask you this morning, what did you have for breakfast, spiritually speaking? How many of you read Proverbs 29 today? Yes, thank you. Why 29? It's July 29th, thank you. I read Proverbs 29 today. I really encourage the rest of you, read a proverb a day. There's conveniently 31 of them. So in February, you read a few more. But every day, by the day, I think I told you, that's how my son's spiritual life got kickstarted. He was having a hard time getting kickstarted in a word. I said, read a proverb a day. And he began to read a proverb a day, so much so that when I started to do the wrong thing, he'd say, Dad, you know there's a proverb for what you just did. That was music to my ears, even though he rebuked me properly. But you, verse 8, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth. Eat whatever I give you, whether it's the broccoli or the okra. Whatever it is, it's good for you. That spoon coming at you, the hand behind it is one of love. And he knows what we need to eat. So eat this scroll. R.C. Sproul, who died last December, what an encourager. Is there not an older saint here who has not been encouraged by that man's ministry? He used to know that people had a hard time with his name. They didn't know whether it was Sproul or Sproul. They just read it. And so he would introduce himself. Hi, my name is Sproul, rhymes with soul, and how's yours doing? He said that was a good little segue. But he got right to the jugular, didn't he? Isn't that what we need to know from each other most? After you tell me about Aunt Matilda's toe and all of that stuff and where you're going on vacation, what I really want to know is how's your soul? I want you asking me how is my soul. I once asked that of a pastor, and I happened to be in his congregation, when he pointed me out and said, that man once asked me how my devotional life was doing, and he asked me the most important question in my life. I didn't expect to get that. But it just had become a habit. How are you doing with the Lord? That's the most important question to ask a fellow Christian. And they know what you mean. They mean, are you eating? Are you drinking? Is your life being changed? Just as I take a shower every day, I need my brain and heart showered. People say, Lenny, you're brainwashed. I said, that's just what I need. I need my brain washed, otherwise it gets dirty from the thinking of the world. We don't need that. It's such a spiritual parallel. Eat, taste and see. Do you know what preceded those two verses in Proverbs 24, 13 and 14 that I just read to you? Rescue those being led away to death. Hold back those staggering towards slaughter. But if you say, we knew nothing of this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? Eat honey, my son, it is good. Honey from the honeycomb tastes sweet, but know also that wisdom is sweet for your soul. Hosea cried out, a people without understanding shall be ruined. Proverbs also says, it's righteousness that exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace or a reproach to any people. As Hosea said, a people without understanding shall come to ruin. That's the last part of Hosea 4, 14. In that same chapter, I asked my wife, because I knew the verse, but I didn't know where the address was. I said, I think it's in Isaiah around 7 or 8. But I know the verse. The verse said, Ephraim mixes with the nations. That's a Christian's danger, isn't it? That we mix with the briars and thorns and scorpions of this thinking? How is it that we've passed some of the laws we've passed as a nation? We sacrifice our children to Moloch. We say that a marriage can be anything we name it. Where did this come from? A nation without understanding will come to ruin. There is not one nation in history who rejected the laws of the Lord that is not in the dust today. And you are the messengers. I can't go out and change America, but I can talk to my neighbor. I can say this is wrong and this is right. Where did I get it? From this book. from the word of the Lord. My job isn't to change the whole world. And I can't even make a person that I'm talking to believe. But whether they listen or fail to listen, we did our job. A mail carrier doesn't get to read your letters. All he's got to do is deliver the mail. When an inmate sometimes gets in my face because he doesn't like what I'm saying, I just say, don't shoot me, I'm just a messenger. This came from the Lord for you. Take it up with him. but I cannot make him or her believe. That's not our job and it's not my job, it's not your job, but it is our job to speak what God has revealed to us, to repeat the food that we got today, if I can mix my metaphors. I was gonna say regurgitate, but that doesn't come off too good. Eat. You know, there's a rebuke in Hebrews chapter five that says, Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. Anyone living on milk is like an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Is that not the role of a priest? Tell my people the difference between the common and the uncommon, the clean and the unclean. That's the job of the messenger. That's the job of the prophet. This is right, this is wrong. This is the way, not this way. Not in any self-righteous way. We go to them because we care that they're going over the falls. Were you ever in a crowded area and you just realized, like a mall or something, and just realized, probably most of these people don't know the Lord? I see them like they're in a canoe without oars heading over off of Niagara Falls. And they're just eating away, they're laughing and joking, they're texting and whatever else they do on those little things. They're in danger. Someone's got to warn, you are the watchman, warn them. If you warn them and they turn around, fine. If they don't, you still did your job, but your job is to warn them. You're going to be complicit in their punishment. Not that you'll ever be punished in hell, but he holds us responsible for declaring to a dying world, this is how God planned it. After you eat, the second word is go. These are action words. It says in Hosea, Ephraim mixes with the peoples. He's like a flat cake not turned over. What a beautiful image. That's like, picture a pancake. You know, you put the batter on the griddle. What if you never flipped it over? One side's getting toasty brown, then dark brown, then burnt. But on the other side, there's still this yellow, white, soft, immature goo. I know goo isn't a very theological word, but it's like unfinished. I know churches like that. They excel in their doctrine. Brown, on the griddle, they're facing the griddle. Some churches excel in their worship and they do wonderful in their worship. Brown, they're singing to the griddle. I know others that their fellowship is wonderful. Dark brown, but they're facing the griddle. It's the other side that's facing outward that needs the help. Flip it over. Ephraim, flip it over, but Ephraim would not turn the flat cake over. He was like a flat cake not turned over. He mixed with the nations. His hair is getting gray, it goes on to say in Hosea 7, 8 and 9, but he does not notice it. Time is passing. That's what I get out of that. He's getting old. This is from Hosea 7, 8 and 9. Time is passing. This day matters. This is not a routine day in the sight of God. People are living and people are dying on this very day. I don't want to say that to lay a big guilt trip on us. I can waste a lot of time. But is there not in each of us this motivation, this sense of urgency? We're not gonna be here forever. I think it's so appropriate that they put graveyards next to churches. It's great. It's a great visual. That's where we're all going. The body. Time is running out. Ephraim is like a flat cake not turned over. In other words, he's not repenting. He's not going. He's not doing the action part. And so only one side is burning. Go. But go doing what? The last word. Speak. You know, Psalm 19 says, the heavens declare the glory of God. That's wonderful, we love that. We use that as evangelistically. There ought to be no man anywhere on the face of the earth that doesn't look up and see a sun and a star and not notice that that must be, someone must have put that there. But it cannot give the gospel. The heavens do not declare the gospel. Oh, some see it in constellations and things like that. But that was not God's method for the gospel. God uses people. God uses saved people to tell how they've been saved. It's the only message that can be used to save people. And we are the instrument. Yes, he can speak to a supernatural, and he has done that on many an occasion. And yes, he can speak directly to save someone. We know people that have been saved that way. But what is his primary method? Eat. Go speak. You have this treasure in an earthen vessel, weak as that vessel is. God did not choose angels to deliver the message for as powerful as they are. I think I've shared with you before, it was an angel that got Peter out of jail. They're powerful enough to blind the guards, open the door by itself, And Peter just thinks he's dreaming. But he was really being delivered by an angel, doing what only angels can do. Peter couldn't do that. But then, what does the angel say to him in Acts 5, verse 20? Go into the temple courts, in other words, where the people are, and declare the glorious news of this gospel. The angel didn't get to do that. You and I get to do that. What a privilege. Doesn't your heart beat when a spiritual conversation comes up with someone? They may not receive it, you cannot change that, but they're talking about the Lord, and you're talking to them about it, and they don't know the Lord yet. Is there anything that you would pass up every meal, every physical meal to continue that conversation? Isn't that true? Have you not experienced that yourselves? Everything drifts away. Everything we were doing once a person who didn't know the Lord is talking about God and even asking you questions. And you're getting to speak by the grace of God what he has done in your life. We don't have to be major theologians. We know enough to know how to be saved. Everyone who calls upon the Lord shall be saved. His name is Jesus. Precious Jesus, we sang that this morning. Oh, how I trust him. Oh, for grace to trust him more. But it's those encounters that find our hearts saying, Lord, help me here. Help me here. Help me. That person just asked a question I don't know the answer to. What ought that to do? Send us right back to this book. Whenever you step out, and if they ask you a challenging question that you did not know, rejoice. Because you're going to know it before the day is over. You're going to go home and say, what is up with that? Do you know that I actually had an inmate two weeks ago, from the word of God, said the world must be flat. He says, it says here, Joshua asked the sun to stand still so the sun must have been moving. So we're just flat. And he says, and it says here in the book that when he comes back, every eye will see him. Well, if we're a round globe, how is every eye gonna see him? Which direction is he coming from? And he's sincere about it. I said, his name's Timothy. I call him First Timothy. I says, Timothy, do you really think the world is flat? He says, well, NASA plays games with us and this book tells the truth. How am I going to argue that? I said, well, now I know in Isaiah it says he sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers. And so not to make it easy for him, I said, there are verses that talk about the earth being a circle. But it is simple. And I gave him, without going into it, I gave him why God is using language. Even today, our so-called scientific weathermen say that the sun rose. and set at a certain time. We still use that language. It's just the language of the day. God was just using that language that men use. It's just telling the truth. But I commended him in front of the others, because he came up last week. I didn't tell him where in Isaiah that verse was, but I told him it's in Isaiah, meaning he would have to look through all 66 chapters to find that verse. And I said, I'm doing that to see how sincere you are about this question. That verse is in there. Do you know he came back and came right up to me with Isaiah 40? I thought that would convince him. You know what he said? Well, a dish is round, but it's flat. I said, Timothy, I'm not having this discussion with you anymore. But I did tell the class, I brought it up, and I didn't bring up what we were talking about, because I didn't want them to say, hey, Timothy, you think the world's flat, whatever. I said, but he did something that I commend to all of you. He saw something in the scriptures and found it in more than one place and formed an opinion because the Bible said it, even though the whole world, present thinking goes against it. I commend you for that. I said I disagree with the outcome and your interpretation, but I commend you for where you got your information and standing on it as the truth. And he's beaming. I'm sure he still thinks the world is flat, I hope he doesn't. But wouldn't you rather talk to someone who's coming to you from the book? Now I'll tell you what, as I read, I'm gonna be keeping my eye open for a few other verses besides Isaiah 40. Because people are going to ask that question. My point is, it's the encounters with people that make us realize that there are things that I can't yet defend well enough. And so ministry is what drives our need for the book. But it's honey at the same time. Our job is simply to deliver God's truth with Christ's compassion in our hearts in the power of the Holy Spirit and to lead the results to him. Campus Crusades Bill Bright used to say that, witnessing is simply declaring the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. But if we leave out the element of love, we've lost the power of it, the motivation. It's the Holy Spirit's power, but the Holy Spirit inclines us to care about people. In our nature, why do we want to get into a conflict with our neighbors or coworkers, people at school? If they're going over the falls, we have to. have to talk to them, but do it in love. Notice what he does here back in chapter 3, verse 15. And I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv, who were dwelling by the Kibar Canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. This is very important. He came to the people God sent them to, that rebellious nation, who were stubborn and obstinate, whose heads were hard, and he sat with them. lived where they were, and I sat there overwhelmed among them for seven days." Before he delivered the message. What was he doing here? Listening, experiencing, knowing what it's like. Hebrews 13.3 says, remember the prisoners as if you were sitting there with them. What is their world like? The greatest need for volunteers is to put themselves in those shoes to the best that they can. When you hear a tragic situation going on in someone's life, I'll tell you, what's the first thing you think of? I'll tell you what the first thought in my head always is, I'm glad it's them and not me. That's my first flush reaction. But then, thanks to the Lord's Spirit, I sit there for a while and I start realizing, I do not want that to be me. But it's happening to them. And the more I think about that, the more compassion I have for them. And the more my heart begins to ache for them. And the more I'm inclined to think of something that I could do to alleviate that pain. But it takes thinking about it, doesn't it? You know, when you go to comfort someone who's just lost somebody, do you not find your mouth shut? Do you not find your words feeble? Sometimes the best things you can do is just be there. Just being there. And that's what they appreciate the most. And then someday when they're ready, when God has prepared their hearts, it may be that day, but usually it's not, they just need to know you cared enough to be there. When we've earned the right to get their ear, then speak. He sat there for seven days. You know, I commend Job's friends for the same thing. They did great till they opened their mouths. But they do not know the message until our mouths are open. Somewhere along the way, we have to be verbal. The heavens declare the glory of God much better than I can. My changed life declares the glory of God, but unless I open my mouth and say what changed it, they're still in the dark. They marvel at the change. There are members of my family who still marvel at my change, and they still don't credit what I credited as the source of. I remember being with my sister once, I might have told you this, forgive me if I did. I had read 1 Corinthians 1.18 where the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them who are perishing. And I told my sister, I said, Fran, you must think that what I'm doing is silly. And I didn't tell her where I got that from. But I got it from good authority that because she does not own it, because she does not believe it, the Bible says she thinks it's foolish. Well, when you stop and think about it, from her perspective, it must be. I pray daily to somebody I can't see. My whole life has been changed because of an encounter I claim I had with a person that I cannot show them. She thinks it's foolish, but she didn't acknowledge that at first. She said, no, Lenny, I respect what you're doing. How often do you hear that? Oh, that's good for you. They'll acknowledge that. I'm glad it worked for you. That's what you often hear. But they think it's foolish. And I needed to press the, because I just wanted to see, I wanted to see God's word vindicated. The Bible said she's thinking it's foolish. She's telling me, oh no, Lenny, I respect what you're doing. So I pushed her a little bit more. But Fran, if you respect it, why don't you believe it? If you think I'm changed, why don't you want that change? Really, don't you deep down think it's kind of silly? And you know what she said? Well, yeah. But where did I get that? How could I be so sure? Because that is their perspective. The preaching of the cross is foolish to them who are perishing. How do you break through that? We can't. Only the spirit of God. But my job is to deliver the mail. Put it in the mailbox. Fran, you need the Lord. Without the Lord, you'll never see the kingdom of God. She'll talk even today, she'll have spiritual discussions about God in general, the generic God. But when I start getting specific, Jesus, it's the difference, isn't it? You can talk about God all day long with people, and they won't be bothered, but the minute you mention Jesus, it's like you just inserted a knife between their ribs. It's like electricity is filling the room. Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. how I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er. I can declare to you on this day that God has been with me for 41 years in prison ministry. Among thorns, briars, and scorpions, and it feels like peonies, daisies, and roses, because the grace of God is with us. He who called us shall certainly equip us. He will give you everything you need, for what he's called you to. We go with trepidation sometimes into situations. Sometimes a phone call is what we're asked to do. And that phone can all of a sudden seem like as high as a skyscraper with teeth on it. But you know you need to call that person because God has laid it on your heart to call or to go visit him. He says, don't be afraid of them. Don't be dismayed at their looks, even though they're a rebellious house. I fed you, now deliver the message. May we do so. We're simply the mail carriers. A definition of true communication is true communication has not taken place until the hearer understands what the speaker is saying. Would you agree with that? True communication? Yeah, we really haven't communicated till they understand what the speaker is saying. And I know I've told you this story before, but I'm going to tell it to you again. Remember that guy in the ball field who listened? Do you remember that? In this prison yard in California. And the inmates were all gathered around the bleachers, and I was talking to a group of them. And I was getting the opportunity to share the gospel. And one guy was off on the edge, and he was one of the heavy hitters of the prison. He was just sitting back at the end. And after everybody left, and I was packing up my Bibles and getting ready to go, he came over to me and he said, let me get this straight. Are you saying that Jesus is God? Remember that story? And I said, yeah, I'm saying that Jesus, you're saying that God became a man, yes. And are you saying that he got crucified, nailed to a cross? Is that what you're saying? That God in flesh got nailed to a cross and you're saying that's for the sins I've committed? I said, yes, that's exactly right. And he said, if that's true, then he's got a play coming. In other words, he's got something coming back to him. If that story that you just said is true, then we owe him something. If God stepped out of heaven and became a man and was whipped and beaten and punched and scourged and hung on a cross with nails through his hands and his feet, a spear in his side to finish him off, if that story is true that that was God and he did it because he loved me, then he's got something coming back. I don't know if he ever became a Christian, but did he get it right? true communication had taken place. He said, if this is this, is this, is that what you're saying? Yes, yes, yes. Even though he didn't break down in tears and receive the gospel, he came to the right conclusion. If that is God and that's what he did, then I owe him something. In his words, it was he's got a play coming. Brothers and sisters, he's got a play coming. Give him the reward that his sufferings have earned. He died for you. This town needs to hear it. Our friends need to hear it. We can't make them believe it, but we can sure tell them about it. In the power of the Holy Spirit, with the love of Christ. If those elements aren't there, then we should stop. But our hearts are compelled to love. That's what it says in 2 Corinthians, I think, 5. We are compelled by the love of Christ to love others. And I know you do. You're doing this so well. I see it in your families. I see the sincerity in your faces. And I hope you receive it the same way I did. Open your mouth and eat whatever is given you and then go and speak.