John chapter 3, if you both stand with me please, and honor the word of God as we read our scripture text for tonight. John, the third chapter. John chapter 3, we're going to begin reading in verse 1. The Bible says, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nehemiah saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time in his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and I hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Jesus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God should not ascend into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, and he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. standing for prayer. Father, thank you tonight for bringing each one of the services come. We pray, Holy Spirit, that you would undertake for the proclamation of your word and the application of it in each of our hearts tonight. We pray, Lord, that there should even be one here tonight who's not certain if they died they'd be on their way to heaven, that tonight might be the night of their soul's salvation. We pray Lord that believers might be helped as well. Lord, help us to learn from the master soul winner how he went about sharing the gospel with others. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to be faithful in sharing the message with those you bring across our path as well. We ask you in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. You may be seated this evening. I want to look at this passage of Scripture for two very important reasons. First of all, there is not a clearer passage in the Word of God that tells us regarding salvation, how a person can know for sure they're going to go to heaven. There are a lot of people that don't believe you can know that for certain. Some religions even will say, if you say that you know, if you die tomorrow, you're going to go to heaven, you are presuming upon the grace of God. I like to answer those people by saying, I'm not presuming on anything, I'm depending on the finished work of Jesus Christ and the final Word of God. It's not my opinion that matters, it's what the Word of God says. And that's true of every witness that we give to folks as well. It doesn't do us any good to stand face to face or nose to nose or toe to toe with somebody and say, this is what my parents taught me to believe. Or this is what my pastor taught me to believe. Or if you happen to go to a Christian school, this is what my principal taught me to believe. Because anybody else could say the same thing. They could say, well, this is what my place of worship teaches me to believe. Anybody can say those same things. Well, what's important is that it's not our opinion and it's not what somebody else said, it's what the Word of God says. The only authority we have is this book. And that's why we need to be able to take the Word of God and share the Gospel with others. And not only is this a tremendous passage of Scripture regarding the clarity of the presentation of the Gospel, but it's also a good place for us to study who are Christians to learn how the Lord Jesus, the master soul winner, went about sharing the Gospel with others. as well in this description and discussion that we find that he had with Nicodemus. So let's look then together tonight at a passage of scripture that begs a question. Will you enter the kingdom? Will you enter the kingdom? If your life came to an end tonight, are you sure you'd enter the kingdom of God? If you died tomorrow, would you enter the kingdom of God? Let's look at what the word of God says regarding that subject tonight. John chapter 3 verse 1 says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night. Now some people make fun of Nicodemus for that. They want to say the reason why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night is because being a ruler of the Jews and knowing that the rest of the rulers of the Jews were trying to find a way to get rid of Jesus Christ. that he came to Jesus by night because he was afraid to let anyone else see him talking to the Lord Jesus. So he waited until everybody had gone home and it was dark and he could slip to where Jesus was and talk to him then without anyone seeing him. I give Nicodemus a little more credit than that. I think Nicodemus realized that wherever the Lord Jesus was throughout the day, there were multitudes of people surrounding him. all the time, frowning him. And if he wanted to get a chance to sit down with the Lord Jesus and talk to him personally and ask him some personal questions, it would have to be if he would wait until the crowds went home at night and find out where Jesus was spending the night and go and talk with him there. But no matter what you believe as to why Nicodemus came at the hour he did, you'll notice what he said to the Lord Jesus Christ. The same came to Jesus by night, verse 2, and said unto him, Rabbi, teacher, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. If you know what Nicodemus said about the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you'd find that most people that you might stop on the street and ask, who is Jesus Christ, might give the same answer. They might say, well he was a prophet of God, maybe one of many prophets sent forth by God, he taught a lot of good things about God, he was a good example from God, he showed us the way to God, but he wasn't really actually God. That's what most people in the world would say. Even many religious people would say regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, some would like us to believe that neither the Bible nor Jesus Christ ever claimed that He really was God. But they would be absolutely wrong. Look at John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Just two chapters earlier, the Bible says, In the beginning was the Word. The word Word is capitalized there. Why? Because it's talking about a person. And it says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word, what? was God, the same as in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made. He's the Creator. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He's the light and light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, a man sent from God. Who was that? His name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. The light, that is. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Okay? Pause there for a minute. John the Baptist is the one who's being referred to here. To whom did John the Baptist give witness as being the light? Or being the Savior of the world? The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word. You'll find it here in the very same chapter. If you look at what it says in John 1, verse 15, John, bear witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I speak. He that cometh after Me is preferred before Me, for He was before Me. You'll find it later on in the chapter as it discusses it as well. It says in verse 25, And they asked Him, and said unto Him, Why baptizest Thou then, if Thou be not that Christ? nor Elias, neither that prophet. John answered and saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom ye know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoelatch that I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth who? Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. Wait a minute, just a second. Question. Who was born first chronologically? John the Baptist or Jesus Christ? John the Baptist was, that's right, remember John was already developing within the womb of Elizabeth when Mary finally went to visit her and when John knew that Jesus, the Messiah was there in his presence within the womb of Mary, it says he left in the womb. And John was born first because he's the man to prepare the way of the Lord, he is the prophet sent ahead of time to announce his coming so John was born chronologically first how then can John say twice in this passage of scripture that Jesus was before him? if John was born first how could Jesus be before John? hm? Logan? got an idea? Parker? think! how could Jesus be before John? Who was the Lord Jesus Christ? He is? Yes! He's God! Has God ever had a beginning? No, he's always been, right? So if he's always been, and John began at a certain point, then Jesus was before John, right? Because he is God. What John the Baptist is saying very plainly is, he's before me because he is the eternal God. He's always been, he is today, he always will be. Do you remember when Moses was sent back to Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and he said to God, okay, now wait, look, when I go down there and I tell your people that you sent me to bring them out of bondage and he asked me what is his name who sent you how am I supposed to answer that question what did God say to him you tell them I am that I am you tell them the I am has sent you unto them why would God refer to himself as the I am again he's always been he is today he always will be Jesus Christ the Bible says is the same yesterday, today, and forever, because He is the eternal God. In fact, they tried to push Him over a cliff in His own hometown of Nazareth, because He was claiming to be God, and when they came to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Him on the night that He was betrayed, they said, Are you Jesus of Nazareth? And He answered, two words, I am. Oh, you say, big deal, Brother Webb. If I said, are you Barry Webb? You'd say, I am. Yeah, but you see, his I am is a little different than mine. His I am is the identifying name of Jehovah God to the nation of Israel specifically. That's because those who came in the crowd to arrest Jesus that night were Jews. They came from the high priest's house. They came with Judas, who led them. And the Bible says, some people say, wait, it says there were soldiers there. So the Romans were there too. No, no, they weren't Roman soldiers. The Romans didn't get involved until the next day when the Lord Jesus was taken to Pilate's judgment hall. So where did those soldiers come from? They were Jewish temple soldiers under the command of the high priest. Everybody in that group of people who came to arrest Jesus on the night that he was betrayed were Jews. So he identified himself to them as Jehovah God in this specific addressed name of Jehovah to the Jews. And when he spoke who he was, they went backward and fell to the ground just at the power of his name. A lot of people say, well, I just don't believe that Jesus, hey, He said that He was God. I don't believe the Bible says He was really God. We read that in John chapter 1. Or you may run into somebody like, say, a Jehovah's Witness, and say, well, there is only one God, Jehovah, but Jesus is not Him. Take that little book of Revelation. Show them the last chapter where it says, I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Ask them who's speaking those words, and they'll refer, that's Jehovah God. I agree, totally. Then take them back to the first chapter of the book of Revelation and ask them who John is speaking to there, because the one he speaks to in the first chapter says to him, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Who is that? Again, it's the same identifier, so it has to be the same person, Jehovah God. And I agree again, but keep reading because it goes on to say, I am He who was dead and am alive again, and am alive forevermore. Well, wait a minute, when did Jehovah God ever die? Only when Jesus Christ, God's Son, went to the old rugged cross of Calvary and laid down his life for you and for me. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus Christ is God. Remember Isaiah 9 verse 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called what? Wonderful Counselor. What's next? The Mighty God. The Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. The Bible identifies Jesus Christ as again, in the Old Testament, Immanuel, which being interpreted in Matthew 1 verse 23 means what? God with us. So anybody that wants to try to tell you that neither Jesus nor the Bible claims that He was God is lying through their teeth or completely misinformed because both claim that He is God. Now what did Jesus do about that statement that Nicodemus made to Him? He brushed right past it. Went straight to the heart of the problem. What's the heart of the problem? It's the problem of the heart. The problem of the heart. So I want you to notice how Jesus began his witness to Nicodemus. He started with an exclamation. He started with an exclamation that got Nicodemus' full attention. What does it say if you go back to John chapter 3 again? It says, Jesus answered and said unto him, verse 3, Verily, verily, I like to, when I share this with people, look at the language Jesus uses here. There's not a bit of uncertainty in it. In fact, it's all certainty. Verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto thee, except, look at that word, it literally means, unless a man be what? Born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Okay, so pause there for just a minute. Jesus made a statement that got Nicodemus' attention. Nicodemus, if you're going to see the Kingdom of Heaven, you've got to be born again, because you can't even see Heaven, much less enter Heaven, unless you've been born again. He told Nicodemus that in order to get into Heaven, Nelson, you had to have a second birth. Question, how many of us here have had a first birth? Have a first birth? Oh, you're getting slow to raise your hand there, Parker. I was wondering if you were hatched or something. Everybody here has had a first birth. That means you've had a physical birth. Now we understand that those of us who are believers need to share with those who are lost. Do you realize that though everybody's had a first birth, if you've only had one birth, you're going to die twice? If you've been born once, you're going to die twice. People look at you and say, really? What do you mean by that? Well, first of all, you're going to die physically, right? Hebrews 9.27 says, it is appointed unto men once to die. Romans 6.23 said, the wages of sin is death. Romans 5.12 said, wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin? So death passed upon all men for the goal of sin. Every person faces a physical death as a result of being born in sin and because of our own sin the word of God says because we're sinners we face the penalty of death Ezekiel 18 for the soul that sinneth it shall die so death is what we deserve but the Bible says of course that when a sinner dies though their body is buried in the grave their soul goes to the place that Jesus called hell Luke chapter 16 but not forever Until the day of what is known as the Great White Throne Judgment, Revelation 20, verses 11-15, I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them, and I saw the dead. small and great, standing before God. And the books were opened, and another was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. That's eternal death. That's forever. The death that never dies, you could call it. It's the second death. And Lucifer was not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire. So if we've only been born once, we're going to die twice. But if you've been born twice, you only have to die once. And maybe not even once. Jesus comes back first. Amen. Remember 1st Thessalonians 4 16 and 17 the Lord himself said he sent from heaven with the shop of the bush of the archangel with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and move it to our life remains to be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord my father often said when he was preaching over the years I'm not looking for the undertaker. I'm looking for the upper taker. Amen. We know Christ is personal Savior. We may not even have to face a physical death and we're certainly not going to face a spiritual death, so I don't know. But I challenge people, which would you rather have? One birth and two deaths, or two births and only one or no death? I think it's a pretty sensible question to ask. It ought to be easy to answer. But the fact of the matter is, Jesus told Nicodemus, you have to have a second birth if you're going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And look at what Nicodemus said. Verse 4, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? See, Christ has his attention. Just by what he said, he's got Nicodemus' attention. Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews, he knows the Old Testament Scriptures. And he says, he has to ask Jesus, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verse 5, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except the man be born of water, that's a physical birth, and of the spirit, that's a spiritual birth, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Well now wait a minute, some people say, Brother Webb, you added a few words in there. How do you know that when he said water, he was talking about physical birth and not baptism? I would ask you, how do we know that Jesus is talking about physical birth and not baptism here? Right? He says born of water and of water isn't water, baptism. Read baptismal regenerationists, point to this very passage and say, see, gotta be baptized, baptism washes away your sin and gets you to heaven. No, how do we know that? Well, first of all, because of all the other verses that we can look at that tell us that baptism can't save us. And that those who were baptized in the scripture were only baptized after they had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 16 tell us that. The word of God tells us in Matthew 28 verse 19, what? Go ye therefore and teach all nations. What? baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. We need to give them the gospel. They need to believe on Christ. Then they ought to be baptized. If you've been saved, but you haven't been baptized, that's the next step of obedience beyond salvation. But we need to make sure that folks recognize they have to be born again first. They have to be born into God's family first. Okay, well then, how else do we know what he's talking about here is not water baptism? Well, you've probably heard this said before, but it's a good thing to remember, the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. If you're wondering what a verse says, look at the context first. Look at the surrounding verses. If it isn't explained there, it's likely explained further on, progressively, in the Word of God. Here it's explained in the very next two verses, so I'm going to back up and read that verse just like I did, and I'm going to go on and read the next two verses, and you'll see it bears out exactly what I said. John chapter 3 and verse 5, Jesus answered, Verily I say unto thee, Except the man be born of water, that's a physical birth, and of the spirit, spiritual birth, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spiritual. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. physical, born of water, is physical. Any woman that's ever given birth to a child can easily explain how that is. When we went out, my wife and I went out to visit my daughter, Rachel, and our most recent grandchild that came along, our granddaughter, that was born to her, just about a year and a half ago. We flew out there. All of our other daughter's kids always came like two weeks ahead of time. This one decided to be a stickler for details. and hang around until the actual day she was supposed to be born, which was only the day before we were supposed to leave to come back to the United States from setting aside a week to go out and visit with her. In any case, about 4 o'clock in the morning on the night before we were supposed to leave, my daughter came and opened the door of the bedroom and stuck her head in and said, Mom, I'm going to the hospital because my... Water bro, I water broke you guys realize before you were born you were inside mom swimming around You're in there, you know, just pure I don't know what you're doing somersaults cannonballs I don't what do you guys do when you're in water like that? Anyway, hey, you know when you were born the first part of the process, you know There's water broke and that came out and then it wasn't long before you followed it Okay, that's what the Lord is making reference to even here. He's talking about being born of water. That's physical birth and born of the Spirit is the second birth. So Jesus said, then what? As he made an exclamation to God in the Gideon's attention, that exclamation was twofold. Number one, you have to have a second birth to see the Kingdom of God. And secondly, it's got to be a second birth, a spiritual birth. to see the Kingdom of Heaven. Not a physical one, but a spiritual one to see the Kingdom of Heaven. I remember I was preaching in the Philippines. I'm looking forward to going back there and preaching in January of this coming year. It's been over 10 years since my wife and I were there last to preach. But I'll be preaching in one of the churches that we've preached in nearly every time we've been there, in Hillcrest Baptist Church in Angeles City, about two and a half hours north of Manila, where we used to have, the U.S. used to have an airbase closed down for many years now but the last time I was there I was preaching the gospel one night and there was a man who I noticed a visitor walked in the back just when the choir was singing before the message that night I wasn't in front of the earlier preliminaries but he sat down in the back and he listened all the way through the message and every night after the service is over the choir would practice their number they were going to do for the next night. So he hung around, he was standing in the back listening to the choir practice. And since I saw him back there, I went back and introduced myself to him. I found that he was a German fellow that was on holiday there in the Philippines. And I had three and a half years of German in high school, so I spoke to him a little bit in German. Then I found out he spoke English, and his English was a whole lot better than my German. So we switched over to English, and I said to him, what did you think of the service tonight? And he said, well, he enjoyed it. And I said, do you know if you died tonight, you'd go to heaven? He said, well, I don't believe anybody can do that. And I said, well, the Bible says you can be certain of that. He got all excited, and I had his attention for sure. When he looked at me, he said, where does it say that? He said, I've been in church all my life. I've gone to church all my life. Where does the Bible say you can know you're going to go? I had his attention. And so when you learn from the Lord Jesus that we share Christ with others, get somebody's attention with a statement that will catch them and have them desire more interest in what you said. But notice what Jesus went on to do. He began with an exclamation. But now, having gotten Nicodemus' attention, he continues with an illustration. He continues with an illustration. It's important for us to illustrate what the Word of God says. Look at the teaching of the Lord Jesus. He was constantly using illustrations. things that were right there, things that were nearby as he taught. And we can get the truth of God's word across people's hearts better when we can illustrate it in some way that they can understand. I don't know how many times I've met people over my lifetime that will walk up to me in a week of meetings and say, you know, Brother Webb, I was saved under your father's ministry years ago when he came to our church as a priest. And I say, well, that's wonderful. May I ask you some questions? They say, what's that? Do you remember what scripture he preached from? No. You remember any of the points or sub-points of the message? No. What do you remember? They can almost always tell me at least one clear illustration that my father used during that message that's what got the truth of the Word of God across to them. In fact, an interesting situation happened to me about eight or nine years ago. A missionary's wife, they were home from a furlough, she and her husband and family, emailed me on Sunday evening after they'd been in a church that day, and they said, just thought you'd like to know this. We were in our home church, having come back, getting ready to go on a visit to a church that was on a furlough, but our first Sunday back in our home church to visit there, and they said there was a young man who's graduated from Bible College, a Hispanic, comes from the state of California, He's getting ready to start a Spanish ministry to the Spanish in the Pensacola area through our church. But he gave his testimony in this morning's time, Sunday school hour, when he was introducing his ministry, and told how he got saved. And he explained that he was saved in a meeting of combined Hispanic-speaking Baptist churches, Spanish Baptist churches, in California that took place at a particular church in Antioch, California. And there was this evangelist who preached there that evening who had a dummy named Woody. Now those who know my ministry back in the United States or anything else about our ministry know that you've already seen it. Last time we did some vigil, it was with Woody's dog, right? Digger, who says Woody's his pet. Anyway, Woody is my dummy. He's talking about me. So right away the missionary's ears perked up and said, okay, I'm going to hear about this. Here's what's interesting about that testimony. When that young man came to that service, he did not know hardly any English at all. I have a routine that I do with my dummy where he tells me he doesn't need me anymore and he can do it all himself. So after talking with him about how he can't do it and his assurance that he can do it, I tell him I'll let him do it and I walk away and leave him sitting on the pulpit. And of course, he can't say a word. He simply stares out, vacantly at the crowd. And everybody watches while I explain how that's like human beings are, right? We all were created by God for His use, for His glory. And yet, if we're not willing to allow Him into our hearts, we can't have eternal life. If we're not willing to let Him control our lives, we have no abundant life in Him as well. Well, that young man, who did not understand hardly any English, understood the illustration. And when the invitation was given that night, he walked the aisle, and one of the Spanish pastors led him to Christ, and they discipled him, and he went to Bible college, and here he was, a young preacher fella, getting ready to start a new church, and they praised the Lord for that. use illustrations to help people understand the gospel something they understand something that they would be familiar with that will help them get the truth that will stick with them that will be something that God can use his word to cause them to remember the truth so what's the illustration the Lord Jesus Christ used well let's go on reading it says in verse 9 Our Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Are thou a master of Israel? And knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and testify that which we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, Okay, pause here for just a minute. What Jesus refers to is, He's already used two illustrations of Nicodemus up until this verse. What illustrations has He already used? the illustration of birth, that's right, and then after that the illustration of the wind. You don't see the wind in Nicodemus, you know where it comes from, you don't know where it's going, but you believe in it even though you can't see it. Now I would almost believe that Nicodemus was a Sadducee, although the Bible tells us he was a Pharisee. Why? Because the Sadducees didn't believe in the spiritual, right? They didn't believe in any life after death. There was no hope for them. That's why as people say, they were sad, you see, because that's the way they were. But it says he was a Pharisee, but he must have been influenced by them because how can this be if Jesus had to say to him, look, you don't see the wind, but you don't know where it comes from, don't know where it's going, but you believe in it, so believe in the spiritual. Then he goes on and he says, if I have told you earthly things, verse 12, and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, once the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Oh, wait a minute, what is he talking about now? Moses? Serpents? Wildernesses? What's that got to do with any of this? Well, if you had been Nicodemus, you would have known exactly what the Lord is referring to. May rule the Jews can know the new the Old Testament scriptures. Well, what's Jesus referring to? Well, if you want to put your finger in John 3 go back to Numbers chapter 21, you'll find out Numbers chapter 21 beginning of verse 4 it says, and they, that's the people of Israel having been brought out of Egypt and on the way to the promised land, and they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Edom and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. Verse 5, I want you to notice the first thing we find here is sin committed. sin committed, and the people spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this lowliness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. They're committing sin against God. Can you believe this? I mean, think about it. Here are these people who have been in Egypt for over 400 years in bondage. And now they've been set free, and they've been led through the Red Sea. They've watched the Lord take them through the Red Sea on dry ground. And then as they watch the Egyptians try to follow them, they've seen God bring the waters of the Red Sea back upon them and destroy the entire Egyptian army. They've seen the Lord every day since that time lead them by day by a pillar of cloud and by night by a pillar of fire. And yet they're griping. I mean, here God has given them manna, the bread of heaven, on the dew of the ground every morning when they get up, all they can gather. And when they complain about wanting meat, He brought quail within a day's journey to camp so that anybody that wanted meat could have as much as they wanted. And when there really wasn't any water anywhere around, what did He do? He brought it to them out of rocks. and yet they're griping and they're complaining and they're moaning and groaning and all we ought to be able to believe that we all do the same thing. That's why the Bible says in Romans 3, 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. As we said this week and illustrated last night from the message, there's not a one of us that can look at the Ten Commandments and say we've kept them, we haven't even kept the first one. The Bible says, he that keepeth the whole law, and yet offendeth in one point, is guilty of all. We're all sinners in the sight of a holy, just judge. The scriptures have concluded, all under sin. Every one of us is a sinner. So what do we find happen next? Sin was committed, yes, then there was sentence carried out. Sentence carried out verse 6 and following is this and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and much people of Israel what? died So they had committed sin against God and they are now paying the wages of sin, which is death And remember this is not my illustration. This is the Lord Jesus's illustration. Okay, here are these people they've committed sin against God and so they are facing the penalty for sin, which is death We've all sinned against God, and Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth and shall die, Zechariah 18.4. And all the other verses we've been quoting this week that say the same thing. Death is the result and the consequence of sin, Romans 5.12. So death passed upon all men for the all of sin. Then what do we find? Then we find salvation commended. So sin committed, sentence carried out, and salvation commended. What do you mean? Well, it says in verse 7, Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned. We have sinned against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. So here we find the beginning of salvation commended. What's the first thing? The people repented. People repented. They came and asked forgiveness. Now, listen, this is important because, first of all, a lot of people that don't believe repentance has anything to do with salvation. Oh, no, no, that's not salvation. Okay? In fact, I've had people walk up to me before and have said to me, because they were taught in a particular Bible college that emphasizes this ideology, they have said to me, Brother Webb, do you believe that you could lead somebody to the Lord Jesus Christ only using the Gospel of John? And I said, sure. They said, then you can't preach repentance. I said, why? Because the word repent is not found anywhere in the Gospel of John. How do you answer that? Well, the first answer is there's a reason why God gave us four Gospels, not just one. Okay? And it is found in the other Gospels. But furthermore, what are we looking at right here in the center of the Gospel of John? The quintessential discussion about, with Jesus Christ, how we can know we're going to go to heaven. What is the illustration that Jesus uses? This one. And what is it we're seeing right here in the illustration? Repentance. Repentance. Now, the other reason that's important is because some of us say, oh, but wait a minute. Repentance only means, has nothing to do with our sin. Has to do with changing your mind about false religion and believing only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't have anything to do with your sin. Really? Okay, question. What are these people in this passage repenting of? Were they worshiping an idol? No. Were they following some false god? No. What were they doing? They were sinning against God. And they recognized their sin against God. What they were repenting of was their sin. This is the illustration that Jesus Christ himself used. So you can answer that kind of a person with both of those facts from the Word of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Okay, so let's look at that illustration then. We find salvation commended. First of all, the people repented. What happened next? It says that in verse 8, the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he live alright so let's say you all have been bitten by a fiery serpent right now and you're dying right now and you hear the announcement from Moses who says look to the serpent and you can be healed And Cayley looks at Lake and says, look at the serpent. That's disgusting. I don't like serpents. Besides, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. I'm not, I'm not gonna look at any serpent like that. Would you believe we healed? No. Why? Because you didn't believe. You didn't believe. So the second thing anybody there had to do, they repented, and then what else? They had to believe all that God said. What did Jesus go on to say himself when he used the illustration in John chapter 3 verses 14 and 15? As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up to do so ever what? Believe it, and him shall not perish but have eternal life. Verse 16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to do so ever what? He that believeth in him shall not perish, but live a everlasting life. Verse 18, He that believeth on him is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned already. Why? Didn't go falling off on his pilgrimage? No. Didn't talk to the right preacher? Uh-uh. Didn't climb up the steps on their knees? You know, get them all... No. Didn't keep the sacraments? No. Didn't take the sacraments? No. Why are they not forgiven? Why are they not saved? Because they believed not. In the name of the only begotten Son of God. Verse 36 says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Remember when the Philippian jailer came in before Paul and Silas and said, what must I do to be saved? Remember that story? God said the earthquake shook the foundation of the jail. And they don't understand why God had to send an earthquake to get Paul and Silas out of jail that night. Because they could have gotten out on their own eventually. All they had to do was keep singing like they were, until they found the right key. They were only behind a few bars, right? In any case, the jailer came in and fell down before them and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What did they say? Join our church? No. Get baptized? No. Go on a pilgrimage? No. They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe what? Believe that Jesus is God. Believe that he came from heaven. Believe that he was born without sin. Believe that he lived without sin. Believe that he died on the cross. in our place. Believe that He rose again from the grave. Believe that only He can save us from our sin. I would ask you, do you truly in your heart believe that? Why would you say that? Well, because it's a lot. We've been seeing sometimes young people that are growing up in a Christian home, sometimes in ministry homes, and they may do everything that's right while they're home, but when they grow up and leave home, they go out and live in the sin. Turn their backs on what they've been taught. Walk away. Why does that happen? I believe sometimes it's because they may have their parents' faith while they're at home, or their pastor's faith, or if they go to Christian school, a principal's faith, but they don't have a personal faith. In Jesus Christ, you can't get heaven on somebody else's faith. And if that's whose faith you've got, I don't believe it'll last. It'll only be around as long as you're around the person who's got that faith. And then when you're off on your own, you won't have that faith. I remember back in, you know, every once in a while there's a tragic shooting in a school back in the U.S. Back, oh, I don't know how many years ago it was now. There was the shooting in Columbine, Colorado. And there was a story that came out of that shooting about a young lady whose name was Cassie Bernal. You can look up on the internet and find the story and the testimony of Cassie there. She was a born-again believer, but she was one of the ones who was involved in that shooting. A student, I believe it was at the time, was going through and shooting other students there. He walked into the classroom where Cassie was, put the gun to the back of her head, and asked her, do you believe in Jesus Christ? Now, what would you do if somebody put the gun to the back of your head and asked you that question? That's as they say, where the rubber meets the road. That's where I think, you know, if he did that, you know, to somebody today, most, an awful lot of people today that claim to be Christians, I think you'd probably see him answering things like, well, I'll come and get it. That's just what my parents taught me growing up. I mean, does anybody really personally believe in that? I mean, it was so long ago, and it's just, you know, it's just what I was told to believe. Cassie didn't hesitate. She said, yes, I do. He pulled the trigger. sent her into eternity to meet the Lord Jesus she had just confessed publicly before him. You know, I believe when Cassie got to heaven, the Lord Jesus stood up to meet her. Why would I say that? Well, go back and look at the first martyr, Stephen. When he's being stoned to death, what did he say? I see heaven open and the Son of Man, what? Standing at the right hand of the Father. The Lord Jesus rose from his throne to greet Stephen when he came. I believe he stood to meet Cassie as well. But I wonder, what if it was your life that was being threatened? Would you still affirm a true faith in Christ? Would you genuinely have a true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ if your life depended on it? That kind of faith? That's what the Bible is talking about here. not just a serpent's faith, but a true faith in your heart. Okay? The people had to believe. So they repented, they believed. Well, that was it, and I wasn't quite finished with you all yet. You've been bitten by a fiery serpent, you're dying right now, you hear the announcement from Moses, look to the serpent and you're gonna be healed, and wait, you look at Benson and say, isn't that great? God made a way for us to be healed. All we have to do is look at the serpent. But you never look, would you be healed? No. Why? You had to act on the faith you said you had and look to receive that healing. God's word tells us salvation is a gift, right? Romans 6.23, no wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ephesians 2.9, it is the gift of God, not of worthless that any man should boast. Well if it's a gift, it's already been purchased by somebody else and is offered to you and to me for free. We were in Decatur, Alabama, North Alabama, preaching several years ago. On a Sunday night after the meeting was over, I took my family to a steak and shake restaurant chain that they have mostly down south in the U.S. And we walked into the restaurant, and I looked across the restaurant. All the way on the other side of the restaurant was another family, obviously had come from church. Not the church I was preaching in, but from a church. They were dressed up in church clothes, and the man was dressed up very well. In fact, the closer I looked at him, the more I thought he looked like a younger evangelist friend of mine. And then I remembered, I'd been talking to that younger evangelist friend earlier that year, and he saw my schedule, what I was going to be, and he saw I was going to be in Decatur, and told me he had an older brother who pastors a church, another good Bible-preaching church in that town. So I went over and asked, that's who it was. So I took my family over and we introduced ourselves. Now we didn't stay there and stand and talk for very long. You know how you hate to have somebody stand at your table and talk while your food gets cold? So we just invited him to the meetings and told him we knew his brother and all the rest of that and went back and sat down and we were, they ordered some food and we were eating and they finished first obviously because they'd been there first. And they came by our table, and they told us they'd see us at the meetings later on during the week. And they didn't stay long, because they didn't want our food to get cold either. So they, his family went out, and he paid their bill, and they all left. And we finished our meal, and we fellowshiped a little while longer. And then we had fellowshiped a bit, and then my family got up and went out to our truck. And I got up and went over to the cashier and handed her the check and the money to pay for it. And she said, I'm sorry, sir, I can't accept your money. I said, man, that's highly unusual because most cashiers I've met in my lifetime have been more than happy to accept my money. She said, well, I'm sorry, sir. I can't accept your money. I said, well, there must be some mistake. See, that's my bill. That's the money to pay for it. I just assume you make change and let me go. I don't have to wash the dishes or mop the floor or something before you let me out of here. She said, well, I'm sorry. I can't accept your money. I said, why not? What's wrong? She said, oh, nothing's wrong. She said, you're not of the family you were talking to earlier tonight on the other end of the restaurant. I said, yes, ma'am. She said, well when they went out tonight, they not only paid for their meal, they paid for your meal as well. Now I could have stood there and I could have said, NO! I feel like there's something I have to do! You can't do that! I won't feel right if I don't! That would have been foolish, wouldn't it? There was nothing I could pay because there was nothing that I owed because it had already been paid in full. All I could do was gratefully accept what someone else paid for me. That's what salvation is. We get folks to understand that fact because most man-made religions in the world today want to tell people, oh, you've got to do something to earn it or merit it or be deserving of it. And we have to show them, no, listen, there are really only two religions in the entire Bible. My father used to say, there's the religion of do and there's the religion of done. Which one does the Bible teach? Jesus said it is. Finished. That's done. It's completed. All we need to do is accept what Jesus Christ had done for us on the cross of Calvary. So this is the illustration that Jesus Christ, the Lord himself, uses to help Nicodemus understand what it means to be born again. So he started with an exclamation that got Nicodemus intent. He continued with the illustration. And I want you to see in closing, as we look at just John chapter 3 verse 16 and 17, he finishes with an explanation. You finish it with an explanation. Once you've shared the gospel with somebody, you've given an illustration, helped them get an idea of it, you got their attention with an explanation earlier on. And once you've gone over this, it's important to go over it with them briefly again, just to make sure they understand what you're telling them. And that's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did here. It's a gospel message in itself that I won't preach, but we'll look at it very briefly. It says, and if you're back in John chapter 3, for God, He's the provider. Hey, it wasn't the lost sheep that went along with the shepherd, right? It was the shepherd that went along with the sheep. Salvation is not man's idea, it's God's idea. The sheep wanders off, not even realizing he's missing anything. It's the shepherd that realizes he's missing, brings him home. And we're like sheep, the Bible says in Isaiah 53 verse 6, we've gone astray, we've turned every man to his own lane, the world hath went on him, the iniquity of us all. So for God, he's the provider. For God, so loved what? The world, that's the people. Upon whom was God's love focused? On the world. That includes you and me. Praise God for that. That means there's not a one of us that isn't precious in the sight of the Lord. He was willing to send his son to die in our place. No matter how wicked we've been, no matter what age of time we're from. Jesus died in our place. The Bible says it wasn't just for the people of his day either, because the apostles said in the scriptures, he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So the Bible says, for God, the provider, so loved the world, that's the people, that he gave his, what? Only begotten Son. That's the price. Some of you will say, I can't accept salvation, it's too easy. It's only easy for you and me because it was a horrible price for God. God so loved the world that he did what? He gave his only begotten son. We are so precious to him that his one descendant sacrificed his own son, slain his own son on a rugged cross. because of our sin, because He wanted to save us. For God, He's the provider. So love the world, the people that He gave His only begotten Son. That's the price. Then whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. That's the present. Or excuse me, that's rather the promise of God. That's the promise. What? If I believe on Him, I shall not perish. And an awful lot of people who want to say they believe God and they believe the Bible, but they believe that if you've trusted Christ the Savior, you can lose your salvation and you can perish. That's not what this verse says, isn't it? You shall not perish. And we can go to John 10, verses 27 to 30, which says, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them, what, eternal life, and they shall, what, never Perish either son of a man plucked him out of my hand the father which gave to me is greater than all knowing as I would have plucked him out of my father's hand I and my father are one So God the provider so loved the world the people that he gave his only begotten son the price That whosoever believing in him should not perish. That's the promise but have what? Everlasting life that's the present that's the gift that Jesus purchased for anyone to be able to accept and The price has been paid. The gift is being offered by God. Then what does it say? For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but to the world, what? Through him. I be saved. He's the purchaser. The one who with his own precious blood signed the dotted line at the bottom of the penalty document. To die in our place on the unbreakable cross, to shed his blood, to pay in full for they get to eternal life, that was the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why we're saved through his precious blood. Not through our works, not through baptism, not through anything else, but through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the purchaser himself. That's so simple. Anybody ought to be able to understand it. God, the provider, soul of the world, the people, that he gave his only begotten son, the price, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, the promise, but have everlasting life, the present, for God sent on his Son into the world to give them the world, that through him the purchaser might be saved. I trust that every one of us here tonight can say with absolute assurance, yes I know for sure, that I'm not trusting anyone or anything else but the Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation, and it isn't my parents' faith, It's not my church's faith, it's not my denomination's faith, but it's a personal faith in Jesus Christ. A personal faith that allows me to say, by the grace of God, praise the Lord for that amazing grace and that amazing love of the Lord Jesus Christ that allowed us to have forgiveness of our sin, to be the anchor of our soul, steadfast and sure. Notice when the black light went on, there's an anchor crossing you. alone is the anchor of our soul, steadfast and sure. I can know for sure if I die today I'm going to go to heaven, not because my father told me so, or not because some other evangelist told me so, or some pastor told me so, or my parents told me so, but because God tells us so. Christ says so, right here in this very passage of Scripture. So simple a little child can understand it if we read it. And look at what Jesus said. So if you already know the Lord Jesus Christ is Savior, and I believe most of us would claim to do that, not all of us, then I would challenge you, take the opportunity to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. To share the gospel with folks in the same way he did. Say an explanation. Say something to somebody that will get their attention. And then follow that with an illustration to help them understand what the gospel is about. And then a true, clear explanation when you go over it again, so they understand exactly what you're asking them to do. and then you can give them an invitation to put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, do we read that Nicodemus got saved on this night when Jesus came to him? Uh-uh, we don't. So was Jesus a failure when it comes to being a soulmater? No. Was Nicodemus ever saved? In the New Cell he was listed with the believers. Remember when Christ was taken down off the cross and Joseph of Arimathea was involved, Nicodemus was there. He was among the other believers that worked with the Lord Jesus Christ there. So, you know, we often remind ourselves again just from that, even the Son of God didn't see somebody saved on the very day he told him about the gospel. Remember, some plant, others water, God gives the increase. The Lord planted the seed in the heart of Nicodemus and it bore fruit at another time. and we can rejoice in that fact. Take the Lord's example, take that opportunity as believers to share the gospel as simply as we can and the best we can to help others come to know Christ as a personal Savior. It's been a blessing to see some that have put their faith and trust in Christ or even gotten assurance of salvation this week, but whether or not anybody else trusts Christ and we have one more night to hopefully see someone else come that needs to know Christ and be saved, yet if we can carry the gospel to folks for days and months and years after that, there'll be people coming to Christ and make them rejoice in the power of Christ to use us to bring others to the Lord Jesus. Let's bow our heads together for a closing word of prayer. I hope that as we ask that question that comes from this passage, will you enter the kingdom of God, that you can say, yes, I'm absolutely certain of that fact. I'm absolutely sure it's not my parents' faith. It's not somebody else's faith I'm believing in. It's a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if I could ask that just tonight, just as we've talked about that so strongly this evening. I wonder how many tonight can just slip a hand up where you are, if you can say truly, pretty sure, I believe personally in Christ. I know for sure that if I die right here, right now, tonight, I'm on the way to heaven. How many can lift a hand and say that tonight? If you're absolutely certain of that, it's your personal faith in Christ, you can testify of, all right? Amen. Looks like everybody tonight could see it this evening. Let me encourage you tonight to take the scriptures that we've talked about. I want to have you say, Brother Webb, I'm going to learn from the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to even try to take some of the scriptures that were talked about tonight and use them as I share the gospel with folks to help them, too, understand the gospel and be saved. I'm going to slip a hand up if you're going to try to do that. Amen? Great. Praise the Lord for that. That's why I encourage people, if you're a believer, even when the gospel is being preached, I hope you're taking note of the scripture references and the verses that are being used. But each one of those is another bullet, another piece of ammunition we can put in the gospel gun to be able to win others to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's stand together for a word of prayer together tonight. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your precious word and I thank you Lord for speaking to hearts tonight. Thank you for making the gospel simple enough that any child can understand it and any child can present it to someone else. Lord, you said in your word that unless a person has the faith of a little child, they shall not enter into the kingdom of God. Well, I pray that you would be testimonies to those around us as you give us an opportunity to do so. And that we lead others to the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray tonight for brothers and sisters in Christ here, that you would help us to be able to learn as much as we can from your word about leading others to Christ. And get as many of the scriptures regarding the gospel into our head and down into our hearts so that it will come out of our mouths any time we need it to and want it to. Lord, I pray that even this week you might lead us to the divine appointments you would have for us to share the gospel with others, and as you would put the right words in the mouth to be able to speak to those specific people's needs, and Lord, to answer their questions so that they would come to Christ, and to get an interest in their hearts so that even if they don't trust Christ at that outside meeting, they would want to come here to learn more. Lord, I pray that you would answer that prayer. Use us, Lord, we pray, to bring others to yourself. Help us to use you as an example, Lord, we that it will allow you to work through us, that you'll draw souls unto yourself as we lift you up. We thank you for it in Jesus' name. As Katie just plays a verse or two of an invitation song, maybe you want to talk to the Lord, maybe you want to tell Him that you're going to be willing to use what He's given to you from the Word of God to give to others and ask Him to help you to remember those scriptures. I challenge you to mark them in your Bible, and that way you'll know where they are. You can lead others to those same verses, and help them to see what the Word of God says. It's great to be able to quote the Scripture to people, but sometimes it's necessary to take them and show them the verses themselves. God has promised to use that Word in their hearts. I trust you'll let God use you to do that. song being played says, wounded for me, wounded for me. And there on the cross, he was wounded for me, dying for me. He said, he's risen for us as well. Will you let him work through you to bring others to you soon? And look up this way. In my evangelism as I'm witnessing people, I get to the fact that Death is the result of sin. And then you just ask him the question, why did Jesus die? You know, you start to think about it. Jesus was eternal. I mean, as a man, he was sinless. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. There was no reason justly for God to condemn Christ except that he died for us. And because he died for us, he died. I mean, that's it. Otherwise, he is eternal because it would be unjust except for him taking our place. So praise God. for the love of Jesus, for us, that he died and took our place. Let's sing about it, 263. Wounded for me, wounded for me, here on the cross, he was wounded for me. 263. Wounded for me, wounded for me, there on the cross He was wounded for me. All my transgressions and now I am for me. Let my redemption I see, all because Jesus was dying for me. Prisoned for me, prisoned for me. for me. The throne of grace was risen for me. Now and evermore from death to life I am free. All because Jesus was risen for me. Living for me, living for me. Love in God's eyes is living for me. Daily He's weeping and praying for me. All thy praises be filling o'er me, Coming o'er me, coming o'er me. On days new earth is coming o'er me, When with what joy His dear face I shall see, O Lord, praise Him, He's coming for me. Amen. Praise the Lord. Glad you were here tonight. And I'm just thankful. You know, the great thing about where two or three are gathered together in my name is that God is here. We had a good service tonight. Praise God. We'd love to have seen you on stage here. It's recorded tonight. And thankfully for that, we put it online. Pray for those that hear it. Let the Spirit of God speak to their heart. Pray for tomorrow night. There's two people I talked to today. They have something on tonight. We'll both indicate they'll come tomorrow, Pam and Jordan, and pray for others. I mean, maybe last night God allowed us to see some visitors come, right? We'll pray about that, but thank you for the web, for your ministry, and pray that God bless the webs, and meet their needs, provide for them. We've got a little box back here in the back, if you want to participate in that, we welcome you to do so. All right, let's pray. Father, we praise you that you are a gracious God, a loving God. Father, we read the love letter tonight that you have for us and thank you for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Father, what precious scripture to us and what a great reminder to us tonight of everything that you've done for us. through the death of the Son of God, that we could look at not a snake lifted up, but the Son of Man in His flesh, in His suffering, taking our sin upon Him, and being God-forsaken on the cross because of our sin. But Savior, thank You for loving us that much. Father, I pray, give us compassion, give us wisdom. We don't know what to do sometimes, Lord, even just to consider right now, Lord, how blessed it would have been to have a lot of unbelievers here present tonight to hear the Word of God as it was presented. We pray, Father, bless the audience, bless the hearts of those that listen online. And yet, I pray, Father, please, we need to see visitors come. And I pray that the Spirit of God work in the hearts of those that We have spoken to or that we've invited and I just pray tonight but somehow some way in this in this date at this hour this time with all the technology and all the junk and all the The lurement of the world on a Friday night and by the grace of God we see the Spirit of God draw men to this place and father we see people say and father really say and really wanting to be baptized, and really wanting to join a church, and really wanting to do something for God. And Father, we challenged earlier this week, pray there for the Lord of the harvest, that he'd send forth laborers into this harvest field. And Father, we need to go. And Father, we need more men. We need more women. And Father, we need you to in the same commitment to have faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Father, I pray you, give us those faithful men. Help us be faithful. Help us be men of faith and obedience ourselves. But Father, I pray, may the work that you desire to do grow. And Father, bless your servants. And I am faithfully preaching the word of God to us. And Father, I thank you for using them this evening to stir us up for our evangelism and for the gospel that was declared, the good news about Jesus Christ. And Father, for the work that you did through his wife as well, bless them for their ministry. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.