Voice of the Nazarene 8-13-23

I'm coming to you from North Central Ohio, we share with you the voice of the Nazarene, a week by week venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus, Ohio Church of the Nazarene, we join our Pator Reverend Ray LaSalle, and the voice of the Nazarene.

Have you ever been down and discouraged, and you're groping to find your way? Can I tell you what to do? Open your Bible and read the red words. Those are the words of Jesus. I mean, that's just straight through him. That's what I want to do this morning, I want to read some of the red words out of Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, let's have just a moment of prayer. Father, we come to you, we thank you for our gathering today and those who are joining us by livestream and allowing us to come into their lives, their homes, those that will be watching by television. Devils had it long enough, it's time some of God's people use some of the very things that we can reach a loss people with. And we're glad we can slip into many, many 1000s of homes and share the gospel of Christ. Even take the radio ministry every Sunday morning, would you somehow give it all the anointing that it needed to people will hear? Anything the Lord that we've picked up along the way is something we've heard and we've kind of refilled it and used we pray God, give somebody else all of the credit.

Matthew 28:18

And, Lord, we want you to get all of the glory, and the praise and the honor this morning. We want the people to get all of the help. Just simply allow us to be a conduit. Just a channel that's all we ask. And like Samson of old, one more time, would you come upon us and anoint, and speak to hearts.

Just speak through us we pray.

In Christ's name. Amen. Here's the red words, the very words of Christ. Matthew 28, verse 18.

Matthew 28:18

And incidentally, we welcome all of our guests this morning, we're so glad to have you. I've been here for 30 plus years. And I don't remember ever having a Sunday morning without guests.

Isn't that amazing? In every service for six years, we went with three services, we're moved into this sanctuary and with two services, always so many people, that I don't even have a clue who they are. But I'm trying to get acquainted. And maybe before it's all over, I will. But thanks for being here. Catch these words, Jesus came, and spake unto them saying all power, Christ's talking, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have

and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Then he said. Amen.

Did ya catch that? He said, I'll be with you even to the end of the world. And when the world comes to an end, we're with him.

That's pretty good, in't it? And I'd like to talk to you just for a few minutes why God put us on this earth. Some years ago, USA Today, did a survey in a poll and they pulled more than 2000 people. And they asked these Americans, they said, If you had one question you could ask God, what would that question be?

Just one question. And it was almost unanimous. It came back.

If we can ask God something we would ask God, why did you put us on this earth? Why are we here on this earth? Now I know we're different families, and we have different educational backgrounds and we have different occupations. We have different experiences. We're all different. But by large, at the end of the day, there are only two reasons why we're here and number one We're here to know him. You better be sure you know him before the day comes to an end in your life. Whatever amount of time you've got, that's your time to get to know God. And I like Second Peter

9, the Lord's not slack concerning His promises, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come, come, come to him in repentance. Job said over there in the 22nd chapter, verse 21, Acquaint now thyself now with thy God. It's time to get acquainted. You better have a name basis, you better know him and talk to him.

There will be a day when many will say and hear rather, depart from me I know you not you never got acquainted with God and you're here to know Him. And then another reason is to make him known to others. The poet said, Christ has no hands but our hands to do his work today.

He has no feet, but our feet to lead men in the way and he has no tongue, but our tongue to tell them how he died and he has no help but our help to bring men to his side. We are the hands and the feet of Jesus Christ. When he said the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit wants to lodge within us. And the Spirit of God has no hands or feet, but yours, and no tongue but ours.

And so it's quite stressed here in Matthew 28, verses 18 through through 20. I look at that little passage of scriptures, three little verses. And I notice first of all the authority. He says in verse 28, and Jesus came spoken to them saying All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, and Jesus gives His disciples a commission, their commission.

Matthew 28:18

And not only did he give his disciples, this commission, he gave to every last one of us, that same commission, and it's based on his authority. And this book of Matthew stresses the authority of Jesus Christ. There in chapter seven, verse 29, they said his teaching isn't quite like the scribes. He teaches us one that has authority. These are strange days when it comes to preaching. It either seems like there are speakers and people have made their career in the realm of theology, but really no anointing and authority, as though there's no call, it's scaring me to death.

And on the other hand, some have become so mean and so vicious and so demanding, that is certainly not of the Holy Ghost.

There needs to be the anointing of the spirit, but we're preaching the gospel and nothing else. Don't get lost on one little sentence somewhere in the maps and make that your emphasis, better preach the whole word and nothing but the word so help me, God.

And it says that in Matthew 8:13, that Jesus had authority to heal people. Bible said in Matthew 9:6, that Jesus had the authority to forgive people their sins, Matthew 10:1, Jesus had the authority, and the power over Satan. In't that good news?

Matthew 8:13 Matthew 9:6 Matthew 10:1

That means that Satan has no right or no authority in my life. We can be more than conquerors through him that loved us. You don't have to be bound by temptations and addictions, you can be free of all of that, because he who has all authority gives us the authority over those things. And he goes on to say that he has authority over death, and the hell and the grave. And because of this, we can obey him without fear. I'm just talking about the authority. But when I looked at that verse, I noticed a lot of activity. He moves on. And he said, There's got to be some activity. Look at verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. And the good news is in

8, will receive power from the Holy Ghost so we can accomplish that. Now we hear a lot of teaching about the Holy Spirit. We hear teaching about the Holy Spirit's power, but why does God want us to have Holy Spirit power? Look at what he said, because you're gonna be my witnesses. You're gonna be my witnesses. It's the power to be a living witness. Whereas God, he said, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. And where were they?

They were in Jerusalem. What's he saying? He's saying, I want you to be a witness right where you're at, right down there on the job where you're stuck.

After you plug in, at the time clock, the rest of the day, you need to be a living witness, they're gonna watch you, they're gonna watch you under pressure, how you react, you're a living witness, down there in this classroom, they're gonna watch how you demonstrate God, whether you're ashamed of him or not.

It's amazing to me many times, we'll fly over mission fields, to some mission field. We will cross seas. And we need to just see the cross. There's a mission for you I want to tell you around us everywhere we're at people that need God. We're so hung up on so many things and so inhibited with so much that we can't even seem to share, just simply share the love of Jesus Christ around us. If the church has a little card, look it up, check it out, back in the Welcome Center. If you can find a little card with an address on it or picture of the church stick a few in your pocket. When you're getting your haircut, leave a card, just invite them.

Nobody told you that you had to ask somebody if you were to die right now. Would you go to hell, you don't have to. You can use soft touch evangelism. Just begin to invite them to come.

Come to Jesus come to me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, just come. And when you're stopping at the filling station, leave a little card invite somebody. When you're at the restaurant. Now, if you don't tip, you probably better not leave a card. But I'm just saying, there's where the activity is. We're witnesses.

We're just sharing. I'm not talking about a hardcore driving evangelism. I'm talking about soft touch and every last one of us can do that. But not only the authority and the activity, but you say, Well, Pastor, what about the ability? I'm an introvert. Okay. I've taken a few personality tests myself. I might be that introvert. I know, I like being alone. The older I get, and I'm past 40. Now. I really like being alone sometimes. And sometimes I have to push the envelope to do what I do. Do you enjoy people? I do.

I love people. But sometimes it can be a big drain. I don't know why. But it can be sometimes people deplete me more than they complete me. Let me tell you, we have the ability to do this with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let me give you something to think about. Jesus was here on earth 33 and a half years. For three years he was with his disciples. One day he said, I've got to come apart before I fall apart, worn out weary, he'd carried the load and fought the devil and tried to reach people.

And he's carrying the loads of all of those. He's facing the cross he'll bear your sin and my sin. And he turns to his disciples and said I'm going to leave. They said you can't do that. You've been here for three years. He said, That's why I'm leaving. I've got to leave.

You've read your Bible, haven't you? He said, That's why I'm

17, He said, it's necessary for you that I leave for if I stay here, I'll only be with you 12. But if I leave, the Holy Spirit will come and when he comes, he'll be with millions. So I've got to leave so he can come and get into your life and get it into your heart and get into the ministry and get in our churches. So we can convey the message of Jesus Christ to a lost world. You say pastor, I've got family and friends that need to come to Christ. I know.

Heavy in't, so low to think about, right? And how can I come? How can they come to know Christ? Can I share just with you several ways that you can impact people for Christ. This message is so simple. You'll think you thought it. How can you impact people? First of all with your life? Gypsy Smith. He said there are five gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian. And he said most people have never read this First Four Gospels, but they're reading that last one for we are epistles, known and read of men.

Second Corinthians three to you are our epistle is written in our hearts known and read of all men, for as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with a spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. God wants to get the word into you and you into the word until you literally live the Word of God every day before a gain, saying world. Matthew 5:16, Let your light so shine that others might see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

That's why John 13:35, By this shall all men know that you're my disciples because you love one another. It's why the Bible says in Hebrews 12:14, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And if you read the actual content of what that says, It's not talking about you getting into heaven to see the Lord without holiness, people looking on. They'll never see the Lord unless they see you living a holy life. You say, Pastor, I want to reach people. Well you do that with your life. Just day in and day out living a life.

John 13:35 Hebrews 12:14

I'm not talking about do's and don'ts. I'm talking about living a Christian holiness, lifestyle.

But there's a second way, not only with your life, but with your lips. Understand something 2% of Christians only 2% ever share their faith. That means 98% of the Christians, so called, never share their faith.

Church members, it takes 85 church members to reach one person for Christ.

That's even worse than carrying out a dead body. I heard that one church somebody died and they carried out about seven people before they found the right one.

A man is unfit to stand in the pulpit and preach if he's not personally sharing his faith.

Person is unfit to be a Sunday school teacher if they're not living their faith. Person is unfit to sing in the choir in the praise team if they're not living out and sharing their faith. Person is unfit to be on the board if they're not sharing their faith. Well pastor, you don't understand I've got this introvert personality, I can't do it. Yes, you can look at what the Bible said. It said he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. Where's the witness? Right in you. He that believeth not God has made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of

10. You may not share your witness, but you have that witness in you.

And through the power of the Holy Spirit, He can help you to get it out of you, and to share it with others. So how do I do that, Pastor? Can I give you just four simple ways? Just what I believe what I tried to live out, just share your story.

Share your story. Got to understand something a testimony isn't about how bad you were.

It's how good God is. You don't have to have a crime to Christ testimony you can have a child to Christ testimony. Wasn't for that I wouldn't have one.

Because I wasn't in crime. I came to Christ when I was nine.

But I needed him as bad as the gangsters did. I needed God and you needed God. Some of you still need God. Don't use that the next service. Those are the Latter Day Saints in the next service.

Your testimony is not about how bad you were. It's how good God is. Just share your story. And secondly, avoid debates. Don't get into a debate with anybody.

He said in Acts 1:8, You will be my witnesses not my prosecutors, not my judge, not the jury. You should be my witnesses. So avoid that. Do you remember that guy that was born blind? And it's John chapter nine. And Jesus touched him and immediately they started the inquisition. They said that this happened on the Sabbath day. Bless God, you won't do it around our church.

Acts 1:8

Not on the Sabbath day. And they called in the Pharisees. And then they said, well, let's bring in his mama and daddy and interview them and biblically, they thought, it's the sins of the generations being passed on.

We can blame mom and dad. And while we sit around and do that, don't we? Reason I'm like I am because of my mom and my dad.

And finally, the blind man that could see spoke up and said, Well, I don't know what happened. All I can tell you I was blind. But now I see. Just keep it simple. And avoid confrontations. My third point is keep it simple. 75% of

16.

You say, Well I don't know all the things in the book of Revelation, if they want to start discussing that I'm lost, fine. You don't have to know all of that. Just keep it simple.

And may I say another thing? Ask God to help you. You say, Well, I don't know what to say, well,

11, And when they bring you into the synagogues under the magistrates and powers, take notes on how or what thing you shall answer what you shall say for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say. Well, that's a relief, isn't it? God is going to help me to say the right thing at the right time. I just need to show up. So how am I going to reach people with my life with my lips? And may I also add with your loot. You're never more like Jesus than when you give. You're giving won't get you into heaven, but you're giving might help somebody else get to heaven. Do I need to repeat that you didn't seem to get that? You're giving won't get you into heaven, but you're giving might help somebody else get to heaven because we bought a little radio time or brought a staff member to help get the gospel out. He can help somebody else get to heaven. It was a Sunday and it was going to be pastor appreciation Sunday. The pastor had been there for 50 years. They're wondering just how can we go about it this whole crowd that didn't hardly know how to celebrate their pastor. And so they said to their piano player, just a young guy that played every Sunday morning, once in awhile he would write some kind of a little religious diddy. And they said, Could you write a song for our preacher tomorrow? When we have this appreciation service. He said he guessed he could and that Saturday night real late, sat down at the piano and begin to softly play and begin to write these words. He said, I dreamed I went to heaven. And you were there with me. We walked upon the streets of gold and beside the crystal sea. We heard the angels singing and someone called your name you turned and saw a young man. He was smiling as he came. He said friend, you may not know me now.

He said just wait. You used to teach my Sunday school when I was only eight. And every week you would say a prayer before the class would start. One day when you said that prayer. I asked Jesus into my heart. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I'm a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I'm so glad you gave then another man stood before me. He said, Do you remember the time a missionary came to your church and the pictures made you cry?

You didn't have much money, but you gave it anyway. Jesus took the gift you gave and that's why I'm here, today. When we enter that beautiful city and saved all around us appear, what a joy it will be to us when they say you invited me here. Somebody said you can't take anything to heaven. Oh yes, you can. You can take people. You can take people. You better get that son of yours. You better get that daughter of yours better influence them for the Kingdom.

You don't want them to burn in hell forever. There's a heaven.

What about that coworker? Don't you want to keep them out of hell? Don't you want them to be saved? I hope you do. So we impact people with our life and with our lips. And with our loot, but what about our labor?

Our labor in prayer, the Bible says in Colossians 4:12, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, He salute you always laboring fervently in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all of the will of God, have a uses reward labor because, hey, prayer is work in't it? We need to write down the names of the people that we care about. Have you got a list? And we need to call their name out to God and pray over them till we see him come into the kingdom. Jan, my wife, Jan and I had driven to Fostoria, Ohio. One of her cousins, far flung cousin somewhere out in Virginia, had evidently doing a research on the family tree and found that Jan's and his great grandfather and great grandmother had been buried over here in a cemetery in Fostoria. Jan wanted to see if we could find the grave. And so we drove to Fostoria. At one time, at a bit of fancy cemetery, huge cemetery, had a rock wall and drive and you drove in between these big pillars of rock, beautifully laid out at one time, searched around, and we found the grave site. When we left, when we were heading back home before we got out of town, she said, Really, I'd love for you to stop at that drugstore. I said, you need something she has said yes, the restroom. I said well, I don't know what they sell for but I'll drop you off. So we pull in and she jumped out and raced inside and little bit came back out and climbed to the car and reached for her phone and it couldn't be found. She searched through her bag and it wasn't in the bag. We tore the car apart and couldn't find that crazy phone. I dialed the number and no rings, about like preaching and nobody's there. I felt right at home.

Colossians 4:12

Boy, she was frantic. All this information that she had on the phone and you lose the phone and she wasn't sure she had ever get it all and she jumped out of the car and race back in and she hollered back at me keep ringing my phone keep calling me. She started down the aisles that she had gone down and looked on any shelf that she had looked at and then she remembered she had gone to the restroom so she went back to the restroom one of those unisex restrooms you've seen them, haven't ya? Men or women and whatever y'all want to be.

And so when she tried the door it was locked. Somebody was in it. By this time I'd rang again and she heard the phone ringing inside the restroom. Pretty soon the door open and out came this great big guy. He was had. She said you got my phone. He didn't say anything. She said I heard it ring. Very sheepishly, he pulled out the phone and reluctantly handed it to her.

She came back to the car and she was so relieved. She was so excited. She said, Honey, I got my phone. I'm relieved. I wonder what Jesus feels when something is lost. I think I can tell you how he feels. May not be a phone, but it's a soul that's lost. And I think I can prove it. It's Luke 15:4, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

Luke 15:4

And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. If every church would evaluate what it does in everything that we do and every dollar that we spend in light of the one loss, not the 99 we spend our time trying to please the 99. Be sure the seats just right. Be sure we use the right songs or we'll upset them.

Be sure their name is mentioned.

We appease and we applaud and we placaid the 99. But what about that one that's lost? Jesus said I would leave this crowd and I'm going out after the one that's lost. Doesn't matter how long it takes, doesn't matter what it costs, it doesn't matter how far I have to go, I'm gonna look for the one that's lost. I believe, here's what he's saying today.

There's only two reasons why you're here on Earth, to know Him and to make Him known. It's not about your agenda. It's not about our little denomination.

It's not about our buildings.

It's about reaching the lost and making Jesus Christ known. You better be sure you know him. I'm telling you, if there's question marks that need to be rubbed out, and a period be put behind your name, some of you better get that question mark rubbed out. You better know him. And from that point on, you better make Him known to others.

thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene visitors every Sunday at 9am with BNC's Pastor Ray LaSalle. For more information regarding BNC visit Bucyrus nazarene.org.