Discover Jesus Series Pt. 9 - Pastor Greg Addison - February 9, 2025

Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.

You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Congregation, choir and praise team as we sing about Jesus and what he's done for us.

And that's really what we're doing in our Discover Jesus series.

We're talking about Jesus and really understanding who he is and hopefully at a deeper level what he came to do and how he uses us to do that.

So what I'd like to talk to you about this week is how does Jesus make us fishers of men?

Last week we talked about that famous moment where Jesus called four of his disciples and he said, I'll make you fishers of men.

And so we talked about that last week at length, and I very much appreciated all of you folks that sent me fish videos, fish memes, all that kind of stuff.

It was great fun to see that week.

Keep those coming.

That was great fun this week.

And here's what we looked at last week.

This was kind of the short version of that message as we encapsulated that message.

When Jesus called them and he's setting them up as the leaders that will then become the twelve that help him expand and build the church, he said, Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men.

And we talked about he called them in that setting so that they would use that illustration of their professional life as fishermen, and the as an illustration of, as the church, we are in the business of fishing for people through the gospel.

Jesus said, follow me, and that meant we are to become like him, follow his model, follow his teaching, understand who he is and what he's doing.

Fishers of men, that means we are going share the gospel.

We are bringing the gospel to a world that needs Jesus.

We are bringing the hope of heaven to those who are on their way to hell because of the judgment of sin.

The gospel is the good news that Jesus stepped out of heaven and he paid the price for our sin.

So we would not have to do that if we trust him and his substitutionary death for us as our Savior.

And then he said, I will make you fishers of men.

And we talked about how in learning things you don't start out being great at it, and you don't start out great at being a soul winner and evangelist, but Jesus made that promise, I will make you fishers of men.

And as these 12 men begin to follow Jesus, he begins to train them and teach them.

And then he moves out beyond them and he trains others to begin this process of going out and sharing the gospel, being an evangelist, leading people to understand that Jesus is the hope for our salvation.

And so what we want to talk to you today about is how does he go about that process of making us into fishermen and making us into evangelists, into those who share gospel.

How does he do that?

Well, he makes us fishermen by sending us out to fish.

That's what he does.

He sends us, and in that going is where the learning is.

In that going is where he works through us and guides us and teaches us and equips us.

It's where we learn how to do it, why we do it, and we discover the joy of that.

So I want you to read with me here.

I'm going to start off.

You turn to Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And I'm going to start off with the first two verses of Luke chapter 9 on the screen.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

So in your Bibles, you're at Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

I want you to read with me at Luke 9 if we can go back to that screen.

Here's what the Bible says.

He begins this chapter 9 this way.

Summoning the 12, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, the four that he called last week in that fishing deal are those four of the twelve.

And so those twelve he calls them.

Verse 1, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and the power to heal diseases.

Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

He said, I will make you fishers of men, and now he is sending them out to proclaim the gospel and to become fishers.

Now you're in Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Let's see what happens.

When the twelve come back, here's what he says in chapter ten.

After this, the Lord appointed seventy others.

That's seventy in addition to the twelve.

And he sent them ahead of himself in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go.

And he told them, The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

You see, our business is fishing for men.

Our business is going out fishing for the lost, to use that illustration from last week that he talked with about Peter and Andrew, James, and John.

Jesus sends us out.

When he called them, he taught them and he sent them.

Then the next layer of followers, Jesus teaches them, and then he sends them.

And a part of their going out, he is telling them, as you go, I want you to pray for more workers, more people to share the gospel, because the business of the body of Christ is fishing for the souls of men and women, boys and girls who need the hope of salvation.

He says, verse 3, now go.

Go.

How does Jesus make us into evangelists, into soul winners, into gospel people?

He sends us, now go.

I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves.

Don't carry a money bag, traveling bag, or sandals.

Don't greet anyone along the road.

In other words, don't get distracted between each of your destinations.

Whatever house you enter, first say peace to this household.

If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him.

But if not, it will return to you.

Remain in the same house.

Now, just to make sure you understand, he is sending them out to these cities that he is coming to preach.

And in that time there weren't like hotels and all that kind of stuff.

So what happens is you depend on the hospitality of people in that town.

Maybe someone that you know, maybe a distant relative, maybe someone that just is hospitable and welcomes you in.

And so he says, when you go into that house, when someone receives you to put you up as a traveler, you pronounce peace to that home.

And then he continues, remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer.

For the worker is worthy of his wages.

Don't be moving from house to house.

In other words, don't show up and somebody takes you to this house and you don't like how they cook dinner or you don't like that house and there's a bigger house or something else, and you just move around to that one.

No.

When you enter that town, God has planted you there, He's opened that door, you stay there until you move to the next one.

When you enter any town and they welcome you, eat the things set before you.

Heal the sick who are there, and tell them the kingdom of God has come near you.

When you enter any town and they don't welcome you, go out into the streets and say, We are wiping off as a witness against you even the dust of your town that clings to our feet.

In other words, dust your feet off.

It was a sign of disrespect in that time.

Know this for certain the kingdom of God has come near.

I tell you on that day, it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

So let's kind of break this down a little bit.

Some of this is just cultural description, and some of this is spiritual teaching that Jesus is teaching them.

So here's the first couple of things I want you to see.

Jesus sent them out to learn.

That's why he's giving them instructions, but why he is sending them.

We don't become soul winners by only sitting in the church house.

We are commanded to go.

Before Jesus ascends to heaven twice, he finishes this training process and he tells everyone to go.

And so Jesus turns us into fishermen.

He makes us into soul winners, into evangelists, into gospel people by sending us out into a lost world.

In fishing parlance, he sends you out where the fish are.

And so what happens is we are learning to be fishermen by going fishing.

We are learning to evangelize by going out into a lost world and sharing Jesus.

He does not allow them to just continue to sit at his feet and listen to his teaching.

He sends them out.

Go.

You must go.

And look at the order.

And when we go is when we are transformed, when he makes us into soul winners.

By going, there are certain things we learn.

First, by going, we learn to see what Jesus sees.

Look at what the Bible says.

He tells them the harvest is abundant.

There are people who are hungry for the gospel.

There are people who need Jesus.

There are people who are going to respond to the hope that the gospel brings.

All around us are people living lives God did not prepare for them.

They're all around us.

There are people who need the hope of the gospel.

All around us are marriages and families that need hope.

And we find it in Scripture.

All around us are people who have been in situations where they never saw hope, and Jesus brings hope.

All around us are people who need love.

We don't see them sitting in here.

We don't see the struggle of the lost when we are spending all of our time waiting to go.

It is when we go that we see the needs around us.

It is when you are in your workplace, kids, you're in your school.

It's when you are walking in your neighborhood and you get to know people and you understand what's happening in their lives that we understand people are searching for answers, and Jesus is the answer to every question mark.

We don't know that until we get out there.

Until we go out and start engaging with people and we begin to understand the differences in the lives of a person who doesn't know Christ and the difference in our lives when we know Christ.

And we began to rub shoulders and we began to understand how much people need Jesus.

It's easy for us as Christians to never think about the reality of hell.

Because we're not hell people.

We're heaven people.

We're looking forward to heaven.

We're excited about heaven.

We're in here talking about heaven.

When we minister to each other, we minister to each other with the hope of heaven.

But it is when you are out around people who are lost that you begin to realize, you build relationships, and you understand without the gospel, this person that I've gotten to know, they're going to die and go to hell.

They're going to spend an eternity separated from God in judgment because of their sin.

They need Jesus.

It's when you're in interacting on a ball team that your kids are playing on, that your grandkids are playing on, or you're in work and you're a setting where you're talking and you're in these relationships, and all of a sudden people around you they begin to begin to talk to you, or they begin to reveal, or you begin to see that things are struggling in their lives and they have questions and they don't have hope and they don't know how it's going to happen.

And if we are always cloistered within the believers, we never see what Jesus sees.

I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

So in Luke 9, we got the story where he sent out the 12, right?

In Matthew 9, uh he in Matthew 10, he records the same thing.

The same commissioning of sending out the 12.

But in Matthew chapter 9, we understand why.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

Look in Matthew chapter 9, verse 35.

Matthew 9:35

This is one of my favorite passages and one of the ones that I think all of us need to be on our hearts.

Matthew 9, 35.

Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness.

If you are not where sick people are, how do you know who's sick and how do you bring healing to the sick if you're not where the sick are?

When Jesus saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them.

And that compassion is not, oh, bless your little heart.

It is a deep anguish of the heart.

Because they were weary and worn out like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he told his disciples, the harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

And then you flip over to Matthew chapter 10, verse 1, summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

Matthew 10:1

And he sent them out in verse 5.

It is when we go out and we see what Jesus is trying to point out to us that we begin to have a heart for evangelism and a heart for people and a heart to bring the hope of the gospel.

I want you to look in John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

This moment and this training is not the only time that Jesus' heart is broken and turned to the fields that are white for harvest.

In John chapter 4, we have the story of what sometimes in church life we refer to as the Samaritan woman or the woman at the well.

John 4 · chapter mention

Jesus and his disciples go through the area of Samaria, and there his disciples they stop right outside of town at a community well.

They go in to get some food.

He meets a woman there who has had a very checkered, difficult life.

And there Jesus tells her that he is the living water, and he will be able to quench the thirst in her soul using water as an illustration.

Then what happens is as he's talking to her, verse 27, his disciples arrived and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman.

And so in that day, it would have been very inappropriate for Jesus as a Jew to talk to a woman of a pagan Gentile deal by himself, just the two of them.

It was just very highly inappropriate given the culture and all that day.

And they're shocked that he's talking to her.

Their mindset is, why in the world are you talking to this woman?

Their mindset is, Jesus, you are the Son of God, and she is an unclean pagan woman.

Why are you talking to her?

I mean, their whole mindset is wrapped up in what they think and their view of things, where Jesus sees a woman who is lost on her way to hell, and he can save her if she will trust him as her savior.

In the meantime, they bring the food back and all that.

Verse 31.

The meantime, disciples kept urging him, Rabbi, eat something, eat something.

They're focused on what they need.

They're focused on their comfort.

They're focused on serving him.

They are not focused on the importance and the necessity of the gospel in this community.

He says, I have food to eat that you don't know about.

Verse 33.

The disciples said to them, Could someone have brought him something to eat?

They still don't get the spiritual significance of this moment.

And Jesus says, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Now, sometimes we ask, what is God's will for us?

In a situation, what is God's will?

People ask all the time, Pastor, what is God's will?

God's first and foremost will is for us to be fishing for souls of men and women, boys and girls who need Jesus as their Savior.

And that's what Jesus is saying.

Listen, you're distracted, fellas.

You're missing the moment.

Here's an opportunity for a woman to be saved, a woman to create a testimony who can share that testimony with others, and we see that in this story.

And he says, My food, my sustenance of life is literally to do what God has called me here to do.

And Jesus told them, verse 35, don't say, there are still four more months, and then comes the harvest.

Listen to what I'm telling you.

Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest.

He tells them, listen, fellas, you have missed this entire moment.

God opened a door for me to interact with this woman and to save her life and change her forever.

God has given me an opportunity to share with her that I want to forgive her sins and I want to change her life and all of the brokenness of all these men mistreating her and all these terrible relationships and all this stuff and all this loss and everything that was broken in her life.

I am here to fix it.

This is the sole reason that I came.

Fellas, look up and pay attention.

The fields are white for harvest.

We don't know that if we don't go out into the field.

And I'm a sower of seed.

I'm a fisher of men.

God has placed me here because there are people like this woman at this well.

There are people in that place where God has planted me on these teams, in this school, in this family, in this neighborhood, in this place where I work.

And they are just like Jesus standing there seeing the crowds and what he sees as people who are weary and broken and have no hope, and they're living lives that he did not plan, and his heart is broken.

We've got to be in the field to see what Jesus sees.

It is easy for us as followers of Christ to be just where the disciples were.

We love Jesus, we're focused on him, we're serving him, but we're doing it in our own understanding of this works and my life is this way, and I like what we've built, and I like what we've got going on, and I'm doing this and I'm doing this, and we're missing the point.

We're missing the point.

Jesus saved us so that we would have a testimony to see others saved.

This woman at the well, the Bible says that she went back and told them of the people that she knew about Jesus and gave this testimony of who he was, and the crowds came back out to hear Jesus preached, and he shared the hope of the gospel with them.

All of us are the woman at the well.

All of us are saved, and a testimony is created in us about the hope of Jesus, about the hope of salvation, about the hope of heaven, about the forgiveness of sins, about the love of God, and then he sends us out to share that same message.

But if we're just focused on how we're growing and what we're doing and how this, we miss the whole point.

And I'm afraid sometime in church life we are trying to train and we're trying to help people grow, and that's what we're supposed to do.

But I We don't know that we sinned enough.

Or that we understand that we are sent.

And until we begin to walk in the crowd of lostness, that we are sent, we won't see what Jesus sees.

And we won't have the compassion and the anguish of lostness.

That is what the heart of Jesus is about.

It's why he came.

And it's why he saved us.

When we are sent, we learn to see what Jesus sees.

We also learn to fully trust Jesus.

Look back in Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Now, all of this, I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves.

Jesus is explaining to them listen, I know you're going into a lost world.

You're going into a place where there are people who are not Christ's followers, and they're going to do what lost people do, and they're going to reject you and they're going to ridicule you and stuff's going to happen, and you may be walking down some path and some robber comes or whatever goes on.

He says, Listen, I want you to be careful.

I want you to understand that I understand, but I want you to trust me and go because I've sent you to go.

That's what he's telling them.

I want you to trust me.

When you go, I want you to trust me and go.

He tells them, don't carry a money bag, traveling bag, or sandals.

Don't greet anyone along the road.

You're going to remain in houses.

And when they open that house for you, you just take what they have to give you and you be grateful for it.

It's very much the type of thing on a mission trip.

When you go and you're grateful and someone gives you hospitality and you receive it because you're trying to model Jesus.

And what he's telling them is, as you go, I want you to trust me to provide for you.

I want you to trust me to protect you.

When you go, I want you to go in faith, trusting that I am with you.

And that's what all that business is about right there.

He is simply saying, when you go, you don't load up and you don't make your plans and you don't take your big suitcase and you don't do all this and you don't plan your budget and how you're going to.

You just go and you trust me to take care of you.

If we are going out to tell people to trust Jesus as their Savior, but we don't evidence a life of trust, our message is hollow.

If we don't go trusting Jesus, how are we going to ever see what Jesus sees?

We're likely to go to a place and somebody will say, ooh, don't go there.

Don't go there.

Don't go there.

I'm from Memphis.

I'm proud that I'm from Memphis.

I know what y'all are thinking.

Don't go to Memphis.

I hear people say that all the time.

Somebody asked me the other day in a group, hey, I'm driving through Memphis, where can I stop and get dinner?

And somebody else said, Don't you dare stop and eat in Memphis.

It's dangerous there.

My mama lives in Memphis.

Y'all quit talking about my hometown, alright?

I don't talk about Fort Smith that way.

Y'all don't talk about Memphis that way, right?

Sometimes when we go to a place that's different, somebody that doesn't look like us, every mission trip we sign up for, when we send somebody there, we always have somebody come back channel.

There's nothing wrong with this.

I'm not trying to stop you from doing this, but just follow my thought process.

Pastor, is it safe there?

Can I send my husband there?

Can I send my kids there?

Pastor, it's not safe to go there.

Pastor, we're going, it's not safe there.

Well, we don't go places that are just crazy dangerous or whatever.

But here's the deal.

I think we all have a visceral reaction to going places we're not comfortable.

People are tribal.

Birds of a feather flock together.

We like people that think like us.

It's interesting to meet somebody who may be from another place and what they do and what's different and all that, but we we like to run with our people.

Birds of a feather flock together.

And it's hard for us sometimes to get out and go into a world that doesn't look like ours, to step into a world that's just different.

I had a pastor friend a few months ago talk to me, we were talking about evangelism and how to get out and all that.

And he asked me if I'd eaten at a particular place here in town.

I said, No, I haven't eaten there.

I just hadn't made the rounds yet.

What's it like?

And he goes, Oh, well, you go in there, it's people that don't look like us.

And it's uh people who don't marry the same way we marry.

And it's people who are, you know, whatever.

And he said, but you're a pastor, you need to go there.

Are you telling me something I do I need to be aware of?

He says, No.

When's the last time you were uncomfortable in people with people who aren't church people?

When's the last time you sat out and you hung out in a place and listened to how people talk so that you'll understand what their questions and thoughts and struggles are?

You know, he's right.

I listened to podcasts of pastors telling us how to grow in the Lord.

I listen to some podcasts that uh the political ones I listen to, they are people that reflect my values and what I think.

Janet is better at this than I am.

We're watching the elections or some significant thing happens, and I have my particular where I watch, and she turns on somebody who's completely different.

And I'm like, why are you turning that on?

I don't need to hear anything they have to say.

I don't believe anything they have to say.

I don't think they believe what they have to say, and they don't have enough sense to get in out of the rain, so why don't I listen to them?

Because many of the people you're trying to reach think that way.

He is teaching them, listen, you've got to trust me and go where I open the doors.

You've got to trust me and go where I send you.

You've got to trust me to provide, you've got to trust me to protect, and you've got to trust me to guide.

And if we don't ever go, we don't ever learn that level of trust.

He also says this.

He sends them to cast out demons and heal the sick.

Look at verse 9.

Heal the sick who are there.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've never healed somebody before.

I've hurt people, never healed anybody.

It's a little bit intimidating.

I've been in nations and countries with missionaries where they actually cast out demons and they see the sick healed.

And to my suburban, easy Southern Christianity, it's a shock.

It's a shock.

It's exciting to hear missionaries talk about these events and these things that are happening and healing these people and all this kind of stuff.

It's awesome.

And so I'll give some to Lottie Moon more so that they can go do that.

But here's the deal: Jesus sends them out and he makes them go so that they will understand his power and authority delegated into them.

And if we don't ever go and lead somebody to Christ, if we don't ever step out in faith, trusting God's power to do this, then we're never going to know the power of Jesus as it is delegated through our lives?

He tells them, go heal the sick, and tell them the kingdom of God has come near you.

Let me ask you a question.

Do you really, in the depths of your soul, down in your guts, how many of us believe that God is the creator God of the universe and wants to do something incredibly powerful through our lives?

And yet we haven't shared the gospel with someone.

The greatest, most eternally miraculous thing that will ever happen is not making a lame person walk, it's not making the blind to see, it's not even bringing someone back from the dead.

It is leading them to faith in Jesus Christ and watching the blood of Jesus save them and change their eternity forever.

It is someone who is walking away from God, and you step into their life with a message, and you're afraid, you're not even sure it's gonna work, you expect them to reject you, and you watch them turn and repent and give their life to Christ, and God changes them completely and eternally, and He did that through you.

I'm just gonna tell you, you're never going to know the power of God in your life until you've led someone to faith in Christ.

That's the most significant power that God ever wields.

Jesus did not come to make the blind to see.

Think about this for a minute.

Jesus physically healed the blind so that we would understand who he is, who he claims to be, the Son of God, who can change their eternity forever.

Jesus made the lane to walk so that people would listen and understand when he says, if you will place your faith in me, I will change your eternity forever.

I am the Son of God, I am the Messiah.

If you kill me on that cross on the third day, I will be raised again, conquering death and sin to bring you salvation.

It is when Jesus does those things that people who don't know him understand who he is.

He did not come to heal, he came to save.

Healing shows he can.

Healing shows who he is, but he came to save.

The pastor I grew up used to tell us all the time: listen, God didn't bring us here on this earth to make it a better place from which to go to hell.

He didn't bring us here to rearrange the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

He brought us here to share the good news of salvation.

And it is when you lead someone to Christ that you are overcome with the power of God and what he wants to do in your life.

That's just the reality of it.

In fact, in just a moment, we'll see they were shocked when it happened.

They were excited and they were learning this truth of what God wants to do in them.

Why is it so important for Jesus to put them in this experience?

Because they need to understand when he goes in Matthew 28 and gives them the great commitment, what we call the Great Commission, he says this all authority in heaven given to me, I'm giving to you.

Go therefore.

Go why?

We are going under the authority and the power of Jesus Himself, delegated in and through us.

Therefore, with that authority and power, go into all the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe whatever I've commanded you.

In Acts chapter 1, verse 8, when we see that part of him commanding us that our business is fishing for the soul of men, what does he say?

Acts 1:8

He says, You wait right here, you wait right here.

The Holy Spirit is going to come, and when the Holy Spirit is going to come, here's what's going to happen.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.

God has invested his power in and through us.

It is not about us.

It is not about us.

And when you lead someone to Christ, you realize, okay, I was just sitting here.

I had nothing to do with that.

That was God at work.

Man, I could tell you story for story.

People I've led to Christ, and it was the worst gospel presentation you've ever seen.

If you had heard me share the gospel in that moment, you would have never let me come to Fort Smith and be your pastor.

And God moves in that moment and he lets everybody know this is God moving in this moment.

What we do is surrender and step out in faith, trusting him, and what we learn when God works through us is the power of God and what he wants to do in our lives.

Remember, I was trying to teach this and illustrate this to somebody in our church in Cabot, and I kept saying this to the church.

We were struggling getting people to invite people to church and lead people to Christ, and they just weren't getting it.

And I said, listen, I just got, I got, you know, I said, listen, here's the deal.

I'll make this as simple as I can.

If you want to learn how to be a soul winner, then you sign up for Iuanas and Sunday school with third graders.

If you want to learn to be a soul winner, then you sign up to be a third grader.

You teach Sunday school in third grade.

And I just said that over and over and over.

We got to VBS time, and I said, listen, if you want to learn how to be a soul winner, you you come in and you teach VBS with third graders.

Why third graders?

Because they're old enough to understand what's happening.

They're young enough to be in a little bit awe of you.

I didn't want to work with fifth and sixth graders because like they're just that's just hard, right?

You got to work.

Third graders are still afraid of you.

Sit down, they sit down.

Eat your snack, they eat their snack, right?

It's good.

So I'm just picking third graders, right?

And so here we go.

Work with third graders.

Man, I I came in the VBS like assembly time about the third, fourth day, and this lady comes running up at me, screaming, and basically tackles me in the sanctuary.

I'm like, what is going on?

And she said, You're right, you're right, you're right.

If you want to learn to be a third grade, you want to be a soul winner and you teach third grade, and I taught third grade today.

I led someone to Christ.

It's the first time I ever did it.

A boy gave his life to Jesus Christ.

I'm so excited.

Pastor, cut me loose.

I said, You got to cut me loose first.

But why is she so excited?

Yes, she's excited for that boy because he's given his life to Jesus, but he doesn't even know all of yet what that means.

She knows what all that means and what his life is going to be.

But the biggest deal in that thing is what she thought she could not do.

God showed her if He, if she will let him, he will do it through her.

She experienced the power of God moving in her life when she saw someone get saved that she had shared with.

And that's why God sends us out.

You don't learn if it's not you that led them to Christ.

I'm not saying you don't love Jesus.

I'm not saying the word doesn't speak to your heart.

I'm not saying you don't love the church.

Please understand.

But what I'm saying is there is a part of your Christian life that will never be unlocked until you feel and see the power of God work through you in the life of someone else.

And they give their life to Christ.

And when that happens in your life, a world opens up that you never knew existed.

Because all of a sudden, anything God asks you to do, you're like, I'm in.

This is awesome.

Because God's going to work.

Here's the other thing.

One of our great fears in going out and witness, there are people that study these things and they've always come up with the top two reasons why people don't, why people don't share Jesus.

Number one is they're going to ask me a question I don't know the answer to.

Well, that's a dumb excuse.

Pay attention in church and you'll know the answers.

But the big deal for that is God will give you the answer.

They're going to ask me something I don't know to deal with, then you are saying you don't believe God is going to speak to you through your life.

Let me give you a verse.

Proverbs 16, verse 1 says this the preparation of the heart belongs to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:1

And if you get in that moment and somebody's engaging with you and you share in Jesus, it's not your brain, it's not your intellect, it's not your training or anything that's helping you.

It is the Spirit of God working and guiding and speaking through you that leads that person to Christ.

We train evangelistically to take your excuse away, but even with the training, it is still the power of God that works.

When you lead someone to Christ, it is not something that you have done, it is the power of God in you.

And so why step back and say what you can't do when you're depending on the power of God to be the one that does it anyway?

And the second reason people say that is they're afraid of rejection.

Jesus deals with that.

You're going on my behalf, you're going under my authority.

If they reject you, they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me, Jesus.

You shake the dust off your feet and you move on to the next one and you keep sharing.

You keep sharing.

Listen, God didn't call us to save people, he saves people.

He called us to fish.

He called us to bait the hook, throw it in the water, and keep going.

If you have a cast that doesn't draw on a fish, then you just cast again.

He says, Don't worry about it.

You keep preaching, you keep healing, and I'm gonna work.

When we go, we learn these things.

But ultimately, here's the greatest thing that we learn.

And I'll close with this.

Ultimately, the greatest thing we learn is that the greatest thing in our lives is that Jesus saved us.

When you go share Jesus and you tell people that He saved you, it connects you to the fact that He saves you in deeper ways than you can ever imagine.

There is never a point when you lead someone to Christ or you're sitting there and they get saved that it doesn't come back into your heart the miracle of your own salvation.

Jesus sent them so they would be deeply moved and anchored in their salvation.

I want you to read what it says in Luke chapter 10 after they come back.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Verse 17.

They come back, man, they're excited because of what's been going on.

Verse 17, the 70 return with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.

I mean, I need an amen right there.

We cast out demons.

Man, we're healing folks.

Stuff is happening.

This is exciting.

Woo! Look at the power of all this happening.

And here's what, and it is exciting, but here's what Jesus says.

I watched Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash.

Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, nothing will ever harm you, however.

Don't rejoice that the Spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

It is not the miraculous things that might happen.

Man, when I preach the gospel, I'm telling you, it sends me to my knees in awe that God saved me.

Never have I been in that moment when somebody gives their faith, their life to Jesus, they trust Him as their Savior.

We get an email or get a phone call from somebody watching us online or watching television, or you come up afterwards, or whatever it is, I'm telling you, the greatest moment in that is after you've seen God save them.

You are humbled and you realize it is incredible that God saved me.

When I'm explaining to someone that Jesus died on the cross to take our sins, listen, I am never more aware of my sin that Jesus paid the price for.

Listen, when people are joining, when stuff is happening in our church, when great things are happening, man, I am so excited about that because I know that that's God at work.

But I'm telling you, the most humbling thing that ever happens, and the most joyous thing that ever happens, is every time we see somebody baptized up there, I remember what it means that Jesus saved me.

You track this, what this means.

He sends them out.

He says, You have authority to cast out demons and to heal.

They go in that town and someone brings them their child, like we saw a couple of weeks ago, and they cast out that demon.

And someone comes who is blind and they make them to see.

And then they turn to that crowd and they say, Listen, we are doing this on the authority of Jesus Christ.

God has sent the Messiah, He has brought us hope.

We are here as his messengers.

The only reason this happened is because God wants you to know that he wants to change your life for eternity.

He not only wants to make you physically see, but spiritually, he wants you to see the impact of your sin.

And he wants you to see Jesus who loves you and he came for you and he'll save you.

And he wants you to see the horror of hell and the joy of heaven, and he wants you to give your life to Christ, and people get saved.

And in that moment, they're excited and they walk out of town, and you can picture what that is like.

They're talking about how awesome it was.

Can you believe that happened?

That we serve an awesome God.

Can you believe those people got slain?

Did you see that guy in the back of the slaved?

Did you see that demon going on?

Did you see that happen?

Somebody.

Because he did that for us.

I remember when I got saved, just like that person.

I remember when I first understood how much Jesus loved me.

Just like that person.

Jesus says, listen, the most important thing I need you to know as a fisher of men is the joy when you were caught.

I really believe when you go on a mission trip, when you lead someone to Christ, when you invite somebody into church and they get saved, when you answer that question at work and you use that opportunity to lead them to understand that Jesus has a better way and they give their lives to Christ, you will never be closer to Jesus.

And you will never understand the profound depth of your salvation more than in that moment.

I want you to bow your heads as we close this morning.

And I want to ask you first of all, have you had that moment where you gave your life to Christ?

If you're watching online or television, whatever, listen.

I've shared the gospel, we've seen Jesus talk about the gospel, we've talked about trusting Him.

It's very simple to understand the process of giving your life to Christ.

It is a profound decision, but it is not a complicated one to understand.

You realize that you are a sinner, and Jesus stepped out of heaven.

Remember what he said?

I saw Satan fall from heaven.

He has watched and understood the impact of Satan and his evil and of temptation and leading people to all these decisions and all of that.

And Jesus says, I stepped out of heaven to conquer death and hell and to provide a way of salvation for you.

And if you've never trusted your, you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, it is a belief, it is an active choice of placing your faith in Him.

It simply means, Lord, I'm going to surrender my life and follow you now.

Because I believe what you did for me on the cross.

We sometimes in church life say you give your life to Jesus.

What that means is you turn from pursuing it your way and you step into this world and you just follow Jesus, trusting him.

You can trust Jesus because he literally died on the cross with your sin attached to his life.

Because he loved you that much.

He conquered death and sin and is reaching out to you as salvation because he loves you.

If he loves you that much, he would never abuse your trust.

He will do with your life what he promised to do, and he shed his blood to seal that promise to you.

Book of Romans says, if God gave his life for us, why would he gave his son for us?

Why would he hold back anything else?

He gave all he had for you.

He did it because he loves you.

You can trust him with your life.

Right there where you are, if you're watching, just where you are, you tell the Lord in your words, I'm sorry I'm a sinner.

I believe in Jesus and give him your life and he'll save you.

There's no magic incantation, there's no particular words that you got to say.

Jesus knows your heart and he loves you, and you talk to him, share with him, repent, and trust him as your Savior.

If you're here in the room and you do that in a moment when I pray, God's people are gonna stand and sing a testimony of the joy of their salvation.

Listen to them as they sing.

They want you to give your life to him.

We're gonna have pastors at the head of our aisles.

You come.

Brothers and sisters, man, I love you.

It is a joy to be your pastor, and I want you to know the joy of the things we've talked about.

I want you to know the power of God working through your life.

I want you to have that moment when you lead someone to Christ and you step back and you realize the depth in a new, fresh way, what it meant that Jesus saved you and used you.

As we sing, I want you to make a commitment to go.

You don't have to know what that means yet.

I want you to make a commitment to go.

Go where you are.

Start there.

Go with your love list, start there.

Bible is unapologetic.

Jesus said, I am sending you now, go.

And if you know Christ is your Savior, I want you to make a commitment this morning to go.

Lord, we love you and we thank you.

We are overwhelmed by the reality of salvation and what it means in our lives.

And today we ask, Father, as we worship that you receive our worship in this moment as we are attached to the joy of our salvation.

And Lord, I want you to bless your people and speak to their hearts and encourage them and draw them and send them so they can see and hear and learn the things we've talked about.

Lord, help us not to leave here in this time the same way we were when we came in.

Work on our lives and grow us and make us different when we leave.

We pray this in your name, and all God's people said.

We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.

Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.

Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.

Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.