Our Identity in Evangelism

All right, then that the in evangelism is sunk without grace in evangelism. Because, you know, you might think, well, this is for evangelists, or for clergy, but I'm just a regular guy, I worked for Hewlett Packard, I worked for Chevron or whatever. And I don't have those gifts. I want to encourage you, because, you know, the evangelization of the world does not depend on pastors and evangelists, the we have our part to play. It's the whole body of Jesus Christ. Amen. It is it is. And so I want to encourage you tonight, to think very basically, and simply last night, as you remember, we looked at Timothy was beginning to be ashamed of witnessing for Christ witnessing for Christ, because the Apostle Paul says to him, don't be afraid to testify about our Lord. It wasn't that he was ashamed of Jesus as much. It was, he was ashamed of testifying about Jesus Christ, which in a way is the same as being ashamed of him. But he was testifying that Paul says, Don't be ashamed. And then, you know, call Henry, a famous theologian who's in heaven. Now, the founder of Christianity today and inspired Billy Graham a lot. He said, You know, the gospel is only good news. If it arrives on time. That's pretty good. You know, you think about it, the gospel is only good use if it arrives on time. And if it's going to arrive on time, it's going to depend on you and me, wherever we are, you know, you are there. And you are God's mouth and God's hands and God's feet. And it can be very exciting. I think there's nothing more exciting in the world that keeps you young and excited with joy with ambition than sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. So let's read Second Timothy, chapter two, the apostle continues to tell Timothy Timothy, first you remember last night if you weren't totally asleep, revive the fire, Timothy, revive the fire, you've lost the enthusiasm. You've lost the joy. Secondly, he says, Don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed five times. Don't be ashamed. So Timothy, what lost the fire. And one sign of it was that he was embarrassed to talk about the Lord. And now Paul goes on. And then chapter two verse one, listen to what it says just one, one to eight, and then we'll go to First Corinthians, you then my son, he calls him his son, just to let him know that he has a heart for him, Be strong, and the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that you heard of me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men, who will also be qualified to teach others Endure hardship with us, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, no one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown, unless he competes according to the rules. The hard working farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops, reflect on what I'm saying, For the Lord will give you insight into all this. Remember, Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, this is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of being shamed like a criminal, but God's word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they do may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. So obviously, Timothy had lost the fire of the Holy Spirit, it had died down. He was now ashamed to testify. And Paul is reminding him of certain basics. He says, My son, be strong and the grace think of the military, think of the athletes think of the farmers, they gotta work strong, they got to be tough. You can't be a military person and be a softy. You can be an athlete and win a race unless you're really, really in good shape. And you can be a successful farmer if you don't work hard from early morning to late at night. So he's saying to him, Timothy, you've gotten flabby. You're ashamed of testifying, the fires gone, my son, my son, come on, shape up. That's what he say. And I pray that this exhortation coming from the Word of God, not from me, that will bless you and help you to wake up a little bit about the joy of leading other people to Christ, and how you should look at yourself. When you think about how can I witness to somebody else about the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm thinking God public, so to speak. Now in Hebrews 1315, the apostle Paul, I believe he wrote Hebrews, but that's my opinion. But he said these words, it says, offer continually to God, the sacrifice of praise. That is the fruit of lips that confess his name. Now, when you think about the sacrifice of praise, I immediately think of a praise group that leaves us in singing and worship, and that is worship. But the interesting thing here in Hebrews 1315, and I've looked it up, every translation is basically this, you offer continually a sacrifice of praise to God, when your lips, confess his name. That's what sharing the faith is about. That's what evangelism or evangelizing is confessing the name of Jesus Christ, and we are going to look at it. But if you don't mind, I just like to read a few verses in First Corinthians nine because it's a great backdrop to be able to encourage you to go home after this week, and say, I'm going home to my town. And I want every day for the praise of Jesus Christ to come from my lives, and that I'll have the privilege of leading some people to Christ this coming year. So chapter nine of First Corinthians, let's just keep it as tight as I there, beginning with verse 16. Okay, listen to the word of the Lord, this is ball, but by the Holy Spirit, so as the word of God, when I preach the good news, I cannot boast for I am compelled to proclaim it. Woe to me. If I do not proclaim the good news, I've changed the word preach. And I'll tell you why. Because when you say preach, immediately, you think of a preacher. You think it was somebody like me standing up here, preaching, the word really is more proclaim, that was his meaning, originally, we've turned preaching into preachers preach that proclaim is better, because every believer can proclaim Jesus Christ. Amen. Every belief, and so here, that's why I'm changing it to proclaim Woe to me, if I do not proclaim the good news, if I preach voluntarily, I have a reward. But if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this, that in proclaiming the good news, I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in proclaiming it. Though I am free, and belong to no man, this is one of the greatest passages in the Bible to inspire us to evangelize, I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. To the Jews. I became like a Jew, to when the Jews to those under the law, I became like one under the law, though I myself, I'm not under the law. So as to when those under the law, to those not having the law, I became like one not having the law, though I am not free from God's law, but I'm under Christ's law. So as to when those not having the law, to the weak, I became weak to when the weak, I have become all things to all men, so that by all possible means, I might save some. And I do all this for the sake of the good news gospel that I may share in its blessings. Don't you know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize, Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games, goes into strict training, they do it to get a crown that will not last. We do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I don't run like a man running aimlessly. I don't fight like a man beating the air. No, sir. I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have proclaimed it to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Let's leave it right there. Now, you know, to me, it's an exciting subject. I remember the first time the Lord allowed me to be his instrument to lead someone to Jesus Christ. I was probably 19 years of age. And I did a very foolish thing. It was sincere but foolish. Before Christmas, one year, I had tried to lead people to Christ and I couldn't lead a single one to Christ. I gave it my best I pushed I gave away literature, did street meetings, and nobody that I could tell it was converted. So I did a thing I don't recommend. But I said that to the Lord shortly before Christmas, if by the end of December 31 this year. I don't lead someone to your feet. I'm cutting out. I will go to church I'll worship but that's it. Obviously you don't want to use me That was a dumb thing to say, because the Lord has a right to do what he wants, you know, but I thought I was a tough guy. And so I made that fantastic ultimatum, and I'm sure the Trinity is like, what are we gonna do? You know, Louis won't preach anymore, somebody do something, let's give him a soul. December 31 came, nobody was converted. And I thought, That's it. The Lord doesn't want to use me. I picked up a book called The secret of happiness, which I wasn't very happy. And it was by Billy Graham, it was on the Beatitudes. And I began to read it. And I just read it and thought about it. And it kind of blessed me that night, there was a meeting in the home of one of the elders of our church, they called it to preach the gospel and some neighbors came, and some famous or somebody preacher was gonna come and he didn't show up. Or they were all just regular guys. And they said, Louise, the speaker isn't coming, would you speak to him? I had already said, this was the sixth of January, six days, I was through, but they insisted, so I thought, well, I better get up and do it. So I repeated everything that I remembered from reading the Beatitudes from Billy Graham's book. And I came to the Beatitudes, I think, is number six that says, Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And suddenly a woman stands up and she says, somebody helped me, please, somebody helped me. And I thought, oh, boy, I don't have a clean heart. I will never see God, please, somebody help me. Everybody looks at they look at me, you know, the little boy genius. And so I said, Okay, cut out the sermon. I was through with that. And so I explained to other blood of Jesus, you know, I mean, I was a kid, but I do the word. And she was converted six days after the deadline that I gave the Lord. I can't imagine that today saying, ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, Louis. He said he wasn't gonna preach. But he's going to now and I share that. You know, when you lead someone to Christ, it gets into your blood, and there's nothing else you want to do. Making money is fun, but it doesn't beat winning someone to Christ. And then I had a Sunday school class. When we were kids in our church, they gave us Sunday school classes. My sisters would teach Sunday school when they were 13. And 14, you know, now we serve them pizza and movies, because they're little babies, you know, all these teenagers. In those days, they made you evangelize, and a little boy, 10 years old. Marcos was his day mark in Spanish. And he gave his life to the Lord. He came from a broken home. He lived with his grandparents and he was a sad little boy. And he gave his life to the Lord. That was my number two guy already saved two souls under my belt, man. This is really living. And then the next week after he received the Lord, he was in a bike and he clung to a streetcar in Argentina. We had streetcars in those days. And the bike went under the streetcar, and he was run over and he died, he was only 10 years old. That gave me a sense of urgency. And you know, if you ever have led someone to Christ is infectious. It is glorious. And just the thought that God the Holy Spirit used you and use me to lead a soul from damnation to salvation, from lostness, to being found, to living in darkness to living in the light, you know, to being a slave to ego and all the foolishness to being free in Christ. It is amazing. So I want to mention 10 areas to encourage you men, women, and young people, how God the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit, loves to him, fill us with himself, so that we can lead other people to the eternal kingdom of God, the concept that a person who comes to Christ is going to live forever in the presence of God. There's nothing like it, everything else by says, you know, suppose there's a unity it'll be over one of these days, your IRA boo, you know, your stocks, they'll go bankrupt. You know, I mean, it'll all pass, but what we've done for Christ for eternity will last forever. You know, so the first thing that the Bible mentions, or I'm going to mention that's in the Bible, is this. You've heard it many times. Second Corinthians chapter five goes like this. We are ambassadors for Christ. It says, Oh, God is speaking through us, calling people to be reconciled to God, my brother, my sister, whether you're a recent Christian, or 50 years in the kingdom of God, the Lord calls you an ambassador. What do you think of an ambassador? I've met a few ambassadors, Americans, British, and they have a certain class to them. They usually dress properly, no shorts. They, they wear suits, they have polish shoes, they're well shaven, if they're shaven, they have good haircuts. They represent their country. They represent their boss, the President, in our case, the king and an ambassador to me is a person with tremendous dignity. When you meet an ambassador, there is a certain impression, there are a few key ones, but most of them the way you should be as an ambassador, they have authority. They have a message, they speak on behalf of that country, they speak on behalf of their president. And they have a certain dignity about them. And the Bible clearly says that you, as a believer, are the ambassador of Jesus Christ. That's big stuff, you know, think about it, you my sister, even if you're 75, and you say, I'm over the hill, you may be over the hill, but you are still an ambassador. And you are Christ's ambassador, not appointed by our denomination, although they may give you their blessing all the elders of the church, because what the Bible teaches, but you are an ambassador, and think of the dignity of it, to be able to have a message, you know, it says, As you sent me, Jesus said, so I have sent them, he's talking to the Father and John 17. Father, as you have sent me, I have sent them, we represent Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you, when when you think of yourself, as an ambassador, I think of the dignity of your calling, the amazing dignity. And when you walk into a room, or you're dealing with some employees at your company, or you're dealing with guys on a break at the coffee table, at the office, or the factory, or whatever, or you're dealing with anybody, think of yourself, I'm an ambassador for Christ. And the beautiful thing about being an ambassador is you don't have to invent the message, the President will tell you what to say, and you have no right to change the message, the message is clear. It's John 316 16, to 18. First Corinthians 15 123, don't worry about it, just memorize those passages and let it fly. Because that is the message that you have. And you don't have to be cute, you don't have to be over creative. You don't have to be too brilliant. But you can be yourself in Jesus Christ. And say, My master says this. God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, has eternal life. And you know what I'm finding the older I get, the more I get more basic, repeat the same old verses that I known since I was a boy, and it has great power. So remember this, you are an ambassador. And if you get opportunities to deal with people of great authority, use it for the glory of God. When I was a kid, I used to dream because Latin America was such a mess, you know, and Argentina, where I was born, particularly revolutions all the time and one military guy, one crook, another crook. And they come and go like musical chairs. And you know, you want the country to change. And we as young guys used to say, why isn't Argentina like the USA with more stability? Now in the USA, we say, why are we more like Argentina, but anyway, you know, and we used to say, we got to change this place. And I used to pray and say, Lord, give me a chance to witness to presidents and military people, and so on. And he did, he gave me great opportunities to deal with people of high levels and give them the gospel. Some were really converted. You know, what I have found? When you walk into an office, and they know that you're a believer, or to any position, they expect you to talk about Jesus Christ. That's the amazing thing I heard once I walked into some presidential place. And because there was many people around that wasn't able to give the gospel. And later he got the message saying, Why did Palau come here? He didn't tell me anything about God, you know. And I thought, wow, they expect you to talk about God when you come in as a believer. So I want to encourage you tonight. Yes, it's glorious to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And you'd be amazed at the people who are hungry, and what God can use. We were in Latvia, which is a little country, close to Russia. It used to be the old Soviet Union. And when the wall came down, we got invited to go and have a campaign and we just went, and the President was a fellow who had been in prison in the old Gulag of the Soviet Union for 40 years since he was a little boy. And now he was almost 50. And he'd been there and then he, they let him out. Nobody knew if he was an atheist, his family had become atheist and so on. But we went to the to Latvia with an African American choir from Chicago. They traveled with me and with Andrew, almost anywhere in the world, they paid for their way, about 50 or 70 singers. Come on, they're very attractive. You know, when we went to China, to a city called Wong Joel. They'd never seen an African American in their entire life. And there was about 10,000 people. And I was watching from the platform, they will look at you know, they'd never seen a black person in their life. And they just sat there stunned. And when the quiet you know, how they African Americans can really put on a little dance as they sing. They just stand there. And then suddenly, one of them stood up and grabbed the phone and went, click, click and then click, click, click and all the Chinese were up on their feet, and then the leader from the church in Salem. which are my buddies would say, Come on, let's sing. And they began to clap and the Chinese are not given to this kind of stuff, you know, the proper people. And they began to sing and so on. It was so messy. So this choir came to Latvia and the Latvians have hardly ever seen they've seen it only in films until then, African Americans and this choir comes and they sang. The President love what they call gospel music, you know, and the choir went to bed, they just flown in the night before. And at one o'clock, they knock on the door of the pastor, as a pastor, there's about 600 Young people outside the hotel, and the president of the country is there, and they demand that you come and sing for them now. Door to door knocking Come on boys and girls. They're all middle middle aged middle class, doctors, lawyers, teachers, they're classy people, they all got to get dressed up time, fix their hair a little bit the women and go out and sing. The President was converted to Jesus Christ. And you know, it was glorious to see it. And the thing Yeah, praise the Lord, go ahead and give him a hand. He deserves it. The President was so moved because he loved gospel music. So who would have thought that acquire from Chicago would be used of God for him to come to Jesus Christ, but you know, you are an ambassador, whatever your background, your logs, your education, you are commissioned by the Lord. Okay, I take too much too long on that one. The second picture in the Bible is follow me and I will make you fishers of men. So the picture ambassador is classy, perfumed, manicured, a fisherman is slouching smelling of fish, dirty nails, you know, I mean, just a regular person. But the thing about fishermen is they are very single minded. They have one thing on their mind. They're very obtuse, very fundamentalist. All they care about is catching fish. Their goal is to catch fish. And when the Lord says, if you follow me, I'll make you fishers of men. He's reminding us that we also are single minded. And you know what he says, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. If you want to lead people to Christ, don't worry. God will give you everything you need all the memory to remember the right versus the right approach the right answers. He will give you what you need. He will make you a fisher of men. And I always say you know, don't ask a fisherman if he caught anything. First, if he got something, he'll brag about it all day. If he didn't catch it, he doesn't want to talk about it. You know, some people like to fish with a rod and catch them one by one. They love the feel of a fish going haha. You know, up in the Pacific Northwest, every real man is a fisherman. I've only caught one fish in my life. So I consider myself a man now. But for years, I used to feel like a weasel because every Pacific Northwest guy brags about all the fish they catch, and I never could brag. Finally, a friend of mine took me with an expert to a lake that was stacked with What'd you call it with something or other anyway, and I said I gotta catch a fish. And I want a picture to prove that I'm a real man. The other thing in the Pacific Northwest hunting, I have never hunted in my life. And in every Pacific Northwest than I'm worth this salsa, I caught on alikom bah, bah, blah, blah, blah, you know, so I forget p&l, I want to shoot one. You know, I did one I don't need to do any more. Because I can prove on my mind. I got it on my desk at the office to prove that I'm a real man. But a fisherman either catches one fish at a time or uses a net. My dream is catching them with nets, the more the better. You know, I the business of one fish at a time is so boring. You know, my father in law would take me when I was courting his daughter. Come with me fishing all the great, you know, you sit there. And then he never caught anything. I didn't catch anything you come home. What a boring life. I like throwing a net and grabbing a whole gang of them in one shot. Like in a campaign you know, 100 500 The more the better. But you can be the kind of fisherman you want. The Lord wants you to be single minded. Follow me and I'll make you I'm not going to ask you because it could be embarrassing. But I wonder how many of you have not yet knowingly caught one person and reel them in to the kingdom of God. I want to challenge you to say to the Lord, Lord, please here, you've got to use me now. I'm not going to put a deadline. But by December 31. Lord, who would you? Would you please use me God to bring someone into your kingdom? There is such a joy when you do and you know, you have to be bold. And one of my favorite stories I'm fishing for men is a college girl that I can't wait to get to heaven to meet her because I don't know her name. There was a guy in Washington DC he's in heaven now. He was a real clown. I mean, a bad boy from the get go. He messed around. He went out with women, he divorced his wife, she divorced them. And one day he's flying on the EPA. And he told me this himself from LA to DC. And next to him was this cute college girl. And this idiot and he's an idiot that he admitted, pulls out of his briefcase, a Playboy magazine, which has naked women. And he starts reading it next to this college girl. Quad. He was thinking, I have no idea but he stupidly opened it up. Suddenly, he's the girl went to her briefcase and pulled out a Bible. As I read the Bible. Yeah. So he folded it and put it away. And all he finally got onto he was not religious. He hadn't been to church hardly ever. Suddenly the girl turns to him, and says, Sir, can I ask you a question? And he thought, and he said, Yeah, go ahead. She said, Do you know where you're going when you die? Is Oh, I hope I'm going to heaven. She said, You hope? Don't you want to know. Boom, she was a campus Crusader. She let him have up with a four laws if you know what that is. And he sat all the way to DC while this kid gave giving first you know, we're all sinners. God loves you. It was a wonderful plan for your life, but you're a sinner. Playboy demonstrates it. And you're she didn't say that I'm paraphrasing the King James. And, but by the time he got to DC, he wasn't converted. But he was really shaken up. About three weeks later, he was a very, very successful real estate guy rich, and he was driving in Pennsylvania to go see a deal. And suddenly driving the car. He remembered that college girl on the plane, and a tremendous conviction of sin came upon him. He pulled the car over to the side of the highway in Pennsylvania. And he started to bawl never cried about God in his life. And so God have mercy on me, I'm going to hell, he was converted on the spot. I want to change in his life. I want to meet that girl you don't want to have and I'm gonna look it up on the computer and say, Where is this woman? You know, I gotta find her. If she may not even know by now, maybe she knows if she's in heaven, too. He never found out her name or anything. But I love that that's fishing for people the courage of a college kid saying to this dirty old man, he wasn't that old. He was 42. But old enough to know better. I asked him Do you know where you're going? When you die? You got to start somewhere, you know. Number three, you will receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be by witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Witnesses. Remember this? The Bible says, You shall be My witnesses, not by defense attorneys. Sometimes we feel we have to defend Jesus Christ and defend the Bible. Spurgeon, the great preacher from the last two centuries ago, said, defend the Bible, rather defend a lion. Just let it loose, he can defend itself. And you know that we are supposed to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks a question. Yes. But we're not defense attorneys. The apostle Paul, brilliant as he was the apostle Paul, who was taken up to the third heaven, the apostle Paul, who obviously had a high IQ and incredible education and an encounter with Jesus Christ, like almost nobody has ever had. The apostle Paul, whenever he was under pressure, he would be a witness, he would tell his story. He simply would tell it just like it happened. And I can I've read it so many times that I could give it to you word for word like I had been standing there with the apostle Paul, you know, when he spoke to King Agrippa, you remember? And he says, Okay, I got a BA, I was on my way to Damascus, to put in jail as many men and women as I could. And on my way, I light brighter than the Sun threw me off my donkey. And I heard a voice that said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? I said, Who are you, Lord? And the voice said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. What shall I do? Lord, you go into Damascus, and wait there and you will be told what to do. Now, you know, when you think of it Festus, one of the officials of King Agrippa. Listen to that story, says, Paul, you're crazy. You're great learning is driving you insane. I mean, when you think of it the story of an educated man, telling that simple story, a big light that throws him off his donkey, a voice that nobody sees anybody. He goes blind and they have to take him by the hand. And then he tells our guy showed up at the new one and is laid hands on him. Scales game off his eyes. Baptism, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He just told a story and he ripped he'd said over and over in chapter nine and chapter 24, or five and chapter 26. In the epistles, he brings it up again and again. So don't panic. If you get a chance. Just tell your story, however simple it may be. Mine is as simple as it gets, you know, I was brought up in a Catholic house, then my parents study the Bible, and they began to study it. And they slowly drifted out of the Catholic Church and went to a small, biblical Evangelical Church. And then I went to Sunday school, and we listen. And at age 12, I went to a summer camp, and a counselor had seven boys in the tent. And I was the last one that he pulled out. And he sat me down on a fallen log. And he said to me, Luis, if you die tonight, are you going to heaven or hell, what an aggressive guy, such a sweet 12 year old boy like me, and he, he asked me if I'm going to help, I said, I'm going to hell. And so I won't tell you the whole story. It's just a simple story of a kid from church who gets converted, but it was real to me. And since that day, February 14 1947, I know I have eternal life. Because my counselor read the the passage in Romans chapter 10, verses nine and 10. If you confess with your lips, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved, I tell that story, I tell it wherever I go, and it's amazing. People come up as well, your story touched my heart. I didn't kill my mother in law, because I didn't have one. You know, I didn't smoke pot, I didn't, you know, get drunk. And I just thought I should start 12 Euro. But the story carries power, because it's your encounter with God. So your story may not be dramatic, you may be you may not be a great criminal that the FBI has been looking for, for years over the border in Mexico or something, you know, you're just a regular, nice American, not so nice, but somewhat nice. And you know, and now you receive Jesus Christ. So you just tell your story, you're a witness, a witness as to basically do things, he's got to have something that he saw or heard that he's got to testify about what he's called upon to test. And secondly, you should have a character decent enough that people will believe their story. And that's it. So just tell your story. Don't panic, don't get sweaty, and get nervous. Just say, let me tell you how Jesus Christ came into my life. Yeah, my wife last summer, we meet every summer with all our kids or grandkids. And she came up with the idea to tell how Jesus came into our family. So she told the story of how Jesus came into the Scofield family. And then I think I told how he came into the Palau family, although the boys know it, because I talk about it all the time. But it was really interesting thought how Jesus came into our family, just tell them, you don't have to be a great flourishing and so on. It's a very exciting in the Euro with this with this simply says what he saw what he heard. And what happens is very simple, and the Lord could use you. When you tell your story. You'll be amazed how the Lord will use you. So Cheer up, okay? Don't Don't panic, don't start sweating, don't run away. Just tell your story. They may think you're crazy, but that's their problem, not yours, you know, you hope that they don't number four. Now, I've already killed my time right there. But number four, we are farmers, the Bible talks about, we should see ourselves not only as ambassadors, dignity, authority, clear message. Number two fishers of men. Number three witnesses. Number four, farmers do things about farmers. They sow the seed, and then they wait for the rain and the sun, and then they harvest what they sold. And at some point, when you are sharing the good news, you're sowing the seed. The Bible clearly says the seed is the Word of God and Luke 811. The seed is the Word of God. So you so the Word of God, give away our Gospel of John, I recommend the Gospel of John. You could give a little booklet that's evangelistic. We have one called what is a real Christian, and you can give it away, plant a seed of the Gospel, the word of God is the seed. And then you wait, you wait for the right time, we all wish that people would be converted on the spot. But for some people, yes, they've been ready because somebody else has been sowing. If we had time, we'd read John chapter four. And you remember John, chapter four, the Lord says, One souls, another reaps so that the sower and the Reaper may rejoice together. And so as an evangelist, they come to a town. And already the churches have sown the seed, and so on, and the believers and everything. When an evangelist comes, he sort of pulls the method here, all these hundreds of people who were prepared by those who sowed the seed and we come on harvest. But so you've got to see yourself as a farmer, you have to have patience, some people takes much longer than others, but you just keep sowing the seed and sowing the seed, and then you give them a chance to give their lives to Jesus Christ. So we are farmers, and it takes a little time. When you you you live a life of integrity. You don't even realize that people are watching and they're listening to your job. except to the dealings that you do, and so on, that's the light of the Lord. And then when you get a chance, you do share the Good News of Jesus guys, and things happen when you do. So. The next one is, we are news anchors. Now that's not a biblical term, but I picked it out. In Romans, it says, How beautiful well It quoted from the Old Testament, but it's in the enrollments, how beautiful are the mountains, or the feet of those who bring good news. And you know, brothers and sisters, we afford the good news of Jesus Christ. And you know, the gospel is a word in English that has no meaning whatsoever. I don't know who invented it. In the Greek. It's very simple if on helium, and that means good news, straight out why the translation doesn't just call it good news. If it said that, it will find it much more easier to share the gospel, the good news, because it is good news. I often say You know, it's like if somebody gives you four tickets to go to a basketball game and a final, they give you 200 bucks for dinner. And you don't know who to go with to the game and you got these free tickets. You don't go around saying, gee, Joe, I don't know what to do. I hate to bug you, you know, but I have two tickets to the basketball game. I'm sure you don't want to go do you? I also have some money for dinner before the game. No, you go and say, Hey, buddy, come on. Let's go jump in the car. I got two tickets and who got money for dinner? Let's go see the game. Because it's good news. And when we look at the gospel known as some religious thing, that we got to dump on someone, and then we got to say it just right 124 but rather the good news of Jesus Christ, it changes the whole thing. I've got good news, I got to tell you about it. And so it is like an anchor, you know, the crop is eternal life. And we don't do it on our own. The good news, I want to remind you of Galatians 220, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live but it's not i It's Christ living in me. And then it says in another passage, you know, that Jesus Christ who indwells us, He is the One who speaks through us, and we are his instruments. So rejoice, you are bringing good news when people see you coming, they ought to be able to say here comes the good news, guys. Here they come again. They got good news for me all the time. We mustn't be shy about it. It is very good news, what Jesus Christ has done for us. So if you focus on that, you will not be in a panic and sweating in presenting the good news of Jesus Christ. The next one is a Christian should see himself not only as an ambassador, official man, a witness, a farmer, a news anchor, but also a troublemaker. Yeah. When Paul came into Corinth was it his these who have turned the world's upside down have come here also, another translation says, these who have made trouble all over the world have come here, some people will consider your good news, trouble. And you got to face it. When I was a kid in Argentina, we faced opposition all the time. And my folks may have us memorize the verse that says, in the world, you will have tribulation, but cheer up. I have overcome the world, we expect to be a boss, we expect people to give us trouble. So don't panic when trouble comes. It's part of the package. And the apostle Paul, if we have time to look at Timothy, which we read a few minutes ago, he says, I am in jail, like a criminal because of the gospel that I proclaim. And we shouldn't be surprised if we get some people hate it. For reasons we don't understand the hate the message of Jesus Christ, even when we present it in the most winsome terms, so be ready for some opposition. And don't be shocked when that happens. Then the the last three points why they're so good. I wanted to stay there. But the other one is, you're a military person. A military person, as we read a little while ago, goes because the commander in chief said go. Sometimes Paul says in Chapter Nine of Corinthians, he says, If I do it from Goodwill, I have a reward, if I do it out of duty is because it's my duty to do it. Sometimes we feel like giving you the good news. Other times we do it under authority. But we are like military, there's a war going on. There's a battle in the world of the spirit, Satan against Jesus, the flesh against the spirit, sin against holiness, it's a Bible. And when we go and share the good news, we know that behind the scenes, there's a battle going on. And we are aware of it, but we're not afraid of it. But we under the command of the commander in chief who said Go Go Go and we go we go because the commander in chief said go and he knows better than we do. Okay, then, the next one, I think is number nine is another we are fools for Christ. Paul says that, you know, we apostles are at the end of the parade. We are fools for Christ. We are the scum of the earth. There are some people who will think that way of you. They'll think that you have nothing but scum. You think you're nothing but garbage you at the end of the parade, they don't honor you. But that's not the majority. It's a minority, but it's real. And sometimes we get cowardly in sharing the good news, because we know that there are people who look at us that way. But think about the Master, the Master to rescue us went to the cross, the Apostle Paul to give the gospel was in jail, he was whipped, he was stoned, he was all sorts of suffering. And he said, I do it all, for the sake of those who are called for the sake of those who are elect, he did it for them, not for himself. And then two more. One is, we are priests. In Romans 15. I love this phrase, and you should see yourself as a priest. You don't. Christians don't have priests, we are priests. Every one of us men and women, priests means that we have access to God. And also we have authority with men and women, we have access to God on behalf of people as we pray for him. And then we also come out of the presence of God, to speak to people about our Lord Jesus Christ. Priest, it says, the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel quite a statement. So you, you work for whatever company you work or your own company. The fact is, we are priests. And when you proclaim the gospel, you're worshiping the Lord, as we read in Hebrews 1315. And we are priests of God, What dignity how glorious it is, that you're a priest of God. And then the last one, just because it's on my list last, I should have finished with the priest one, but we are firefighters. It says in Jude, the last for the next the last verse, it says, rescue those who are perishing, rescue them from the fire. And you know, we are firemen. There's an urgency to a fireman, there's an urgency when he or she goes to save somebody from the fire. I remember once in a little town in Argentina, one of the first little campaigns we ever had with two American missionaries. And they had me do the preaching in a street corner. And then we went to a home. And we had a week of meetings in empty printshop. And the woman of the house was an old Swiss woman been in Argentina forever. And her husband had died three or four years before. And I just told the simple story of the birth of Jesus, the crucifixion, the second coming, and then what he would do and take you to heaven and so on. And over dinner that they served us. She said, how many years ago? did all this happen? That you told us about Jesus Christ? And 50, she said, and I said, No, it was more like 2000 years ago. She said, I wish you had come earlier. My husband, I am sure would have been converted, if you had come earlier. And you know, that was my first little campaign. And I said, Oh God, I want to go to the husband of all the widows before they kick the bucket and tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ before it's too late. I don't want some widow to come and say to me, if only you had come earlier, I'm sure my husband would have believed that Jesus Christ. Okay, I hope it's blessed you. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Oh, God, our Father, we thank you so much that you have chosen each one of us, among other things, to serve you. In the glorious duty of being priests of God, to proclaim the glories of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the glories of His cross, the power of His blood, the power of the resurrection, the assurance of eternal life, the assurance of heaven when we die, or you come in the clouds. Oh God, I pray that every man that's here tonight, every woman, every child or kid who's here, that you would make us all fishermen, ambassadors, farmers, witnesses, sold years, troublemakers, priests and firemen, leading people into your eternal kingdom. Do it. Oh, Lord, for every one of us. In Jesus name, amen. Hi, this is Wendy Palau. As someone who got to spend precious time with Luis or papa as I called him, I can tell you that his heart for evangelism was contagious. I hope hearing his voice and message today stirred that same passion in you, Louise love to remind us that evangelism isn't about waiting for a special calling. It's A call for all of us today. That call went out 2,000 years ago, when Jesus said, Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone. And we take that literally, and we're on a mission to share the gospel with every person on the planet. Will you join us when you pray for us? You can visit luispalau.org to help spread the hope of Jesus further and faster than ever before. Thank you for listening today and God bless you