In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal story about injuring his arm while running to the house. Despite the pain, he continued to preach the gospel with his son-in-law outside the local courts for two and a half years. However, their preaching was eventually made illegal, so they moved to Huntington Beach to continue spreading the gospel. The speaker emphasizes the importance of compassion and active evangelism, comparing those who have not truly repented to tears among the wheat or foolish virgins. He also references the story of Jesus sending out his disciples to preach and heal, highlighting the need for laborers in the harvest.

People ask why the Bible is so big and I just feel obligated to just at least say something. It's a loose leaf Bible. You know what a loose leaf Bible is? You can take the actual pages out and it's large print so I can see it easily. This is Genesis chapter 1. Some pulpits are designed to be annoying. Watch this. It's just the right angle to be annoying. Luke 22 please. Luke 22 and your Bibles. Anyone see the Fireproof movie? Isn't it great? Ever seen Kirk Cameron that angry? It's not his nature to be like that. Excuse me, I've got a frog in my throat. It's trying to evolve. A tadpole actually. I think it's trying to evolve into a frog. Luke 22 39. Thank you. Coming out Jesus went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed and his disciples also followed him. When he came to the place he said to them pray that you enter not into temptation and he was was drawn from them about a stone's throw and he out down and prayed saying father if it's your will take this cup away from me nevertheless not my will but yours be done we know the story instead of praying the disciples slept and then Judas arrived with a mob to arrest Jesus. Peter got upset and he took a sword and he managed to cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest and that takes a lot of skill to cut off an ear. I don't know if you've thought about it but he was what was he doing just I mean what was he trying to do? We've got to give him some slack because he was a fisherman with a sword in his hand for some reason. Then Jesus was arrested taken to the house of the high priest. Peter followed and sat down by a fire with some men and a little servant girl said to him you're one of them your speech betrays you and we know Peter ended up denying the Lord three times the rooster crowed and he went out and wept bitterly. It seems that Peter made two mistakes that night. Firstly instead of praying to avoid temptation as Jesus told him to he slept his spirit was willing the Bible tells us his flesh was weak and in doing so in a sense he missed his Gethsemane experience. He never cried not my will but yours be done and second Jesus said to Peter follow me I'll make you to become a fisher of men and we're told in scripture that Peter did follow Jesus but he followed him at a distance and consequently he was able to sit in the midst of the ungodly for 60 minutes a whole hour with no real concern for their salvation and when the subject came up he avoided it like the plague. Now at face value this seems very strange because Peter was courageous he did take that sword he did step out of the boat and I don't think Peter was ashamed of Jesus I think there was something greater. We know that he was impetuous by nature but it seems that as he sat by that fire for that whole hour he was able to take time to think and we know from scripture that Jesus and Peter could see each other Jesus looked at Peter so perhaps he could see what was going on with the soldiers and perhaps he thought to himself I know what is about to happen. Now I may be wrong but it seems to me that Peter feared the Roman cross this was no mere lethal injection it was cruel and unusual punishment the Romans had raised the crossbar of human suffering to a terrifying level. The cross was intended to cause fear it was a grisly public display a freeway billboard to deter the busy traffic of crime. Crucifixion was very common in those days and maybe Peter had seen soldiers take unwilling hands and hold them down and nail cold steel through warm human flesh and perhaps he had seen men writhe like worms terrified of what had happened to them. I don't think it was a servant girl he feared I think it was a terrifying threat of the Roman torture stake and I don't blame Peter for being afraid when I get a splinter in my hand and I say to my wife Sue would you just take the splinter out she gets a needle and goes I have to turn the other way so my wife won't see tears in my eyes I take three advils before I go to the dentist my favorite verse is if you're persecuted in one city flee to the next my number one rule of open air preaching is look around make sure there's no stones and doesn't that make sense I've got ADD on steroids it doesn't seem like it here but I run around like a mania I run everywhere I just can't help it I want to get things done quickly my favorite verses beside the other one is what you do do quickly it's just a pity it was said to Judas but I like doing things quickly as I said I run everywhere I ran out of a bank once and my wife said honey that's not a good idea so consequently I hurt myself quite often I wrote a book called 101 of the dumbest things people have done 50 of the book about dumb things that I've done dumb things that I've said I'm always hurting myself always stomping on my wife saying dumb things just recently I said to Sue hey you remember when we're teenagers we got a piece of licorice I started eating one end and you started eating the other and we met in the middle she said that wasn't me I said so what's for lunch honey anyway years ago when we used to bundle our tracks at home I was in the we used to keep everything in the garage my son who was 18 Daniel at the time he's now 30 something he was bundling tracks in the garage and I started running from the garage to the house it's about 15 feet but I wanted to get there quickly and I tripped over and I hit this part of this arm on the corner of our concrete house and to say it hurt is the understatement of eternity I fell on the ground just groaning in pain I lay on the ground just for about five minutes now my son didn't even come out to see what was going on because he's kind of used to that sort of thing happening so I stood to my feet I grabbed my arm and I limped into the garage you always limp when you hurt anything it's just sympathy thing so I walked in I says how come you just let me grow why didn't you come out to see what was going on I could have fallen over and hit my head on the corner of the house and gone insane he said how would we have known so I sympathize with Peter and his fear of the cross and you probably too empathize with Peter I mean you love the Lord and you'd willingly pick up a sword and defend the sword of the word of God and defend him but maybe you're a lot more like Peter than what you realize so let's ask a few probing questions it's chilly come a little closer to the fire so you can warm your cold hands and let's see how cold they are when was the last time you reached out a hand to the lost when did you last share the bloodied cross I'm not asking if you I'm asking when you've last preached Christ crucified for the sin of the world I'm not asking if you can argue with the evolutionist or mop the floor with an atheist I'm not asking about your exegesis your hermeneutics or your presuppositional apologetics I'm asking if you have determined with the apostle Paul to preach Christ crucified or are you afraid of what the bible calls the offense of the cross now what I mean by that well I've found when I preach or minister the ungodly there's a certain I mean they they respect certain things that I say I can talk about marriage as a Christian I can talk about evolution but the moment I preach Christ crucified if I preach sin righteousness and judgment it brings a disdain from the world they hate the light they're a god-hating world and if you preach Christ crucified which means you open up the commandments you show sin for what it is you preach a judgment and righteousness that brings a reproach from this god-hating world listen what Paul said to do it in Corinthians if you like 1st Corinthians chapter 2 Paul said and I brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring to the testimony of God there's a certain intellectual dignity that I want to protect within myself when I preach that cross that intellectual dignity is threatened so I want to avoid the cross and Paul says in my brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring to the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified and he said my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power he said your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God sinners must come to Christ under the power of God and they won't come without the blood of the cross listen to J.C. Ryle he said this let others if they will preach morality let others hold forth the terrors of hell and the joys of heaven let others drench their congregations with teachings about the sacraments in the church give me the cross of Christ this is the only only lever which has ever turned the world upside down and made men forsake their sins now I'm not saying don't use apologetical arguments apologetics are arguments argumentative defenses of the Christian gospel I've written books that are filled with apologetics our evidence bible is filled with apologetics but apologetics should be the means to an end and that end is the cross and if we're not preaching the cross it may be because we've missed our Gethsemane experience we've never cried not my will but yours be done so we follow Jesus at a distance and that means we can sit with the ungodly without any real concern that they're going to be damned into hell listen to what Bill Bright said here in the United States one-third of all adults identify themselves as born-again evangelical Christians but we have a serious problem these facts are not reflected in the life of our nation according to our surveys a beer two percent regularly share their faith in Christ obviously something is tragically wrong Bill Bright says two percent share their faith he's saying there are a hundred million evangelical Christians in the United States two percent share their faith that means 98 percent don't listen to this letter I received from an atheist if you believe that thousands every day you were falling into an eternal unchanging fate you'd be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness that's equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly and directly into the path of a bus and die yet you stand idly by and do nothing and I had to write to him and say hey that's exactly what I do I run the streets mad with rage at their blindness I've been doing that for 36 years Spurgeon said if sinners be damned at least let them leap to hell over our bodies and if they perish let them perish with their arms about their knees imploring them to stay what a terrible indictment is on our nature the wickedness of our human nature that we should have to be told to take the message of everlasting life to a dying world what would you think of a character of a doctor who had the cure to cancer in his hand and you had to tell him to take it to dying patients you say doctor what are you standing there for he says I don't know what to say what say they ask a question I don't know how to answer what if they reject me or it's not my gifting what is wrong with us as human beings we say the love of God dwells within our hearts but our hearts are like stone every minute every day human beings like you and I with the same fears and concerns about the future are being swallowed by death and God has granted unto us the message of everlasting life and yet we search for excuses not to talk to them when we should want to shout the gospel from the housetops the dead sea is dead I'm sure you know this because it's rich in minerals nothing can live in it it's impenetrable you can lie on the water and you don't sink into it you can't get through to it and it seems the church is just like the dead sea it is rich in teaching but it has no outlet that's its problem and I don't think there's been a people in church history that have been so rich in knowledge as us you can find any quote you want from Charles Spurgeon of his masses of sermons you can just get on the internet and type a few words and you've got it instantly any knowledge you want you've got and yet we say we're rich but in truth a wretched poor blind miserable and naked because of a lack of concern for the lost one third of everyone in the U.S. identify themselves as born-again evangelical Christians remember that's a hundred million professing Christians I've been on over 2,000 flights many in this country and never once has anyone ever turned to me and try to witness to me not once where are the hundred million Christians where is the concern for the unsaved the prince of preachers said we must be ashamed of the mere suspicion of unconcern a young man wrote to our radio station the way of the master and said this he'd been cutting himself he got saved he said that I sat there it was like all my pain dripped off washed away forever in Christ's blood I felt so relieved I can't even describe it then I looked at my arms and my scars made me sick before they were a part of me now they feel sinful I'm amazed that I once used pain to make me feel alive and he said there are others like me out there that need to hear the message of salvation I have friends that are in the same position I was in and I'm going to tell them as soon as I can the fruit of genuine salvation is a concern for the ungodly you cannot sit and warm your hands while sinners sink into hell love is a fruit of the spirit and how can we sit and do nothing and be passive while sinners sink into hell and the problem is multitude to be brought into the body of Christ to sit in the midst of God's people and they haven't found a place of true repentance they have tears among the wheat foolish virgins among the wise goats among the sheep and they're going to be sorted out on the day of judgment they've never heard the true gospel to them God is like a divine butler a celestial santa claus or he's like the sound man in a church when it happens in church you get a guest speaker and he's talking away and suddenly you can't hear what he because the and the sounds are wrong so what do you think where's the sound man whereas you haven't thought about the sound man for two years because everything's gone right and that's how we've treated God in this nation God lavished his goodness upon us and we just honor him with our lips something goes wrong and people say where is God why is this happening to me why do you think like that because they don't fear God they don't fear God because they don't know God their understanding of God's nature and character is erroneous do you know you have to face a holy God on the day of judgment a God who is so good if you and I stood in his presence he would instantly kill us he would execute us because of his righteous holiness like a good judge looks down on a criminal who's viciously raped and murdered six or seven teenage girls how's the judge gonna feel if he's a good judge he will be furious and want to bring down that gavel and get this man the death sentence because of his wickedness that's what the goodness of God would do to you and I if we stood in his presence Moses said let me see your glory and God says you can't see my goodness and live and God had to hide Moses in the cleft of a rock and let his goodness pass by and Moses when he looked on when the goodness of God had been his face shone so that Israel could even look upon him and that's the God we have to face a God who was so good he is angered by hatred he says if you hate someone you're a murderer if you're harboring hatred in your heart you're a murderer in the sight of God if you have lust the Bible says you've committed adultery we demean and trivialize sins such as lying we call them fibs and white lies and yet God sees lying as being so serious it demands the death sentence all liars are let their part in the lake of fire that's how serious lying is to God lying lips are an abomination to the Lord God kill the husband and wife in the book of Acts because they told one lie that's how holy this creator is that we have to face on judgment day and how are you going to do on the day of judgment how will you justify yourself when you think of your secret sins and those unclean thoughts that you so embrace it's all going to come out as evidence of your guilt every idle word a man speaks he'll give an account thereof on the day of judgment every idle word what a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God that's why God provided a savior because he's rich in mercy as he sprawls says Jesus doesn't save us to God he saves us from God before we're enemies of God in our minds through wicked works his wrath abides upon us hovering over us like an anvil coming down and it's only the mercy of God that stays that hand what happened to that cross was that God manifests a legal transaction you and I had violated God's law the Ten Commandments Jesus stepped and paid our fine in his life's blood that's what happened and that means because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God can now dismiss our case we can walk out of the courtroom because Jesus paid our fine when he cried it is finished he was saying the debt has been paid now God commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day in which he'll judge the world in righteousness we should come to Jesus for righteousness not for happiness how often do you hear this happiness gospel that is so erroneous and so unscriptural come to Jesus he'll give you a wonderful plan a wonderful life he'll fill the vacuum in your heart well how would you minister to someone who's been hit by a car and they're lying and they're dying what would you say to them God has a wonderful plan for your life it makes no sense if you can't say it to a man who's got three minutes to live how can you say it to a man who's got three days to live it's an unbiblical gospel the wonderful plan you come to Christ not for happiness but for righteousness you don't come to have your marriage fixed or your drug problem fixed you come because you're a criminal in his sight and you desperately need a savior that's why you come to Christ we have people that have come to Christ and made decisions and they're void of any genuine repentance and that's why we have a hundred million professed Christians in our country that couldn't care less about the fate of the ungodly there's no love within their heart because they've never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit in Mark 7 verse 35 a deaf man was brought to Jesus and the Bible says he had an impediment in his speech he couldn't speak properly so what Jesus did he's put his fingers in his ears and he looked up to heaven he said be opened and the Bible says the string of that man's tongue was unloosed he began to speak and those that watched began telling everybody Jesus said don't tell anyone probably because crowds would come in and he'd have to leave town which is what happened another portion he said don't but they wouldn't they took no notice they blazed the matter abroad they they said everywhere they went they spoke of Christ and maybe today God is putting his fingers in your ears so the string of your tongue will be loosed so that the day will come when people will say to you don't talk about Jesus Christ any longer and you'll say with the disciples I cannot but speak that which I've seen and heard because of the reality of the work that God has done within your heart imagine if God allows you to become elderly and you find yourself in a convalescent home and you find your hand is so shaking you cannot even hold a gospel tract to give it to someone and you can't formulate the words to articulate the gospel in a way that makes sense the only thought you can think of as you sit in convalescent home and shake is I wasted my life on vanities imagine the remorse of that you went through your life living for yourself saying not your will but mine be done we often get that scripture remember your creator in the days of youth and we level it the ungodly when we should turn it to ourselves remember your creator in the days of youth while you can speak while you can think while you can hand somebody a gospel tract I mean hand it and run I mean if you can't speak just hand make it into a paper plane and say read that our house is zoned where we're allowed chickens it's a farming I could get an elephant and put on the backyard I think that's what we're allowed to do according to our city in that area of town so I got some chickens I love chickens I think chickens are so cool that these little sort of creatures that you throw wheat and worms and whatever next morning hygienically sealed package we call an egg that you can poach and scramble and fry and it's all made of worms and wheat I don't know how God does it but happens overnight every day seriously I go to worship I go ladies let's have a look oh eggs oh look at this this is glory to God I worship because I see what a miracle eggs are when I got these chickens I even named them I love them so much here are their names original finger-licking roast tender crispy and what I did is I put a picture of Colonel Sanders in full color on the wall with an axe on the wall just to remind them that every chicken brings not forth good eggs or we cut down and I've learned a lot about chickens they are very bold creatures if you've got chickens you know you go out and as soon as you move your hands they're up like this and they'll come boldly through and they'll jump up now they'll pick at your fingernails thinking you've got food in your hands they're dumb creatures but they've got food in their brain and they'll pick it if they see a sparkle of a ring they'll pick it that too but if I reach down to pick one up they go like like chickens they're just I mean what's wrong with these cringing little fearful things are they thinking I'm gonna pick them up wring its neck and rip its wings off and legs and eat it we're kind of like chickens we're pretty bold when it comes to getting things from God give me give me we pick at things that kind of sparkle promises in the Bible to sparkle for us when God's hand comes to upon us and says I want you to speak to that person over there we go like chickens we become fearful I've got to confess I've got an agenda I want to see the modern church like the church of the book of Acts you look at the modern church and the church of the book of Acts there's no comparison no comparison at all every corner they turn they preach the gospel they were like men that have found everlasting life and they were speaking to a dying world even though there was stone and thrown in prison and some were killed they said we cannot but speak that which we've seen and heard and I want to see the church become like that I want to see God raise up the church in the last days they're not going to come to us Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel every creature go I mean Jesus spoke to demons and they went they went they did what he said says go to the church and we stay and we try and get them to come and visit they're not going to come to church folks they love the darkness they hate the light neither will they come to the light least the deeds be their deeds be exposed we have to go to them I've had two different guys say to me that open air preaching was more fearful than the first time they skydived doesn't sound weird they jumped out of a plane at about 10,000 feet towards the ground but open air preaching was more scary for them for the first time now think about that for a moment if something goes wrong and you fall off a soapbox you're going to hit the ground at two miles an hour if something goes wrong when you're skydiving you hit the ground at 120 miles an hour so what's the problem what's our fears what are we concerned about well firstly it's spiritual the enemy doesn't want you to do it it's going to give you negative thoughts but secondly your fear and my fear will be in direct proportion to our pride if we're fearful it's because we're fearful of what those people will think of us what say I say something wrong what say I can't answer a question what will they think of me they might reject me they may not like me but if you've got a humble heart you'll just get up there in front of those people and say excuse me folks just want to talk to you for a moment you know you've got to die something you think about all the time after death you've got to face god you realize he's holy he's lost his adultery hatred is murder how you going to do on the day of judgment god doesn't want you to go to hell he's provided a way for your forgiveness christ died for your sins took your punishment so you wouldn't have to be punished rose from the dead defeated death you've got to repent trust in him to be saved thanks for listening humble person won't care if people say shut up fat get out of here don't want to hear that you say well appreciate you listening see you later you won't care but a proud hearted person will be afraid of what people will think of them you say I don't know if I could do it I'd be doing it out of guilt that's good I do it out of guilt if I don't preach the unsaved I feel guilty I feel guilty because for the same reason if some little kid was starving over there and I was eating a great big in-and-out burger I had two of them I feel guilty he's not eating and he's dying and I'm eating my guilt would cause me to turn around and say hey have an in-and-out guilt can motivate us to do the right thing if we're feeling guilty it's probably because we are guilty because we've got a conscience that says you should be doing this you say the love of god dwells in your heart you should be doing it wherefore knowing the terror of the lord we persuade man do you know the terror of the lord are you fearful for the fate of the ungodly or is your image of god erroneous but your god is a divine butler or is a celestial santa claus and then you don't care if you obey him or not what do you think of a firefighter he's halfway up a ladder there's a lady three stories up the house is on fire the flames are looking behind her she's holding two children she's screaming for help firefighter gets to 10 feet from her and says excuse me ma'am i'm on my way up here i was just thinking about my motives for doing this and uh uh i'm up here out of guilt really i know i should save your awe and another reason lady is uh i'm here because of my ego i wanted to look cool in front of my buddies and get my photo in the paper as a hero so ma'am i just feel as i should just turn around and go back and get my heart right how crazy that woman couldn't care less why he is rescuing her it wouldn't even come into the equation why did you save me was out of guilt did you want to look like a hero it's got nothing to do she couldn't care less he saved her and the bible says others having compassion making a difference pulling them from the fire hating in the garment spotted by the flesh there's your pure motive others having compassion not guilt but compassion and if you haven't got compassion i haven't got compassion doesn't matter still do it we're human beings we've got sins still in our hearts we still have got mixed motives for doing things so still do it jesus was moved with compassion he had the pure motive we don't don't let that hinder you from doing what you know you should remember the story of the good samaritan stranger was beat up and left half dead they took his money he's lying there on the on the road to jericho some priest comes along and the stranger perhaps saw him coming and thought he's a priest a man of god i'm saved he'll help me the bible says the priest looked at him he saw him and went across the other side and passed by then a levite came a helper a temple helper oh someone who helps perhaps the samaritan thought the the stranger thought he will help me no he saw the bible says went across the other side and then the stranger looked up he saw a samaritan coming towards him and probably thought that's it i'm gonna die because samaritans have no dealing with the jews but the bible says the samaritan saw him and had compassion on him and he bathed his wounds bandaged him poured an oil and wine put it up on his horse and took him on his donkey and took him to an inn and says if this man spends anything let me know i'll pay you back when i come compassion cost him cost him his time and it cost him his money and compassion will cost you and me compassion will not let you and i let this half-dead world and leave it and go on the other side compassion will tell you the oil and wine isn't just for you compassion won't let you be guilty of the crime of depraved indifference compassion will cost you your time it'll cost you your money your energy your reputation and it will cost you your dignity in 1972 i became a christian and the thing that brought me to christ was the seventh commandment i read it in the words of jesus what jesus did was magnify the law and make it honorable that's what the messiah was said to do in the book of isaiah and that's what he did in the sermon on the mount he took that law and he magnified it brought out the spiritual nature of the law and said if who does said by them of all you shall not commit adultery i remember in 1972 april the 25th during the night looking at that scripture and thinking i have not committed adultery if there's a heaven i'll go there and then i read the words but i say to you whoever looks upon a woman to lust for her has committed adultery already with her in his heart it was like an arrow pierced my soul i felt guilty i thought i'm headed for hell if god manifests my secret sense the day of wrath and for the first time in my life the cross made sense a cure makes no sense unless you know you've got a disease and that night i understood my cure about 18 months later i grabbed a little soapbox and i stood in the heart of our city a city of 350 000 people called christ church in the country of new zealand and i preached the gospel i was terrified i can't tell you how scared i was i did it every day for 12 years then we came to the states i went to macarthur park and preached the gospel for a year it cost me and i took a team for three and a half years every friday night to santa monica we drove 60 miles there and back it cost me then my son-in-law myself for two and a half years preached every day outside the local courts to a crowd of 30 or 40 people as they lined up to see the judge captives couldn't get away they were prayerful they knew they'd transgressed the law they were hoping for mercy so it was just wonderful one judge with a stroke of a pen took all that american property and made it court property and made it illegal for us to preach the gospel there so we into huntington beach the last two and a half years every saturday where possible we preach the gospel it's cost me my time and my energy i'd rather stay home and watch sport on television much easier but compassion won't let me you say you're different no i'm not i'm i see myself as a normal biblical christian when i see the book of acts i see this is my reasonable service this is what i should be doing rather stay home but compassion won't let me when it's all said and done when i lay my head on my pillow of my deathbed i'll just whisper what else could i have done compassion cost god the blood of his son and laying down my life as be my reasonable service i'm nothing more than an unprofitable servant in 1972 whispered not my will but yours be done let me tell you about my chickens again i should have brought one for you to see for lunchtime fresh chicken we went to buy some more chickens my wife freaks out whenever i want more chickens i'd like 200 but we've only got about a dozen or so but i went to get some more it was a very hot day southern california the burning heat on this saturday morning went to this place we get the chickens and usually it's a comedy session some lady or a guy goes in with a big net and she has to chase chickens and i'm pretty fussy i say that one over there with all the feathers on it there's a brown feather on this get that one there's like a hundred chickens she has to run around from the chicken and flying everywhere and squawking it's it's funny but this day it was hot and all the chickens just squatted on the ground and passivity the heat and so it was hot chicken that's what it was they were just squatting and she just walked up put the net down and picked each chicken up and put it in a box for us and she was amazed the heat of tribulation tends to do that to us chickens it makes us stop in our tracks so we're more readily going to say not my will but yours be done isn't it true what's happened in the last few weeks in the united states has caused many of us to just stop and say lord what's going on and to search our hearts do you remember what happened when the heat of tribulation came by the hand of Saul of Tarsus the bible says Saul created havoc in the church and the disciples were scattered abroad and began preaching everywhere they did what they should when the heat came on if you've been following Jesus at a distance today please close the gap we need you you must have your Gethsemane experience or you'll avoid the cross so just be honest with God just say lord the thought of preaching the gospel makes me sweat drops of blood let this cut past me but if not not my will but yours be done and when someone says to you you're one of them your speech betrays you may the string of your tongue be loosed and may you say in your heart i cannot but speak that which i've seen and heard the lord is my help i will not fear what man can do unto me so that like ruth of old you can have the courage to say if i perish i perish i was born for such a time as this may god help us to be true and faithful in these closing hours of time let's bear in prayer and close father please we first play pray for those in our midst that aren't christians that aren't saved perhaps false converts who never heard the true gospel and have snuck in among god's people come through another way rather than the straight straight gate we pray today that they'll be awakened to their true plight their true state and may they understand the cross may they see their sin and its true light understand your love for them and providing a savior please grant them repentance acknowledging the truth this day and the rest of us lord who are really our chickens please help us please let compassion swallow our fears please give us wisdom beyond our years help us to study to show ourselves approved at work when the need not be needs not be ashamed help us to never be ashamed but to stand up boldly and proclaim the words of truth to this lost and dying world in jesus name we pray amen in the gospel of matthew chapter 9 if you'd open your bibles there jesus says in matthew chapter 9 verse 35 and jesus went about all the cities in the villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people but when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and they were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd and he said unto his disciples the harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few pray the lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest amen you know that there in verse 35 jesus is going about and he's doing ministry like we typically see going to the synagogues preaching the gospel teaching he's teaching people who had heard the law they understood the word for the most part these were people who they had unto them were committed the oracles of god the word of god and so he is doing what you may see every single sunday here at church but there were multitudes outside of the synagogue he saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion for them just as ray was speaking about it broke his heart to see these people who were like sheep without a shepherd and they were fainting and scattered abroad on their way to hell and so he said to his disciples those that had heard him those that had followed him pray the lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into the harvest you know it's interesting because the very next verse in chapter 10 says is when he and when he had called the disciples the 12 unto him he gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases and then the names of those disciples are given and then jesus it says in verse 5 he said to the 12 commanded them go into the way of the gentiles and into every city of the samaritans enter you not but go rather the lost sheep of the house of israel and as you go preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand his disciples he told them in chapter 9 to pray that god would send forth laborers into the harvest and they began to pray that no doubt what they didn't realize is they were praying for themselves because the very next chapter he sent them out into the harvest we have some time this morning to pray and that's what we're going to do we're going to spend some time in groups here in the sanctuary break up and pray that god would send forth laborers into the harvest but i want you to recognize you're going to be praying for yourselves this church has been established to equip the saints for the work of the ministry to equip you and me for what god has called us to and it's not specifically what happens on this campus it's what happens outside this campus in your workplace in your school in your homes in your community wherever you go maybe you're at the gas pump or in the grocery store what goes on here is to make you ready to be able to preach the gospel when you're there among unbelievers among those who are lost sheep having no shepherd on their way to hell getting ready to die you know i believe and i've been studying through and reading through the prophets for the last several years teaching at the bible college through the prophet isaiah and as i look through the book of isaiah i see our nation so clearly pictured in judah during the time of isaiah 2700 years ago and god specifically removed his hand of blessing from judah and benjamin because they had departed from him they had rebelled against him and so as he did the nation started to fall apart from within first it started with their economy everything fell apart and then it moved from their economy to their leadership the leadership fell apart and then it moved from the economy and the leadership on down to the whole nation was in a famine and then ultimately judgment came from an outside source from the assyrians and as we look at our own nation we see the exact same things happening and i tell you it is an indication that god has removed his hand of protection because of the rebellion of the people that's what we see and i know it's not politically correct to say it but that's what we see and we clearly see it and it's not just the people of this nation who are against god because listen we understand unbelievers we shouldn't expect them to live like christians it's the church in america that has rebelled judah was god's people they had the temple they had the priesthood they had the oracles of god they had the sacrifices and yet they had rebelled they still went to the temple they still offered sacrifices they still observed the feast days but they had rebelled their hearts were far from the lord and the heart of the church in america is far from the lord and it's indicated we see it very visibly in the fact that there is no compassion for the lost it's my prayer that we would be a church that has a compassion for the lost you know that's why we are seeking to do the thing that we're doing this halloween the harvest celebration but more than that that's why we do the thing that we do down at the street fair and why we're wanting to take the gospel into this community god has called us he says in there through peter that the same one who denied the lord there as he warms his hands and then he later on as he writes a letter to the church he says you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood god's own special people why that you would proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light god has called us out of darkness and he's given us a message the message of the gospel to take it to those who still are in darkness how thankful are you that someone preached the gospel to you this world is dying and we have the message of eternal life and yeah i know that every single one of you in here you're scared to death to stand up to speak before people to tell them the gospel and that what you said about it being an indication of the barometer of our pride man that boy that hits you i'll tell you right now it is easy to stand up here in front of this church and give messages on sunday mornings it's very easy you say no it's not yeah it is a lot easier than going out and telling someone at ihop about the gospel of truth but that's what god's called us to when god's church prays god moves where prayer is focused power falls i believe it was dio moody that said that and so we're going to split up into groups five or six people in a group here we've got about 20 minutes to spend some time in prayer and to pray the lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into the harvest because this world is in the midst of a great crisis in need and it's not just to do with the economy the economy is just a symptom of a greater problem and i believe that god has touched the economy of america in such a way to make people recognize that they can't trust in their bank account their 401k or whatever it may be that's exactly what he did during the time of isaiah you know take some time to read verse by verse through the book of isaiah and the other prophets and you will see that if if a person trusts in something and it's not god god touches it and that thing will break so that they will see i can't trust in that it's exactly what god did in egypt during the time of moses egypt trusted in all these different gods and one by one god strategically dealt with those things through the plagues the 10 plagues each of them had to do with gods that egypt worshipped and he showed them that i am greater than all these things that you bow down to and i believe the lord is showing america right now that i'm greater than your politicians i'm greater than your economy i'm greater than this great bountiful nation that we live in i'm greater than anything and i'm the only one that's worthy to be worshiped and served and so god has readied the hearts of lost man in our nation for us to preach the gospel because the things that they trust in have been shaken and they're going to be shaken even more i guarantee you it's going to get worse and he has called us to preach the gospel of truth so would you split up around maybe five or six in a group and begin to pray pray for each other that we would be able to be given boldness when the church prayed in acts chapter four for boldness god answered let's pray for boldness