Matthew 7 (Part 2) :6

Matthew 7 is where we are. We are going to cover one whopping verse today. Are you ready? You thought, you're thinking, I'm going to be home soon to watch the Olympics. Au contraire. Matthew 7 verse 6. Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If they do, they may trample them under their feet and then turn and tear you to pieces. Wow. Let's pray. Lord, help us to understand your will today. Help us to hear your word, to see in it what you want us to see, and use this time, we pray. Jesus, precious name. Amen. I think it's interesting that we are dealing with the issue of evangelism on a fairly large scale basis right now here at Calvary Chapel. We're thinking about it, about the Harvest America crusade that's coming up that we're going to be streaming live. I really do hope and pray that you guys get involved and you begin to really genuinely pray about bringing someone to the crusade. It's going to be right here in the auditorium. It'll be live on the screen. We'll have some stuff going on here as well. But anyway, it's just, we're thinking about this. And those of you who are on Calvary Mail, you've been getting some of the updates that Ken has been sending daily just about the issue of evangelism, the issue of sharing your faith in Christ. Those of you that are not on Calvary Mail, you need to be, email us and make sure you get on there. But I want to begin here by just looking at this verse today and what it's saying to us. It's probably one of the weirdest, strangest verses, well, I don't know if it's the weirdest, but it says, don't give dogs what is sacred, you know? Don't throw your pearls to pigs, Jesus says. It challenges, however, you and I and a popular belief that there is among Christians today that all evangelizing is good evangelizing. I don't know that I've ever actually heard anybody say that, but I've heard them infer that by other things they've said. You may be surprised to find out that all evangelizing is not good evangelizing. You may be further surprised to find out that some evangelizing actually can do damage and actually cause problems, even make things worse. Have you ever heard someone telling about how they had an opportunity to share Christ at work or at a family thing, or maybe they even got up at a service, a funeral service or something like that, and they talked about sharing the gospel with somebody, friends or relatives or whatever, and then they said something kind of like this. It went, well, you know, nobody really responded, but, you know, at least I know that God's word never returns void. So, you know. Have you ever heard anybody say that? I've heard people say that a lot of times. I hear them quite often saying, well, you know, we went out and did what we could, and we know, you know, nobody responded to us or whatever, or we only had one person respond, but, you know, God's word never returns void, so, you know, that's cool. The problem is most of the Christians who use that verse or quote that verse or cite that verse, number one, don't even know where it's found, and number two, none of the Christians who quote that verse truly understands it when they quote it that way, because if they did, they would realize that they were, in fact, misquoting a verse of the Bible. Now, the passage that is in question is actually found in the 55th chapter of Isaiah. And I'll put it up on the screen for you, and here's how the whole thing goes. It says, as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Now, I want you to keep looking at that verse there on the screen, and I want you to notice who's doing the talking, because that's very important. The speaker is God himself, as you can see. Isaiah is writing this down, giving this prophetically, but the Lord is speaking in the first person in this passage. And in it, he compares the water that falls from the sky, and saying that it's like his word in that they both do what they're sent to do. But I want you to look very closely at the last part of this passage up here, where it says, so is my word that goes from whose mouth? God says, from my mouth, and he says it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. This is God talking here. This is not you talking, this is God talking. Now that's very important, because we find out whose mouth is the word of God going forth from, it's from God's. Whose purpose is being satisfied in the sending forth of that word? It's God's. It's not yours, and it's not mine. And that's important to see, because God is saying here in no uncertain terms, when he sends forth his word, it always does what he wants it to do. It's not going to return void to him. God's word is very powerful, and it will always achieve the purpose for which he sent it. You and me? Not so much. It is not, this passage is not a guarantee that when you and I share the word, it will never return void. It's not a guarantee that you and I are always going to be effective in our evangelizing and our sharing our faith with other people. Do you remember when Jesus spoke about the parable of the sower? We've gone through it, you know, I actually went through it with Refuge here a few weeks back. Well, you'll remember in that parable that he says that the sower, the one who scattered seed, went out and actually scattered that seed on four different surfaces of ground, or maybe shall we say, soil types. And do you remember that the very first soil type was the path that people had been walking on and it became hardened by their foot traffic over a period of time? And do you remember what Jesus said in the parable? He said that the seed went nowhere. And that in fact, the birds came and just ate it up, flew away. Then Jesus went on later to tell us that the seed is the word of God and the footpath is the hardened heart that hears the word, but because they lack understanding, the birds represent Satan who comes and literally steals the word away because there's absolutely no room in that person's heart to receive the word and so forth. And that's actually what we see. Let me just, Matthew chapter 13, verse 4 says, as he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path. The birds came and ate it up. It was good for the birds. So did this word achieve the purpose for which it was sent? No. It was scattered so that it would grow. That was the purpose, so that it would grow. But it didn't do that. And that's often what happens when we evangelize. Next time somebody expresses the sentiment that God's word never returns void, you might want to remind them that Isaiah 55 really doesn't give a guarantee, a personal promise or guarantee that when you and I share the word of God, that it will never return void. It just isn't saying that and we need to realize that and not kind of kid ourselves. And if what I've just shared with you kind of bums you out a little bit, you might want to prepare yourself for what comes next because in the very verse that we're looking at here, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus actually goes so far as to say that sharing the truth can even backfire on you. I mean, he's going beyond the fact that it's not just going to be fruitful. He's actually saying it can potentially be dangerous, you know, when sharing the word inappropriately or something like that. He actually says, if you look with me again there in verse 6, he says, do not give dogs what is sacred. Now, this part of this verse might not mean a whole lot to you because you see back in biblical times, dogs were not household pets at all. We do give dogs, frankly, just about what is sacred. When I hear it, I'm not going to get into it. But you know, let's just put it this way. We pamper our dogs, you know. I mean sometimes we treat our dog better than we treat people But that's not the way dogs were treated back in biblical times dogs were wild they were dangerous. They were unclean and they were Something to be avoided in most situations they would you know scavenge for food in the dumps and places where Civilized people wouldn't even dare to go and so you know dogs were were despised basically in biblical times They had and and Jesus is making the point that a dog has and this is still true today has no way of truly Appreciating something that's sacred Something that is important You know to God and ought to be important to you a dog can't understand that you you know you leave your Bible out and and and Somewhere where you know Rover can get at it, and you're not around He might just grab that thing and decide that it's a good thing to chew on or use for a bone You know something like you know because is he going to say well. You know I'm not going to chew on that That's the Word of God you know dogs don't get that and That's the point of what Jesus is saying they have no way of appreciating it same with pigs Many of you know if you've been around pigs much I've tried to stay about as far away from pigs as I could get most of the time But for a number of years while in the first several years that Sue and I were married her Brother and law and sister had a huge pig farm operation in Minnesota we didn't get back there a terrible you know a lot, but when we did we'd often go visiting and and You know hey you guys want to go out and see the pig operation Yeah Let's go. I'll get I'll spend the next three weeks getting the smell out of my clothes, but let's go You know sort of a thing. I don't know if you've been around pigs much but it's But Jesus is basically saying if you had a basket You know if it's feeding time for the pigs and you had a basket full of pearls which by the way you and I consider Very precious things and Jesus even likened sometimes to very precious things like he even related it to the kingdom of God He said kingdom of God is like a pearl you know it pearls a Beautiful sort of a thing you walk out to those hungry Pigs with a basket of pearls, and you know and say so he's only throw those pearls out to the pigs They're gonna sniff them for a little bit And then they're gonna realize that they're inedible and they're gonna trample them underfoot And they might just come after you you know when they realize that that they're not really being fed And you may end up being in physical danger, so Jesus is saying that there are times of Sharing the truth of God That are in fact inappropriate when you are sharing it with someone who cannot appreciate the things that you're talking about and he said not only can't they appreciate it, but they may in fact turn and And it's interesting he says tear you to pieces He's telling us this because some Christians Who display a lack of discernment will at times do the very thing that he's telling us not to do They will take what is sacred to you and I as Christians I mean sacred the kind of stuff that will bring us to tears when we talk about it The kind of stuff when we're singing during worship. You know you're singing you think you're doing just fine And all of a sudden you just get this major lump in your throat Because suddenly it just hits you how much Jesus did for you on the cross or how much he suffered in Your place and how much and how intensely he loves you You know well I was sitting back there in the back row during worship and just singing you know your love is deeper You know and in wide and and I'm thinking about how incredible God's love is and I'm just for a minute I just got to stop singing because I can't get the words out because I'm just so overwhelmed with gratitude That our God's love is that way And that's precious. I mean, that's a precious thing How much more precious than a pearl? How much more sacred than things that we might otherwise consider to be but there are people there are people who will Again with a lack of discernment throw those things around to those who have absolutely no appreciation For Them and and and they become trampled underfoot and that individual becomes personally endangered in danger from from from attack, you know, I got to be honest with you I I Ignored this verse this passage for a long time. I Really did and a number of years ago, you know when the internet really kind of first started taking off In fact, it was even before the internet really kind of went mainstream There was this local network that that we were getting on through computers And it was it was like the internet in that it was connected to all a bunch of other networks But we would there were these discussions that went on there and I thought well there was this one discussion Place it was called. Oh I forget now Something lions and Christians and It was named after how they used to take Christians and throw them to the Lions, you know in Rome in the Roman, you know And they did it for sport and so and this was created by unbelievers and it was not a Christian Network and and so I saw this thing forum called lions and Christians and I thought wow, what's that all about? So I clicked in there. I realized there's these debates going on between Christians and people who are you know Total atheists don't believe you know, and and I thought wow, this is challenging So I spent a few weeks just in some of my free time just hanging on hanging in that that chat room And it wasn't really a chat room because it wasn't live but Just you know debating with people and I remember even telling Sue I said, you know, this is good this is good for me because this will sharpen me, you know, and And Yeah, big dork head that I am. So anyway, so I'm doing this over a period of weeks and I'm debating with people who are not Unintelligent by any stretch of the imagination and they've really got their arguments down I mean, I'm I'm like the water's up to here I'm barely keeping my head above the water in terms of treading and keeping myself in in the conversation in any sort of a Effective way and I noticed something after several weeks. I Noticed that it was having an effect on my faith It was the weirdest thing it was having a Genuine negative effect on my faith not a positive one And I thought wow, what's going on here? I mean I was really truly kind of Struggling with some things that some of these guys had thrown out these Humanistic arguments about and so forth and I began to really struggle in some areas and the Lord graciously lovingly Slapped me upside the head and just and just said son. Did you think I was kidding? Did you think I was just needing to fill a little white space in the pages of the Bible when I said be careful When you cast your pearls before swine when you throw to dogs that which is sacred He didn't just say that they would they would they have a lack of appreciation They would they have a lack of appreciation he said they will turn and tear you to pieces and It will have a negative impact You got to be careful. I mean what I was doing people is I had a total just non-stop diet of this I was even staying away from my own Bible study time Assuming that while I'm in here quoting all these verses in this thing that I was in the word You know It was really dumb and It was really detrimental and the Holy Spirit had to really kind of grab me by the scruff of the neck and just say Are you going to take my word? seriously or not Mmm, that was hard. I mean that was really hard and Then there was another because you know what I sat and I thought about The result of me being on this thing I Mean here I was, you know, mr Ordained pastor coming into the Lions and Christians for him, you know figuring you know Well, I'll show these guys a thing or two. You know what nobody came to Christ Nobody even came close to come into Christ through my efforts You know what how almost happened it almost shipwrecked me And then I suddenly realized That even when Jesus talked to some people he didn't talk Did you ever see that in the word? That was another thing that really opened my eyes I saw in the Bible that there were times Jesus didn't respond Let me show you an example here from Luke chapter 23 on the screen It says when Herod and this is after Jesus had been arrested when Herod saw Jesus Because remember Pilate had sent Jesus to him He was greatly pleased because for a long time he'd been wanting to see him and from what he'd heard about him He hoped to see him perform some miracle, you know, and so he plied him look at this with many questions, but look at that last line, but Jesus gave him no answer. Isn't that something? That came as a revelation to my heart. Wow, you know, the Bible says that God wants all people to be saved. I mean, it does say that, right? Yeah. God is not willing that any should be lost, the Bible says, but that all would come to repentance. Now that's God's will. And yet here is God incarnate, God in human flesh, not responding. Not saying anything. Why? Herod wasn't listening. And I suddenly realized that when I was in that forum online, talking to these people, everybody was talking, but nobody was listening. Nobody really had an open heart in that room. Nobody really wanted to know the truth. You know what they wanted to do? They wanted to argue about it. That's all that was going on there. Nothing good was taking place. Just arguments, for the sake of arguments. Have you ever argued for the sake of arguing? I remember in college, in Bible college, there were times that the professor would actually make us take a position on a subject so that we could argue it. It didn't necessarily mean it was our side, but he would make us do it. And it was an interesting sort of a thing where you would argue for something you didn't necessarily believe in. But it was like arguing for the sake of arguing. It might sharpen your ability to argue, but it's not going to eventually bring anybody to a saving message, or a saving knowledge, rather, of Jesus Christ. So I found that very interesting. So when should we speak up? Well, do you remember what Peter told us? Let me show you this verse, too, from 1 Peter 3. He says, Always be prepared to give an answer, look at this, to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But then he says, even then, do it with gentleness and respect. Did you notice he didn't say, be prepared to give an answer to anybody who comes up and says to you, Oh yeah? Heard that you believe in the Bible. You an idiot? Or what? And most of us, that's all we need, man. We're locked and loaded. We're ready just to boom, you know, give them both barrels. Yeah, let me tell you something, mister. You know what? He's not listening. But Peter says, be prepared to give an answer to somebody who asks you for the reason for the hope, who genuinely comes to you and says, Hey, let me ask you a question, man. You got your hope in these things that all surround this guy, Jesus Christ, right? Yeah. Amen. Why? Well, let me tell you. Do you see it's a completely different thing from just entering into an argument with somebody? Herod asked Jesus a lot of questions. And he got a big goose egg in terms of a response back. Jesus didn't answer. So you know what that means? That means somebody might come up to you and ask a question about your faith, about your God, about the Bible that you read, and your response may be nothing. Because you recognize that they aren't really wanting an answer. And that's the second thing that I want to just share here about when we should speak up. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. That's when we should speak up, when we're led by the Spirit to speak up. And I know that might be difficult for some of you because you might kind of wonder about that. But you know, there's this wonderful story. And I'll put up a scripture in just a moment. Do you guys remember in the book of Acts, Philip was one of the disciples who took the gospel to Samaria. And the Jews were like, they were tweaked because he even went to Samaria because why would he go to Samaria? I mean, they literally called those people dogs. And so yet Philip not only went to Samaria, he had a huge just breakout of revival among the Samaritans. And it was pretty powerful. In fact, it got the attention of the apostles, and they sent Peter and John up to Samaria. And it was like, you guys better go up there and find out what's going on because we hear that God's just like really moving up there in Samaria. And so they went up and they were like, wow, the grace of God's being poured out. Well, then we find out in the book of Acts, here's all this huge revival breaking out in Samaria. And God calls Philip in the midst of revival, when you and I would be going, wow, we got lots of work to do. God calls Philip and he goes, I want you to go walk on this lonely desert road. What? Didn't you see all these people coming to Christ? You need to stay here. This is where the work is. Philip, I want you to go walk along that lonely desert road. Okay? All right, let me put the passage up here from this point forward. It says that Philip started out. And on his way, lo and behold, he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. And this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and now he was on his way home and was sitting in his chariot, trucking along, reading the book of Isaiah, the prophet. And look at the spirit told Philip, go to that chariot and stay near it. And then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah, the prophet, and he said, do you understand what you're reading? And then this conversation kind of ensued from that. But, you know, what I want to show you here is when it came to evangelism, Philip was being led by the Holy Spirit, you see. Even when it didn't make sense, he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. You know, I think, don't you think, God, I really need to stay in this area? No, I want you to go over here. I want you to hang out by the road, on the Gaza Strip, heading toward, you know, this guy's, you know, just hang out. Just be there. And so he's just kind of like, can you imagine going there and going... I mean, you know, there isn't a McDonald's or anything. You're just kind of hanging out in the desert, just waiting, see what's going to happen. And he's seeing some people, you know, making their way from Jerusalem. And all of a sudden, the spirit says to him, see that chariot there? Yeah. Go up. Just walk next to that chariot and just hang with the guy for a while. And do what comes natural. Just start talking. And, you know, you know the story. They start talking about Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of those prophecies in Isaiah that the man was reading. And they're walking along, and he finally invites Philip to join him up in his chariot, talk to him about Jesus. Pretty soon, the guy, they're going by this little bit of water, and the Ethiopian eunuch says, hey, there's some water. Do you see any reason why I shouldn't be baptized? Philip's like, dude, let's do it. So they get out of the chariot, and they get down, and he baptizes him into Christ right then and right there. Do you remember what the passage says? It says that suddenly Star Trek took over. Now, you guys are looking at me weird. It says he was literally... When the Ethiopian eunuch came up out of the water, Philip was transported. This was a miracle, though. From that location, just whisked away. How cool would that be, you know? But you know, it's just the point is being led by the Spirit is just such an important thing. And I guess what I'm seeing in these verses and what I've experienced some in my own past, I'm tired and I'm done wasting my time debating the finer points of theology with people that aren't listening, you know, because we can sit and dance on the head of a pin on a particular issue about, no, I do believe there is a rock God could make that he couldn't pick up, and all this other garbage that has absolutely no bearing on anything in the world, and nobody's ever going to get saved by debating the topic. And there are people, meanwhile, who need to hear about Jesus and what he did. So what I want to do for you, and we'll run through these very quickly, I want to share with you in closing seven quick tips for effective evangelism leading up to our Harvest Crusade. I'm hoping that the Lord might use these in your life. And I'm going to put them on the screen here for you so you can see them. The very first point that we're going to make is that you need to know your audience and tailor your approach to them. Now, before you get all hot and bothered about what that might mean, let me explain that this does not mean that you ever change the message. It means, however, you may change the way you go about talking to people about the message. Paul did this. When he was talking to people from Greece, he had a different approach than if he was talking to, you know, people from somewhere else. When he was talking to farmers, well, you remember when Jesus told stories, most of the people he's dealing with have some kind of an agricultural background, some kind of a farming connection. Pretty much everybody back in those days. There's no, you know, Albertsons, you know. And although there were markets in some towns that they could go and buy food from, smaller areas did not possess those things. You've got to grow your own stuff. So everybody understands the idea of seeds and planting. Germination and watering and caring and weeding and so forth. So what did Jesus do? He told stories about those things and he likened to those things to King the kingdom of God In other words, what I'm saying is Jesus knew his audience You know, he wasn't sitting around a bunch of people with shirt and ties who sit behind desks all day long Cringing numbers necessarily. He's talking to people who are the salt of the earth get your hands dirty kind of people So who are you talking to? Who are you sharing Christ with? You know when I'm sitting down and I'm talking to some guys they're like Into like cars, you know, we used to call them gear heads when we were I don't know if they still do but when I Was in high school, you know, they were gear heads and I was kind of a gear head I could I could hang with the gear heads anyway for a while and You know if I'm sitting down and I'm talking to somebody who's like into cars. I use those kinds of pictures as examples, you know about Combustion engines and and and you know, you can use all kinds of things to Describe issues related to the kingdom of God and their need for a Savior Now I wouldn't use those same examples if I'm talking to you know Another group of people that just wasn't into that sort of thing, you know So I think it is really important to kind of use to take a tip from Jesus know your audience and tailor your approach All right This is it's kind of what you know, we read that verse in Peter earlier, you know, be prepared to give an answer It doesn't just mean a pat answer for everybody It means be prepared to give an answer that is this uniquely directed perhaps to the people to whom you may be speaking Secondly, we've already talked about this and that is the need to be led by the Spirit and you'll remember of course Philip all right. So, you know, what do I mean when I say be led by the Spirit? What I mean is no Have the discernment pray for the discernment to know when you should not talk and when you should you know Lord is this somebody you want me to share Christ with and If they give a question if they show shoot a question to you, you can pray quickly Lord. Is this person really Wanting to know about you or are they just wanting to kind of get under my skin? Because I want to be led by you and I want to I want to know if this is a situation that you have orchestrated Or is this person just blown smoke? Okay, so be led by the Spirit thirdly Be motivated by love. Do you know what people can tear can tell? When you care about them versus if you're just looking to put another notch in your belt, you know Well, I've led five people to the Lord Hated their guts every one of them, but they're in the kingdom now praise the Lord I've got these little notches on my belt to prove it one two, three, four or five Don't care about people but I'm an evangelist that doesn't seem to go together does it Remember what Paul said he said, you know, I if I can if I could fathom mysteries and know all things But I have not loved. I'm just kind of making a lot of noise and people know if you care and So sometimes we have to pray we have to pray for love because you know what? Let's just be honest. Sometimes we talk to people and we don't love them We don't even like them And the other thing is we don't really even want to be around them But all sudden we remember that God loves these people that Jesus died for these people And so we're kind of like Lord if I'm ever gonna be useful to you and your kingdom I kind of get got to get past making appearances based on or making judgments rather based on appearances And I need to move beyond that and love people like you love them. Do you remember what Paul said? Let me put this scripture up about love. He said for Christ's love compels us Not good because we're convinced that one died and Therefore All died We're convinced that Jesus died for all people And so his love now is this compelling force in our lives that causes us to go and reach more people for Jesus Christ here's the Fourth Key keep it about Jesus Well, I tell you don't argue shades of morality Don't argue church rules. Do you know we do this? You know what we do when we get bored reaching out for Christ. We try to we try to bring people into our kind of Christian specific thinking It really bugs me when Christians go after other Christians that can to convert them to their form of Christianity It really bugs me you know, it's like So do you a believer in Jesus? Yeah Good What day do you go to church on? You know, it's like dude you should have dropped it right there. I told you that my heart loves Jesus Christ now Oh, no, I got to go a little bit further. I got to convert you to the way we do things I once had a guy call me up. I hope I don't offend anybody. I probably will you can write Hector, but I This guy called me up one time on there He called on the phone and wanted to talk to the pastor. And so I was like, you know, hello He goes, yeah, I just have one question about your church. Do you guys blow the shofar? I was like what? Do you blow the shofar like at the beginning of the service? Do you have the trumpet thing that you blow you got to blow the shofar it isn't church Whoo, I Said you know, there's some nice churches down the street, right? But you know we we get so Fixated on one particular form of the way we do things that if once we do find somebody who's a believer We're not gonna stop there. We got a we got to convert them to us You know, we're not we're not satisfied just that they're in Christ. We want them to be in me You know or in us sort of a thing how ridiculous I mean how absolutely utterly ridiculous Here's the deal when you're out talking to people keep it about Jesus Christ Don't get Pulled away on issues that don't matter and And and I'm not saying ignore those questions necessarily if someone genuinely wants to know but you need to come back and say but you know What here's the really important thing? Who is Jesus Christ? And what did he do for you? What does the Bible say he did for you? And is there a response that you need to make to him related to that? That's the important question Let's talk about who Jesus is. Let's talk about what he did on the cross Let's talk about the fact that he said he's coming back again to receive his own. Let's keep it there. Oh We love to talk about you know, Bible translations And if you guys don't use this translation, you're I doubt your salvation and all that Really really peripheral dumb stuff Keep it about Christ Number five and this is important to be empowered, you know, the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 1 That Jesus spoke to his disciples and he said guys listen Don't leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the father Because he said this in just a few days You will be literally Given power from heaven to go out and do what you have to do but don't don't run off half-cocked don't run off without the power of the Holy Spirit as Believers we need to regularly come to the Lord and say I can't do this But you can and you know Even if somebody starts asking you questions at work or somewhere else you can just quickly say hey Lord, I need you right now I need your spirit Baptize me afresh right now with the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen It's all I need to do and now I'm gonna have a whole different you know attitude as the power of the Spirit begins to give words and insight and there are so many people who are so Intimidated about sharing their faith. Oh, I don't know anything Do you know Jesus? Do you know what he did for you? Can you at least say to the person I once was lost and now I'm saved I once was blind and now I see Can you say that much? Then you know enough to tell people about Christ and And and but we need to be empowered Anyway by the Holy Spirit so that it's not us if you're if you're one of those people that says I don't know I just couldn't witness then you're probably in the best place to be because now God can kind of Show you what he can do Because you know the bottom line is that each and every one of us is really We're really we don't we don't we don't have the goods To really effectively reach people for Christ. We all need the power of the Holy Spirit number six Don't argue. I This is very important and I want you to remember Phillips approach to Nathaniel I Don't know if you guys remember this or not we were actually I Can't remember if we talked about this last Wednesday, or we talked about it last Sunday I it all runs together But do you remember when Philip started following the Lord and the Lord Jesus said to him follow me and then Philip? Ran and got Nathanael. Do you remember that he ran over found a thing is a Nathanael We found the one The scriptures foretold about, Moses wrote about Jesus of Nazareth. You remember Nathanael's response? Huh? Nazareth? What good comes from Nazareth? You know what Philip could have done? He could have said, no, wait a minute here, buddy. He didn't do that. He didn't take the bait and walk into an argument. Here's what he said to Nathanael. I love this. Come see. Come see for yourself. Isn't that good? We think we have to argue and defend and convince. As if we're the Holy Spirit or something. If you're inviting somebody to come to the Harvest America Crusade, and they go, listen, why should I come with you to the Harvest Crusade? What do you say? Just say, come and find out. Just come and find out. I don't know, it puts the ball kind of, you know, in God's court to do something in their life. Rather than you and I feeling like the pressure's on us, you know, to come up with this compelling reason why they need to come. Because your life is going to be radically altered from this day forward. Boy, stay away in droves. Just say, come see, man. I love that approach. It's just so simple. And you know what, if they don't want to come see, then I suppose they're not going to. And then seventh. Begin, and of course Greg Laurie talked about this in the video, begin and follow up with prayer. You know, I really believe that obviously effective evangelizing is, Lord, starting off today, you know, let me be a blessing to somebody today. Pray that you'd bring somebody across my path today that I can just share Christ with. And then if God opens up an opportunity, gives you that way to do it, now you begin to pray for that person. And listen, if God brought them across your path, and you got to share Jesus with that individual, then he wants you to pray. And it's okay getting other people to pray, but don't pass the buck in prayer. You pray for them. You make it a constant, you know, thing of prayer. Father, protect the word, you know, that has been deposited in their hearts. Don't let the enemy steal it. Don't let the pleasures of this life choke it out. Don't let the shallowness of their own existence, you know, become a hindrance to those roots going deep. But do that work that this thing can germinate and grow and bear fruit. And Lord, receive the glory for this, you know. But we need to be praying. We need to amp it up a little bit in the area of prayer. So, you know, I hope that when you hear things that, you know, like, hey, we're having a Harvest America Crusade live webcast here at Calvary Chapel, August 26th, 5 o'clock in the evening, be praying that you're not just kind of going, yeah, phew. You know how, I don't want to criticize, but I'm going to, okay? You know how people shoot out sometimes? They're just talking to you about stuff, and they go, yeah, you know, my uncle, you know, he lives over in, you know, Texas, and stuff like that. And they're talking to maybe a group of people, and they say, hey, well, you guys, keep that in prayer. Do you know what? They're not going to do that. You know that, don't you? They're not going to keep that in prayer. But we throw that out like everybody should be praying about my universe, you know? Hey, be sure and keep that in prayer, you know? My brother's little baby has a cold, and he's kind of miserable, so you guys keep that in prayer. What? Really? Why do we waste that? Why do we waste, you know, because we say things, but we don't really expect them to pray, so why do we say it? Hey, listen, if you want people to pray about something, then get serious about it, and you personally pray about it. And if you really, really want to get other people to join you in prayer, then don't just throw out that quick, hey, you know, keep that in prayer, man, because they're not going to. They've got their own lives, and they've got their own things they're praying for. And frankly, they probably think their things are more important than yours. I mean, if it's really a serious issue, and you want people to pray about it, put it on like little three-by-five cards or something, and hand them to people and say, hey, would you stuff this in your Bible? Would you pray for this when you go to read your Bible or something like that? I mean, either get serious about it or forget it. But just stop throwing out the pray about this phrase, because we're wasting the airwaves, and nobody is getting serious about prayer. So when I'm exhorting you and saying, hey, guys, let's pray about this, I'm saying let's pray about this. You know, we're here, we're living on this earth. This is where we live right now, right here. This is where God has us. And he doesn't have us here just to kind of be happy and satisfied with our lives. He has us here to make a difference for the kingdom. And he's brought people in your life who he wants you to live the life of Christ in front of and pray for that they might know the knowledge of Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross. It's time we got serious about it. It's time we started doing the work of the evangelists. But God, I'm not an evangelist. Tough. I'm not telling you to go out and start a harvest crusade. Just start praying. Start loving on people. Start looking for those open doors when they're there.