What Do You Do For Jesus?

Introduction

Good evening. Welcome to those of you that are visiting. We appreciate those that have gone out of your way to be here tonight. I hope that you will feel free to ask any questions or make any comments you’d like to make in regard to anything that I say, and I know as well that the congregation here would be glad to answer any questions you may have about the work here. I want to mention one particular visitor that came a little distance through the dreary night, and that is our good friend Gloria Farrell, who came up from Sugarland, and we’ve known Gloria for quite a while. I didn’t count the years, Gloria, but we kind of quit doing that, didn’t we? And she brought three friends with her and appreciative of them coming as well.

And I know that you’ll want to meet them if you if you have not. She’s a dear friend of our families, and we’ve known her for many years. It’s gone quickly for me. I know that as I say that and I say, didn’t the week go fast? And the moms who’ve been wrestling kids all week go, well, kinda. But you know, the kids have really done well. I’m just impressed with the parents here and what you do with your kids. And I’m very impressed and appreciative of the young people that sit up front. You know, what a problem to have. They can’t all fit on one row here. They had to squeeze over and almost bump me out of my seat.

You know, that’s a good problem, right? it’s it’s really encouraging to me, and I know that maybe you don’t appreciate this or realize this as much as you should, but it’s a real encouragement to see young people who are interested in God and his word, that take notes, that follow along, that open your Bibles, that sit up front, aren’t just in the back, passing notes or secretly texting things on your phone. You know, it’s it’s it’s real encouraging to me, and I want you to know that all of you have really encouraged me this week. And I’m I’m gonna probably take more away from this meeting than any of you are. It’s been so good to be with each of you, to get to know you a little bit, reacquaint myself with some that I’ve known for some time.

And it’s just always such a joy to be around Christians that no matter where we find them, that we find our like precious faith that we already have so many things in common, and especially our trust in God and in his word. And the time that you’ve taken this week to be here, I don’t take that as a you’re here to honor John Lasseter. You’re here to learn about God. You’re here to honor Christ. You’re here to show your interest in spiritual things, and that is what encourages me. So thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you for the elders for inviting me. I’m saying these things up front because otherwise I’m terrible about forgetting them later on. Thank you for all of you who fed us.

I’ve been fed well. I’m gonna have to go on a diet. I know you know you may not realize this, but I’m I’m I’m weighing over 212 pounds right now, and that’s a little beyond my comfort zone. So but I didn’t, I don’t regret it. It was. Thank you again. There was a story several years ago about a policeman in New York who had a couple of guys that attacked him, and basically was asking him for directions, and then they grabbed him and they started, they grabbed a hold of his gun, and they were trying to get his gun away from him, and one guy was beating him while the other guy was trying to get the gun. And there were people standing around.

And he was yelling for help. He was begging people to please help me. Help me. And there were dozens of people standing around, and nobody helped him. He had to handle it completely on his own. Thankfully, he was able to get to get free and to get some other help that came from some other police. But he quit the force after that. Because he realized here he is, he’s out here putting his life on the line, coming to people’s aid whenever he can. And now here he was in a time that he needed some help. And nobody would do anything. You’ve heard other stories like that. Maybe not a policeman. Maybe somebody that in the open is being attacked by somebody else. And people watch and do nothing.

And some of that may be a paralysis of not just not knowing what to do. And some of it is just this attitude that I don’t want to get involved. I don’t want to step out of what I’m comfortable with. I don’t want to do things that might mean it’s going to cost me something, or it may be maybe vulnerable to me.

And I don’t want to, I didn’t want to use too gruesome of a story. There’s other ones I could tell you that did not end as well even as that. But I want us to realize how important it is to be people that are willing to step outside of our comfort and do things that we need to do. And that’s what I want to use to introduce the subject of what it is that you do with Jesus, or what you do for Jesus. When you think about what it is to be a Christian, if somebody asks you and say, What is the Christian? And you start defining, you might start off and say, Well, this is someone who doesn’t get drunk. This is someone who doesn’t cuss.

This is someone who doesn’t steal. This is someone who doesn’t lie. Now, do you notice something in common with all of those? They’re not, none of them are about what we do, they’re about what we don’t do. Now, there’s a longer list that we could say, these are things that a Christian doesn’t do. They’re not consistent with what it is to be a Christian. And many times that’s where we start. Sometimes when somebody becomes a Christian, they have a long list of bad habits of things they’ve got that they’ve been doing, and they have to take those things and empty themselves of that. But unfortunately, sometimes what happens is, and maybe one of the reasons why people are so vulnerable in a short time after they become a Christian, is that they’ve emptied themselves of what their life was about.

1. We Are Servants of Christ

And it’s easy, it’s hard to just run around empty without there being something more. And although all those things are important, when we talk about what Christians are, it’s about what we do. And this, we sang several songs, and I didn’t tell Jesse any of the songs tonight, but he picked out some great songs right along the theme of what we want to talk about. Which is this idea that we are servants. We are servants. And that’s maybe some ways we think of servitude as being some kind of a negative thing, but it really, as Jesus Himself demonstrated, is the way to be great. If you want to be great, be a servant. What I mean is, if you want to be valuable to others, if you want to accomplish things that really matter, be a servant.

And that starts, first of all, with us being a servant of Christ. In Romans 6 and verse 18, being then made free from sin, you became servants of righteousness. So Christians are servants. Well, we see it again in Romans chapter 6 and verse 17, where we’re as we as we look at this comparison of what somebody was, you became servants of righteousness. Let’s compare that with what happens with what maybe the thing that we’re most familiar with when it comes to service, which is in a restaurant. If you’re like me, you have a minimum, maybe that you’re going to tip a waiter or a waitress. And then if it’s really good service, yeah, a little more, right? And if it’s really lousy service, you maybe take a little off.

Because that’s what it’s based on. It’s based on the kind of service that you get. The tip is actually based on what the waiter does. It’s not based on what he doesn’t do. It’s not, okay, he didn’t cuss me out when I tried to change the order. He didn’t drop the plate in my lap. He didn’t, you know, we can just go through a long list of what maybe he didn’t do. No, it’s what did he do? We understand service involves action. It involves what is being done, not what is not done. So ask yourself this what is it that you do as a servant of Christ? What is it that you do? And sometimes we might say, to use the use the colloquial phrase, we go to church.

2. Stir Up to Love and Good Works

Okay? I go to church. That’s what I do as a Christian. I read my Bible and I pray. Those are certainly positive, good things that we do. And all of that is essential. All of that is something God wants us to do. But is this the activity that really defines what a Christian is? Is that we go to church, we read our Bible, and we pray. I want you to think about what it is that we do when we come together. There’s really two main purposes for our gathering, whether it’s on an occasion like this, or whether it’s on Sunday morning or Sunday night, is that we’re here to worship God, and we sing and we pray and we take communion and we bring our offering and we encourage each other.

And this is what Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25 especially emphasizes we need to encourage one another. Daniel, where’s Daniel? Can you do something for me real quick? I just realized there’s an updated version of this. Would you come here real quick and look for the one that has a two by it? It’s going to be on there. In Hebrews chapter 10, you don’t mind if I talk while you’re right there, do you? Okay. Good. If I’m too loud, let me know. Hebrews 10 and verse 25. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25 says this. And I want to start with verse 24. He says, let us consider one another in order to stir up to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching, it’s going to be probably down on the very bottom.

Because I put a number two by it. If you mess up, it’s everybody’s watching what you’re doing, so it should be there. If it’s not, just go back where I was. So when we think about this idea of what it is to why we assemble together, notice that what’s mentioned in this is that we are, as verse 24 says, we are to provoke one another unto love and good works. That our assembling together is about exhorting each other. It’s about encouraging each other. We’re together to encourage one another to do what? Well, that’s what brings us to the next part when we’re talking about the idea of our life as a Christian, our life for Christ, is that we’re doing what is what it is that God wants us to do.

You know what? Just leave it there. We’re okay.

So these are the things that he prepared for us to walk in. These are the things that he prepared for us to do. There is the love and good works that we do when we talk about the idea that when of what the church is supposed to be in Ephesians chapter 4, in Ephesians chapter 4. This is one of the best verses that describe what the work of the church is, and it says this in verse 11. In verse 11 of Ephesians 4, it says He himself gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. And if you if you follow the grammar on that, he’s not actually saying what he gave to the apostles, what he gave to the evangelists, what he gave to the teachers, the elders.

He’s saying he gave the apostles to the church. He gave the elders to the church. He gave prophets to the church. He gave evangelists to the church. He gave teachers to the church. In other words, it’s God’s design that there be these teachers, that they be, that there be these apostles. And he says in verse 12, it is for the perfecting of the saints, for the perfecting of the saints, or the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. There is this process that’s saying he gave these roles to provide the equipping or the perfecting of the saints to help them then to do the work of ministry to the building up of the body of Christ.

Now the word ministry has particularly the idea of service. That’s what we’re talking about. When we talk about the work of ministry, we’re talking about service. And I know that’s maybe a word that’s been used in a lot of different ways. Somebody says, now are you a minister? Are you a minister of Christ? Well, yes, but so is every other Christian. We’re all ministers, we’re all servants of Christ. That’s what that word means. But he is saying that the work of ministry is what all of us should be built up to do. The building up of the body of Christ. There is a building up that needs to take place. And our services is what should equip us to do our daily good throughout the week.

3. Jesus Went About Doing Good

Let’s look at what Jesus is described as doing. There’s a phrase here that I had kind of missed in a lot of ways, and I just, I guess I’m emphasizing different things, but in Acts the 10th chapter, as Peter is retelling the story of Jesus, he makes this comment about Jesus. And I think it certainly says something about why there were so many that were attracted to him because of who he was, because of his character. Notice this, it says in verse 38, and this is in a long discussion about who Jesus is, but we’ll just pick it up there. He says, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Now look at that phrase.

Now I just want you to think about that as your reputation. What if your reputation is among everybody? You are somebody that goes about doing good. Now I think there’s more to it than maybe what some people might assign that to, because there’s different kinds of good that’s involved. But it certainly should be that God’s people are seen in the steps of Jesus as one that is that are doing good. Look at this in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 44, as Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount is describing this in this, as he’s talking about the way in which we need to treat other people and the way God does. And he talks about two things that we just mentioned about what we’re supposed to be provoked to do love and good works.

And in this verse, he says this. Notice who he says to love. I say to you, love your enemies and bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you. So this isn’t just a limited form in saying, just do good to the people that you like, do good to the people that you’re going to get something back from. In fact, he makes a point of that in the previous verse. But then he also says, pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. It may be impossible for us to be as consistent in that as God is.

4. Physical Good and Spiritual Good

But we certainly should make it our goal. That I’m going to do good to people. But what does that really mean? There’s two kinds. There is physical good, providing things that people need, helping them out when they’re in trouble in various ways, and there is spiritual good. Sometimes the one is done to the neglect of the other. If we were going to say, which of these two is the most important, what would you say? Physical. Spiritual. The spiritual good that we can do for somebody is so much more lasting than whatever physical good that we do. But it doesn’t mean it’s to the neglect of the physical good that we do. We ought to be of a mindset that we want to help people in whatever way we can.

The story of the Good Samaritan that we find in Luke the 10th chapter is certainly a lesson in many things that describe the importance of us being willing to help people, whoever they might be. This is, of course, a story that’s something flipped on its head, because it comes in response to the question when the when the when the point is made about loving your neighbor, the question is asked, Who is my neighbor? And have you ever noticed how Jesus kind of flips that on his head with these people that are asking that question? Because the obvious implication is they wanted to say, Well, if I can limit who my real neighbor is, then that’s the only ones I really need to do good for, and I don’t have to worry about anybody else.

So Jesus tells this story, and you know the story. It’s a story of a man who’s been beaten up. Let’s just read it beginning in verse 25. He says, Behold a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said to him, What is written in the law, and what is your reading of it? So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And he said, You have answered rightly. Do this, and you will live. But he wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answered and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

Now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an end, and took care of him. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? So here you have these individuals, the Samaritan who was despised by the Jews. They were the descendants of the people that had come in to take the place of the northern tribe.

Some of them had intermarried, some of them just picked up the traditions of the Jews. And they didn’t did it poorly. They didn’t follow the law of Moses. They followed more of the traditions that had been passed down. They were worshiping more after the order of the sins of Jeroboam. And so for that, they’d received an extra vilification by the Jews. But now you have he’s this man who’s unidentified as far as his background. We don’t know who he is. He’s just somebody that got beat up and he’s left for dead. And you notice the character of the people that passed by on the other side. You have the priest. And when we think about the priest, he’s somebody that very likely would be on his way because it’s on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.

He’s probably on his way to do his temple service. If he stops and deals with this guy, it could be that he’s a Gentile and he defiles himself in some way. It could be that the man will die and then he’s around a dead body, and now he’s he’s eliminated himself from the service in the temple because of the defilement that might come. It might make him late to get there. There’s no question when we think about the priest, he had a certain, if we can use this term, he had a certain religiosity about him, right? Regardless of who he was. I mean, just his position gave him that. But he passes by on the other side. And that’s that’s a that’s an interesting thing, too.

Didn’t get too close. Maybe one of those. I saw I didn’t see anything. It was wasn’t on my side of the road. The guy’s going the other way. I don’t know why. He’s on the other side of the road, but he just passes the guy up. The Levite comes by and does exactly the same thing. Now the Levite was a little different than the priest. He was the one that was also, though, involved in the sacrifices and providing being assistants to the priest and taking care of much of the cleaning. Again, some of the same criteria. He may have found himself defiled. He might have found himself where he couldn’t do his duties. He certainly might be expected in Jerusalem to carry things. What I’m saying is, there’s all kinds of excuses sometimes for not helping people.

There’s always excuses for not helping people. But the Samaritan, who, if anyone had a reason to ignore the plight of this man, the Samaritan did. He’s not going to be respected in the area. He’s way out of Samaria. He’s in, he’s in a different area here, but he’s but he’s in this place where now he sees this man, and I want you to notice what it says about this Samaritan. You know, the priest and the Levite, they do nothing. The Samaritan does these things. See, first of all, it says he had compassion. He had compassion on the man. He didn’t just look at somebody as just an irritation or somebody that’s going to slow him down, or somebody that’s going to distract him from what he has in his busy life to do.

He has compassion on this person because of the state that he’s in. He treats his wounds. Sometimes we don’t know what to do. A couple of weeks ago, one of the men in our Bible class passed out. And he’s had heart surgery. And he was completely unconscious. Did I tell you about that, Tony? Remember Carl? He passed out. And we were all kind of feeling like we don’t know what to do, you know, but we’re trying to do something. And he eventually started breathing a little bit. And, you know, I wish some of you medical people had been there. We called the 911. He went home. He’s fine, at least somewhat now. But I don’t know what experience the Samaritan had, but he treated his wounds.

He did what he could. He put him on his beast, which means he’s walking now. He brings him to an end. He takes care of him. And then on top of that, it says he gave money to the innkeeper and said, let this take care of him. And if there’s anything else, when I come back, I’ll pay for it. That’s the example that Jesus gives of loving your neighbor. And the end of the story, he says, who showed himself to be neighbor to the one that fell among thieves. Not who is my neighbor, but who’s going to show himself to be a neighbor? To be the one that’s going to step in and do what needs to be done. We find the early Christians doing things like this in Acts chapter 4 and verse 34, as these gatherings of a large group of Christians there in Jerusalem, that more than likely there was an exceptional need for help because of the fact that the people who had come for the Pentecost had an extended stay because of their conversion to Christ.

And so the other Christians, what do they do? They sell the things they had. He says, Nor was there anyone among them who lacked, for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles’ feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need. This had a profound effect on the community of Jerusalem as they saw this care that they showed for one another, that they’re helping to provide, going to the point of selling their possessions. I don’t necessarily believe they were selling the houses that they were living in, because then they would become part of the problem of the people who needed a place. This would probably be people who had what we would call income houses, rental houses, lands that maybe they would have other purposes for.

And so they’re there’s but to sell possessions to help take care of your fellow Christians? That’s phenomenal, isn’t it? That’s a that’s that’s not just a matter of mouthing things and giving lip service to things. That’s a matter of actually stepping out and going out of your way and providing for things that are not necessarily within their comfort zone. Because somebody needs some help. They also shared their spiritual good, and we see this in areas that are actually being emphasizing the other aspect of it. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, where Paul is talking about the support of these men that are going about preaching, he says, if we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? What’s he?

Well, he’s talking about this good that was being done because they were sowing these spiritual things, and then it and then in return there was the provision for them in other ways.

And he says it pleased them indeed, and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles had been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. So here is this reminder that they are now being partakers of these spiritual things. That’s what they were doing, as well as the material things that were provided for these Christians there. Therefore, those who were scattered about, were scattered about, this is the persecution that starts in Acts, the fourth chapter. They went about preaching the word. That’s good that they’re being done.

Paul’s example.

Paul’s example. He used every occasion to win souls, and he said, To the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak. I’ve become all things to all men that I might by all means save some. Galatians chapter 6, verses 1 and 2. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you are a spiritual restore, such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted, bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5.14. This was another verse we used on Sunday. We exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

5. Visit Orphans and Widows in Their Trouble

James chapter 1 and verse 27. And upon a careful examination of this word, you’ll find that it carries with it more than the idea of just stopping by and saying a few words. It has to do with seeing to the needs of. We talk about what it is to visit. This is used of God many times in the Old Testament. He visited his people.

Sometimes it was a disciplinary thing. But there was a way that he visited his people. We are to visit, and particularly it says in James chapter 1 and verse 27. James 1 and verse 27 says, pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Both in regard to this personal holiness, he also says, we need to see to the needs of people that are in need. That might include orphans and widows and the poor. It might include those that are grieving, those that are sick. Look at this passage in Matthew chapter 25, judgment scene. What does Jesus say on the judge, the description of the judgment scene? We can think about how there’s other passages that remind us about the danger of immorality and the failure to repent of things that are against the will of God that tell us that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God from Galatians chapter 5 and 19 or 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9 through 11.

But there’s also things that talk about this matter of the compassion that we’re showing for others. Look at this. Matthew chapter 25. Matthew 25, beginning in verse 32, he says, all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides a sheep from the goats. And let’s jump on down into verse 37. He says, then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, Assuely I say unto you, in as much as you did it to one of these least, my brethren, you did it to me.

And he turns it around and provides the exact opposite. When you fail to do that, there’s a need for us to see the people that are suffering and grieving. You know, people that are imprisoned. Obviously, a lot of the people in that day were in prison because of their faith in God. And that certainly provided a specific circumstance. But isn’t any less value to visit somebody who, because of fault of their own, had found themselves behind bars. Several years ago I was preaching in Bulverde, Texas. And we were able to make contact with this guy in the Comal County jail, and I went and had some studies with him. And he decided he wanted to be baptized. And skipping a few of the details, I figured out that I was going to have to get a baptistry to him.

Because they didn’t have a baptistry in this jail. They have what’s called a sally port where the door opens on one side, you drive in, you close it, and then they can bring them out, and then they open the other side. It’s a security thing. So I called the chaplain of the jail, and he said, yeah, you can do that, but you know, you gotta you know be here at such and such a time. I said, okay. I said, can I can I use your water hose when I get there and fill a tank? He said, No, you’ve got to bring your own water. So I, in the back of my pickup, I go get one of these six-foot-long horse straws. And I checked it out, and I’m 6’3, and I could get it.

And this guy was about five’s three, maybe. So I think I thought, okay, that’s no problem. So then I put fill it with water, and I figure out a way to keep it from sloshing, and I strap it down with some bungee cords and rope and everything else, and I take it down there and I take the top off, and there’s still water in it. We pull it in there, and the guy comes out, and some of the guards come out with him, and we have a little description of what’s what this is about. And we put him in the water, and you never seen somebody so happy. That’s when he came out of that water. And it’s this little guy that I’d only talked to through the glass, you know, before I left, he’s giving me a big hug.

You know.

You just, you know, people sometimes in desperate circumstances are the ones who are who are receptive. They know they’ve messed up. They know their life is not what it needs to be. Sometimes we can seal that when we face other things. People that are discouraged. You know, those are people that we need to visit. We need to see to the needs of those who are grieving because they lost a loved one, because they’re sick. They may be at the point of death. People that are discouraged, people that are in sin. As we read well ago in Galatians 6 and verse 1, that we need to bear, those that are strong need to bear the infirmities of the weak. As we have opportunity, we need to help strangers.

6. Words That Encourage and Teach the Gospel

We need to help those that are downcast. We need to help those that are in darkness. And we need to plant seed wherever we can. We should use the words that come out of our mouth as things that are going to encourage rather than discourage. If you look over in the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, there’s a phrase here that I missed for a long time. Just a little, the little and maybe it’s lost in the English a little bit. But in verse 29 of Ephesians chapter 4, there’s a phrase that we find that describes what should be coming out of our mouth. And I think sometimes we limit that in this way. We say, okay, corrupt speech, corrupt words. That means certain lists of words here.

Profanity. Those are the things that’s talking about. Those are included because they have that effect. But I can be, I can speak corrupt words without saying one cuss word.

I can say things that are going to corrupt. And here’s the thing that I missed. Look at the verse. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is necessary for edification that it may impart grace to the hearers. There’s two opposite words here. Edification means to build up. Corrupt means to tear down. I can tear down people’s faith. I can tear down people’s motivations. I can tear down things that should be getting people in the right direction. Or I can build them up by encouraging them. So again, I may not use a single cuss word, and I can still be corrupt in my speech. Or I can build up by what I say that’s going to encourage them to follow our Savior. We can use our words to teach the teach the gospel.

What could be better than that? 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15. And I kind of like the way the American Standard Version, the old American Standard Version words this. Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord. And New King James says it this way. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. But the point is to sanctify. How do you sanctify God? How do you sanctify Christ? We think about sanctification as being for us that it’s setting us apart from the world and from sin. But he’s saying we need to set apart God in our hearts as our Lord, as our master. He is the master. Now, because of that, then he says, because God is our real master, he is the one that holds number one place in our hearts.

Then he says, always and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear. Being ready to give an answer.

But if they ask me, I’ll tell them. It has more the idea of anticipation. I want to tell people about Jesus. I want to tell people about the gospel. I want to tell people about the hope of heaven. I want to help people tell. I want to tell people about my Lord. That’s what I want to do. Always ready. One thing I haven’t mentioned this week. I mentioned about some other people, but that lady right there that I live my life with. She talks to everybody. She’s not afraid to tell anybody about Jesus. She’s better at it than I am. People that know her for very long, they’re going to learn something about God.

She uses those opportunities, and I’m thankful for her. And I’m thankful that she does that. We can use our mouths to teach the gospel. What better good can there be? What does the word gospel mean? Good news. That’s great, good thing we can do. And he talks about being gracious and thankful in Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6. Colossians chapter 4. We’re going to back up one verse there. Colossians, that was on my new slide, by the way. I’ll just throw it out, throw that out there. I don’t know what happened to that. It was wider, too, by the way. And it had a little bit of color in it, Tony. Tony’s been on me all week about. Come on, put some color in there. I was going to have like a big colorful rainbow at the start of the I didn’t do that, but I thought about it.

Just say, okay, there’s your color, right? There’s your color, Tony. Colossians chapter 4, verse 5 says, walk in wisdom toward those who are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. You know, here’s, and we think about our conduct outside that we need to be thinking about. How am I going to say this? You know, one thing that I think is of great value is listen to Tony while he’s preaching. Listen to some of these other guys when they preach. Listen to Jesse when he’s preaching. Listen to some of the elders when they’re speaking. And the way that people learn to say things that are going to help to be as clear as it can be.

Because we know sometimes people can misunderstand what we’re saying. And we should be looking at ways. How can I say that better that I’m not going to be misunderstood? But don’t do this. Don’t say, well, until I get it all perfect, I’m not going to talk to anybody. Sometimes the best way we can learn is just to get out there and talk. Just to just to tell people what we understand. And sometimes there are people can be, most of the time, people will see through our real intentions. But we should be trying to let our vote let our speech be seasoned with salt that we’re we’re trying to do the best we can to help people see what we realize about how valuable the gospel of Christ is.

Conclusion

It’s the most important thing anybody can learn. No matter how much we do for them in any physical way, it’s not going to do what them learning about the gospel of Christ will. This is a. Now you’re going to learn why I’m not a poet, okay? It’s a poem I wrote. The preachers, this is called the nosy preacher, as you can see. The preacher stopped by the other day to ask what I had done. I stood in protest and replied, no trespass, not a one. He raised his hand to stop me before my defense was through. I did not ask what you’ve not done, but what it is you do. What do we do as a Christian? Well, really, we can answer it in four simple words.

1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 2 says, talks about the change that should take place in a person’s life when they become a Christian. That you no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God.

What about what should I be doing? What is it that I need to do? Just ask, what does God want me to do? You have an opportunity to take a conversation and shut it off or open it up to maybe have an opportunity to teach somebody about Christ what’s the right thing to do. Maybe there’s something that comes up and you think, should I say something or not? And if you’re like me, there’s times that you think later, oh, why didn’t I say something? But if we stop and ask, what does God want me to do? Does God want me to use this opportunity to turn it to something about Him? The will of God is described as what we need to be doing. Remember Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7 and verse 21?

Not everyone that says to me, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father. That’s what we should be about. What does God want me to do? And what is God’s will for you? That’s just a good question to think about in general, isn’t it? What is God’s will for you? What does he want for you? 2 Peter 3 9 says this. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, some count slackness, but his long suffering toward us not willing. This is not his will that any should perish. But then all should come to repentance.

If you’re here this evening, and you’re not right with God, realize he wants you to be right with him. He wants you to come to him. He wants you to set aside whatever it is that’s standing between you and him. And coming and meet the conditions by which you can receive the blessings of forgiveness that are in Christ. The people, before Peter makes this statement in Acts chapter 2 and verse 38. There’s a cry by these people because they realize they’ve just been guilty of assenting to the death of the Son of God. Some of the same people had been there in the days before shouting, crucify him, crucify him. Or at least not doing anything about it. Maybe they were just the ones that were standing around going, I don’t think that’s right what they’re doing to him.

And doing nothing. Now, of course, it was God’s plan that he’d die. Because that’s not only for them. It’s not only something that happened then, it’s for you and I. And in fact, it’s what is our. It’s for us that he died. It’s for us that he had to go through that. So they then we should have the same reaction to them. The verse 37. Men and brethren, what shall we do? What can we do? We’ve just crucified the Son of God. Peter says, repent. That is, change your mind about whatever it is that’s against four words, the will of God. Whatever that is. Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. A simple process that demonstrates whether or not we’re just going to trust what God says, that we’re immersed in water for the remission of sins and raised to walk a new life.

You see, that first century, they were coming up out of that water, utterly relieved. I’m no longer going to be held responsible for my own sin. Because God is forgiving me.

Let us do good. Especially to those of the household of faith. That’s what we should be doing. It’s doing the good that God wants us to do. Physically, spiritually, socially. Let’s just decide good based on what God says is good, not what man does. Thank you for your good attention. Tonight and the whole week. If you’re here and need to respond to the Lord’s invitation, we invite you to come forward as we stand and as we sing.