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Dear Lord, thank you for this day and bringing us here together to hear your word of the priest. Lord, just please fill Brother Dylan with your Holy Spirit and we pray that we take something from the sermon, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, well it's great to be here again. Thank you guys so much for having me. Thank you, Pastor, for this opportunity to preach. Always great to be here. I enjoy your guys' hospitality. This is like my Jerusalem, you know. Sure Foundation Baptist Church is my Antioch and this is my Jerusalem. So, you know, I was taking Remy and Kylie on kind of a tour through Boise and the other night I took them up to Table Rock. And I remember when I used to go there, when I used to live here, it was really depressing because on one hand you have this beautiful place and you have the cross overlooking this town. You know, this town has like a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. And at that time there's really no soul winning church whatsoever here. And so I look at that and it would kind of break my heart to think that, okay, it's me and the Aker family. That's it. That's all that's here right now, you know, at least at the church we were going to at that time. You know, so it was a relief to be like, okay, we got the soul winning marathon this year and they have a church to go to once we get them saved. So that is awesome. So I thank you guys for that. So let's look down there at Acts chapter 20, verse 24, the Bible reads, But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And the title of my sermon is what does it take to move you? What does it take to move you? Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for this day. And thank you for this church. Lord, I pray that you fill me up with the Holy Ghost as I preach. Help me to edify your people. And I just pray that this sermon would be applicable to their lives tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, so just to give you a little bit of a context of what's going on in this chapter, let's start reading in verse 17. Verse 17, and I get dry mouth here too pastor, it's the thin air and high altitude. Verse 17, and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. So this is at the point of Paul's ministry, he has, he's lived about two-thirds of his life so far. He's got like one last stint to go in Rome, but at this point he's almost done with his ministry, and he's calling the elders at Ephesus, the pastors of Ephesus, and he says unto them, verse 18, and when they were come to him he said unto them, ye know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mine and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in weight of the Jews. He's telling them, you know from the very beginning that it's been a hard ministry. I've been through a lot, I've had a lot of things that I've had to go through, a lot of temptations, tears, bad things. Verse 20, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly from house and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, even though it's been hard, I haven't kept anything back from you. I've got my hands clean. You know, I'm proud of this ministry. You know, he knows that he's done well. Verse 22, and now behold I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. He goes, hey what I'm about to experience, I don't even know what I'm going to go through other than that it's going to be hard. Other than that I'm going to have afflictions and bonds. And what's his attitude about that? Is he saying, man I'm really depressed about this. You know, I'm thinking about quitting because all I know is just afflictions await me. No, what does he say? Verse 24, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I've received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Paul had a great attitude. Paul went through so much, yet he didn't want to quit, or at least he didn't quit. I'm sure he did want to quit at times. He says none of these things moved me. And I thought about preaching this sermon about, you know, not being moved and talking about Christ since it was, you know, Easter. But then you'd have the excuse makers and say, oh well that was God in the flesh. So I'll decide to go with the man here, you know, that wasn't God at all. He's just man and all the things he went through. You know, and today we live in a day and age of making excuses for everything, right? When you guys had that crazy woman on Facebook blow up all your guys's Facebook pages, you want to know what her excuse was, why she was so mad you guys knocked on her door? Because she had debilitating menstrual pain. Oh wow, that's her excuse. You know, there used to be just some things you keep to yourself. There's just some things that you don't make public. Sorry we weren't keeping updated on your daily menstrual status updates. You know, what's wrong with people? That's her great excuse, right? And this is all over the world. People have excuses in the workplace of why they don't get done the things that they're told to get done, right? They don't just own up and say, you know what, I'm sorry I need to get better. It's like, oh well I have this obstacle and I have this obstacle and this obstacle. People make excuses when they sin, right? Oh you don't understand pastor, I just had to divorce my spouse because I just can't live with this person. Here's my excuses of why my husband's so bad, why my wife is so bad. Just pouring out their excuses to you, right? When people aren't responsible they do the same thing, right? That's the world. That makes sense. But now this type of mentality is creeping into Christian circles and even into the new IFB. People that just want to make excuses for why they're so weak and why they want to quit and why they don't do the things God tells us to do. You know, people don't just say, hey I'm not going soul winning because I'm backslidden, right? Don't you just wish you could just read people's mind and just see the truth in what people say, right? But it's, hey I can't go soul winning because my left earlobe hurts and because my cat's new here, right? You've heard that one. My cat's new here. I've got milk in the fridge, right? One excuse is just as good as another, right? But Paul, he didn't say any of those things, right? People tell you, oh I just can't obey the Bible in this instance because of these specific circumstances in my life. Here's all my excuses, right? Hey I just can't read the Bible that much. I can't really retain, you know, man I really wish I knew as much Bible as you brother. I just can't retain the Bible. No, your problem is you've read the Bible once. That's your problem. Maybe you need to read it many, many, many times and then you can stop using that my retention excuse, right? Oh I just, I can't memorize scripture. I just, my brain just can't do it. No, you just can't work at it. That's what it is. You just want to make excuses for everything. That's what it is. So, you know, the truth is most excuses that you and I make are completely fake and completely lame and everybody knows it but you, you know? When you give your excuses, just know that everybody knows that it's lame and fake except you. You're only deceiving yourself. So you say, no, you don't understand. My excuses really are legit. Okay, let's go with that. Let's say your excuses are 100% legit. Well, you know what? If there's ever been a man on this earth that had legitimate excuses to quit and to be moved and to not be steadfast, it was Paul the apostle, right? Yet he said it towards the end of his life, but none of these things move me. Why is that? Is it because he was Christ? Is it because he was God? No, it was because he took heed to the things we're going to talk about. So let's see, we're in Acts 20. Go ahead and go to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Look there, verse 57. 1 Corinthians 15, 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You know that verse there. Verse 58 is one of the hardest preaching verses in the whole Bible, if you actually get what it's saying. Let's go through what it's saying here. He's saying, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. Steadfast means, you know, I believe what I believe. I'm not changing from it. Unmovable. I'm not going to be moved from the works for God that I'm doing. I'm not going to be moved from the stances that I take out of the Word of God. Unmovable. Well, when should we be steadfast and unmovable? Look at what it says there. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Well, what if this horrible thing happens in my life? What if I lost my family? You know, what if I lost my job? What if I go through all the things that Paul went through? Always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. There is no way of getting out of this fight once you get saved. The only way you get out of your service for God is by dying and going to heaven. There's no excuse you're going to be able to present to God where he says, okay, you know what? It's fine. You actually can quit. You don't have to serve me anymore. It's fine. No, we have to be unmovable and steadfast always. No matter what your circumstances are. And that actually, that's a super hard saying right there because I could think in my head of a lot of really tough situations that people could go through. And I'm not minimizing those situations at all. I'm just showing you what God expects of us. And the verse before that says, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the truth is yesterday we had a big victory, didn't we? We had 2,258 soul winners in this world that went out preaching the gospel and won 2,441 people to Christ in one day. Is that not a victory? That's a great victory. But you know what? It's real easy to go soul winning on the soul winning mega marathon, isn't it? It's real easy to get a crowd in this building if Pastor Anderson wanted to come preach tonight, right? It's real easy for people to show up to church on Easter for crying out loud, right? It's real easy to do all these things. But you know what's not easy? For you to show up soul winning next week, and the week after that, and the week after that, and the week after that, and being steadfast and unmovable until the day that you die. And showing up for church every single day, every single time the doors are open, and being steadfast until the day that you die no matter what your excuses and circumstances are. You know, yesterday's victory is over. And unless you as a Christian in this church learns to be steadfast and unmovable will fail. That we have to be steadfast as Christians. So for the first half of this sermon tonight, I want to just show you some of the sufferings that Paul went through. And I want you not just to read the words on the page, but try to picture yourself going through what he's going through. Not just skimming over, oh yeah, Paul got stoned. You know, put yourself in Paul's shoes and really pay attention to what the things he went through. I want to just show you some of the things that he went through. And at the end of his life, he said, but none of these things moved me. And then the second half, I want to show you some biblical principles onto how to remain unmovable. So number one, please go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, and keep your finger there. You're gonna want to keep your place there throughout the sermon. To give you a little context of what's going on in 2 Corinthians 11, basically Paul is dealing with all these pride filled rebels at the church of Corinth that are just questioning his authority, questioning him as an apostle saying, oh, Paul's so mighty with his words. But when he comes here, his stature is weak. And you know, he's not actually gonna, you know, enforce the things that he's talking about. And so Paul says, okay, you're acting like a fool. I'm going to speak like a fool now. And I'm just going to tell you all the things that I've been through and see who the real apostle is. Okay. So then he's going to go through all these things with us. And you got to remember, even though Paul is bragging about himself here, he's under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. So all these things that he's saying about himself, he's not, you know, ballooning them up to make them sound better than it actually is. These are real things. Everything he says here is true. So let's look at verse 23. Verse 23, in chapter 11, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths off. So the first question I have for you tonight is, would labor move you? He said, but none of these things moved me. He's listing the type of things he went through. And one of the things he says, in labors more abundant. You know, one of the things that move people so easily in this world and even in this movement is just simple work, right? They want to show up to church and they don't want to talk about, oh, I need to be getting fed. And it's all about me. It's all about what I can get out of church, but it's like, okay, hey, it's soul winning time. Oh, no, I can't do it. You're being moved just by the thought of a little bit of labor. That's pretty weak. And this is the, and we're starting off with this one for a reason, cause this is the least of what the apostle Paul went through. Yet we're moved by such little things as labor, right? And he says, I labored more than them all. So Paul was no slugger. I'll read for you Proverbs 20 verse four. The Bible says the slugger will not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore shall he beg and harvest and have nothing. So this slugger, this lazy person, isn't going to go plow. Why? Because it's cold outside because he wants to make an excuse, right? And when people don't want to go soul winning, what do they do? They give you a bunch of excuses. Oh, my, my right ear lobe hurts. My dog died, right? Oh, I've got menstrual pain. I can't listen to the gospel, right? Here's all my excuses of why I can't work. It says that they're going to beg and harvest and have nothing. Right. And you know what? You listen to people give their excuses and they're looking for you to just have pity on them, right? They just want to be excused by your eyes, by the pastor's eyes. But guess what? You're never going to be excused by God's eyes because he said, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So God doesn't accept your excuses. Even if you try to get man to accept your excuses, it doesn't mean anything. I'll read for you 1 Corinthians 15, 10. Paul says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am and his grace, which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was in me. You know, if you didn't know, Christianity is in a bad state today. This country is in a really bad state today. And we don't need a bunch of excuse makers, a bunch of people who are saved, who have the Holy Spirit inside of them, who have the ability to go and get other people saved making excuses. We need you guys out there actually doing the work and winning people to Christ. You know, thank God for the 36 people yesterday that went soul winning and won five people to the Lord. Those five people, if we didn't go out there and do it would be burning in hell for forever if we didn't get them saved. That's what we need. We need people to stop making excuses and to just do the work like the apostle Paul. Let's go to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. Matthew 21, look there verse 28. And we'll see that God requires us to labor. Verse 28, But what think ye? A certain man had two sons. Jesus is giving a parable here. And these two sons could be a type of two types of Christians. And he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. And if you're saved today, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying to you, Son, daughter, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. But afterwards, he repented and went. And you know, sometimes I hear people like this where they're like, man, I told myself not to go soul winning today because I have this huge list of things to do. And they show up to my soul winning time. And they're like, I got in the car on the way to the place where I needed to run my errands. I was just like, you know what, no, I'm going to go soul winning. So what did that person do? They said, I will not. But they repented and went. That's someone who has a mind to work, someone who wants to do the labor for God. But the other person, verse 30, and he came to the second and said, likewise, and he said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of the twain did the will of his father, they say unto him, the first, Jesus saith unto him, verily I say unto you that the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. You know, we know a lot of people like that second son that say, man, I'm going to go to church every time the doors are open, and I'm going to win this many people the Lord, I'm going to show up for this soul winning thing. And I'm going to memorize this amount of scripture. I'm going to read this amount of Bible this year, but they repent and don't do it. And what do they substitute that with? Here's my excuses. Here's all the reasons why I can't do it. Here's all the reasons why I'm moved, why I'm not steadfast, why I'm weak, you know, and God doesn't accept any of that. So would labor move you? Go back to second Corinthians 11. Would labor move you? Let's reread verse number 23. Are they the ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Would labor move you? Would prison move you? One of the things that Paul went through where at the end of his life, he said, none of these things move me was prison. And notice how it says there in the text, it says prison more frequent. So at this point in Paul's ministry, the Bible had only recorded one time of him actually being thrown in prison. Yet he says they're prison more frequent. It means Paul probably went to prison more times than we maybe even knew about, right? And he's saying prisons more frequent, yet none of those things moved him. Go to Luke chapter 21. You guys know it's possible someday. And for some generation of Christians, it's going to happen where you could be imprisoned for doing the work of God. Will you be moved by that? Will you be steadfast? Look at Luke 21 verse 12. Jesus speaking, he said, but before all these, they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. You know, the apostle Paul was literally beaten, captured and imprisoned. And at the end of his life, he said, none of those things move me, but yet what are the little itty bitty things in our lives that move us, that we complain about, that we drag our feet about? The apostle Paul could go to prison. And when he went there, he didn't have a bad attitude. We're going to read the story here, go to Acts chapter 16. But what types of things? Ask yourself, if I was the apostle Paul, put yourself in this story, would this move me? If I was put in prison, you know, if I were put in prison, that would mean a lot of bad things. That would mean that I'd be separated from my wife and my child, that I'm providing for. You know, would that move me? Would I quit doing the work of God if prison was a real threat that I had to face? These are things we need to ask ourselves. Acts chapter 16, let me get there myself. Acts chapter number 16, and look there at verse number 19. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers. Basically, there was like this fortune teller, demon-possessed woman that Paul cast a demon out of and her masters are mad at him, obviously, because that's how he was making his living. And so it says there that they captured him, verse 20, and brought them to the magistrates saying, these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. So imagine you're out soul winning, and these people just capture you, bring you before some government scumbags and start making all these lying accusations against you, right? We're there in verse 22, and multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. And so at this point, he's just been beaten, he's been captured, he's been lied about. And so he quits, right? He says, Oh, God, this is my excuse. Can I please quit now? Therefore, my beloved brethren be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding the work of the Lord for as much as your labor is not in vain in the Lord. That's what God says. And look what he does. He doesn't have that weak excuse making attitude, verse 25. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. And the result of them having this good attitude was this miracle here. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were open, and everyone's bands were loose, and the keeper of the prison awakening out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out a sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. I wonder what would happen if Paul and Silas would have gotten the soy sucking mentality that America has today, where you just want to quit at any obstacle. You know what would have happened? This great soul winning verse that we use every single week of our lives wouldn't be in the Bible. That's what would have happened. And I wonder what kind of things you can do for God in your life. If you just weather the storm, stay strong and don't give up and just be unmovable. When you have these trials and tribulations, and you know what, you have labor, and you have imprisonments, right? All these things that may come, don't let it move you, because God's able to do great things when you actually stay strong and stay unmovable. Go back to 2 Corinthians, chapter 11. So would labor move you? Would prison move you? Verse 23. Are they the ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more, and labor is more abundant, in stripes above measure. So another question I have for you is, would receiving a beating move you? Let's keep reading there. In prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes saved one. Thrice I was beaten with rods. So remember I said don't just skip over this. Imagine yourself, imagine yourself actually receiving a beating, right? And this isn't just in a boxing ring where you have rules and pads. That's bad enough. I mean that's got to hurt bad enough. But imagine just being on the ground. You know, picture like the Rodney King video. You guys have seen that, right? And just imagine just getting beaten to a pulp with rods, with all the cruel instruments of torture that these people, you know, had. Imagine just getting tortured and getting beat and getting up and saying but none of these things move me. Paul's a lot stronger than we are. A lot stronger than our culture is. He endured all these beatings. Look there in verse 23 he says in stripes above measure. And what I think that's talking about, if you want to flip over to Deuteronomy chapter 25. Deuteronomy chapter 25. I'll tell you real quick what I think this is talking about. Deuteronomy chapter 25. Look there in verse 2. It says and it shall be if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face according to his fault by a certain number. 40 stripes he may give him and not exceed lest if he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. And what he's saying here when Paul said I received stripes above measure. I think what he's saying is there was times when I was beaten where I was beaten more than just 40 lashings. So who knows what that could have been. That could have been 50. That could have been 80. That could have been 100. Could have been 200. Right? I mean he was turning the world upside down for the gospel of Christ. I'm sure he got some serious beatings. So imagine how horrible it would be to get striped and lashed 40 times. Right? Okay now imagine getting beaten above measure. Just making you vile in their sight. Just making you just look like a ragged piece of torn flesh. You know like they did to Christ. He said there in verse 24 of 2 Corinthians 11. I told you keep your place there. Flip back over there. Verse 24 of the Jews five times received thy 40 stripes saved one. So he's saying okay five of those times that I got beaten the Jews actually did it right. They just beat me 40 times saved one. So who knows how many times he was beaten above measure. But I know five times they at least did it right. Sounds like he got beat a lot in his life. Right? Anyone ever gotten beaten up out soul winning? No I didn't think so. Right? But what things are we moved for? What things do we quit for? Right? Is it because you got beaten above measure? I don't think so. Verse 25 thrice I was beaten with rods. So just yeah like I was talking about with the police. Imagine the giant police apps. You know those things where they flick it out and it's a giant rod. Just three times you're just getting slammed slammed slammed with rods and then you get up and you say none of it moved me. Wow Paul's a strong guy isn't he? Right? So when we read the the stories of the apostle Paul and people give those you know sorry pathetic excuses. You know it should make you pity yourself. It should make you feel embarrassed to give people your lame excuses. If you're just going to be backslidden why don't you just say it? You know you're not gonna get kicked out of church for being backslidden right? Every person gets backslidden. You need to admit it to yourself right? Don't just give your excuses out. Go to Acts chapter 16 again. So he's talking about all these times that he's been beaten yet only one of them was actually recorded at this point in his ministry when he had said none of these things moved me. Acts 16 22 and the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates rent off their clothes so imagine your soul winning you get brought before these wicked leaders and strip you naked right and commanded to beat them and when they had laid many stripes upon them they cast him into prison. So you get taken before the Ada county sheriff's office and the sheriff rips your clothes off beats the snot out of you and throws you in prison. That's pretty demoralizing isn't it? That'd make me want to quit right? That'd make us all want to quit but none of those things moved Paul. You know you think to yourself surely Lord these labors these beatings these imprisonments surely I have an excuse now surely I can stop right now right? No. Therefore my beloved brethren first Corinthians 15 58 I'll read it for you. Therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable except when things go bad always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Go back to second Corinthians 11 and I'm just going through these one by one because sometimes we read these things in the Bible and we don't actually stop to think about what it would actually be like to go through something like this right? It's an incredible amount of suffering the apostle Paul went through let's look there verse 25. So would labor move you? Would prison move you? Would receiving a beating move you? How about being stoned? Would being stoned move you? Look at verse 25 thrice I was beaten with rods once I was stoned thrice I suffered shipwreck a night and a day I've been in the deep. Go to Acts chapter 14 and we'll find the story of when the apostle Paul was actually stoned. What's being stoned? Stone is when you you're standing and there's people around you that are picking up rocks and throwing it at your head and throwing it at your body as hard as they can to kill you. That's what being stoned is okay? Once the apostle Paul was literally stoned but didn't move him. Acts 14 verse 19 and there came thither certain Jews oh boy what a shock right that's what Jesus said. Jesus said you know they're going to bring you before the synagogues it's the same actors that is that it was during the first church is going to be the same way in the tribulation they're going to bring us before the synagogues and there came there thither certain Jews certain Sam Gipsteins from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people and having stoned Paul drew him out of the city supposing he had been dead. This guy had been stoned so bad that these Jews that hated him looked on him and said oh all right he's dead let's leave him we did the job he's done. Verse 20 howbeit as the disciples stood round about him he rose up and came into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. Did you did you catch that right there? The next day he rose up and departed the next day after getting stoned you know verse 21 and when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many they returned again so what did he do the next day he departed and he went soul winning the day after he just got stoned you know people are like man you know my leg hurts I can't go soul winning more than five minutes today I've got shoulder pain I've got arthritis you know I've got the sniffles you know my earlobe hurts whatever it is right you got all your excuses okay well try getting stoned left for dead you're beaten so bad I mean the apostle Paul probably had skull fractures he probably had broken bones you know he was just a mangled disgusting probably looking human being and he gets up the next day and goes and preaches the gospel that's how that's how much zeal the apostle Paul had that's why God was able to use him more than anyone ever to win people to Christ because he had that level of commitment he wasn't making stupid excuses like you and I make all the time right he was unmovable he was steadfast and then look at the end of the verse verse there 21 they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch so he went back to the place he got stoned I don't know about you but if I was soul winning you know down in the Boise bench and I got stoned I wouldn't be going back there right but you know what he has such zeal for souls he got stoned he's just like all right let's go right back to where I got stoned right that's amazing that's amazing verse 22 confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to quit when things get hard you know to have excuses no it says to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God you know praise God there was a man you know that actually went through all these things so that he can exhort us and say continue right because we if we were able to talk to the apostle Paul right now and we just laid out all of our excuses all of our problems to him he would be able to truly exhort us and say continue why because he'd say because I went through this I had the labor I had the imprisonments I had the beatings I got stoned continue you know we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God go to go back to second Corinthians 11 would labor move you would prison move you would getting beat up move you would stoning move you look at verse 26 of second Corinthians 11 would perils move you verse 26 in journeyings often in perils of water in perils of robbers in perils by my own countrymen in perils by the heathen in perils in the city and perils in the wilderness and perils in the sea in perils among false brethren and weariness and painfulness and watchings often in hunger and in thirst and fastings often in cold and nakedness we're going to go through these what is peril peril is just extreme danger right he says there in journeyings often in perils of waters so he talks about how he was shipwrecked twice and there was one whole day and one whole night where he was in the deep he was in the ocean could you imagine just being like on a piece of wood and just chilling out in the ocean for a whole day and a whole night you know I don't like the ocean that much I like to see it but I sure as heck don't want to be in it and I definitely don't want to be in it for a whole day and a whole night after I just got shipwrecked twice right Paul went through that in perils of robbers okay so he's going on his mission missionary journeys he's getting everything stolen from him so imagine you're just constantly getting stripped of all your things when you go out soul winning you know it might demoralize you a little bit it might be like man I'm tired of going soul winning because every single time I get everything stolen from me in perils by my own countrymen right people are betraying him people are turning him into the authorities so that he can get taken before the magistrate so that he can get his clothes ripped off so that he can receive his beatings he's fighting through all this in perils by the heathen right in perils by the god-hating reprobates that just want to kill him want to stop his his work that he's doing for god he's fighting through the danger from these heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness you know he's probably dealing with wild animals and harsh weather and all these things that he's going through you know Paul was a real man wasn't he in perils in the sea we already talked about that in perils among false brethren you know false brethren could be a very dangerous thing could be a very perilous thing you know I remember when we kicked out you know that unsaved devil in our church Sebastian Sandoval you know there was a good like four months before he got kicked out where I was convinced in my heart this guy's a false prophet and it's a perilous thing in your heart when you know maybe the pastor doesn't have enough evidence yet to kick him out biblically of a church so we just kind of have to wait and it's perilous because okay he's talking to that person is he beguiling him right now is he taking him away and is he teaching him false doctrine and is he beguiling unstable souls is he hurting this church is he causing discord among brethren right what a perilous thing and and I know what that feels like and Paul knows what that feels like he's saying man I was in perils by these false brethren that are here betraying me I'm out here trying to get people saved I'm out here trying to win the world of Christ and I have all these people just ruining it all these people going soul-winning and doing these stupid things like Sebastian I'm trying to preach someone the gospel and he walks up to people at the door bows to them and says my feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace I'm here to preach the gospel to you when you guys were unsaved would anyone have listened to someone that walked up to your door and said something that's stupid no way you'd say you're a freak get the hell out of here that's what I would say you weirdo right and then he starts talking to people and he he sticks his foot in their door right make them feel uncomfortable and you know obviously when you're soul-winning the silent partner is supposed to say stop say stay silent right so if I'm preaching the gospel I'm trying I'm a person that's actually saved I have the Holy Spirit inside of me I can get someone saved and I have this devil Sebastian interrupting me preaching the gospel saying stupid stuff to try to turn this person off right or when they're talking they're just spewing out foolishness and doing a horrible job out soul-winning right or when the talker ends the conversation because a man that is in heretic after the first and second admonition reject knowing that he that is such as subverted and sinneth and is condemned of himself right when I know someone's a heretic and I'm going to end the conversation this is going nowhere I'm not winning this person to Christ and I say have a good day God bless you and then what does Sebastian do he says no no no wait wait let's just keep talking this person let's just keep wasting our soul-winning time on this Mormon that's a reprobate you know what these false prophets creep into our movement and they don't just not go soul-winning you know otherwise they wouldn't be one of us they wouldn't be able to hide they go soul-winning and they do a purposely horrible job so let me tell you something right now if you guys have someone that never listens to instruction from Pastor Jones when he's saying this is how we go soul-winning we do this in this order we do this in this order we ask them this question we don't ask them this question if someone just keeps going month after month after month after month and they refuse to change take it to the bank that person's a false prophet take it to the bank that's a huge red flag that someone's out there just trying to ruin your guys's ministry and ruin your soul-winning efforts Paul went through that Paul evangelized his whole world fighting people that were just ruining what he was doing man that makes me mad makes me so mad when we're out trying to get people saved from hell and people try to stop us from doing that I hate that so much Paul went through it where are we at here in weariness and painfulness you know the Apostle Paul probably looked pretty rough probably had a really rough body his legs probably hurt his hips probably hurt his feet probably hurt his ankles probably hurt his shoulders probably hurt his head probably hurt he had all the pain in the world in weariness and painfulness and he went through it right you know I've been in a cast the last month and three days ago I've been starting to be able to walk without it but when I was in a cast I didn't stop going soul-winning because I realized that the Apostle Paul had been beaten and stoned and stripped naked and beaten and he went soul-winning right so am I you know that week where I have a rolled ankle and can't go soul-winning but how many times do you hear people give excuses they can't go soul-winning because of physical pain right that's weak stop giving excuses for that stuff keep going soul-winning in watchings often he says one of the perils I had to deal with is just watching you know he's constantly trying to get killed he's probably staying up every night of his life are they coming for me are they coming for me probably doesn't get any sleep how about another excuse you always hear oh I can't go soul-winning I'm too tired right I'm sure the Apostle Paul was pretty tired too right in hunger and thirst you know we went to a nice diner today a 1950s diner and ate some burgers and french fries Paul didn't get to do that he went and won the world to Christ hungry and thirsty he said in fastings often you know fasting and praying and pouring out his heart to God to try to get God's favor in his life to try to get God to strengthen him because of all these things he was dealing with not giving excuses of why to quit he just decided you know what I'm just going to fast off and because God will help me through all this right in cold and in nakedness how about cold being an excuse people give right when I went to church at church of iBaptist church and I asked the pastor to start a soul-winning program he said it's too cold in the winter it's too hot in the summer right so they go and they hang doors every once in a while and they have a street preaching ministry that they do every once in a while you know are you gonna are you gonna be too cold in Boise Idaho in December to go out and get people out of hell are you guys is that gonna be your excuse because if you want it to be your excuse it'll be there I've lived here before where it's negative 12 degrees I had a job where I worked outside here for 12 hours a day in negative 12 degrees I know what it's like to be cold you guys know what it's like to be cold is that gonna stop you from soul-winning is that gonna stop you from preaching the gospel didn't stop Paul Paul lived in constant danger of his life at all times he didn't have rest he didn't get a cool down he was just constantly in perils he said imagine every single time you went soul-winning you had to deal with all of these things I'll tell you what there wouldn't be as many people in this church as there are right now right because human nature just tells me that but I hope that we've learned to be steadfast you know we don't have that excuse I'll read it for you again I want this ingrained in your guys's mind therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord you know Paul suffered a ton you know we give our fake excuses but Paul had legitimate excuses how was he able how was he able at the end of his life to say but none of these things moved me and I didn't even read for you guys all the things by the way that he listed I don't have time there's too much there's too many things that he suffered through for me to just sit here and tell you about all of them but he says none of those things moved him how was he able to do it go back to Acts chapter 20 or text verse Acts chapter 20 Acts chapter 20 how can we be unmovable like Paul but none of these things move me catch this neither count I my life dear unto myself number one we must not highly esteem our earthly lives you want to know why Paul was able to say none of these things move me because he basically said I don't care about my own life right because he realizes that this life is a vapor our earthly bodies you know what we are here for a very short time the only thing that's going to matter is what we do here on this earth for Christ so he says I didn't count my dear little precious life dear unto me he realized that there's something bigger that he had to accomplish other than his own life but people are just obsessed today with their own life how much happiness can I get in this life how much money can I get in this life how much can I just acquire and just spend all my days in mirth and joy and luxury and ease right that we that's what our flesh wants but Paul said neither count I my life dear unto myself go to second Corinthians chapter 12 one reason people quit is because they're too focused on their own problems in their own life too focused on themselves second crithians 12 verse 7 the bible reads and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure he's saying because of all the revelations that God gave me the apostle Paul wrote over half the new testament because of all this God had to give me a lot of thorns in the flesh and people like to talk about you know what is his big thorn in the flesh well okay he had tons of thorns in the flesh did you not just remember all the things that we just read through right the guy got stoned I'm sure he had more than one thorn in the flesh right so God gave him that why lest he should be exalted above measure because you know and then people they get these thorns in the flesh from God because God purges us right God wants us to bring forth more fruit if you're saved today God wants you to do work he said go and work in my vineyard so you know what we're gonna have some thorns in the flesh right I'm 21 years old and sometimes I feel like I'm a lot older than that because I've already had a bunch of surgeries and destroying ligaments and stuff from sports but I'm not I mean I'm not complaining because like I said what we just read about not even close I can't even come close to being able to let complaints come out of my mouth about my physical pain after reading this in the bible right so God gives us these things to keep us humble and what do we do we just say oh this thorn in the flesh that God gave me that God gave me that's the reason why I can't serve God no wrong God gave you that so that you can serve God because if you didn't have that you'd be puffed up and you think oh man I'm healthy I'm wealthy I'm strong I'm going out preaching the gospel I've got no problems I'm spry I've got a spring in my step I've got all mental clarity I'm never tired I'm never hungry I'm never cold I'm never thirsty right no you'd be proud that's what you'd be and you'd be a worthless vessel for Christ and God would never use you to do anything even close to what the apostle Paul did he had all those thorns in the flesh so that he can be used great by God and he said neither count I my life dear unto myself go to second Corinthians 12 verse 8 for is this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart for me thank God please take us away from me I just can't I'm sure he did have doubts I'm sure he's thinking God I just can't go out to all these countries and I can't just keep winning this world of Christ with all this pain that I have and with all these problems that I have and this is what the Lord said to him in verse 9 and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee so we think to ourselves God I can't do it because of this he says no my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore while I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me you know what we ought to think when we get a physical pain in our body a trial a tribulation is praise God that I have the opportunity to be stronger now because when I'm weak I'm strong the Bible says God says that the power of Christ rests upon us when we're weak you know Paul didn't win this whole world to Christ because he was always full and happy and no sickness and no pain Paul wasn't going and preaching these amazing sermons and going with the perils through the heathen and the perils of the false prophets and all these things he went through because he had an easy life he did it because he had a hard life and you know what when we're going to win this world to Christ is when we're sick when we have persecution when we're broke when we're having problems with our relationship when our with our relationships when we have to lean on God the most is when you're the strongest when you're going to be able to do the most work for God verse 10 therefore I complain about my no he says therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then am I strong he says I take pleasure when I'm in pain when I'm reproached when people hate me in necessities right when you have that huge bill that comes and you have no idea how you're gonna pay it when you have you know maybe you need a new job it's just not cutting it right now for you and you have necessity Paul says I take pleasure in that because that is when Christ is strong that's when we're weak is when Christ is strong the only way that your tribulations your bodily pains your reproaches your problems your tribulations in your life the only way that that will not make you strong that that will make you weak is when you quit is when you quit when you are moved when you're not steadfast when you are movable when you give up then you go through all of that you're still going to go through it but now it just means nothing now you just are going to lose out on all the rewards you could have gotten if you would have just stuck with it if you would have just said I don't care if I have this pain I'm just going to let Christ's power rest upon me and I'm just going to be strong because I'm weak because I'm trusting in Christ go to 1st Corinthians 6 1st Corinthians chapter 6 1st Corinthians 6 verse 19 what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you are not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's I'll read for you Romans 12 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service you know another reason why Christians make a ton of excuses is they just say well you know what I can't go soloing because I can't just give up my Saturday right well guess what it's not your Saturday right oh I just can't give up my time guess what it's not your time because you're bought with a price the Bible says and you're not your own oh this is just my only day off work this is the only time I could spend with my wife why don't you spend it with your wife out soloing then why don't you spend it with your wife out serving God instead of making a bunch of excuses of why you can't serve God because of you you you my my my me me me right it says we're not your own people you know use excuses like for example for example women sometimes will say I just can't give up my career to obey the Bible right the Bible says that God wants women to stay home and to take care of the children and take care of the house and they say well I can't because of my career right well guess what you are not your own and you are bought with a price so you need to obey what God tells you to do not what you want to do right when God says go out soul winning and you say I can't because it's my only day off you need to stop thinking so much about yourself and think about the fact that you were bought with a price think about the fact that you know like today it's Easter we're thinking about how Jesus died for all of us and went through all of his torture and suffering and three days and three nights in hell and rose again from the for the dead for us I'll read for you Titus 2 11 for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might just let us live a lap of luxury no that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works you know God it's God's will for all of us to be like the apostle Paul but not all of us are going to yield ourselves like the apostle Paul does not all of us are just going to be unmovable and steadfast like the apostle Paul does but the measure of how far you go for Christ and how much you do for Christ is just dependent on you not on your circumstances not on your trials not on where you were born not if you had a mom or a dad not if you were born with one leg or two legs it's born it's it's measured by how much you yield to Christ and how much you trust in him and not count your life dear unto yourself like like Paul said number two go back to Acts 20 get your place in Acts 20 and in 2 Corinthians 4 Acts 20 so number one we must not highly esteem our earthly lives number two how was Paul able to be so steadfast to where at the end of his life he said none of these things move me Acts 20 24 but none of these things move me neither count on my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God number one we must not highly esteem our own earthly lives number two we must focus on the ministry that Christ gave us what did he say he said I didn't I was unmovable because I didn't count my life dear unto myself and because of the ministry that Christ gave me to testify of the gospel of the grace of God you're there in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 we have that exact same ministry 2 Corinthians 4 1 the Bible says therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy we faint not why don't we faint because we have this ministry what ministry the ministry of testifying the gospel of the grace of God right the ministry of going out into this community and teaching people what it takes to get to heaven and getting people saved because we have that ministry we faint not it's too important we can't quit when we have such a huge important job to do when we're literally the ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ walking on this earth we look just like everyone else don't we we live the same lives every lives everyone else does you know our kids grow up and they learn and we go to work and we eat food just like everyone else does at the same restaurants but when we're walking around we're ambassadors for Lord Jesus Christ on this earth and you have the Holy Spirit inside of you and you have the word of God at your fingertips and you're able to actually win someone to an eternal heaven escaping them from an eternal hell right that much of an important job we faint not because it's too important 2 Corinthians 4 look at verse 2 but we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost look if the 36 soul winners yesterday didn't go out and do their job like Christ told them to like I said those five people wouldn't be saved right when I lived here for years and years and years and prayed and begged God for a church to come to my hometown to preach people the gospel there's very few people out there doing the work our gospel was hid to this community and you know what it's hid to those that are lost it's hid to those that are unsaved it's hid to the Mormons it's hid to the Jehovah's Witnesses it's hid to the community church it's hid to life church and pursuit and the majority of Treasure Valley Baptist Church right it's hid to all these people that don't know how to get to heaven that are trusting in their works or trusting in a false gospel you know and it's hid to them and you're the only person that can show them the truth you're the only person that can tell them the right way to get to heaven so when you quit when you get out of church when you let your petty little excuses keep you from doing what Christ told you to do your gospels hid to those that are lost and people are going to go to hell because of you right and guess what people are going to go to hell because of me and you know what Christ is going to have to wipe our tears away in heaven because all of us fail to do what we're supposed to do and to go to the measure that Christ wants us to go and Christ is going to have to wipe our tears away from the people that didn't get saved that we could have gotten saved but let's minimize that let's be like the apostle Paul and let not let none of these things move you and get those people saved don't quit because Christ has given us a ministry I'll read for you Jude 1 verse 22 and if some have compassion making a difference and others saved with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh and you know what if you're in either of those categories that's great if you save people by compassion great if you save people by pulling them out of the fire with fear great but there's another category there's some that do nothing there's some Christians that let their stupid itty-bitty excuses get in the way of pulling anyone out of the fire because they quit and they give up and they look at their problems in their life and they look at their physical ailments and the thorns in the flesh that Christ gave them and instead of realizing great this is a way that I could get higher gains for Christ this is the way I could do more for Christ this is the way I could be stronger because God has allowed me to become weaker you just say no this is why I have to quit this is why I have to be moveable this is why I have to be steadfast you have if you go through the perils of the false brethren in this church you say you know what you know it broke my heart that so-and-so has to leave and so-and-so is a false prophet I quit you know what then the people who you could have gotten saved are going to spend eternity in hell because of that decision so don't make that foolish decision right I'm not minimizing the trials and hardships that we go through in our life and our flesh wants to quit just as just as much as anyone else does and I'm sure the apostle Paul wanted to quit but don't let those things get you to take your eyes off of the high calling of Jesus Christ and get your eyes off of the spiritual and the heavenly things around us that we're fighting the spiritual fight that we're fighting every day because of this carnal worldly problems that we have in our own life don't let it stop you guys go to second Timothy chapter 3 and we'll we'll wrap up here pretty quick I love Paul's exhortation to Timothy here second Timothy chapter 3 verse 10 he says but thou has fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patients persecutions afflictions which came unto me at Antioch and Iconium at Lystra what persecutions I endured he's saying you know all these things that I went through I've told you all of them but out of them all the Lord delivered me right God didn't let Paul down he didn't leave him out in the cold hungry right Paul right now is in heaven with uh innumerable I can't even imagine the rewards in heaven that Paul is going to receive right he's he's going to be comforted God did not let him down and even in this world he said out of all out of them all the Lord delivered me yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution he's saying I went through all these things God delivered me but hey if you're going to live godly you're the same things that I went through but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them he's saying all these things that I went through you're going to go through all the same things but continue don't give up don't let your eyes off of the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ don't let your eyes off of the lost and dying souls that are walking around Ada county walking around Treasure Valley they're going to spend eternity somewhere don't take your eyes off them continue thou in the faith continue thou in the learning that you're getting from your pastor and from the word of God don't quit today stay in church stay soul winning do not quit go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 let's finish here we talked about all the things Paul went through and at the end of his life almost to the end of his life he still had a bit to go he still had to go to Rome and he went through a lot more we're only talking about the first two-thirds of his ministry this evening he went through a lot more than we've even talked about but he said in Acts verse 20-24 but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I've received the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel the grace of God you know what praise God for this church praise God that you guys went soul winning at the mega sowing marathon praise God that you're in church right now but I want all of us to finish right and a lot of us are young in here but someday I want us to finish our course and our ministry and be able to stand at the end of our lives like Paul said nothing moved me I stayed strong all the way by my own strength no by Christ's strength right I'll finish with this 1st Corinthians 15 58 therefore my beloved brethren be ye steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord let's pray Lord thank you so much for this day and thank you for the apostle Paul that you used a human man you know he wasn't God he wasn't sinless he had all the same problems that we do we relate to him a lot God and he went through so much and so much more than we probably will ever go through Lord and I know sometimes our lives are hard and we feel like they're a lot harder than they are sometimes God I pray that you'd help us not to make excuses but you would strengthen us in our weakness that this church would continue and do great things for you in Jesus name we pray amen