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Now, the book of Jeremiah is a very heavy book. I really like it because of the fact that some of the hardest preaching in the Bible would be found in the book of Jeremiah. This has really nothing to do with the sermon, but if you're ever in question of whether or not a man of God should be preaching hard, whether or not a man of God should be calling out people for their sins and iniquity and making them aware of the fact that God is a God of judgment and of wrath and a God that punishes iniquity. Just read the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was one who was just proclaiming the judgment of God upon his own people. And of course, Jeremiah 16 is a very heavy chapter, and it starts out there in verse 3. For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and the daughters that are born in this place. So he's talking about the children, he talks about the mothers that bear them and the fathers that begat them in the land. So he's talking about the families of the people that live in Jerusalem and in Israel. And he said, verse 4, they shall die grievous deaths. Didn't say that they should die, I mean, dying is a given, right? They were going to die one day, we all know that, but he says that they shall die a grievous death. Not just that they were going to grow old and pass away in a good old age and full of many days as it says of other people in the scriptures, but that they would die of grievous deaths, meaning a death that no one would want to die. We can think of many different ways that, you know, we're all going to pass away one day and there's, of course, we all want to pass away peacefully in our sleep and go gently into that, you know, that long good night or however it goes. But God was telling these people specifically that not only are you going to die, that you're going to die a grievous death. And he doesn't end there in verse 4, he goes on and kind of, you know, adds insult to injury as it were. He says, continue on to verse 4, that they shall die of grievous deaths. They shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried. I mean, that's a very dishonorable thing. Of course, you know, everybody wants to be remembered to some degree. We all want to have that plaque or that gravestone or that memorial service. We always want, we want to have people that would come out and remember us and speak kindly of us and say good things about us at our death, but he's saying, listen, these people that die of grievous death, they're not even going to be lamented. Neither shall they be buried, but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth. But they're just going to be cast in the field like a cow patty, you know, out there in the, I mean, really that's what he's saying here. It says they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth. He said they're not going to be buried. He said they're going to be eaten by the birds and the animals and they're going to be cast as dung in the field. That would be their burial. So it's not only that, you know, God is pronouncing a very severe judgment that they were going to die of grievous death, but it even goes on so far to let them know that, hey, when after you die, you will have no honor in your death. There will be no mourning for you. There will be no proper burial for you. It would be a very dishonorable thing that's going to happen. In fact, God forbids them to mourn for these people in Jeremiah chapter 16 verse 5. For those saying to the Lord, enter not into the house of the mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them. So he says, listen, not only, you know, I'm going to make sure that you guys understand that I don't even want you to go and bemoan these people or mourn for them. God forbids it specifically. And really the situation here has become quite hopeless for these people. And we see that again in verse 5, he says, For I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord. Even lovingkindness and mercies, both the great and the small shall die in this land. So God's basically saying, listen, you've crossed the line, it's, you know, your last chance has come and gone, and I have taken away my peace from this people. Showing us, again, this is a great verse that shows us that God does give up on people. That God will turn people over to judgment. That God will judge and execute his wrath upon a group of people, as well as individuals. So we see that the situation is hopeless, that it's pretty bleak here in Jeremiah chapter 16. You know, God said they're going to die, they're going to die grievous deaths, and nobody's going to mourn for them. Now God explains, he said, well that's pretty heavy, why would God be like that? Why, I mean, what could anybody have done to deserve that? And God explains why this is all coming upon them. As it says there in verse 10, And it shall come to pass when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore had the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God? Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law. And ye have done worse than your fathers, for behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of this evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me. So we see that the problem that these people had is that they forsook God and his commandments. They decided not to walk after God, they decided not to keep God's word, and then they decided to follow the vain imaginations of their own heart. And that's exactly what we see happening in our own country today. You say, well what has this got to do with us? Well, our own nation is traveling along this same road. We're living in a country where people have forsaken the word of God. We don't have godly laws and judgements in our lands. In fact, we live in a land that would mock and ridicule the Bible. We live in a land where the vast majority of people would send their kids to a public school system that would teach them to deny and to doubt the word of God, to doubt the commandments of God. We live in a land where laws are passed that are contrary to the word of God. We live in a land where innocent blood is shed and where it's condoned. We live in a land where we are committing these wars overseas and killing innocents. We're living in a land where we're being taxed, where we're seeing all these judgements come upon us already in the form of taxation and women are rulers and all these things that are coming to pass. We're living in a land that is traveling down the same road as the people of Jeremiah 16. And that's not any surprise that people have this idea in their head that somehow America is just, you know, immune to any of these judgements, that we're somehow better than anybody else, that we're somehow above God's judgement, that God will bless America no matter what. Well, that's just not the case. I mean, we're living in a land that is full of wickedness and iniquity and it continues to get worse day in and day out. I mean, we're living in a land where men are calling themselves women and women are calling themselves men and they're marrying one another. They're giving over to the vile imaginations of their own heart. Truly they are today in America. Now listen to Psalm 98, Psalm 9. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. A guy on Silah. The wicked shall be turned into hell and most nations that forget God. No it says all nations that shall forget God and the wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations. That would include our own land, wouldn't it? That would include the United States of America. That if we are a nation that chooses to forget God, that if we are a nation that chooses to not walk after God and his commandments, the Bible is telling us here that we will be turned into hell. And it's interesting, it's not just that we will be judged, but that we will be literally turned into hell. Meaning this, that the souls of the people that live here, when they die, when they perish, they will go to hell. Because we're living in a land where a land forsakes the word of God, when a land forsakes the commandments of God, the word of God is not being preached. Souls are not being reached for the Lord Jesus Christ. Souls are going to hell. When a nation forgets God, they shall be turned into hell. So the question is, what do we do? What do we do about it? I think a lot of people sense this. A lot of people know this. A lot of people that are listening to good Bible preaching, a lot of people that are reading the Bible for themselves, a lot of people are waking up to the fact that we are living in a nation that will be judged by God. And in some ways already is, in many ways. So the question is, what should we do? We can feel that angst, we can feel that anxiousness that we're not really sure what we should do. And a lot of people get this idea, and we understand that tribulation is sure to come. We live long enough and there's a very good chance that we're going to live in the generation that sees the tribulation in the book of Revelation come upon this earth. Those first three and a half years of great tribulation before we're raptured out of here, before the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth. And we know that our country, the United States, is that beast, it is that Babylon of the end times. If it's not, what other nation could it be? The point of the sermon is not to prove that. I think that's been proven over and over again in many other sermons. But the point is, what do we do about it? And a lot of people, I've noticed, I think they get this idea that they need to get into this prepping thing. They get into prepping, they get into, they want to move out, you know, prepare themselves to move out into sticks, they get their bug out bags, as they call them, you know, they're going to leave the major metro areas and get up in the hills where the fresh water is. And people get this idea that somehow they're going to go out and hide during that three and a half years. They're going to go and hide when the judgment of God comes upon this earth. When God allows the anti-Christ to take power, and God allows the beast to begin to make war with the saints. But I want to tell you right now that hiding is pointless. That this prepper mentality, this survivalist mentality is the wrong mentality to have. To a certain degree. Because some people, I understand some people, and we'll talk about it a little bit, to what degree they want to go with it, but some people just go way too far with it. They go way overboard. They make that the main thing. Them surviving the three and a half years, and I always kind of joke about it, but there is a grain of truth to it. I mean, if I'm alive and they start cutting heads off, they're not going to have to come find me. You know, I'm going to make it pretty easy to know where I'm at. I mean, where's the line? I'm going to try and cut ahead of that line, I'm ready to go. I want to get the glory, I want to see God in heaven and see this whole thing get wrapped up and see the millennial reign of Christ. You know, I'm ready to go. Where are the beheadings? You know, where can we... Sign me up! Let's get it going here. Right? Well, maybe not. Not everybody has that idea, but... And that, you know, it's easy to joke about that, I mean, you know, it might be a different story when it actually takes place, but the point I'm trying to make here is that having this idea that we're going to run and hide from the tribulation, I think, is the wrong mentality. The Bible says in Jeremiah 16 verse 16, Behold, I will send for many fishers, sayeth the Lord, and they shall fish them. And after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks. So God is telling these people, look, I'm going to send so many people, there's going to be nowhere for you to go. I'm going to find you in the rocks, I'm going to find you. You can't just run and hide from God. And it's foolish today to think that people are going to go out and hide from the Antichrist. Or these people who think they're going to rise up against the beast, you know, they're going to take up arms and fight the government, they're going to fight the UN, they're going to fight the United States. I mean, I don't care how decked out your AR-15 is, how many times you've trained in your night vision goggles, everything that you've got compared to them is a peashooter. I mean, you go look at some of these guns these people have, I mean, they have drones that could bomb you from thousands of miles away. Heat seeking, you would never even know they're there, night vision, there is no hiding from the beast. He will find you. And it's foolish to think otherwise. You're there in Jeremiah, keep a place in Jeremiah 16, but turn over to Matthew 24. The Bible says in Revelation 13, it was given unto him, speaking of the Antichrist, the beast, and it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. The Bible says when the Antichrist comes to power, and he's given the ability to make war with the saints, that he's going to overcome them. There will be no resisting him. The Bible says in Matthew 24, jump down to verse 21, for then shall be great tribulations such as was not since the beginning of the world at this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. So the only reason anybody's going to make it out of the great tribulation alive is because those days are shortened. It's because God cuts it short. And the Bible's telling us here that if those days were allowed to carry on, no flesh should be saved. Nobody's going to make it, even if they're in their bunker with all their rationings and all their survivalist gear, they're just not going to make it. That's what the Bible says. So have this idea that you're going to make it, that you're somehow going to run into the woods and survive the great tribulation or the tribulation. It's foolish. The Bible's point says it's not going to happen. When God brought his judgment upon Jerusalem in Jeremiah 16, he said, I'm going to send many fishers. I'm going to send hunters. They're going to find you in every hole of the rock and they're going to bring you out. Now I will say this, we know that nobody can stand before the beast. Who can stand before the beast? Nobody. There's no point in us trying to take up arms against them. We are outgunned. But I will say that as far as this prepping goes, that common sense prepping is a wise thing to do. I mean, just here in Arizona, it's something me and my wife talk about we need to get serious about doing, is that, you know, what if the power goes out for three days? What if there's no fresh water for three days? You know, do you have enough to make it a week? I mean, that's something that could happen where it's not just, you know, the government's going around rounding up the Christians where, I mean, you look at the hurricanes that have taken place here recently in Houston and in South Florida, where people have been, you know, without power and without water and without supplies. Those people should have, I mean, had they been prepared, maybe it wouldn't have been as devastating. So, I mean, we're not, and we think here in Arizona that we're somehow, you know, we're not, we're going to escape all that, but what if, you know, what if they turned the tap off or what happened, you know, anything could happen, you never know. So I am saying that there is a place for some common sense prepping. And really that's not the thrust of this sermon. That's not what I want to get to. I just want to say that because I don't want everyone to think that I'm totally against, you know, having any kind of common sense when it comes to, you know, preparing for the unexpected. You know, get your batteries, get your flashlights, get your matches, get your MREs, get all those little things that can get you through a time. But I'm saying when you're facing three and a half years of the beast, of the anti-Christ hunting and the great tribulation where he's going to make war with the saints and overcome them, it doesn't matter what you have. It doesn't matter how many beans and batteries and bullets you've built up, you're done. And unless those things be shortened, you might better your chances, you know, you might not be one of the first ones, but I don't think that that's what the mentality that God wants us to have. It's just this, you know, go out, run and hide, and I'm going to make it. Notice there in Jeremiah 16 verse 16, he says, Behold, I will send for many fishers. Now I've contemplated this verse and I'm not sure exactly, you know, part of it he says, maybe God's saying he's going to send these fishers to bring them, the people that will run and hide back to the judgment, but it's interesting too that, you know, saying that nobody's going to escape the judgment. But he also says, Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish for them. And after I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill out of the holes of the rocks, for mine eyes are upon their ways. So he's saying, you know, I'm going to do this for my eyes are upon their ways, they are not hid from my face, nor is their iniquity hid from mine eyes, and I will recompense their iniquity and their sin. So I think that he's saying here that in verse 16, he's going to bring these people back, these ones that would run and hide these mountains, he's going to fish them and hunt them out of the hills and mountains and out of the holes of the rocks so that he could execute judgment upon them. But part of me, you know, kind of thought when I was first reading the script, the scripture is that in verse 15, it says, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where there he had driven them. So he's saying, there's going to come a day when people will say, it's not the Lord that brought up the people out of Egypt, but it's the Lord that liveth that brought the people back out of the lands where he had scattered them. So maybe that's what verse 16 is applying to, where he's saying, I'm going to fish you out of the lands that I had scattered you to and gather you again, as it says, and I will bring them again to the land that I gave them to their fathers. But I think, you know, that's one way you can look at it, but I think the accurate way to interpret verse 16 is that God is fishing the people that would run and hide during a time of judgment so that he could assure them that they, as he said, they shall die. But the point I want to, and I want to kind of take that phrase there about how he will send for many fishers. So we see that even back in Jeremiah that God, you know, he puts this emphasis, he's saying, I'm going to send many fishers under these people. And I want to kind of use that, this idea that God is fishing for men. And I think that that's kind of something we can take away from this chapter is that God wants fishermen. God wants, and I believe God, when we compare scripture with scripture, we'll see that God wants us to be fishermen. I'm not talking about literal fishermen, as nice as that would be, you know, that God wants us to go out to the lake every Sunday instead of coming to church, you know, and go fishing for actual fish. No, God wants us to be a fisher for men. That's what God wants us to do. The Bible says in Matthew 14, and Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men. And straightway they left their nets and followed them. In Luke 5, 10, Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. So we see in Jeremiah 16 that God is sending for many, many fishers, and I believe that's something that we could apply to our lives today. What is the type of mentality that we should have when we're living amongst a people and a nation that is going in all likelihood to have the wrath of God come upon them and that it's going to experience the tribulation and judgment of God? I believe that we should be what Jesus wanted Peter to be and Andrew, his brother, a fisher of men. That's what we should be. And the title of the sermon this morning, the thrust of the sermon this morning, is the fact that we should be fishers, and therefore I've entitled it, We Should Learn to Fish. That's the title of the sermon, Learn to Fish, if that's the emphasis that God is putting on here in the New Testament, that God would want us to fish, then we should learn how to fish. And what is fishing? What does it mean to go fishing for men? It means to go soul-willing. It means to go out on the highways and byways and compel others to come in into the kingdom of God. So we need to learn to fish, and that's really what I want to talk about. We could take the actual literal sense of fishing and the things that an actual fisherman would have to learn and apply them to soul-willing. What are some of the things that a fisherman would have to do to become a fisher of men? What are some of the things that we see in literal fishing that we could apply to soul-willing for fishing for men? Well, first of all, we must understand that a fisherman must foresee. A fisherman must foresee. A fisherman has to understand where he's going and what he's going to need. What he's going after. What is his prey? What is it that he's trying to get? What is it that he's trying to catch? What type of fish? Is he going ice fishing? Is he fishing from the land? Is he fishing on a lake? Is he fishing on a river? Is he fishing what kind of boat? Is he trolling? Is he deep-sea fishing? So there's all these different types of fishing, right? So a fisherman has to foresee, meaning that he has to get the tackle ready. He needs to know what kind of tackle he's going to need to take along with him before he can cast a line. And that's what we need to do spiritually. If we're going to be good soul winners, if we're going to be the fisher of men that we need to be, we need to get the tackle ready before we go out and try and cast a line. I was listening to a man give his testimony recently where he was talking about how he first got saved and he really wanted to get other souls saved, which is great. I think we all experienced this. I know it was the same for me when I first got saved. I wanted everybody to know this. I had to seal. But I didn't have the knowledge. I didn't have the wherewithal to be able to go out and express and preach the gospel to somebody to give them a saving knowledge of Christ. And that's what this young man was relating as well, is that he went out and he was able to quote a verse or two, but he really had no idea where to go. You see, he hadn't taken the time, as many of us had at the first, to get the tackle ready. He had to decide, here, I'm going to need this lure, I'm going to need this pound test line, I'm going to need this rod, I'm going to need some waders, I'm going to need a boat anchor. He's going to need all these different things, all this different tackle, before he can even get out there and cast a line into the water. Paul said in Romans 11, so much as it's in Romans 1, so much as it's in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. See, Paul was a fisher of men who was ready to preach the gospel. He had the tackle ready. He understood what it meant to preach the gospel and what it took to preach the gospel. He was a fisherman that was ready. And to be a good fisherman, once you understand the tackle that you need, you have to have the right bait. You've got to make sure you have the right bait, the right bait that's going to bring that fish to the line and eventually land him. To be a good fisherman, you have to have the right bait, meaning this, that there's only one, you know, the tackle box really isn't that complicated for the Christian, there's really only one lure in our tackle box, and that's the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. We believe that salvation is a free gift from God, that going to heaven doesn't cost you anything, that it doesn't, you don't have to recompense God for your salvation, that it's something that God freely offers unto all men and all that they have to do is simply believe, to put their trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection. And if a person simply just trusts what Jesus Christ has already done for them, that there's nothing else that they have to do in order to go to heaven, that's the lure that we have in our tackle box. That's the bait that we use, is the free gift of God, the free gift of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. And we should make sure that we have that, that is, you know, that's the gospel that saved us. And make no mistake, there's a lot of people out there today that want to throw a lot of other lures in your tackle box. They want to try to get you to try to use a lot of different methods and a lot of different philosophies and a lot of different gospels out there, different gospels. Bibles says in Galatians 1, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. You see, there's a lot of people out there that want to use these gimmick lures. And you can go into these bait shops and you can find whole racks, all these different lures. You know, but you know what really usually works the best? It's just that earthworm. You just go out and do a little digging and you can get that big fat juicy worm that the fish love. You can go get those little wax worms that they like and it really doesn't take a whole lot to catch a fish. But you have to make sure that you have the right bait. And that bait, my friend, is not some flashy new gospel, it's the same tested and tried gospel that has been preached down since the beginning of time. That salvation is by grace through faith. And we believe this also, that once you receive that free gift of God, that you cannot lose it. That it's not something that can be taken away. That no matter, because it's not something you work for, it's not something you have to work to keep. The gospel of salvation by grace through faith, that is what we need in our tackle box if we are going to be a good fisher of men. So what else can you do to get the tackle ready? Say, well I believe that gospel but I'm still not ready to preach that gospel. What is it you have to do to get that tackle box ready? Well one way you can help get the tackle box ready is to be a silent partner. That's the best thing a person who's never gotten soul winning, that's where you start. You need to just go out with another fisherman and see how it's done. You learn by doing, that's the great truth. James 1-9 says, wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. So we should be quick to hear and slow to speak. When we're out being soul winning and being silent partners, we need to be silent partners. Meaning we're not going to interrupt the person but we're going to be taking notes. We're going to be listening. I know that when I first got the faithful word and started soul winning, I made a point of going out with different people and being a silent partner and I got to go with a lot of different people and learn. And I did that for weeks, I'm not exactly sure, it might have been four or six weeks, I don't know. But there was multiple, multiple times that I went out without saying a word to anybody. And before I finally decided to speak up and it wasn't until I had done several other things besides just being a silent partner. The other thing you could do is you could mark your bible. Find out, figure out how you're going to go present the gospel to somebody and mark that. Make a road map in your bible. Go to the first verse, write the reference to the next verse. Write the reference to the next verse. And go through that. Make a map in your bible. And also underline those key words in those verses. I heard once and I think this is a great thing when you're going to show somebody, present somebody in the gospel, is this concept of show and tell. We need people to explain the gospel. They don't need to be, we don't need people to go out and interrogate others about the gospel. We need people to go out and explain the gospel. Another great thing you do to figure out, say, well okay, I'll mark my bible, but how should I mark it? What verses? Well there's a lot of great sermons that you could listen to. I know one that I, you know, I listened to Pastor Roger Jimenez's three hour soul wedding conference that he did. I think he's got another one coming up. That's great. That's on their website, a very Baptist church's website. You know, Pastor Anderson has preached several soul wedding instructions, one of two tips for soul wedding. If you just go and search for those soul wedding sermons, you'll find a lot of great ways to present the gospel. And really, that leads me to this next point is that, you know, to get that tackle ready, to get that bible marked up, you need to use proven methods. You know, you should use, to this day, I use the exact same, almost verbatim, verses that Pastor Anderson has presented in his sermons. And I don't think, I think that's a great way to do it. I've tried, you know, I noticed when I first tried, because I think everybody goes, they have this desire to be original. And there's nothing wrong with that as long as you hit these key points and you do a good job out of it. But I noticed that for myself, and this might be true for others, is that I have this tendency to kind of, to spend too long on certain things. Like I'll end up just telling them what a sinner they are for too long, or spend way too long on a certain point. I like the fact that there's this tested and tried method that has been proven by, and it's not original with any one man. It's something that's just, you know, it's been passed down, others have learned by going with others. This is the old way of doing it, is just going through these specific verses. And those are the verses that Pastor Anderson presents in those soul winning sermons. So don't get caught up by the desire to be original, you know, don't get caught up, you know, you're going to go out there with your fancy hand spun lure, you know, with your fly fishing lure to try to do some deep sea fishing. Just use what's tied and crested, at least start out that way, you know, get grounded in a way that they can use it. I remember I went out with somebody a while back and I presented the gospel and I did it, you know, Romans 3, 10, Romans 3, 23, Romans 6, 23, Revelation 28, Revelation 20, 14. And it went right down on the line, just like the typical, you know, run of the mill soul winning presentation. And when the person got saved and I got done, my partner turned to me and said, man, it's so refreshing to hear somebody just do it that way. I said, yeah, I would like to hear more people do it that way. Because a lot of times you go out and hear people and it's just like, you know, you could just, and I don't ever say anything, you know, it's not my place to try and tell them how they're doing it wrong. I mean, they're still doing a decent job, they're doing a good job that I, a big part of being a good fisherman is being efficient, you know, catching, there's a lot of fish in the sea that we need to land. And I'll move along here, but not only that, a fisherman should also, should a fisherman, he should foresee, he should get the tackle ready before he goes to cast the line. But a fisherman needs to find, he needs to foresee and then he needs to find, he needs to find where the fish are. You know, he doesn't need to do any good to go fishing by climbing up a tree in the middle of a prairie. There's no fish there. You got to go where the fish are. So you got to find the fish, right, you got to get to the lake. That's what I'm trying to say here. And what I mean by that, how we can apply that spiritually to soul winning is that we need to choose and commit to a soul winning time. There needs to be a time of the week that we say this is when I'm going to go soul winning. This is who I'm going to go soul winning with. This is where I'm going to go soul winning. Not just this, you know, flying by the seat of our pants, well maybe I'll make it this week, maybe I won't, we should choose, we should dedicate ourselves to a soul winning time. You know, this was something that took a lot of discipline, but what helped me a lot was I actually decided to start leading the soul winning time. We kind of fell in my lap recently, but whenever I've led a soul winning time, you know, it demands my commitment. Other people are keeping me accountable, saying, hey, are you going today? Hey, I'm planning on going with you, you're taking me, we're going soul winning, right? And that keeps me going, yep, you know, I know that such and such a person, that several people are going to approach me in church on, you know, Sunday after Sunday morning service and say, hey, where are we going today? So leading a soul winning time, if you're able, is a great way to commit to getting out to the lake and catching some fish. You know, you should find a honey bowl, you should try and find that place, you know, where people are going to get safe. Go to where people are going to get safe, you don't go to the deadest part of the lake. You know, when we go out fishing, a lot of guys like to use like a radar where they actually scan the lake, you know, and they see where the fish are and they take into account, you know, the time of day and the barometric pressure and where the fish will be, you know, as far as death and they find out where they are, you know, where is it shady, where is where, you know, they look for where the fish are. And we need to do the same thing, you know, and Jesus taught this, this was something that Jesus taught, you know, He taught that we should go to the poor. In fact, Jesus lists that in Matthew 11, He says, He lists it amongst the miracles. Every time I read this, I mean, it's a whole sermon in and of itself, but Jesus said in Matthew 11 chapter 1, And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, He sent two of His disciples, and said unto him, Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto him, Go and show John again those things which ye do here to see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up. So Jesus says, hey, you know what, go tell John about all these great miracles. Go tell him about how the lame are walking, how the deaf are hearing, how the blind are seeing, how the dead are raised up. So He's listing these great and mighty and powerful, you know, miracles that God is performing. And what's the last thing He mentions? And the poor have the gospel preached to them. You say, well, you know, wow, what is that, how does that get lumped in there? That's because going and preaching the gospel to the poor in God's eyes is a miracle. It's a miracle when a man or a woman will humble themselves and go to a humble and poor community that doesn't have anything to offer them but an ear. The only thing that they can offer them is someone that will listen and hear the gospel preached. They are not too proud. You see, if we're going to be good fishermen, we've got to find the fish. We've got to go where the good fish are, the fish that are going to get caught, the ones that are going to be easy to land. We should go to the poor. We should not go to the proud. You know, everyone wants to get that whale, right? Everyone wants to be like Moby Dick and go out and get that big fat whale. They want to go get that big fat businessman with all the money that he can put on the plate, right? Well, you know what? I'll take 50 bluegill over one swordfish. Anybody who's ever had bluegills know what I'm talking about. Bluegill are not big fish. You've got to catch a lot of them if you're going to get a meal out of them. But I've been out with a guy who went out to go and find bluegill. And they're fun to fish, they're easy to fish, and they taste great. So you know, it's more about quantity than quality when it comes to fishing a lot of times. I'll tell you what, it's the same as soul winning. We shouldn't try to just go to reach one or two people. We should go out where we can reach the most people. And where we can reach the most people is where the poor are. So we see that if we're going to be fishers of men, if we're going to be one of these many fishers that God will send into a nation that's going to be judged, that we have to foresee. A fisherman must foresee. A fisherman must also find, he has to get to the lake, he has to find where the fish are. But a fisherman must also fight. You know, it's not enough just to show up at the lake with everything, with your rod and your lure and everything. And you just don't roll out in the middle of the lake and fish start jumping in, right? That's not how it works. You've got to put your line in the water. You've got to start casting. And you've got to start reeling them in. And you know what, it's one of my favorite things, I talk about bluegill fishing, everyone's like, bluegill? They're just these little pan fish. But if you ever catch a bluegill and you get that light rod with the real light test line man and you get one on, it feels like you're reeling something big in. And it's just this little fish about the size of your hand, real thin guy. But you know, if you go out there, you feel like you've got a little bit of a fight. Especially if you do the double hook, where you can get two on at one time, and you've got a little bit of a fight going. You know, and there's nothing more exciting when you're fishing when you've been out there a little while and you're casting and nothing's happening and you feel that little nibble. You feel that line just kind of jerk a little bit. You can tell something's nibbling on it. And when you feel that, you know, that's when you've got to be real careful. You pull it a little slower, make them want it, you know, there's a little bit of an art to it. And there's nothing more exciting when that thing starts, you feel that nibble, then bam, that fish starts to land. But that's not it. You know, you can lose a fish. Just because they bite doesn't mean that you're going to be eating that night. So when a fisherman must learn to fight, they must learn how to get the catch to shore. You know, you've marked your bible, you've got the tackle ready, you've gone out there, you've been the silent partner, you understand how to present the gospel now, and you've found the time to go, and you're out there, you're knocking on the door, your cat's in the line over and over and over again, you've got the right bait, and finally, you know, say, hey, I'm from such and such a church, we're inviting folks, you know, if you go to church anywhere, more important than going to church, can I show you how to go to heaven when you die? Are you 100% sure? Can I show you from the bible what a person has to know in order to be 100% sure? And you get that nibble, right? Yeah, okay. They nibble, you feel that little jerk at the line, whoa, man, these people are going to listen, right? And get all excited. And that's when we need to learn how to fight that fish right. And I think this is where a lot of people can blow it. I've seen people do this, and I've been guilty of the same. You got to get the catch to shore, just because they've bit doesn't mean they're in the boat. Number one thing I think people need to work on is being courteous. When we go out soloing, we need to have this mindset and understanding that, you know, we're not just doing everybody a favor. We're doing what God commanded us to do by going to these people. And we're not, don't expect to go up these doors and people just fall on their knees and just thank you up and down one side and up down the other. So grateful that you were gracious enough to come to them and share the good news. Now it is great, it's great that we're doing that, right? But that's just not the nature of things, it's not, you know, it wouldn't be common sense to think like that. So we need to be courteous. You know, if we were going to go out and try and sell something, or if you were in any kind of a sales, if you're trying to get people to listen to what you have to say, being a jerk is the worst thing you could do. People aren't going to listen to a jerk. You need to be courteous, you need to be courteous of people and of their property. You understand, that's why I really don't like walking across lawns, I like to use the sidewalk. So what if they're watching? I think these are all little things that people need to, because, you know, having that kind of an attitude where I'm going to walk up their sidewalk, up to their house, I'm not going to sit on their furniture, I'm not going to lean on their porch, all these kind of things that I've done, I've seen other people do, you know, it's not just that those people might see it, but it puts you in the right frame of mind. It puts you in this courteous frame of mind. The other thing people need to do is no snagging. You know, fishing is, snagging is not allowed. Snagging is not fishing. Now for those of you that don't know what snagging is, snagging is when you go out with a bare hook. A lot of times guys will use a treble clef, treble hook, which has three hooks on one. Don't ask me how I know that. So they go out and what they do is they find, a lot of times you do it in a river, particularly carp are really good for this, used to do it on the Boardman in Traverse City, but you go out there and there's no bait on the hook, and you cast it and you see the fish and when you bring the hook by it, you try to snag the fish with the hook. Just grab it wherever you can, the face, the body, the fin, and drag it to land, squeeze the eggs out of it, throw it back in. Alright, I don't recommend doing that, it's probably not a good way to do it. In fact, it's illegal in most places, they'll get you in trouble. But that's what I'm trying to say is that, don't go out there and be a jerk, don't go out there and try to snag people, don't think one of these fishermen is trying to snag everyone, you know. If a person doesn't, if the fish smells the bait and turns their nose and wants to go somewhere else, don't sit there and try and snag them, you know, try and cast again and again. Just move on. No snagging. They have to bite the bait. Hey, can I show you how to be 100% sure you're going to go to heaven? Can I show you from the Bible what a person has to know in order to go to heaven? No thanks, not interested. Are you sure? You know, I'm not against saying, or if they say, sometimes they'll say something like, you know, well not right now, maybe next time. And then I might say something like, well hey, this is probably the only time I'm going to be by here. Or how often does somebody come by and offer you to tell you this, are you sure you don't have a minute? But that's about as far as I take it. You know, I'm not one of these ones that's going to, you know, keep my foot in the door and just like, oh you need to listen to me and try to insist that people want to hear. Because there's another fish over there that's starving and he's going to smell that worm and he's going to bite. I want to get to that guy. I want to keep moving. Don't sit there and try and snag these fish. Don't sit there and try and be one of these soul winners that's going to force the gospel down somebody's throat because it never works. So with that said, you have to be prepared to make many casts. Sometimes in fishing you have to be out there for a while and it takes multiple casts before you finally get something to bite. And that's the same way in soul winning. You've got to go out there and cast that line, knock on a lot of doors, put in a lot of time. You know who people who get a lot of people saved are people that do a lot of soul winning. People that are putting in hours of soul winning, you know, every week. Luke 8.15 says, speaking of the good ground, but that on good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word keep it, bring forth fruit with patience. When we're out soul winning we have to be patient and understand that's going to take work. That's going to take time. We're going to have to cast that line a lot. Another thing people need to do is if you do get that fish to bite, someone says, you know what, I'm going to listen. Yeah, go ahead. Show me what you have to say. Don't jerk the line. Don't try and bring that person in. You know, against their own will. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2, you know, that we are to be gentle unto all men, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. You know, if we're presenting the gospel and somebody, can we get to a point and somebody says, well I don't believe that. Are they rejected? Or do they say something foolish? You know, we should say, well hey listen, you know, and go down this bird trail, we're trying to rebuke them, or some stupid doctrine. Or they ask about, you know, aliens or Loch Ness or Bigfoot or something like that. We don't have to chase these things, we don't need to jerk the line. And if somebody's going to reject the gospel, you know, or they're going to throw the hook out of their mouth, you know, don't try and jerk them into the boat. They don't want to, they don't believe it. You know, some people want to get that fish in the boat at all costs, but some fish are just not going to get caught. The Bible says in Titus that we are to show meekness unto all men. Don't be a jerk out soloing. You know, don't fight, you know, we need to fight, but it's a gentle fight to get that fish to shore. It's a gentle fight to get that fish on the boat. Once they're on the hook, you know, once you've got someone reeling, you're reeling them in, and you can tell that they're getting in, you know, they're hearing the gospel, they're believing, you need to be steady. And what a lot of people do is they ask too many questions. I believe that, I mean, there are questions that need to be asked. I usually ask all my questions at the very end. You know, do you believe that you're a sinner? Do you believe that all sinners deserve to go to hell? Do you believe that Jesus loved you? Do you believe that it is God that He died for your sins and is buried and rose again? Do you believe that if you ask Him for the free gift of salvation, He can give it to you? Do you believe that once you receive it, it will be yours forever, even if you did something really bad? And you know, that's just real quickly going through some of those questions that I ask. That's all at the end. You know, I don't ask, one thing I've seen some people do is they'll say, right at the very beginning of their present, they haven't even gotten into it. They're at the door, they answer it, and they say, they say, are you 100% sure today that if you die today, you go to heaven? They say, yeah. Oh, really? Why? If you came to my door and asked me like that, I've already, I've got my guard up. I don't want to hear what you have to say if you're going to put anything like that. There's nothing wrong with asking why they think that, but it's not just really, why. I've seen people do this. Really? Why? Why do you think you're going to go? So what I'll do, you know, you need to phrase it. You can ask that question, but you need to phrase it right. Like, well, hey, do you mind me asking what makes you so sure? And most people, even then, they're hesitant to try and tell me, no matter what their answer is, and then I'll say, well, I'll say, well, let me put it to you like this. Let's say I got hit by a car out here in the road and I was dying, and you come out to help me. And I said, hey, what do I got to do to go to heaven? I'm not going to make it. What do I have to do? What would you tell me? What's the first thing that comes to your mind? Because I'm not trying to get a big, long explanation out of them, I'm just trying to get an idea of what they think a person has to do. Because most of the time they'll say, pray, ask for forgiveness, you know, they'll say some generic thing, but some people just ask way too many questions, way too many questions. Avoid filler, avoid just illustrations that don't need to be made, things that just don't make, that are just consuming time, and avoid overemphasizing a point, you know, don't sit here and jerk the line, you know, you need to have a steady, you know, a steady bringing them in. Another thing that people need to really work on, I've noticed, is avoid raising your voice. I've gone soul winning with more than one person I've seen that do this. They will be talking in a nice conversational, you know, tone and volume, but as soon as they'll knock on the door, that person will knock on the door, and as soon as that person answers the door, it's like, I don't know what happens, but all of a sudden they're talking this loud, they're like yelling, hey, we're from Fateful Word Baptist Church, and it's like, I'm taken aback, like, why are you yelling at this person? And I don't even think they realize that they do it. And another thing is they talk too loud, and they talk too fast. One of the best things that I heard preached was slow down when you're presenting the Gospel, because I think people, because we understand the Gospel, and we preach it over and over again, we get this idea that somehow the person that we're preaching to, that everyone we talk to, is getting it. They're picking it up so quick, they're not. You need to make sure you're slowing down. It's better to be too slow than too fast, and it's the same with fishing, you know, if you start just trying to fish that, get that thing, that fish in, that line's going to snap, you know, it's going to get caught on something. The fish is, you know, going to, it's just not going to work. So we need to slow down. That's one of the best things a person can do. You know, this is just practical advice, you know, don't yell at these people, lower your voice, speak slowly. Now fishermen, you know, I'll try to wrap up here, going a little long, but you see that fishermen, you know, they foresee, they get the tackle ready, you know, they understand how to present the gospel, they find, you know, they understand where it is they need to go, they commit to a time to go soloing, they get to the lake, and fishermen fight. They learn how to get the catch to shore, you know, they learn how to be courteous, they learn how to not be a jerk, they learn how to, you know, to have some people skills at the door. That's something, well I don't have people skills, well you need to work on it. People need to work on having people skills. It's not this innate ability, it's something that's worked on. You know, and I know this because I was not a people person, I consider myself a personable person when I want to be, but one of the best things that I ever did was get into customer service. I remember when I would get laid off for my job excavating, I would have to go work, I would go work in an express loop, like one of these service lanes, where people are getting oil changes, and I'd have to talk to, you know, dozens, if not sometimes, you know, I don't know, just multiple, scores of people every day. And you get used to, some people are having a good day, some people are having a bad day, but you're the only one that can control your attitude. And that's where I learned a lot about just, you know, learning how to talk to people in a polite and courteous manner. That's the attitude we should have around soul winning. Is that when we're talking, when we're standing at somebody else's door, at somebody else's property in their time, yes we're doing them being very gracious by coming and preaching in the gospel, but we're also just doing it out of obedience to God. Well let's do it right. Let's do it in a way that they'll actually want to listen. Let's not just go out there just so we can say we went. Let's go out there and be effective. Let's be effective fishermen. No fishermen, you know, they call it fishing for a reason, right? Because you don't always do any catching. We should go for the sake of going, but I want to be a fisherman who catches something. And that takes skill, that take requires that we be courteous, that we be kind, that we know what we're talking about, that we be efficient. Because only then, you know, when a fisherman does all these things, then he's going to be the guy who's going to eat a good meal, right? He's going to want to get to shore and have a fresh lunch, a freshly caught lunch. The fisherman is the one who gets a good meal. There's nothing more satisfying than a full catch. I remember when I was talking about going bluegill fishing, there was this one guy I used to go bluegill fishing with, and he and I, we each had a 25 fish limit per day. And we caught 50 fish every time. And there was nothing more satisfying than that, when you got back to shore and you open up the cooler full of fish and there's 50 bluegill in there, because bluegill are delicious. And you know, there's just nothing more satisfying than having a full catch. There's nothing more satisfying in this life that I have found, spiritually speaking, than going out and preaching a clear presentation in the gospel to somebody and them believing it and them understanding it. And it's amazing to me, like, how many times I've thought to myself, man, I just don't want to go today. I just want to take a nap, eat lunch and take a nap. But I make myself go and as soon as I'm out there, and I see somebody else preach the gospel and someone gets saved, or I myself preach the gospel and someone gets saved, there's nothing else I'd rather be doing at that time. This is what life is about for me. Now let me just wrap up by saying this. The Bible says in Jeremiah 16, Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them. So God desires that there's a lot of people that go soul winning. God wants all of His children to be soul winners. We all ought to be soul winners. Man, woman, boy, girl, young and old, we should all be soul winners. And there's a lot of Christians out there that are starving spiritually because they don't catch anything. They're like that fisherman who never fishes. There's a lot of Christians who have no joy in their life because they're not soul winners. They don't have that great source of joy that comes through soul winning, through seeing another soul gets saved. They're these Christians, they just don't seem to have any purpose, and it's all over their faces. And I felt that way too. They have no joy, they have no peace, it's like they don't understand why they're here. They're just waiting to die and go home. And they waste their time, and it's because they don't go fishing. It's like a fisherman who's just spending his time in the basement. There's a beautiful bright sunny day, the fish are out there, he's got all the tackle in the garage, but he'd rather just sit home and watch a football game. He'd rather just do anything and mow the lawn, just some mundane task, instead of going out and experiencing the thrill of catching something, and the satisfaction of being able to taste something that he himself caught. And there's a lot of Christians like that. They never experience the thrill of seeing a soul come to Christ. They never experience the satisfaction of knowing that they are fulfilling the commandment of the Great Commission, that they are obeying the commandment of God and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. So a lot of Christians, they're starving out there. What's the point of living for Christ if we're the only one who benefits from it? If we're saved, what's the point of being here if we don't share that same faith? We're the only ones that benefit from that. That we got saved and we never told another soul. What's the point of that? What's the point of living that kind of a life? God has put us here for a reason. That's to preach the gospel to every creature. God is long-suffering to us. We're not willing to any perish. Jesus Christ is the savior of all men. He would have all men come to the knowledge of Christ. God wants everybody to be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God wants the world to be saved, and the way He does it is through us. God wants us to fish that pond if there's not a fish left in there. But if we don't go, those fish aren't going to get caught. So to conclude, our nation is heading in the way of Jeremiah's day. We started out in a very heavy passage of scripture where it was just a lot of doom and gloom. It's very sobering to realize that our nation is heading in the way of Jeremiah in his day. We see our nation as a people that are forsaking God and His word. They are walking out of their imaginations with their own heart, and His long suffering is there for a time. In Jeremiah's day, it ran out. He said He removed His loving kindness and His mercies from them. And there's going to come a time when God's patience and His long suffering runs out for the people in our country. And while we still have that, while we still have that time that we can go out and work, we need to go out and we need to be fishermen. We need to be one of those many fishermen that go out and see people saved, that cast a line in the water and bring some fish and so forth. We need to go out and see how many we can pull from the lake of fire, which burneth forever and ever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, again, thank You for the gospel. Lord, thank You for the free gift of salvation, Lord, that it's easy to be saved, that salvation is something that You have done all the hard work for, that all we need to do is simply trust in You. And Father, I pray that You help us to be lifelong soul winners, that we would be those that would go out and fish for men on a regular basis, and that, Lord, You would use us to see many people come to Christ. Lord, thank You for a pastor in a church and others like it that have a desire and a burden to fill Your great commission, to reach the whole world for the gospel of Christ. But I pray that that would be the burden on every heart. Lord, help us as we go now, bring us back safely again next week. In Jesus' name, amen.