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Then, 2 Kings chapter 13. In this chapter, we see the end of the life of one of the greatest men of the Old Testament, which is Elisha the prophet. And Elisha dies in this chapter. Leading up to that, the Bible tells us about how the Syrians had been attacking the Israelites, putting them in bondage as a result of their sins. God had brought in the Syrians as a punishment to continually punish them. Well, I want to start in verse number 17 here. The new king, Joash, has come on the scene, and now Elisha is dying. And he goes to see Elisha before he dies, and he has great respect for Elisha. He's sad about the fact that Elisha is dying. And he says, you know, Oh, my father, my father, about Elisha. And he says, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, you know, which is going back to 2 Kings when Elisha had first become a prophet. Look what the Bible says in verse number 17. And he said, Open the window eastward, and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot, and he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria, for thou shalt smite the Syrians in affect till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows, and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground, and he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times. Then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it. Whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming of the year. So what happens in this story is, Elisha, as he's dying, he tells Joash just to shoot an arrow basically out the window. He just fires an arrow, and he tells him that's the arrow of the Lord's deliverance. Because a lot of times preachers in the Bible would use illustrations, and they would use parables, you know, using common objects and so forth. And then he tells him to take the arrows, and to smite the ground. He's saying, Hit the ground, okay? And he's telling him to do that, continue, you know, hit the ground. So the man, the king, Joash, drops the ground, and he hits the ground three times, and then he waits, and kind of looks for a reaction from Elisha. He's like, Is that what I was supposed to do, right? So he hits it three times, and then the Bible says that Elisha gets angry at him. He's wroth, wroth is just extremely angry. So Elisha gets angry and says, you know, Why'd you only hit the ground three times? Why didn't you hit it five or six times? And he's angry saying, you know, however many times you hit the ground, that's basically how many times you would have defeated Syria. And because you only hit it three times, you're not going to completely defeat Syria. They're still going to be coming after you. Now the title of my sermon is this, if you would flip over to 2 Kings chapter 2. The title of my sermon is this, Go big or go home. That's the title of the sermon tonight. Go big or go home. Why? Here's a story when we look at the life of Elisha about a man who went big. He thought big and he didn't like it when he's confronted with a man who doesn't think big. You know, three is enough. No! Five, six, he tells him. Now, if you would go back to chapter two, because we see the beginning of Elisha's ministry, Elisha had already been training with Elijah. He poured water on the hands of Elijah, and he was taught to preach and taught to be a prophet by Elijah. But now Elijah's about to die, and he's passing the torch to Elisha, and look at the Bible says in verse number nine, and it came to pass when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, thou hast asked a hard thing, nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so. Now here Elisha, at the very beginning of his ministry, he's setting the mark really high. He's setting his sights high. He's like the apostle Paul, who said, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He's basically standing in the presence of the greatest preacher of that whole era. He's standing in the presence of the greatest prophet that Israel had known. And this man asked him, what do you want me to do for you? And you know what he didn't say? He didn't say, well, you know, I would just like to be half as great as you. Now even if he would have said that, he's asking a lot. I mean, Elijah was such a great man of God. If he would have said, boy, I just want to be half the man that you've been. He said, no, I want a double portion of thy spirit. I mean, he's thinking big because he understood the fact that with God, the sky is the limit. Nothing is impossible with God. The only limit for what we can do for God and what we accomplish for God is ourselves. I mean, that's the limit. We decide what the limit is because God can do anything. And so he asked for a hard thing. He said, I want a double portion of thy spirit. And Elijah said, you'll get it. And by the way, if you look at the life and ministry of Elisha, he did twice as many miracles and he preached twice as many things that are recorded in the Bible. He literally had double the ministry of Elijah because he thought big. You can see why he's angry at Joash for thinking small later in the story. Now let's keep reading here. It says in verse number 11, I mean, here's a guy who right away is doing a mighty act right there by smiting the water with the mantle and seeing the water of the Jordan River part. And he passes over on dry, like sort of like a personal Red Sea crossing just for him. Okay. Parts the water and walks across. And by the way, it wasn't just for him because there are 50 other sons of the prophets who are standing by and they saw this. And they said, wow, the spirit of the Lord God of Elijah, you know, the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha now because they saw that miracle. Now here's a guy who right at the end of the life of Elijah is able to pick up that mantle and say, I want to do more. I want to do double. And when he gets to the end of his life, there's another man, Joash, who says the same thing he said. I mean, what did Elisha say when Elijah died? My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof. What does Joash say when Elisha died? Same exact thing. You know, we see here, Elisha smiting the water. We see Joash smiting the ground. But the difference is that Elisha went on to do great works for God because he thought big. Whereas Joash, the small thinking man who think, oh, three times that'll be enough. The small thinking man became a nobody. I mean, who here wants to talk about the great works of Joash? If you talked about Joash from the Bible, you're talking about a different Joash. Because there was a different Joash that was a king of Judah. And he was the guy who became king when he was seven years old and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. This guy, Joash of the northern kingdom of Israel is a nobody. The only Bible story we have about him is him failing, thinking small, failing to pick up the torch where Elisha put it down. Look, why is Elisha spending his dying moments with Joash? Why? He's trying to impart something to him. He's trying to give him a mission and tell him what he can accomplish for God. But he didn't get the message because he's thinking too small. Go to Isaiah chapter number seven. Isaiah chapter seven reminds me of the story where Elijah says to Elisha, you know, what shall be done for thee? What do you want? And then Elisha asks a hard thing. He asked a big thing. I want to have a double portion. Well this is similar where the Lord himself speaks unto King Ahaz and he asked him, what kind of a sign do you want to see? He kind of gives him the chance to ask to see something. And if you remember, King Hezekiah was given this same thing where he said, you know, hey, what do you want to see for a sign? Do you want the sun dialed in the, you know, do you want it to shatter to go forward or backward? He said going forward is too easy. I don't know how you figure, but he said, I want to see, I want to see the clock go backwards. You know, I want to see the sundial go backward. What? He's asking for something hard and Hezekiah is one that we know as a great man of God in the Bible. Ahaz, anybody know great Bible stories about Ahaz or Joash of the Northern Kingdom? No, these men failed. Why? Because they're not thinking big. Look at Isaiah chapter seven, verse 10, Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. You know, God wants to be put to the test. God wants us to ask for something big. And He's just said, well, I'm just not going to ask for anything. I don't want to ask for anything. And God gets angry at him. In verse number 13, He said, Here ye now, ye house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men? But will you weary my God also? What's it mean to weary someone? It means they're sick of you. If you weary some, they're sick of you. I'm sick of you. You know, here I am giving you the opportunity to ask to see something cool. And you're, oh, I don't want to ask for anything. Shut up. Ask for something. Ask for something big. Be like Elijah. Be like Elisha and think big today. And that's what he's saying. The Bible says in Jeremiah 33, you don't have to turn there. Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it. The Lord is his name. Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Now, a lot of times we misunderstand the word great in the Bible. Go to John chapter 14. He said, Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Now, when we think of something being great today, we think of it as being magnificent or glorious or of a really high quality. Hey, the food was great. You know, if we said, hey, that was a great service, we mean that we enjoyed it. It was a quality service. But often in the Bible, when the word great is used, it actually has to do with size. When it talks about something being great, it often has to do with how big it is. So when we see the word great, it often means big in the Bible. Let me show you an example. John 14 verse 12 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father. This is Jesus again at the end of his life, passing something on to the next generation. Jesus knows that he's about to go to the cross, sort of like Elisha was about to go, sort of like Elijah is about to go, sort of like the Apostle Paul was about to go, and he told Timothy to continue in the things that he learned and to teach others and so on. So Jesus at the end of his ministry here says, the works that I do shall ye do and greater works. And look, we know that he can't be talking about quality there because obviously anything that Jesus did is of the ultimate quality. You know, you're not going to preach a better sermon than Jesus preached. You're not going to be a better soul winner. You know, the Bible says it is enough for the disciple to be as his master. He said the disciples not above his master. The servant is not above his Lord. We know he's not saying you're going to do a greater quality of work. No, but he said to the disciples, the works that I do shall ye do and greater works. What's he saying? Big. Think big. Don't think small. Do something big for God. And there are way too many people today that are just satisfied with doing something small. Look, go big or go home. God wants us to do something big today. And there are so many people who don't have a big vision, and they think real small, and they just think to themselves, am I already losing a cufflink? Good night. All right, we'll see how long the other one lasts. But there are so many people today who they think small. They don't think big. You know, this church here in Fort Worth, Texas, needs to think big, okay? And this area is a big area. I mean, Fort Worth is big, and then there's Dallas. And this whole area is a big area, you know, and I would love to see this church to get a vision, not for just reaching this immediate area right here, but to think big and say, hey, we're going to knock every door in the whole Dallas Fort Worth area. Every area, every person in this area, every person who lives anywhere near here, they shall know that a prophet has been among them, you know, and they will all have a chance to accept or reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Every door will be knocked again and again and again. Look, it's possible, because that's what Jesus's ministry did. See, Jesus and his disciples, they're in the... I brought a spare cufflink, because I know how this game works, so... You know, if you think about Jesus's ministry, he told them, he said, go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as you go, preach, saying that the kingdom of God is at hand. And that's what they did, and in that three and a half year ministry, they covered that whole area, and it was a pretty big area, because if you look at a map, it's about 144 miles from Dan to Beersheba, because when they talk about Israel, they kind of say from Dan even to Beersheba, and it's about 144 miles, and Jesus and his 12 disciples, they went through all the towns and villages, all the cities and villages during that time, preaching the gospel. The Bible says in Mark 9.35, Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. In Mark 1.38, he said unto them, let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth. And in Mark 6, it talks about him going round about the villages, teaching. They went to every town, every village, and they went into the big cities, and preached, and everybody knew who they were, everybody heard the message. They went personally to each little village in town, and talked to people, and went to door to door, and entered into houses, and talked to people, and so forth. And look, God wants us to have that same ministry today, but he just expanded it after the death, burial, and resurrection, where he said, go ye therefore and teach all nations. So he basically showed us with one nation. He said, here's the nation of Israel, my nation, the nation that he grew up in, and he said, I'm going to take it upon myself with the church that I've assembled here, which was, you know, 12 people that he sent out, soul winning, and then eventually 70 people that he commissioned and sent out as apostles. He had that group, and he said, we are going to get the gospel to everybody in this day. Everybody's going to hear about it, to the point that when they're on the road to Emmaus, and they meet Jesus, and they don't know it's Jesus, and Jesus asked them, what are you guys talking about? Because they were talking about the crucifixion. He says, are you a stranger in Israel? How can you have not heard of Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth? Everybody had heard of him. Everybody knew about him. Why? He spent three and a half years with his disciples, his apostles, going everywhere, preaching to everybody and getting it done. And then he told his disciples, go unto all nations, teach all nations. Look, that commission is still valid for us today. And we have our own area here in Texas. You know, we have our area in Arizona. You have your area here in Texas. And you know, God wants you to get a big vision about preaching the gospel to every creature and about doing a big work for God right here. It's a big area. This church needs to be a big church doing a big work for a big God. Now, if you would go to Acts chapter number 19, the book of Acts chapter 19. Now, as we read the book of Acts, you know what we see in the book of Acts? People doing big things for God. I mean, exactly what Jesus said would happen. That's what happened. He said, you'll do greater works. And what did they do? Greater works? Greater works. And all throughout Acts, you turn to chapter 19. But in chapter two, it talks about, in verse 41, then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. In chapter four, it says, how be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5,000. I mean, these are big numbers. You know, 3,000 are getting saved and baptized. 5,000 are getting saved over here. The Bible says the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. It says in Acts 5 42, daily in the temple and in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Look at chapter 19, verse eight. Here's the Apostle Paul. He was a big thinking guy. And he did big works for God. Look at Acts 19, verse eight. And he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. And this continued by the space of two years so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. So here we see the apostles having a ministry where they go to an area. They're there for a couple of years and it can be said, hey, everybody that's in that area heard the gospel, both Jews and Greeks. He's there for three months. He's there for two years. And then he stands back and says, you know what? Everybody's heard the gospel in this area. You know, couldn't that be said today where we would look at Phoenix, Arizona and say, hey, they continued year after year so that all that were in Phoenix, Arizona heard the word of the Lord, both Jew and Greek, red, yellow, black, white, they all heard the gospel. That's possible. And people act like, oh, yeah, that's too big. That can't be done. Let's just focus on just our zip code. Or let's just focus on, you know, a five mile radius or a two mile rate. No, you need to think bigger than that. Because you know what? Faithful Word Baptist Church hadn't been around that long. Less than 10 years, we're going on 10 years. And our church is not a huge church. You know, our church right now runs on Sunday morning, 160, 170 people, you know, which is bigger than most independent Baptist churches. But it's not some massive, huge mega church, Joel Osteen style church. But yet in our area of 4 million people in Maricopa County, cause see, I'm thinking big, not just Tempe. No, the county. You need to think about Tarrant County, okay? And so, you know, I look at the big county, 4 million people. And you know, we've knocked the doors of about one fourth of that, okay? But here's the thing. If you look at the area immediately surrounding our church, we've done those doors five, six, seven times to the point of ridiculousness where it's like, you know, we need to get further out. We need to branch up. And so what we're trying to do is try to start soul winning times that meet in other parts of the city. So that instead of always leaving from faithful word Baptist and having to go farther out, you know, we basically could have people meeting up in these other areas and kind of radiate out from there and get it done. Look, there are about 40 independent, fundamental, King James type Baptist churches in Phoenix, Arizona, 40. And I'll bet you probably have more than that here because of the fact that this is the Bible belt and everybody's Baptist or whatever, you know, but that doesn't mean that they're saved. You know, go solely and talk to some of these Baptists and ask them, hey, you believe you can lose your salvation? Oh yeah, you can't live however you want. You're like, you're a Baptist? You know, or you ask them if they're saved and they give you all kinds of crazy answers, okay? So the bottom line is there are all these churches. Look, what if they all got a big vision? I mean, you know, my goal and I believe that God willing, I believe we'll get it done to knock every door in the greater Phoenix, you know, Maricopa County area. That's one church. What if 40 churches got that vision? You know, what it shows is that somebody's asleep at the wheel. All right, I only have so many spare cufflinks, so. You know, somebody's not getting the job done is what that tells me. And there are plenty of places out there where every door's not being knocked, where people aren't hearing the gospel. But you know what? You have a responsibility here for your area where God has placed you to get a big vision and say, you know what? Let's get a big vision of what we can do for God. If Jesus could do it, the apostles could do it, and he told us we'd do it if we would believe in him. You know, we can get this done if we'll get excited about it and get serious about it. And look, one person can't do it. I don't care how excited Brother Romero gets. I don't care how big his vision is. It's not done by one man. Now look if you would at Acts chapter 20, verse 18. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, you 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 mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews. And now I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying, both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 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, 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. And now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I've gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more, wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. He's saying here, look, from the day I got here, all seasons, I've preached unto you, I've taught you publicly, he said, and from house to house. And he said, therefore, I'm free from the blood of all men. Now, if he would have just knocked a few doors in his neighborhood right around him, could he really say, oh man, I'm free from the blood of all men in this area? I mean, he was in a big area, he was in a big city. And he said, no, I can honestly sit back and say, I am free from the blood of all men. Why? The Bible says that if we don't warn people, and they're damned, the Bible says his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. You know, if the watchman doesn't warn, and that's what God has called us to do to warn people. And he said that their blood is on our hands if we don't talk to them, if we don't warn them, if we don't preach the gospel. But Paul said, well, I'm free from the blood of all men. Now, everybody that you talk to is not gonna get saved. You're not gonna get all of Fort Worth saved. And, you know, people talk about, oh, man, they're gonna shut down the bars, and they're gonna shut down, you know. It's not gonna happen. Because broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there at, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. But let me tell you something. A realistic vision that's a big vision is that, well, everybody's gonna know that this church is here. Everybody's gonna know that a prophet has been among them. Everybody's gonna know the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if they choose to reject the free gift of salvation, it's not gonna be because they didn't hear about it. Repeatedly. It's gonna be because they heard it, and they had a chance, and they chose not to be saved. You know, I can live with that. I can go to bed at night and live with the fact that some people aren't gonna get saved through their own choice. But, you know, I don't wanna live with the fact that there are people out there sitting in their house that would have been saved if we would have told them, but they died and went to hell because they never even heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ. All they heard was lies. I don't wanna live with that. I don't wanna have that on my hands. You know, that's sick. I mean, that's a horrible thought that someone's eternity would be impacted like that because of the fact that you didn't get a big vision. You didn't get excited about soul. You didn't show up. You didn't care. You didn't get in church. You didn't get trained. You didn't go out and win souls. And people's lives are hanging in the balance today. I'm sick of this Calvinist garbage that says, oh, you know, it's all foreordained. It's all predetermined. That is a lie. The Bible says in Matthew 16, whatsoever, he said, I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And he says, whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Look, he's saying, I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. What do you think that means? What is this like just some mayor giving some big shot, the key to the city doesn't really open anything. It's just a decorative key. I mean, is that really what you think Jesus is saying? Here, let me play games with you. Here's a key. It doesn't open anything. What's he talking about? See, there's other people out there that are false teachers and false prophets. And you know what they do? They shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. He said of the Pharisees and the scribes, they don't enter in themselves and they stop people from entering. They shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. What's the opposite of that? Opening the door wide, putting your hand on their shoulder and trying to guide them to that door and say, look, here's the door. Jesus said, I'm the door. If any man enter in by me, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. Here's the door. We've got the key, my friend. These are the keys to the kingdom of heaven right here. You know, here's the key for you. Romans 3 23, Romans 6 23, John 3 16, Romans 5 8. Those are the keys that unlock the door to heaven for people. All they have to do is call upon the name of the Lord and they shall be saved. But how should they call on him in whom they've not believed? How should they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how should they hear without a preacher? And how should they preach except they be sent? Don't get sucked in to this philosophical, human wisdom, naval gazing, you know, Calvinistic, predetermined, you know, where they just sit around and dream up all this excuse why, you know, soul winning isn't important. And you know what? If I believed that garbage, I wouldn't be out soul winning very much. I'd go out a little bit just to say I did. You know what I mean? Just, well, he said, go preach, I'll go do it. But if I'm not accomplishing anything, look, I don't know about you, I don't like wasting my time. I don't like to spin my wheels. Like the apostle Paul said, I don't wanna be like one who beats the air. You know, I don't, look, I like running. I don't run on a treadmill because I wanna go somewhere, okay? And I don't wanna just be on this spiritual treadmill of like, oh, I'm working really hard, but you know what? I'm gonna be in the same place whether I run or don't run or it's all of God's will. No, God's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That's what the Bible says. God would have all men to be saved in the coming of the knowledge of the truth. He said, you have not because you ask not. A has, Joe has, small thinking man, you don't have anything because you don't want anything. And if you'd want it and have a desire for it and you'd ask God for it and you go out and work hard, you'll do something big for God. You know, that's the true story, my friend. But people don't wanna live with that. Like I said, you know, well, I don't wanna live with the fact that people around me are going to hell and they would have been saved. So here's two ways to not live with that. You can lie to yourself and say, oh, if they really wanna get saved, they'll get saved. If God chose them, they'll get there with or without me. He'll do it on his own. And then they go to sleep at night. Or you can go out and warn everybody and say, hey, I did my part and then go to sleep at night. But don't get sucked into those lies, my friend. The Bible teaches over and over again that we have free will. That we, he said, look, I say before you, life and death, choose life. Just kidding, I already chose for you. Ha ha ha, you, oh, by the way, you're death. Ha ha ha. I mean, what kind of a God? It's crazy, it's crazy stuff. But you know what? People that aren't saved are blinded. They come up with this stuff. The Bible says that the foolishness of preaching saves them that believe. And the Bible says that the natural man receiving not the things of the spirit of God, it says, neither can he know them, they're foolishness unto him because they're spiritually discerned. So the Calvinists can't understand the Bible when it clearly just says, whosoever will may come. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. You know, it's just, come take the life, choose life. And he's like, well, you don't choose. It's like, what? Oh, you have to be blind to believe that. Okay, so small thinking, my friend, it's something that we don't wanna be a part of. We wanna think big. You know, the Bible talks about those who continue in the word and serve God. And he said, they bring fruit to perfection. He said, some bring forth 30, some 60, and some 100. You know, these are numbers. These are big numbers. Not one, not two, not five. He said, 30, 60, 100. You know, these are big numbers. God wants us to think big. You know, one of the small thinking movements that's out there is this so-called house church movement. It's a small thinking, it's for small people with a small vision and they don't have a big vision and they think that doing little tiny small works for God is what God's looking for. No, the Bible says, herein is my Father glorified that you bring forth much fruit. So shall you be my disciples. You know, you can't sit there and say, well, I'm a disciple of Jesus and then do this really small work. That's not what Jesus did. Jesus did big works, great works. And he said, if you follow me, I'll make you fishers of men. And he said, you'll do greater works than what I've done. So to sit there and be this small minded, small thinking, small work doing guy, and then say, well, I'm a disciple of Jesus, I'm following Jesus. No, you're not. Now look, you're saved if you believe in him, but there's a difference between being saved and being his disciple. See, when Jesus was on this earth, there were lots of people that were saved, but how many disciples? 12. You know, how many disciples were in the early church? 120. But how many thousands were saved? Tens of thousands were saved, but how many are disciples? See, if you wanna be his disciple, you're a fisher of men. You wanna be his disciple, you bring forth much fruit, not some tiny little, you know, you know, just token little piece of fruit or something and get all excited about it. No, you need to do something big because let me tell you something, we live in a big world that's full of people that need to hear the gospel. And if we as Christians just have this idea that, oh, our church is gonna get a couple people saved this year, you know, we're gonna get two people saved and baptized two people and think that we're even putting a dent in the Dallas Fort Worth area, that's ridiculous. Do you really think it's God's will for us to sit around and do almost nothing and to reach almost nobody? And look, this house church movement, I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it. It's a joke. And I say it's evil because of the fact that it's taking people out of real churches and putting them in these play churches. I'll play a little toy church for you. And listen to me, go big or go home. And let me tell you something, this house church movement, it's not just church meeting in a house because that would be fine. You know, I'm not against a church that meets in a house. In fact, when this church started, Steadfast Baptist Church, it met in a house, okay? When Faithful Word Baptist started, it started a house. There are five times in the Bible where it talks about a church meeting in someone's house. Look, the building's not the problem, my friend. When I say house church movement, what they do is they're against any church that's bigger than can fit in the house. And I've run into these type of people. I literally had people in our church at Faithful Word where the church got to a certain size and they quit the church and said the church got too big. What a joke! You wouldn't have lasted long in the Book of Acts. You know, I keep leaving these churches, they keep getting bigger and I keep leaving and they get bigger. What kind of a ridiculous thing is that to say, I left the church because it got too big and I need the pastor to coddle me and hold my hand all the time. No, the pastor's trying to do a big work for God. He's not there to be your babysitter, okay? And so, look, you should get happy when the church gets big. You should get excited about the church growing. You should want the church to grow. Now look, the problem is that there's a bad movement out there that wants to grow with no regard for what's right and wrong, no regard for the truth. They just wanna grow at all costs. So they'll bring in the rock band, they'll bring in the liberal preaching, right? And they water everything down and just say, oh, let's just get big. And that's the Joel Osteen, the Rick Warren, the Bill Hybels crap. So that's wrong, obviously, to compromise the truth in order to get more people to come. That's not what we're talking about. But some people, when they see that, they react even further wrong the other way and they think like, oh, it's bad to be big. Oh, big churches are all bad. No, big churches are not all bad. In fact, I pray to God that this church will someday be a big church. I pray that Faithful Word will be a big church. You know, this church should run 1,000 people someday. Or more, thousands. Faithful Word Baptists should run 1,000 people. I mean, in the Bible, that's what they did. So the problem with these big liberal churches is not the fact that they're big, it's that they're liberal. So you say, well, don't go by size, don't look at size, size doesn't matter. No, size does matter. But here's the thing, you gotta do it according to God's Word, and it takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. Like a weed that grows up overnight. No, it's a slower growth, it's a steady growth, it's a real growth, but we should be striving for growth. Growth should be the goal. That should be one of the goals, to go big. Why? Because we have a big work to do. And we're not gonna do it with one person, and we're not gonna do it with five people. You know, we need a big church to do a big work for God. That's what we need today. We need to think big today. And look, I'll never compromise. And if the church stops growing, well, so be it. But you know what, I'm always gonna think big. And I'm always gonna do the biggest work that I possibly can. Here's what's wrong with this house church movement. It's not a church that's starting in a house, thinking big, growing, and then outgrowing the house and getting into some kind of a building. This house church movement is a church, is a movement that just wants to stay in the house, forever. And it's a movement that says when you outgrow the house, you basically split it. Keep splitting it so that it's always just a few people meeting in somebody's living room. And here's what they say. Oh, this is like it was in the book of Acts. Well, that's a lie, because in chapter one, they already had 120 people in the first service in the book of Acts. And then they only got bigger from there. They only got bigger. So, you know, I don't know about you, but I can't fit 120 people in my living room. But this house church movement, what it really is, it's a bunch of prideful blowhards, a bunch of know-it-alls, who basically don't want to submit themselves onto any leadership. They don't want to pour water on the hands of Elijah, because that would be degrading to them. I mean, why should a man pour water on the hands of another man, you know, that's degrading. So they have this prideful, arrogant attitude where nobody's good enough to pour water on their hands. And look, I don't think Elijah was perfect. I don't think Elisha was perfect. But you know what? They're man of God in the Bible. You know, Moses wasn't perfect, but he was a man of God. You know, the disciples were perfect. They were perfect. But he was a man of God. You know, the disciples and the apostles, they weren't perfect, but they were men of God. And a smart person would have gotten with these guys, learned from these guys, listened to these guys, let these guys lead you, and listen to me, if God intended the New Testament church to be a free-for-all, then why did he give such strict qualifications on who can be the bishop, who can be the pastor, who can be the deacon? Why would he have all this strict rule? It's actually tough to live up to. You know, I mean, you have to really, first of all, it's not a beginner, not a novice. So it has to be somebody who's been there for a while. They have the aptitude to teach the Bible. It says that they have to be the husband of one wife. They have to rule their children in their own house as well. They've got to have all these qualities. Why would God give you all these qualifications and then just say, oh, just kidding, you don't need a pastor? Just kidding, you don't need a bishop. Just kidding, church is when you get together with your Christian friends. And that's what they're teaching in this house church movement. Look, where two or three are gathered together, Jesus Christ is in the midst, but that doesn't make it church. Because you know what? When I gather with my family, there's 10 of us. Just my wife and eight kids. So look, is Christ in the midst when we get together as a family of 10 and read God's word and pray? Yeah, but that's not church, that's a family. Look, church, family, these are not the same. These are two different concepts. These are two different institutions. Okay, here's the third concept, friends. Okay, friends is not family. Friends is not church. Okay, friends are friends, family is family, and church is church. But when we have this movement today that's pulling people out of church and telling people, oh, church is when you have a few Christian friends come over to your house and you all take turns rattling your cage and you all take turns around the coffee table talking Bible, singing songs. Look, that's great, I'm not against that. If you wanna get together with your friends and have a Bible study, do it. You wanna get together and preach to each other and sing songs, do it. But don't call it church, my friend. Because the church is an institution that God ordained and he ordained that a church would have a leader, okay? And people will say, well, it should have multiple leaders. Well, why don't you start with one and then we'll talk? You know, everybody wants to talk about multiple pastors. Why don't we start with one, right? And actually, who's qualified? Who's actually, and listen to me, at Faithful Word Baptist Church, we don't just have this overabundance of qualified guys where it's like, well, we have 10 pastors. First of all, according to the Bible, the pastor is a paid position. Peter was told to stop fishing and Paul was never a pastor. He was an apostle, but he was never a pastor. Peter, John, they were told to quit their secular jobs and to do it full time, okay? So basically, they wanna have all these multiple pastors in their living room and they don't even have enough to even think about, paying or supporting the guy, one guy, but they wanna have a bunch of multiple leaders, multiple pastors, multiple vegans. What you end up with is too many chiefs and too few Indians is what you end up with. Yeah, there's 10 people meeting in the living room, half of them are the pastors. It's stupid, it's just prideful arrogance. Yes, I'm a pastor of an internet ministry. I'm one of the seven pastors of the church. We're running eight right now. We're all single dudes. It's stupid, my friend. Now look, if somebody is living in Timbuktu and listening to this sermon on the internet or something and they say, no, really, there's no Baptist church. Okay, fine, get together with your Christian friends, sing songs, if that's all you got, that's all you got. And that's a shame that people aren't being sent out to go start churches all over the world and reach the whole world at least with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But here's the thing, if you're living in the United States of America, there's a real church for you to go to. And let me say that again, real church. Let me put it this way, big boy church, okay? Church that isn't playing games, church that's the real thing. And you say, no, cause every church in my area is wrong on this doctrine. You know, okay, how do you know? You know, a lot of people, they think that every church is wrong. And it's like, have you ever read the Bible cover to cover one time? No, I'm working on it. But you know that every church in your area is all wrong on this. Maybe you're wrong on things. Well, no, I know they're wrong cause Pastor Anderson said it. Pastor Anderson's not God. And you know what? You need to read the Bible for yourself and figure out what the Bible says. You know what the Bible says about the person who reads the Bible every day in Deuteronomy 17? The Bible says that if a person reads the Bible every day it says that it will make them so that their heart is not lifted up above their brethren. It says, you'll read therein all the days of his life that his heart be not lifted up above his brother. The most arrogant, prideful, everybody's wrong, no good church, there's nowhere to go are the people who don't read the Bible. And they get all puffed up and lifted up and arrogant and whatever. Listen to me, you need to find the, cause some people are not from this area, right? So I mean, I know some people, this sermon might be hurting a little bit right now cause I might be talking to you, I don't know. Because there are people who came from different areas. Let me just say this, this is what God expects you to do in 2015, to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, which is what I'm doing right now. And so much the more as we see the day approaching, we need church in 2015 more than we've ever needed it. Not less, more. And this is what God expects you to do. He expects you to find the best church in your area and to go there and get involved. Look, it's not gonna be perfect. Look, you say, well, they're wrong on Bible prophecy. Is that really, look, is that really the biggest thing that there is? I don't know about you, but my biggest doctrine is the gospel. My biggest doctrine is salvation by faith. My biggest doctrine is the eternal security of the believer. The greatest works that I believe we can do is to go out and preach that word. So why don't you just find a church that's King James and soul winning. And I guarantee you that if you live in any decent sized area in the United States, there's a soul winning church in your city period. Well, it's not as good as steadfast. Well, then move to steadfast. Then move, well, it's not good enough. Then why don't you put up or shut up? Why don't you go big or go home? Why don't you get here then? And if this church is so great, then why don't you get here and be here? Otherwise you go find a church in your area and you get your butt to that church and you start doing something for God and quit whining. Dude, listen, you'll do bigger works in a church that's not perfect than in no church at all. Because in no church at all, usually this is about how much soul winning you do when you're in no church. When you're in no church, but why? Because the Bible says, how should they preach except they be sent? And listen, theoretically, we could all just go out soul winning by ourself, right? Theoretically, right? I mean, let's say I'm living in some distant place. Theoretically, I could just go out and start soul winning by myself. And you know what? God would bless that and that would be great. But you know what? I'm telling you, people don't do it. And look, I grew up in a Christian home. I got saved when I was six years old. And I remember as a teenager, having a burning desire to get people saved, to give people the gospel, to the point where I even went to my youth pastor in the church I was going to, and I said, will you take me out and knock doors with me? And we can just tell people about Jesus and just tell them how to be saved. And he wouldn't do it. Cause it was some liberal NIV, you know, whatever church. And he wouldn't do it. And you know what I ended up doing? Nothing. You know what I mean? And look, I don't think anybody would argue that I'm a soul winning guy. You know, I mean, I've gone soul winning every single week for the last 17 years now. Every week for 17 years. But you know what? When I didn't have a church sending me out, guess what I did? Guess what Stephen Anderson did for God when there was no church? Nothing. Then I got in church that was a soul winning church. And they said, hey, soul winning's on Saturday at 10 AM. And then all of a sudden I'm soul winning now. Look, you say, oh, well, Stephen Anderson, you know, the soul winning. No, no, Stephen Anderson did nothing until getting in a church that, guess what, was stupid on Bible prophecy. There was pre-trib to the bone, all right? And look, but hey, I did more in an imperfect church than the nothing I was doing not being in church. And you know what? I'm not just trying to be mean or hurt people's feelings or rattle my cage. You know what? I'll tell you exactly where my heart is. I love souls. I love soul winning. I have a big vision. I believe that it's possible. Listen to me. I'm not playing games up here. I'm not here to put on a show. I didn't come out here just to get up and wow every, look, I'm here for one thing, okay? I'm here because I believe that in our lifetime, we can shake this nation with the gospel to where, you know, I'm not saying we're necessarily gonna reach the whole world with this message, but you know what? I'm telling you, we can shake this nation with the gospel in our lifetime. And you know what? It's very possible. And you know, I'm looking around the room. I see a lot of young men. I don't know your situation. A lot of young men in this church. I don't know the names or the faces or the situations, but you know what? I bet you that there are men in this church that someday and start the next church. And let me tell you something. It's possible if we think big and you think big and these young guys that are under the sound of my voice think big, I guarantee you that we could go out and start multiplying, you know, to where faithful word is sending out churches. And then, you know, steadfast is sending out people to go start churches all over Texas, you know? And then, you know, Pastor Jimenez is sending out people to start churches all over California. And you know what? It's possible to do something so big where anyone who lives in America and our generation will know, hey, somebody came to my door at the gospel and it wasn't the latter day Satanists. You know, it wasn't the JFWs. It was actually the real gospel. Look at Acts chapter 17. I think you're there in chapter 20. Flip back a few pages to chapter 17. Look, I believe it's real. I believe it's possible. I believe that every person in Arizona can hear the gospel in our lifetime. I believe that every person in Texas could hear a clear presentation of the gospel in our lifetime. I believe that red hot, soul winning churches could be started in every major city in America in my lifetime. And look, other generations have done great things for God in the past. It's time for us to say, I wanna do double what they did. I'm not just gonna keep recycling, you know, the old past, you know, the Jack Hyles, or, you know, the man of the past that people say, hey, did those great work? You know, why don't we just be double what he was? Forget him. You know what? He's with the Lord, forget him. He's not the one that God has given you. He's given you Pastor Donnie Romero. You know, or wherever you were from, your church, your pastor, you know what I mean? We need to just stop living in the glory days of the past. The Bible says, if you ask the question, why think, and I'm paraphrasing from Ecclesiastes, if you ask the question, why things were greater in the past, he said, that's a stupid question. He said, thou inquirest not wisely, if you say, well, wherefore were the former days better? No, no, no, let's do the greatest works of any generation. I mean, how do you top Elijah? You double what he did. And we need to get serious. And listen, if you're serious about the Lord, you're in church, because getting a church is like step one of Christian growth. I mean, these house church people, they're not even to first base spiritually. Forget, they haven't even hit the ball yet. They're not even at bat yet. They haven't even put on the uniform yet, okay? You know, they're, yeah, exactly. They're the water boy, the spiritual water boy. I'm telling you, it's possible. We need to think big and realize it can be done. Oh yeah, you say, well, Pastor Anderson, you've asked a hard thing. Yeah, but it can be done. Look at Acts chapter number 17, verse six. When they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren under the rulers of the city crying. These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also. Don't you love that verse? This is what the enemies are saying. He's saying, look, these guys have turned the world upside down and now they've come here also. Now they're here. That's what we want every city in America should be like, uh-oh. Steadfast Baptist Church just sent out a young guy, these red hot preaching hellfire and damnation. He's a soul winning machine, big vision. He just sent a guy like that down to our city, down in South Texas or whatever. Look out, one of these guys is down here now. These guys are turning the world upside down. Hey, they didn't mean that as a compliment, but you know what? It is a compliment. I love that verse. Why? Because it's talking about people who did something big and I'm not one of these people that gets excited about everything that's small. No, big. Go big or go home. And we get too much emphasis on, oh, let's tell the story about a missionary who went and spent 20 years in a foreign field and got one person saved and it was all worth it. That's a stupid story. Look, you say I'm unspiritual. You're unspiritual if you think that's a stupid story, right? I think it's a stupid story. And there's nothing like that in the Bible ever. And you can sit there and call me unspiritual and say I don't love the individual and I don't care. Hey, there's no story like that in the Bible. Show me the story in the Bible where they spent 20 years and got less than 10 people saved and got excited about it. Because it ain't there. Because the people in the Bible got people saved because the Bible says he that go forth and weep with bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with them. It's doubtless. Doubtless. God has already given us the victory. So this idea that we go out and do these times. Look, if the guy really went to some Timbuktu and spent his whole life to get 10 people saved, that guy would have been a lot smarter to stay in the United States then. Where he would have got thousands of people saved and he would have probably accidentally gotten some people from that country saved anyway, because the United States has people from every country in it. I mean, I've gotten people saved from Iran. I've gotten Indian saved. I've gotten Chinese people saved. I've gotten Arabs. And so will you if you go out and knock doors in Dallas Fort Worth, you're gonna find all this. Brother Romero was just telling me there's a community right down the street from here that had Ethiopians. I mean, you want to talk to the Ethiopian eunuch, he lives down the street. You can live the book of Acts today. I mean, that's his business, but I'm just saying, you know, you don't want to go looking for him, like, excuse me, you know. But the point is that, you know, there are Ethiopians over there. There are Arabs over there, Africa, Asia. It's, look, we live in such a cool generation where we live in a place where it's like the day of Pentecost every day. Because what was so special about the day of Pentecost? People from all nations are there. That's a day in Dallas. All nations are there. I mean, it's like, you could have a Pentecost every day if you'd think big. But let me tell you something. The Bible says if it's an unreceptive area, you shake off the dust and go somewhere else. That's what the Bible says. Why? So you don't just live your life and never do anything big. And look, this is stuff you don't normally hear, Bible preaching, but it is biblical stuff, what I'm saying right now. Because Jesus said, if you enter into a town or a village and if it's unworthy, then shake off the dust and go to the next one. That's why, you know, if I'm out so many, he said, if you come to a house where they don't hear, shake off the dust. A man that is in heretic after the first and second admonition, reject. Why? Because you don't want to spend three hours arguing with some died in the wool Mormon when right down the street, there's somebody who wants to get saved. And when I go out, so when I'm going to get somebody saved and look, it doesn't mean I don't care about the individual. It doesn't mean I don't love the individual. It's just that if you love the individual, you'd realize that there's a bunch of individuals. You know, it's like, oh, well, unless you're willing to just beat your head against the wall to get one, you know, they want to go be a missionary to Israel, like the most unreceptive place in the whole planet. And it's like beat their head against the wall, beat their head against the wall to beg, you know, and they'll get like one Jew saved in a blue moon or something. It's like, why don't you go somewhere receptive? You know, why don't you go, why don't you go to the poor areas of Dallas, Fort Worth, and you could save the plane ticket. You could save getting arrested. You're not going to get arrested soul winning here. You can do it. I mean, look, we were out soul winning a couple of weeks ago and the cops showed up. Some long haired hippie called the cops on us. Some God hating atheistic type that just, you know, oh, you guys, you know, he called the cops on us because we're selling an apartment complex. It's like, oh, it's private property. Well, you know, every house you knock is private property. You can't walk up to somebody's door and knock it without being on their private property. And if they don't want to hear it, look, I'm more than happy to leave when they don't want to hear it anyway. I don't want to be there if they don't want to hear it. I'm not interested. See ya next door. Who cares? Shake it off. We're at this apartment complex and the cops are called. And I mean, the cops showed up and he started telling me, hey, I said, no, don't lecture me. I said, you're not going to sit here and give me, I said, I don't have time to listen to your lecture. I said, am I under arrest? Well, you know, I have to give you a warning and this and that. And he said, you know, if you come back, you'll be arrested. I said, well then, you know, I said, let me just tell you something. I said, the only reason I'm not coming back is because we've already knocked every door in this complex. But I said, you know what I'm going to do next Wednesday? I'm going to go across the street and knock all the doors at that. And he's like, well, if you're ever back at this complex though, you'll be arrested. And I said, well, listen, I'll be back at this complex in about two years, you know, after we've kind of knocked everything else and come back around the rotation. And I said, then you can come back and arrest me at that time. Because you know what, honestly, they're just kind of huffing and puffing and blowing smoke. I told him, I said, you know, we're doing the work of God and you're trying to stop us. That's evil, I said. But the bottom line is, the bottom line is today, that the reason that I could talk, I mean, you couldn't talk that way in other countries to the cops. They'd beat the snot out of you in a lot of places. Right? I mean, you know, if you're down in Mexico, don't try this on the Mexico mission strip or something. You know, excuse me, senor. It's like, boom, you know, it's not going to work. But you know what? That's why we should thank God for our freedom in America. Thank God for the first amendment. And look, you're sitting in a country that's prosperous. You're sitting in a country where it's easy to go soul winning, where you're not going to be arrested. You're not risking your life. You know, you're not going to be killed or beaten for soul winning. It's all right here. People from all nations, unlimited doors in Dallas, Fort Worth. What are you doing? Go big. Oh, I did a little token soul winning. No, go big. Well, I came on the big day. No, go big. Go weekly. Get involved. Get excited. Get the map. You know, I see a map. I didn't really look at that map, but I see a map back there. That's a big map. That's a big map. Shade in that big map and then get a bigger map. Hey, then get a map of Texas and start putting thumbtacks on all the churches that are being planted of all the guys that are being trained at Steadfast Baptist Church, right? And start by, hey, we need a church. Here's a gap. And then they get big maps. Look, it could be done if we get to work, if we get serious about it. Am I talking to Elisha tonight or am I talking to Joash tonight? Am I talking to Hezekiah tonight or am I talking to Ahaz tonight? Well, I haven't heard of some of these guys because they're losers. They're nobodies. I mean, you know, most, if we walked up and asked, hey, who's Ahaz? You know, have you ever heard of King Joash? No, but Elisha? Oh yeah. Peter, James and John? Oh yeah, I've heard of them. Jesus? Oh yeah, of course. But that's because they did something big. You know what? And I wanna do something big for God. And I'm here tonight because I wanna get you excited to do something big for God as a church. That's why I'm here. I want you to get a big vision, to think big. Big! Not like these small thinking house church people who are like, oh, well, we're just like the book of Acts with five people in the living room. No, you're not. No, you're not. And look, it's okay for a church that's starting out to be running five, 10, 15 people. Everybody's gotta start somewhere. And plus, I've known churches that were that size that are still doing a big work for God. For example, when we started our church in Tempe, the first year we ran 10. The second year we ran 20. The third year we ran 30. So it wasn't some super astronomical fast growth. But listen, even when we were running an average of 10, we had 200 people saved that year. You know, and we grew and we went from there and we went, why? Because we still thought big. We still preached big and got excited about doing something. Look, you're here tonight. I mean, some people have driven far tonight. That shows dedication. The fact that you drove from a distant city shows that you're not playing games. You're excited. You wanna do something big for God. You care about what I'm talking about tonight. And it's so good to preach to a crowd of people that are excited, that wanna do something big for God. But you know what? We need to do it, not just talk it or think it. We need to go big or go home. Go home. I mean, look, are you cold or hot? Don't be lukewarm. Go big, be zealous. Repent, do the first works. Get excited about doing something big. And look, if you're from a distant city and you don't go to church, I'm talking to you, get your butt in church. You know, and honestly, I always tell people the same thing. There's a website called Military Get Saved. I don't know why it's called that, but it's called Military Get Saved. You just Google Military Get Saved and then go to your state and just search the word soul. Soul, all right? Why? Because soul winning. So you control F, soul, and then you'll see all the churches in your state that are at least advertising soul winning. Those churches are usually gonna be King James and right on the gospel if they're soul winning. You know, that, and look, well, that's not perfect. You're not perfect. I'm not perfect. Romero's not perfect, you know. You get in there and you be a blessing and you don't go there and start, okay, everybody, get ready for some changes around here. You know what I mean? No, you show up and you get involved in the church program. You get involved in the soul winning. Don't tell them how to do it. Show them how to do it. You get in church with a real pastor, you get excited, and you know what? You say, well, that's not good enough for me. Okay, then pack your bags. But don't just put up or shut up and don't just sit there and whine. We have a big world, a big job. Hey, it's called the Great Commission. I don't think it's called the Great Commission because it was so cool. Like, it's great, it's cool, yeah. I think it's great because it's the big job. We need to start thinking of it as the big commission. He left us with a big job, and we need people who think big to get a big job done and do a great work for God. Go big or go home. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord. Thank you for the examples of these men in the Bible, Lord, the good example of Elisha, and the bad example of Joash, who was such a small thinking man that he smites the ground three times and he thinks that's enough. Lord, help us to be like the Elishas of this world who would say, three is not enough. Let's go with five or six. If three is good, then five is better. If one soul is worth more than the whole world, then 100 souls is worth even more than that, Lord. Help us to get excited and to give everybody a chance to hear the gospel and to do something big for you, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.