(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

2 Samuel 23 9 and after him was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle and the men of Israel were gone away. So what we have here is we've got four men, we've got David, Eliezer, and two others by themselves and all of Israel fled away. And it says verse 10, he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword and the Lord wrought a great victory that day and the people returned after him only to spoil. So what I just like this picture, what you see here is a mighty man who's prepared for battle, who's skilled with his sword, and the Lord through him wrought a great victory that day. And so what I wanted to talk about is becoming a mighty soul winner, becoming a mighty soul winner. You see, why was Eliezer listed in David's mighty men? Well, it's because of his great accomplishments, right? Well, he didn't just get there because he woke up one day and he's like, oh, I guess I'm a mighty man now. No, he actually, there was a path that he took. He actually worked hard, he trained hard, and he worked harder than anyone else to get there. So how can we be mighty soul winners for God? Well, I have just three basic points and I'll just give them to you. It's learn, train, fight. Learn, train, fight. Now, when you go into battle and you're given a weapon, it's kind of good to know how to use that weapon, right? Now, you wouldn't be very confident if you've never, you know, fired that weapon or you've never used that weapon, you don't know how to reload it, you don't know how to clean it or fix it if it breaks or anything like that, you're not going to be super confident. But in order to gain confidence, what you need to do is you need to gain some knowledge about that weapon and to train with it, okay? We also have a weapon, it's called the word of God, right? Word of God is the sword of the spirit, okay? We're going out fighting spiritual battles and the Bible says that this is the sword of the spirit. So if you don't know how to use it well, if you don't know how to wield it well, you're going to fall on your face. You're not going to be so confident out there, you know, you're going to be like trying to, trying to fight, you know, it's different between, you can tell the difference between the beginner and an experienced swordsman, right? You see everyone, I don't know if you've ever watched Fencing, but how, you know, smooth and fast those guys are because they spent a lot of time practicing, they spent a lot of time getting to know their weapon, you know, it's how it's balanced and how it feels and how it works, that all comes to their, their knowledge and their training. So we as soul winners, when we're going out, we need to be able to have confidence in our sword, right? We need to know it well, we need to know it inside and out, we need to know how to wield it, okay? Now this, there's hopefully, whether you're a beginner soul winner or whether you're experienced, hopefully there will be something in here for you. So point number one is to learn. So my, this is kind of the path that I took in learning how to go soul winning because I kind of learned by myself, of course with help from YouTube and Pastor Anderson's videos, but we, you need to, you need to spend time learning and the best way that you can boost your confidence, if you lack confidence as a soul winner is to memorize the verses, memorize all of the verses. Now maybe you've been soul winning for some time and you haven't done that, I encourage you to do that because it's going to revolutionize your ability as a soul winner, okay? You're going to go from just, you know, maybe you're struggling or maybe you're just an average soul winner, you're going to become an expert soul winner. If you want to become an expert soul winner, memorize all of the verses. Romans 3 10, Romans 3 23, Romans 6 23, Revelation 28, Revelation 20 14, or 20, 20 14, 21 8, Romans 5 8, 1st Corinthians 15, you know, Ephesians 2 8 and 9, all of the verses, Acts 16 31, Romans 10 9, you should at least have all the references memorized and I'll tell you why in a minute, but if you have all of the references memorized and the verses themselves, it's going to boost your confidence. Why? Because you know where you're going, you know what to do, you know what to say, you know what the talking points are going to be. So having that in your mind, of course it does help to write them down, you know, in your Bible the next place I got to turn is this, but it's actually better to have those things memorized, okay? Now in the military what the guys do in the briefing room when you're talking about like, you know, the special forces guys, the elite soldiers, you know, they don't sit down with a pen and paper, they don't have a pen and paper at all. When they're going over the plan, when they look at the map, you know what they do? They memorize the entire thing. They look at the map, they memorize the map, they got the plan, they memorize the plan. Why? Because in the midst of the battle you don't have time to like, oh, what do my notes say? You know, because seconds could mean someone could get killed, okay? And here's the thing too, when you're out soul-witting, having those things memorized is going to make your presentation more fluid. It's going to make it better. You're not going to have, you know, awkward pauses and when you have to stop and think about what you're saying. So it's going to boost your confidence. It's also going to free up your mind to work on improving your presentation. So now that you've had it memorized, you can actually work on other things like your facial expressions, using your hands, also being aware of your surroundings. Maybe there's distractions going on that you could, you know, possibly deal with, or maybe you can pay attention to their body language and what they're saying to you instead of just being so, you know, glued to your presentation. Kind of the picture is like someone who gets up and preaches a sermon, they're just kind of like glued to their notes the whole time, they have their head down. You don't want to be like that. You want to be like you're talking to them as if they're your friend, right? As if you're just having a conversation, okay? It takes practice to get there and the way you get there is by memorizing, okay? You memorize the verses and, you know what, if you're a beginner, I would even go as far as memorizing the entire presentation. Well, that's hard. Well, you know what, it's worth it, okay? I guarantee you, if you did that, if you did that, you memorize the verses and your presentation, you would be a solid soul winner by next week. You just got to put the work in, okay? That's just what I had to do because I didn't have the confidence and the words to say when I started. I know, like, but when I started memorizing it, I memorized my presentation, I planned out what I was going to say, and I was able to rely upon muscle memory, right, or whatever. When you get nervous, you just realize, hey, I memorized this, I can just, you know, say what I've practiced to say, okay? So, we need to focus on learning. Not only that, it's going to help you improve your transitions between points. Often with new soul winners, their presentations are kind of blocky. I don't know if you know what I mean, but you have the block, you know, each point is its own separate block, and there's not really a transition between those points, and it's kind of like, okay, now you're a sinner. Okay, now, okay, so the Bible says Romans 3, Romans 3, no, Romans 6, 23 says, for the wages of sin is death, right? And then you talk about wages, and then you start to say, well, you know, the Bible says, it talks about a second death, you know what a second death is, and they'll be like, no, okay, here. You're turning, oh, and the wind blows your Bible, oh. Okay, so you see, obviously, I'm over exaggerating, okay? But if you can be more smooth in your transition, you can be more smooth in your transition by actually, if you memorize the verses, you know what the verses are going to say, you can have a transitional phrase that's going to lead into that verse, and I'll just give you an example. You know, you say, you show them Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, and you ask them, well, do you know what that word wages mean, and you explain that, and then you could say, you know, but the Bible talks about, obviously, we all die physically one day, but you do know that the Bible talks about the second death. Have you heard about the second death before? And they'll say, well, no, I haven't heard about the second death. Well, here, let me show it to you. The Bible says, in death and hell, we're cast in a lake of fire. This is the second death. So you see how smooth that was? You're leading into the next point, and while you're talking, while you're leading into that, you could be turning to the next passage. So you kind of have to multitask a little bit, and in your mind, just kind of stay ahead of the game. Stay a step ahead, and the only way you can do that is if you've already memorized the passages and what you're already going to say. So point number one is to learn. Point number two is to train. You need to, if you struggle in an area in your presentation, you need to practice going through that on your own time, okay? You can lock yourself in your room, you can lock yourself in your car, you know, turn the AC on, and just out loud, start at Romans chapter 3, and out loud, go through the presentation two, three, four, five, six times until you've nailed it. You really only have to do that, you know, one time in your life, you know, to get yourself to the point you need to go, but you practice it over and over again until you, it's just muscle memory. You don't have to think about it. You just know what to say, all right? And that's the only way to get there is through training, is through practicing, is through repetition. So you've memorized the verses, and you've memorized what you're going to say, now you just practice saying it, okay? You just say it over and over again, as if you're talking to somebody, you know? You might look weird talking to yourself, you know, in the car, but you know what? You might get some weird looks, but you know what? You're doing it for a good cause, right? You're practicing your soul-winning presentation, it's going to make you much better. You can practice in front of the mirror. I would say that's the next step. Why would you want to practice in front of a mirror? Well, because you don't know what your face looks like, okay? And sometimes your face, you know, you might be like, Ernie Roman, chapter three, you know? Obviously, you don't want to look like a jerk, okay? And your body language is half of your communication, okay? So yes, you work on your presentation, you work on what you're going to say, you work on the memorizing, but you also need to work on your own body language, okay? Are you using your hands? Is your face look too mean? You know, brighten your face a little bit, raise the eyebrows, give a smile, be friendly, you know? Ask yourself, when you look at the mirror, ask yourself, you know, do I want to talk to this guy? You know, when I first did that, I'm like, oh, I would not want to talk to that. So I made that change. You only have to do that, you know, once, and you kind of get the point. You could also practice with a friend, you know, a family member, ask them to be an unsafe person for you, and give them the gospel, okay? So we have learn, train, and fight. I'm going to read you a couple of verses here. 2 Corinthians 10, 3 says, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations in every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And then 1 Timothy 6, 12 says, Fight the good fight of faith. They hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. We as Christians are called to fight. And you know what? It's great when you just want to jump in the fight, you know, God bless you. I love your zeal, but you know what? Get some knowledge too, because this is the thing. It's a very serious business that we're into, okay? We're talking about people's souls are in the balance of heaven and hell, and we're going out there, giving them the gospel, so don't mess it up, okay? You know, we're not out fighting a physical battle, and you know what? I often refer to soldiers in the military as an example. You know, they spend months and months and months in training and providing the training that they need, so they don't get themselves killed, and they don't get their friends killed. You know, we're obviously eternally secure, but the person we're talking to isn't. They don't have salvation, so don't mess it up. Get some knowledge through learning and memorizing and train and get equipped so that way you can do the best that you can to give them the best opportunity to get saved. Okay? It's a serious, sobering thought to think like, you know what? This person, if they don't hear or understand, or if I mess up, or if I don't do this well enough, they might not get saved, okay? So that's why it's a serious business, and obviously, I love people that are just zealous and just want to get out there and do it, but you know what? And do that, but don't forget to learn and to train, okay? Don't just wing it, because it's not something that you want to wing when it's talking about people's souls, okay? So let's just take that seriously, and let's learn, train, and fight. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, just thank you for your word. The Lord, I pray that you would help us as we go out in soul winning today, that you'd be with us, filled with your Holy Spirit, and lead us to your receptive hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.