[0:00] Take your Bibles now and turn with me, if you would, to Luke chapter 5. While you're turning, I would like to remind you of what the Apostle Paul said in Acts chapter 20 and verse 26. Paul said, I am pure from the blood of all men. Paul had been in this community and he had gone from house to house. He'd been telling people about Jesus. He had shared the gospel with them. He had removed his responsibility. In other words, he was responsible to get them the message.
[0:28] I can't get anybody saved. You can't get anybody saved. But we can tell people how to come to know Jesus as their personal Savior. And that's our responsibility. Then when we went to the book of Ezekiel, we learned about a watchman. The book of Ezekiel, that's a phrase used there. And what it amounted to was they got the walls around the city and the people are living there. And so they have lookouts upon the towers, looking out over the community, over the way before you could get to the village, before you could get to the fort where they would be secure. And that guy's job was to watch and see if the enemy was coming. If the enemy were coming, he was to blow the horn. That way they could shut the gates, get the weapons ready, and prepare for battle. Anybody out in the community, out there somewhere, the sentries are warning them so everybody can get to victory. And he says to them over and over, you're to give them the warning. And he tells them in Ezekiel 33, he says, Ezekiel, I make you a watchman. I'm giving you the job to hear what I have to say and then to share what I have to say with people. And if you do that, then you're not responsible for their dying and going to hell or their being killed. But if you don't do that, you're responsible. I really don't know what that means. The Bible's not real clear about how far that goes. So it's not like you're going to be condemned in heaven or anything like that, but you could feel a certain responsibility if you wanted to. You ought to. We were living in the city of Arequipa, Peru years ago.
[1:57] And we went to church on a Sunday evening like we always did. And we came home as I walked up to the gate of our house. Everything's closed in behind gates. The dog was in the front yard. Now when I say front yard, it would have been about this far. That's about as much yard as we had in the front.
[2:15] And we probably had this much in the back. The dog always stayed in the backyard. And the dog was in the front yard. And I was like, which one of my kids am I going to kill tonight for letting the dog get here? And then when I looked, the windows beside the door had been blown out by a bomb. I didn't know what had happened. I just thought somebody had gotten in the house. So I stepped over to the guard who guarded our community. And I said, somebody break into my house. He said, look, I'll work for you.
[2:39] Because I wasn't paying him anything. It wasn't his responsibility. And I was like, I'm fixing to punch you. Just tell me if somebody broke into my house or not. He said, no, there was a bomb here earlier. And what had happened is a bomb had gone off and blown the windows out of our house, blown the doors off, any sliding doors off their frame. Now, had you had known I was at home that night, we weren't at home. But had you had known I was at home, and had you had known they were going to put a bomb there, and had you known that my children would be asleep and you had not warned us, I think you'd have to feel some sort of responsibility. How many of you agree with that? I mean, I'm in the house. You know I'm in the house. And you know me. And then you hear about I'm going to put the bomb there and you're not going to do anything about it. That would be a very irresponsible move on your part. That's what Ezekiel's talking about. And we do know about great danger. We do know that people are going to die and spend all of eternity in a place they decide on now while they're alive.
[3:34] We know that every human being across this globe will one day spend all of eternity forever and ever in a place called hell if they don't trust Christ as their Savior. And he wants all to be saved. The Lord wants all to be saved. The Lord has put us as watchmen. And so the Apostle Paul said, hey, I'm pure of the blood of all men. In this community, I've talked to everybody. I've shared the truth. I've not failed to give the whole counsel of God. So I want to read a passage with you from Luke chapter 5 and verse 27. And I want to challenge you because as a church, we get kind of lazy. And as Americans, we're like, I don't want to offend anybody. And I want to ask you to take the responsibility of risking your friendship for eternal good. Risking your friendship for eternal good. You have a friend and that friend's going to die and go to hell. And you and I choose to keep their friendship for 10, 20, 30, 50 years. And yet they'll spend eternity in a place called hell.
[4:35] So we'll have Levi's Lou out. And it's based on several passages, this being one of them. Look at this, if you would, 527. And after these things, he went forth and he saw a publican named Levi. You could write the word tax collector there. He's a publican, a tax collector. Now he works for the public. He's not a very popular guy, by the way. You know, there's certain jobs you don't want to have.
[4:58] You don't, you know, you, you know, you might not enjoy a certain parts or certain jobs, but to be a publican in their society meant you worked for the enemy government. You were working for the Roman government, not for the Jewish. The Romans are occupying Jewish land and in command of Jewish lands. And here's a Jewish man working for the enemy. In our day and time, I think maybe the closest thing we'd come up with would be he's a terrorist or he's a spy for the enemy. And that's what we got going on. So Jesus comes forth and he sees a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom. And Jesus said to him, follow me. And he, Levi, left all, rose up and followed him.
[5:41] And Levi, now you could circle that word Levi and just write Matthew. That's his name that he likes to use. That's his name that speaks of the gift of God that he has received. That's the name he prefers to use. That's the name of the book of Matthew. That's the guy who wrote the book of Matthew.
[5:56] And he said, Levi made a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of other terrorists, of publicans, of these people that work for the opposing government and of others. And that others there would include other people of ill repute. It's like the people no one wants around. It's like probably the prostitutes. It's like people of lower strata society that we don't want to be around, drug dealers. These are people that Matthew knows because Matthew is on the outside. Levi's on the edge of society. And so he has this big feast in his own house. And there's a great company of them that sat down with him. The scribes and the Pharisees murmured. They got together and they were talking and they said, why do you eat with and drink with publicans and sinners?
[6:47] Jesus, why in the world are you associating with people we would never associate with? We don't run around with prostitutes and we don't run around with drug dealers. We're good people and we don't run around with them. And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician. People that are well do not need a doctor, but they that are sick. Jesus said, I'll tell you why I'm with them and not with you. They're sick and they need help. And so I'm over at the house there. Verse 32 said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
[7:26] Father in heaven, I pray that you would use this time in our lives and help us as a church to be concerned for souls and to use every opportunity to get the gospel out. I pray that your name would be glorified and magnified. And I pray you'd help me to speak clearly and consistent with the scripture and help to motivate your people to honor you and serve you as we share the gospel in Jesus precious name. Amen. Uh, years ago, uh, in Ida Kipa again, uh, I was pastoring of the Hunter Baptist church.
[7:56] It was in a poor section of town. So nobody ever had a car. There's always one vehicle parked outside and that was my car. Uh, and, uh, so on a Sunday morning, a car showed up at the church and I looked out and I said, wow, somebody was able to pay a taxi to come to church today. That's pretty neat.
[8:12] And, uh, the taxi stayed there. I said, wow, they must own that car because it didn't leave. And I was shocked and come to find out my son, David at the age of five or six years of age had befriended this family. They lived in our neighborhood just across the park and David always played outside with them. And David had been witnessing to them. And David is a little kid had given them a gospel track and the man took the gospel track in and put it beside the bed because a cute little white boy gave him the track. And so one night laying on the bed, just before he went to sleep, he decided to read the track. And, uh, since he read the track and was very interested in the message of the track, he came to visit our church. I went walking with him every morning for about a year at six o'clock in the morning. We walked real fast. I was trying to witness to him and trying to disciple him as we walked. He would eat breakfast with us after we'd walked about four miles.
[9:04] And, uh, I witnessed him once, one day, I was just getting really tired of walking with him at 6am. And I mean, I could have slept till 630 and, uh, and, uh, and, and, you know, it was just a little bit different, you know, for me, it's 8,000 feet above sea level. I wasn't that interested in walking when it was cold and early morning. And so I looked at him, I said, are you ever going to accept Jesus?
[9:24] He said, well, I did that months ago. And I was like, well, I wish you'd told me we'd have stopped walking a long time ago. And then Jorge did something that's very much this passage of scripture.
[9:36] Jorge came from a wealthy family and, uh, they owned a business downtown, which they owned actually probably four business locations, which, uh, they wouldn't be big by your standards, but by in South America, massively large buildings that they, they had. And Jorge said, I want to have all my family and friends over to my house to a meal. Cause they'll come eat when I offer them free food. And he said, I want you to come and I want you to preach to them. That started a weekly thing that went on for several years. Me or somebody else in our church would go preach to them. Today, there are several preachers and a whole bunch of family members that are saved. It wasn't long until the one car pulled up and that family got out and another car pulled up and that family got out. And now there's been two other churches started and a lot of the leadership of those places came from that family. They did, what Levi did here in the story of Levi. And I'm going to give you some things to think about this one, but in the story of Levi, Levi's a public and he is a nobody and nobody likes him. Nobody respects him because he, he's a tax collector. And I don't know if you've ever had this happen to you, but when you get a letter from the IRS, you never think it's about your birthday. I mean,
[10:43] I've gotten those letters. I called my tax man one time and I said, it says here, I made a mistake. He said, let me have it. I said it to him. He said, don't worry. No problem. You don't have any problem. The next letter said, we just froze your account. And I wrote him, I said, I called him my tax man.
[10:56] I said, I really think there was a mistake there. It was over like $50. They froze up my account. And so I just know, I don't really like IRS letters. You probably enjoy them, but I don't like them. When I see them in my house, I looked down and I'm like, Oh my goodness, what'd I do wrong this time? That's him. Except he's crooked. He's crooked. He's taking money.
[11:16] He's not supposed to take. He's charging taxes. He like, if the government ought to get a dime, he'll charge 15 cents and keep a nickel. He's a crook. They don't like him. Now, if anybody ought to talk to anybody, Jesus ought not talk to him because you know, you don't want bad people coming around. And Jesus is quote unquote, a rabbi. He's a teacher. And as a teacher, he should pick the right students. And actually students should beg him and prove to him why he would let them teach him.
[11:43] But Jesus didn't like any other rabbi. Other rabbis are like, if you want to go to my school, you apply. And maybe you can even get in touch with some of those Hollywood actors and pay some money. And I might let you study with me, but that you didn't catch that joke. Did you? Y'all are slow.
[11:55] But anyway, so, so anyway, Jesus doesn't do it that way. Instead, Jesus walks around going, you come here, follow me. You come follow me. And it's very different. And so here comes Jesus walking through and he gets to this very wealthy tax collector. He's a crook. All of his friends are crooks.
[12:11] All of his friends are people of bad reputation. And Jesus looked at him and says, hey, you follow me. And Matthew Levi gets up and leaves everything and follows Jesus. That's a beautiful story. We could all go home and say, man, Jesus saves the worst of people. But that's not really the point of this story. The real point of this story is that Levi says, I want to make sure my friends know the truth. And Levi throws a feast at his house. And he invites all the publicans. And he invites all the others. That's all the Bible says about him, others. He invites all those other dirty people to his house. And Jesus is there. Now, can you imagine what happens when the gospel itself is in the room? This is a guy who walks up to anybody and talks to them. And we do not understand why you'd run around with those kinds of people. And Jesus simply said, well, people that aren't sick don't need a doctor. So I go where they're sick. Now, I'm going to give you some things to think about. But as I do, I just want you to remember this. We often become so wrapped up in everybody has their own religion and everybody has their own belief and everybody knows the truth.
[13:22] And so we never talk about Jesus. We have aunts and uncles that if we were honest, we're pretty sure they're not going to go to heaven when they die. And there'll be a scramble before the funeral as a family looks for every evidence that they might be saved. And then I come in or the other pastor comes in. And one of the things I'm going to ask is, do we know if he was saved? And you're going to be like, well, he never went to church and he was a publican and he was another. And everybody would have thought he's a bad guy.
[13:53] But when he was two and a half years old, he prayed. And his mama baptized him when he was three. And I'll be going. And the family's even going, come on, preacher, let's cover this up.
[14:07] But the sad reality is he's in hell and he's lifting up his eyes being in torment. And while in Luke 16, a rich man lift up his eyes being in torment. And he says, send somebody, send Lazarus to tell my brothers so they don't come here. Warn them. Why would they come to this horrible place where I am? So to give you an excuse, we're going to have Levi's luau.
[14:34] It's really not about us having a good fun time eating a pig we cooked. It's not really about the church getting together and having fellowship. It's about giving you an excuse to invite your family members to pray for your family members and for us to try to share the gospel with them so they'll get saved. You and I need to get a hold of something. They're going to go to heaven or they're going to go to hell. And you're afraid to risk your friendship behind closed doors with you and your wife or maybe in the privacy of your own mind and opinion. You're like, I don't really believe they're saved. They do say they go to church. They do say they believe, but I don't really believe Jesus ever really changed them. But somehow we take some antidote that makes us think it doesn't matter. It's their decision. Well, if you were in the Old Testament, the watchman would say, you're supposed to warn people. And if you're in the New Testament, Paul would say, I'm free of the blood of all men. And if you're Levi, you'd say, nobody else would ever talk to my friends. So I'll have a party and I want you to do something about telling them. So let's start with this, if you would. Look at Luke chapter five and verse 31, the penalty for sin. The Bible says in Luke chapter five and verse 31,
[15:46] Jesus answered and said to them, they that are whole need not a physician. Now you want to circle that word whole, that means healthy. And here's what he's saying. They're not healthy. They're not healthy. They that are whole need a physician. I'm with people that are sick and they need a physician.
[16:02] They that are sick. They that are sick. I came not to call righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus is at the party because the party crowd knew they were sick and needed something.
[16:18] Jesus avoided or even offended religious people because they didn't believe they were sick or in need of help. You know, who's going to go to hell? Two people are going to go to hell. Those who haven't heard and those who think they're okay. And you know your Bible enough to know that they may think they're okay, but they're not okay. Jesus came to transform, not add to your life.
[16:41] So all of a sudden now we have Christians that attend a church. It's all about how to make money, how to be happy, how to prosper, how to have good things. And we do not want to talk about hell.
[16:51] And we do not want to talk about eternity. And we do not want to talk about for the wages of sin is death and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. We don't want to talk about that because if we do, it'll offend our friends. Many want some help in doing what they want, but Jesus comes to give them a life they were meant to live. You and I need to know our friends that do not know Jesus are condemned already. They're already marked for hell and they're on their way to hell. John chapter three and verse 18, the Bible said, he that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. There's no getting to heaven and weighing your good against your bad to see how you turn out. There's no getting to heaven and figuring out if you were a good person and a moral person and you were a good neighbor and you help people. There's nothing like that's going to make a difference. It's did you trust Jesus? It's not about where you're religious.
[17:52] It's about did you trust Jesus? Jesus said they're sick. So our goal is to help those that need Jesus and realize the need. Is their salvation worth your risking your friendship over their eternity?
[18:07] Is our, is, is, is, is, would you risk your friendship? Would you say I'm going to witness them though they will not like it? My son David is probably one of the more aggressive, uh, maybe the most aggressive soul winner in our family. And he was with a family member and he said, I need to talk to you.
[18:33] And he got on a gospel track, witnessed to his cousin and his, told his cousin, he said, if you don't trust Jesus, you're going to go to hell. The whole family basically hated David. They said his drug problems and every other problem he has because you tormented him. And they were really berated David.
[18:51] And then David apologized to the uncle by witnessing to him. He said, I wasn't trying to hurt anybody. This is just that important. Will you risk your friendship?
[19:08] In South America, when I used to live there, it was so funny. Nobody wants to say anything that hurts anybody. So I would get to the hospital before somebody was going to die. The family would call me and say, cause they're, you know, they're ex Catholics. And so they're, they're, they're, they're Baptist now, but they kind of need last rites. They need a preacher to be there right before that family member dies just because of tradition. And I would show up outside and they'd say, preacher, you need to go in there and talk to him and you need to pray for him, but don't tell him he's going to die. We told him he's getting better and he's going home.
[19:42] Like, you know, I can't go in there and do that. I walked in, I said, look, you're fixing to die. You need to get saved. You need to know for sure you're going to heaven. Well, he didn't live to tell him outside what I said, but the truth is we don't want to risk our friendship. Be honest.
[19:58] I'd rather not hurt his feelings. But if you don't hurt his feelings, I mean, I, I showed up with kidney cancer. That doctor could look at me and say, oh, I think it's going to be all right. I'll be dead by now. I'm glad he hurt my feelings. He said, we're going to have to cut holes in you, buddy. And I'm like, well, thank you. I need help. You see, when you realize you're sick, you need help. Now look, if you would, at Matthew chapter nine and verse nine, and I want to talk to you about the person Levi. This is the story as Matthew tells it. Matthew is now writing his own story and Jesus. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. And as he said to him, follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eat your master with these wicked people, publicans and sinners. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick, but go ye and learn what that means.
[21:02] I will have mercy and not sacrifice. I am come. I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Here's an interesting thing. Matthew doesn't like to use the name his family gave him.
[21:15] Levi. Because he probably blemished that name pretty bad. You see, Levi means he was probably born with the expectation that he would serve God. They probably wanted him in the ministry. They picked a name that screamed man of God, Levi. It's a very good chance that old Levi had been involved in church and old Levi had been taught and maybe even gone to Bible college before he turned out to be a tax collector. Fact is, it's interesting that in the book of Matthew written by Levi, there are 129 quotations or inferences to the Old Testament. It's interesting that of the 39 Old Testament books, Matthew mentions quotes from 25 of them. He was apparently trained and prepared to serve God, but he had done the opposite. Levi has corrupted himself. Levi has walked away from what his family taught him to do. And instead of serving God, he has served self, becoming very rich. He is a man with a lot of friends, all of them people that are despised in the community. In Luke chapter 5 and verse 29,
[22:28] Levi made a great feast in his own house and there was a great company, a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with him. Not a few. He got a whole bunch of them. Did he go down to the local terrorist society? Did he go down to the tax collectors and say, y'all come over to the house?
[22:45] Where'd all these people come from? Not only tax collectors, but others, prostitutes and sinners. Others, Matthew or Levi's friends are despised. No one would share the gospel with them. They're not interested in church. They're not interested in the things of God. They don't mind telling people. Levi just might have said, I know everything you know. I know everything you know. I went to Sunday school too. I know everything and I don't want it. There's a big lesson here. There's no one too far from God.
[23:24] So there's Levi sitting there collecting the taxes and Jesus walks by and says, follow me. And what Levi doesn't know is he will soon be an apostle and write a book of the Bible. That's called going from the very bottom to the very top. You don't know what your invitation might do. I remember when I started going to Horry's house when he had me go over there and speak. And I was like, I don't really, I mean, you talk about pressure, all these richer people and all that Spanish going so quickly and all that food. And I wasn't sure if there'd be alcohol. I just didn't know what was going to go on when I got over there. And I go in that room and I'm like, I don't even know how you talk to these people.
[24:04] I'm a poor person. I come from a very poor background. I'm very comfortable with poor people. Rich people like you make me very nervous and I am not teasing. And so I go to their house. I had no idea that like four preachers that come out of that group.
[24:19] I had no idea what God would do. And you have no idea what might happen if you'd invite somebody. You have no idea what might happen if you'd share the gospel with somebody. Look at who Jesus calls to follow him. He's a tax collector. Right now, I just read this this week, many millennials, that's the group that older people tend to despise. They say the following.
[24:44] This was not written by a Christian. I can give you the, I can footnote what I'm saying here. They say they have no close friends. 22% said they have zero friends of the people interviewed, just under 2,000 people interviewed. 22% of them said they have zero friends. 27% said they have no close friends. 30% said they have no best friends. 25% said they have no acquaintances.
[25:07] People are hurting. And they need someone to care, just like Levi did. I wonder what Levi thought at night when he laid in the bed thinking about all the money he made and the disappointment in his mother's eyes. Or daddy who called him Levi. When our oldest son was born, Chris, his name is Christopher.
[25:28] And before we ever knew what he was going to be, I asked God to make him a boy. And I said, if you'll make him a boy, I'll name him Christ Bearer Christopher. So I dreamed that he'd grow up and serve God. Before he was ever born. Before he ever came out of the womb. And Levi had to know some of that was going on. Levi and your friends can know Jesus and salvation. But we're going to have to risk our security and our friendship to share the gospel. We don't want to invite them to church. We know they'll say no. We don't want to mention that they need to know Jesus because it'll offend them.
[26:00] We're a lot more comfortable not talking politics and not talking Jesus. Fact is, we can talk politics before we can talk Jesus. But in the passage, the provision is for all. Look in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 13. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I came not to call those that are good. I came to call those that are sinners, that are wicked. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, we know who that is. It's people who can't live it. They're without strength. They're ungodly. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6. They're still sinners in Romans chapter 5 and verse 8. But here's what we know.
[26:40] He already loved them. Loves them. Loved us. We love him because he first loved us. All were invited, but only those that really believed they needed saving would come and be saved. You know they can be saved. But will you take the risk of really offering them salvation? You know they could be.
[26:59] But will you really take the risk? I don't want them to think I'm a nut. I don't think I'm a fanatic. I don't want them. I don't want them. I don't want them. I don't want. I'm uncomfortable with this.
[27:13] So the purpose of this special Sunday that we're about to have is to see your friends know Jesus. In Luke 5 27, the publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of customs had heard, follow me.
[27:23] And when he did it, it meant he left everything. And the truth is, when you serve Jesus, yeah, you'll lose a whole lot of friends that don't want to know Jesus if you mention Jesus. But we're very typically 007 Christians. No one knows we're saved.
[27:39] Some of our guys are missionaries in China. Missionaries in China, and they went to these English corners, and they started sharing the gospel, and the Chinese people said, so you're here to tell us about Jesus? And they said, yep. They said, what about all these other Americans that aren't with your group? They said, oh, they're also Christians, and they just don't want you to know it. They've been here 10 years, and they don't want you to know it.
[28:02] We go, wow, why would you be a missionary and not want them to know it? I don't know. Why would you be a Christian and not want them to know it? We want to see our friends and loved ones follow Jesus. We're responsible to tell them, even if it means risking our friendship. Their soul is more valuable than temporary friendship.
[28:28] So here's our plan. I want to ask you to let the Lord lay on your heart, family and friends that need to be invited. I want you to really say, God, who are you working on? Who are you dealing with?
[28:38] Prepare the way for me. I want to invite some people. I need you to make this work. Some of them are lost. We have a lot of friends. You have friends that are hurt and upset with church because they went to a church that was rude and ugly and didn't love them. You ought to just say, God, show me who they are so I can share the truth. Make a list of people that you can invite and start praying for them for the next 14 days and beg God to save your friends. Give them a special invitation.
[29:09] Help them make friends here at church. They don't have friends. They don't have friends. Make sure they're coming and make them as comfortable as you can when they get here. You ready? Share your testimony of how Jesus saved you and changed your life. We're not inviting them because we want a big number of people in the service. We're not inviting them because we want something. We're inviting them to know Jesus. And they very likely don't even know your story.
[29:38] You told them you overcame an addiction. You told them that you're not who you used to be. You told them that your marriage was fixed and much better, but you never told them who did the work. Explain how important your salvation is. Help them see that Jesus, God's word and a church have made a difference in your life and will in theirs. Pray for them and pray for boldness. Pray for those that will have every part in the service that God will help them present the gospel with great power.
[30:09] So here's the question. Will you risk your friendship to see your friends be saved? Beautiful thing about the Peruvians I used to work with.
[30:23] I was on the radio and television and I was preaching all over the city. I preached six times on Sunday and then three or four more times during the week. So I was all over the city preaching in different places. But what was always really funny was a guy would come to me and he'd say, you mind going with me to see my cousin? He's a lawyer. And he says, you don't know enough to talk to him.
[30:43] I said, I'd love to. We walk in their house. I went to the judge's house, a lawyer's house, accountants house, people with money. And they would walk in. They said, please tell my family. And they'd walk in the room with me and they'd say, I brought him here because he told me the story that changed my life. And I'd walk into their house and share the gospel. Some just about threw me out of the house. Others trusted Christ. But this is the deal. It's a risky business.
[31:07] Well, what's worth more? A temporary small friendship or their eternal destiny? What's of more importance to you? When's the last time you shared the gospel with any of your family?
[31:23] If you don't die first, you will soon be at their funeral. Everybody dies. Will you stand at their funeral and say, I wish I'd have spoken to them?
[31:41] So we're going to have Levi's luau. And what I'm asking you to do is start begging God and bringing your friend. I'm asking you to bring several people who've never heard the gospel. I'm asking you to pray like you've never prayed. So when they're sitting here, we got some of them in here, we're just begging God to save them. And if they go to hell, it'll be at their responsibility.
[32:02] Because we'll have swapped the responsibility from us to them. I think it's a Saturday night, there'll be Indians that you'll have an opportunity to come and speak with and be a friend to. They've never heard the gospel. We're responsible. We know the truth. Death is coming. Hell is moving.
[32:22] Can we bear to watch them go? Father in heaven, I ask you to work today. I ask you to help us pray for our friends and be concerned for their souls and to pray for Levi's luau and to pray for the Indian festival. I pray, dear God, that our church would get soul winning and hunger for people's lives on their hearts. I pray that your name would be glorified and magnified in our midst. Lord, I know it's risky.
[32:50] I know we live too comfortably. I know that people in the room may be a little aggravated at me this morning, but I'm asking you to help us see people saved. Our loved ones, our family, our aunts, our uncles, our parents, our nephews and nieces, our neighbors and people that we work with, our friends, people that we do vacation with. I'm asking you to help us.
[33:11] I love you.