Don’t Drop the Baton

INTRODUCTION: 

Worse than a famine, worse than a water drought, worse than any natural disaster is a drought of God's word… 

The lack of for a long period of time God's commandments, God's word, and God's direction and divine guidance

In Amos 8 God made the children of Israel suffer from a drought and because of this drought they wandered from sea to sea, from the north to south, and  they ran to and fro looking and seeking for the word of God and that they could not find…

They were simply lost and in destitute. Why? Because they didn't have the very thing, the only thing that could’ve given them direction…. God's word 

It is the most important thing one can have in their life today. You can live without a lot of things and be fine without a lot of things in life. But you cannot live and be fine without The word of God 

A. Throughout the bible we see the word of God used in many different analogies, portraying how important it is for us 

Psalm 119:105

Portrayed as a lamp, what does a lamp do? It gives light, do we not need light in a world full of darkness, do we not need the light to inform us of God’s will

1 Peter 2:2

When there is a new born babe in Christ the most important thing he/she can do is immediately start growing in God’s SINCERE word… the truth where this is no deceit found in it

Jeremiah 20:9 

Jeremiah said Im done, no more making mention of him, im tired of being mocked and made fun of… But the word was in his heart as a burning fire that had consumed and taken over to where he could not tame his passion for the speaking the word anymore 

Eph 6

A foolish man goes into war without a weapon, and I think we’d be worse than foolish to go to war with Satan without our sword. “It is written” 

B. Evangelism is like a relay race and the Baton is the most important thing

I like to look at preaching and evangelizing as a relay race. (Highschool)

And so as I look at evangelism like a relay race, Its good to notice the most important part of the race is the baton. There is no relay race without a baton. If the baton is dropped then your team is disqualified.

So as we look at evangelism and preaching as a race i want you to see that the baton is God’s word

The Baton is the truth because it is the most important thing in the race and if the baton or truth is dropped then there is a huge loss 

We must hold on to the truth (Run with it) 

The amount of people who leave the truth is a scary thought (2 Tim 4:3-4) “for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

People will be covered by God’s, grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, and given eternal life and will drop the truth because of their own desires

Where is your heart at. (Psalm 119:112) 

A. God's word is the only truth so if we leave or drop the truth what then are you clinging on to? (John 8:32)

Freedom is in your hands, will you hold on to it? Will you hold on to the very thing that is keeping you free from the bondage of sin 

Living in a world that is constantly trying to change the God given truth and is trying to Throw their own opinions and wants in, we must hold on to the truth that we know is from Gods word and God’s word only

Hosea 4:6 God says My people have neglected my word, rejected knowledge and forgotten my law. AND BECAUSE OF IT THEY SHALL BE DESTROYED.

So many lives are being destroyed in this country because people have neglected and dropped the truth.

Now the question is what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do about the lack of knowledge in this world that has destroyed men

I have an idea… what do what the apostles did… lets take the truth, hold on to the truth and RUN WITH IT… 

Not only hold unto the truth but we must RUN WITH IT (Matthew 28:19 “go”)

A. Go

MATTHEW 10:5-7 “GO” to the lost sheep and preach

Luke 10 Jesus sent his followers out two by two and told them to “GO”

Matthew 28:19-20 “GO” ye therefore and preach

Mark 16:15 “GO” into all the world 

You have the most valuable and important thing in your hand and in your heart (Psalm 119:11), what will you do with it?

 Hold the truth and go spread the good news, spread that sin is reigning in this world (Isa 59:1-2), but ultimately God’s grace, forgiveness, mercy, and love trumps sin… tell them John 3:16, 1 Peter 1:3, Eph 2:13 

Isaiah 6:8 

WHO SHALL I SEND, WHO SHALL GO FOR US “Here am I, Lord send me” and the Lord said “GO”

We are to be l Isaiah and be ready to step up and share GOD’S WORD when it is needed. Which is allll the time. 

Acts 1 God sends out his apostles to go be witness of him in all of these diff places  

In Acts 2 because of the word of God because they held on to it and ran with it. 3000 souls were baptized

V.47 they were added to the church

Acts 4:4 the number then increased to 5000 why because they kept running and going with the truth

Acts 9 saul was converted and right after his conversion what he do he started running with the truth,

Acts 10:47-48 Peter was running with the truth and because of it the gospel entered a gentile home

Acts 11:19-26 barnabas ran with the truth in antioch and there were people who believed and turned to God and Jesus’ followers were first called christians

In  Acts 14:27 as paul continued to run with the truth the door of faith opened unto the gentiles

In Acts 16 paul and silas continued running with the truth even being in Jail and the jailer asked what he must do to be saved

In acts 17 paul ran with the truth while he was in athens

Acts 26 Paul ran preaching unto agrippa and festus almost persuading them to be a christian

Acts 28 running with the truth in rome

FROM JERUSALEM TO ROME THEY RAN WITH THE TRUTH

What is your plan with the truth, are you going to hold on to it and run with it, are you going to hold on to it but stand still with it, and i pray and hope you will not drop it… 

2 Tim 2:2

 We are to run our leg and pass the baton and pass the truth to others. How well will you pass the truth, how well will you tell others about repentance, and forgiveness, and redemption through Christ.

or a better question: how well will you endure when evangelism get hard, how well will you endure to get the truth to the next person when life is at its lowest…

2. We must endure 

Ephesians 6:14 – “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.

 When the world bends, you stay upright. When others compromise, you remain steadfast. When you are criticized for righteousness, and persecuted for preaching the truth ENDURE BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT SOULS NEED TO BE SAVED

rejoice BECAUSE GREAT IS YOUR REWARD AND THE REWARD OF THE ONE WHO GAVE THEIR LIFE TO CHRIST  BECAUSE YOU ENDURED— for great is your reward in heaven (Matthew 5:11–12).

The 4x4 relay is the worst relay race imo

The hardest part of the race is the last 200 meters, and its usually when the biggest change happens in the race. Because your whole body starts to hurt.

When preaching gets tuff when you have to write 3 lessons for a gospel meeting and then 3 more lessons for bible class and two sermons for service will you endure, will you keep going… for the sake of lost souls

- when the church was getting persecuted in Acts chapter 8 did they give up, did they say nah im not going to keep doing this because i dont want to lose my life or get thrown into jail, or get stoned… NO WHAT THEY DID WAS SCATTER AND KEEP PREACHING GOD’S WORD

- 2 Tim 4:3-4,10 We must endure because there are people who wont endure or are struggling to endure that need someone to bring them back to the truth. And we are that someone that can bring them back but only if we endure ourselves.. 

Think to yourself right now… if I don't endure how many souls will i miss out on not trying to lead them to christ 

Gal 6:9 

“WE SHALL REAP, IFFFFF WE FAINT NOT” that word “if” let portrays that there is a possibility, the possibility of growing faint and not enduring

When the flesh is beating down on you telling you to just quit and stop because you are tired and worn out, dont give in, keep doing good, keep preaching, keep leading souls to heaven, don't grow weary because in due season we shall reapppp… IF ONLYYY IFF WE FAINT NOT..

What would've happened if the apostles or those who went out preaching grew faint of doing good, grew faint of preaching God's word… how many souls would’ve continued to be lost because they did not want to endure… 

We have amazing instructors, preachers, and teachers here that are still here teaching us and giving us great lessons because they have endured…

2 Cor 11:23-27

Paul said he was scourged

Beaten with rods

Stoned

Shipwrecked

In perils of water, robbers, countrymen, heathens, wilderness, and false brothers 

In weariness in pain 

In hunger and thirst

In fasting

In cold and nakedness 

Yet he endured for the glory of Christ 

Will you endure for Christ sake, will you endure for the sake of lost souls  

If there is nothing motivating you to endure… Let it be Love.

If it seems like all is bad, there’s nothing going for you at the moment, and it seems better to just give up. Love the souls of men and God so much to keep you going for Christ

1 Cor 13:7 Love endures all things. Love lost souls so much that you endure to see them give their life to Christ

Idk about yall but when I see someone give their life to Christ it just makes me want to go evangelize more… knowing that because God’s word was proclaimed to them through love that person gave his life and I have a chance to dwell with him in heaven one day… and is that not what we all want?

We can all celebrate in the end in heaven 

After the baton has been passed continuously and everyone has ran their race we get to the point where we are crossing that finish line…

I remember in Hs 

When the end of life comes and we have shared and ran with God’s word passing it to each other while obeying the truth. We can all celebrate in the end with our savior

Rev 21:3-4 I look forward to the day where i can dwell in heaven with each and everyone of you, and with the person you passed the baton to, and the person they passed the baton to. ALL WITH EACH OTHER BECAUSE WE RAN WITH THE TRUTH

When you start the race its just you, but in the end after being victorious all come together in gladness, is that not God’s design? Is it not God’s design

Phil 4:1