An Uncompromising Witness

Four times in the Gospel of John, our Lord Jesus uses the words Where I Am. He's talking about heaven. Now, we want to be very, very honest because we're in church, we are God's people.

Most Christians don't talk about heaven unless somebody is dying or has died. Is that not true? You know, very rarely does anybody come to you at coffee break time and say, well, let's talk about heaven. And you're wondering if he's going to drop cyanide in your coffee or what he's going to do.

For some reason, we just don't talk about heaven. I think I know one reason why. D.L. Moody used to say some Christians are so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good.

And I think he's true in saying that there is a wrong approach to heaven. That we want to avoid. This world is terrible and I want to get out of it as fast as I can.

That's not the right approach to heaven. You see, the trouble is most of us think of heaven as a destination, and it is. We are going to heaven.

Some folks don't like when we say that. Well, you can't know you're going to go to heaven until you die. Well, that's a little late.

Just a little late. We know that we've passed from death unto life, says the scriptures. These things I write to you that believe on the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

So we know we have eternal life. And we know that with that eternal life comes the marvelous assurance that we're going to be in heaven. And all I'm saying tonight and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night is simply this.

If I know I'm going to heaven, it ought to make a difference in my life on earth. Because heaven is not just a destination. Heaven is a motivation.

Remember that. Heaven is not just a destination. Heaven is a motivation.

What kept Abraham going? Abraham didn't have any study Bibles. Abraham could not punch on the radio and get some preacher. He couldn't watch somebody on television.

Abraham didn't have a church to go to. What kept Abraham going? Hebrews 11 tells you. He looked for a city whose builder and maker was God.

There were three cities in Abraham's life. There was a city behind him, Ur of the Chaldeans. He said, I'm not going back there.

There was a city beside him, Sodom. Wouldn't you love to have Sodom for your neighbor? You know what Abraham did? He didn't carry placards. He didn't have protest marchers.

You know what Abraham did? He prayed for him. And when they were captured by the enemy, he went and rescued them and witnessed to them. All of us have a city behind us that we better not go back to, that old life.

We all have a city beside us that tempts us in the wrong way. It got Lot into trouble. But the thing that kept Abraham going was the city before him.

Abraham knew he was going to heaven. And that's what kept him going. That was true of Isaac, was true of Jacob, was true of Jesus.

Hebrews chapter 12, it says, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. And what was the joy that was set before him? You know what it is. Jude, that little book of Jude, verse 24.

Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his father with exceeding joy. The joy that kept Jesus on the cross was the joy of going to heaven and one day saying, Father, here's my bride, the people I died for on the cross. And so I suggest to you that it's possible to be heavenly minded and know earthly good, but it's also possible to be heavenly minded and God do many good things.

I was reading C.S. Lewis the other day, and here's what he had to say about heaven. If you read history, said C.S. Lewis, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next world. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this world, and that is true.

John chapter 7 is the first occasion when you find the Lord Jesus talking about heaven, going to heaven, using the phrase where I am. I think I'll begin in verse 25, John chapter 7, verse 25, and we're going to find out that when heaven is the motivation in your life, when you know you are going to heaven, you will have an uncompromising witness. Let's read about it.

Verse 25, John chapter 7. Now some of them from Jerusalem said, is this not he whom they seek to kill? Our Lord had come to Jerusalem for the feast, feast of tabernacles, and the Jews, that is the religious leaders, some of them, had wanted to kill him. But look, he speaks boldly and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this man is from.

Where? Nazareth. They didn't know he was born in Bethlehem. But when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.

Then Jesus cried out as he taught in the temple, saying, you both know me and you know where I am from, and I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true whom you do not know, meaning the father. Fifty times in the gospel of John, you'll find the little four letter word sent. Now when I was born into this world, I was not sent, because I had not existed until I was conceived.

Jesus existed before he was in Mary's womb. Our Lord was sent, and over and over again, 50 times, you'll find it in the gospel of John. But I know him, the father, for I am from him, and he sent me.

Therefore they sought to take him, try to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come, the hour when he would be crucified. And many of the people believed in him and said, when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than these which this man has done? The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to arrest him. And then Jesus said to them, I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to him who sent me.

You will seek me and not find me, and where I am, you cannot come. Then the Jews said among themselves, where does he intend to go that we shall not find him? It's amazing in the gospel of John, every time Jesus talked about something significantly spiritual, people interpreted it as something ridiculously material. When he said destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up, they thought he was talking about the temple that Herod had built.

When he said you must be born again, Nicodemus said I can't get back in my mother's womb. When he said to the woman at the well, I can give you a drink of water, and she said you don't even have a bucket. People did not understand what he was talking about.

I'll be with you just a little while. Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and fetch the Greeks? A lot of Jewish people had left the holy land, gone out into the Greek civilization, and he said that people said, well that's probably where he's going to go. They didn't understand him.

What is this thing that he said? Then they quote him, you will seek me and not find me, and where I am you cannot come. When you and I know we are going to heaven, it will give to us an uncompromising witness. Now if there's one thing that's needed today, it is for the church of Jesus Christ to quit compromising and simply say Jesus Christ is God.

He is the only way to heaven, and as Dr. Barnhouse used to say, everybody has the privilege of going to heaven God's way or going to hell their own way. A friend of mine, a dear pastor friend of mine, we love him so much, I pray for him daily, phoned me last September 11th. He said brother I need your prayers.

I said why? Well he said some months ago I agreed to preach in a man's church, a friend of mine, and we had it all arranged, and he called me up and said this thing has gotten out of proportion. It's not going to be at the church. The university is involved.

Some other churches have gotten involved, and I thought you should know that. Well it was nice of him to tell him, and then he added preach what you want to, but you cannot mention Jesus Christ. He said what should I do? I said stay home.

Just call him up and say you can't come. Over my years of ministry, there's more than 50 of them now, I have studiously avoided some of these super religious meetings where everybody's invited except Jesus. So I just don't go.

Well he did go. He found some way to get around it, and he did go, but we're here to tell people that God has come to earth, that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and he's the only savior, and if you don't trust him, you will not go where he is. Here is my Lord giving a bold, uncompromising witness.

Notice in verse 26 he's speaking boldly. Notice in verse 28 he's speaking loudly. He cried out.

The church today is just going around whispering as though we're ashamed. Now this bold witness is desperately needed because we're living in an age just like Jesus was in. Notice in chapter 7, the confusion among the people.

Verse 43 says there was a division among the people because of him, and there's still that division because of him. We read in, well let's see, look at verse 12. Some of the people said he's good.

Others said no, on the contrary, he deceives the people. Here you have two opposite opinions of Jesus. Verse 20, you have a demon.

It's a nice evaluation of our Lord. Verse 31, is this man the Christ? When the Christ comes, will he do any more miracles than he has done? Verse 40, many in the crowd said truly this is the prophet. So he's the prophet, he's good, he's demoniac, demonized, just like today.

You know, you can tell people you're a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Unitarian, whatever, they'll never argue with you. You bring the name of Jesus Christ into the conversation, you've declared war. They don't want to hear it.

And today as never before, we need an uncompromising witness. Not an arrogant witness, Peter tells us to give the reason for our hope with meekness and fear. Not an arrogant witness, not an elitist kind of witness, not a militant kind of witness, but just a bold, uncompromising witness that Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God, and the only way to heaven.

Not one of many ways to heaven, the only way to heaven. Not one of many saviors, the only Savior, an uncompromising witness. Those who don't know Jesus can't follow him.

He says that you cannot come where I am. In other words, they won't go heaven. If I know I'm going to heaven, and I know that Jesus is the only way to heaven, I am obligated to let my friend know, whether he agrees with it or not, this is the truth of the Word of God.

I hear today this, oh, so much talk about pluralism. Well, there was pluralism back in this state. The Apostle Paul faced it.

You had all kinds of religions, all kinds of philosophies, and tolerance. Now, I believe in being tolerant. I'm a tolerant person.

When I have breakfast with some of our university students, and they're being taught things that I question, I listen. I listen. Francis Schaeffer used to say, if I have 30 minutes to talk to a person, I spend the first 20 minutes listening to them, finding out what they think.

And then I spend the last 10 minutes telling them how Jesus can change their lives. That's what I try to do. I'm tolerant.

I haven't blown up a building yet. I haven't shot anybody. I haven't joined any underground organization to get rid of people who disagree with me.

No, I'm tolerant. I would rather live in a democracy than in some totalitarian country. But the same law that gives me the privilege of preaching the Bible gives every cultist in America the same privilege of preaching what they want to preach.

And I can live with that. I can live with that. But in the midst of all this, I am not going to back down, compromise.

Over in John chapter 8, verse 24, Jesus makes a very intolerant statement. Therefore, John 8, 24, I said to you that you will die in your sin. For if you do not believe that I am he, that is the Messiah, the Son of God, you will die in your sin.

That's intolerant. My doctor is intolerant. He hates germs.

He hates them. He's always washing his hands. And every once in a while, a nurse's aide or somebody shows up and sterilizes the different cubicles that he meets people in.

He's intolerant. My banker is intolerant. He says a $10 bill is $10 and a $20 bill is $20.

He's intolerant. He believes that this money is worth this. Traffic cop is intolerant.

He keeps making me drive on the right-hand side of the road. I'm free. I have the freedom to drive on the left-hand side.

Sure. I also have the freedom to be carried off to the morgue. You see, we want intolerance in everything except personal faith.

You can believe whatever you want to. I once heard a psychiatrist say, everybody has to believe something, even if they're putting their faith in the Coke machine. Now, you can pray to the Coke machine if you want to, but don't expect any answers.

This intolerant spirit of ours is not a militant spirit or an arrogant spirit. It's a spirit of assurance. This is the son of God.

As all of us know, there's a conflict going on today between the Islamic faith and Christian faith, also the Jewish faith that's been going on for centuries. I'm reading a book called The Children of Abraham by an expert on the Islamic religion who is also himself Islamic. Khalid Duran is his name.

The book was published by the American Jewish Committee in an attempt to build a bridge across the chasm that separates Islam from Judaism. And, of course, we can read it and interpret it as we want to see Christianity magnified, the name of Jesus. Did you know that the first person who ever told Muhammad that he was a prophet sent from God, prophesied by Moses, was a professing Christian? Muhammad had had several trances and claimed he heard voices.

Muhammad was so shaken by this experience that when he reached home, his wife had to wrap her shivering husband in a blanket. Later, she took him to a cousin of hers who was a Christian. And this man told Muhammad that he was a prophet and that his appearance had been foretold by both Moses and Jesus.

Suppose this Christian had given an uncompromising witness of who Jesus was and what Jesus came to do. I wonder if that would have made some difference in history. Secondly, if we give an uncompromising witness, we can back it up with evidence.

John, you're in the Gospel of John. Go to the very end of the book, John chapter 20. Let's find out why the Apostle John wrote this book.

John chapter 20, verse 30. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have a life in his name.

John wrote this book to prove conclusively that Jesus is God come in the flesh and that he is the savior. And when you trust him, you have life. Life is one of the key words in the Gospel of John.

Life. So John tells us Jesus is God. Now go back to John chapter 1. I'm not going to belabor this because you have read and studied your Bibles and you know much of this already.

John chapter 1, God sends John the Baptist. Now why did John the Baptist come? John the Baptist came as a voice in the wilderness to tell people that Jesus is God. Verse 6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John.

The man came for a witness. 47 times in the Gospel of John you find the word witness. This is a book of witness.

There's a book for lawyers. It's a book of witness. And God says to people, I don't believe Jesus is God's son.

Hey, here are the witnesses. Now refute them if you can. John the Baptist said in verses 6 through 8, he's the light.

He came to bear witness of the light. Jesus is the light. Verse 23 of John chapter 1, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the light and he's the Lord.

Verse 29 and verse 36, he's the lamb. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Verse 34, John climaxes his testimony and I have seen and testify that this is the son of God.

When you give an uncompromising testimony about Jesus, you're standing with the apostle John. You're not alone. You're standing with John the Baptist.

John chapter 1 verse 49, Nathanael, one of the first apostles, how do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel.

So now we've added Nathanael on the witness stand. Look at John 5, 25. I was confronted once by a cultist, belonged to a group that did not believe that Jesus is the eternal son of God.

He said, Jesus never claimed to be the son of God. He should have read his Bible. Of course, the one he was reading had been revised by the cultist.

John chapter 5 verse 25, most assuredly I say to you, says Jesus, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live. He was talking about himself. John chapter 10 verse 36, our Lord is debating with some of religious leaders.

Do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said I am the son of God. And so when you bear that witness, John the apostle, John the Baptist, Nathanael and Jesus are standing right with you. Go back to John 6, 69.

Jesus just preached away his crowd. And Jesus said to his disciples in verse 67, do you also want to go away? And Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

Peter stands with us. John's book is a book of witness. John 9, 35, our Lord heals a blind man, a man blind from birth.

And he gets into trouble with the blind man healed, gets into trouble with the authorities. John chapter 9, they threw this man out of the synagogue. They said, either you stick with us.

If you believe that Jesus is God's son, we're throwing you out. He said, that's what I believe. Jesus heard that they'd cast him out.

And when he had found him, he said to him, do you believe in the son of God? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him. And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him. And it is he who is talking with you.

And then he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Now, Jesus is not the son of God.

And this man worshipped him. Jesus was encouraging idolatry. And the first commandment says, you shall have another gods before me.

So this healed blind man now stands with us. He's the son of God. John chapter 11, Martha.

Our Lord says to Martha, whose brother had died and was buried and had been in the tomb for four days, I am the resurrection and the life. Verse 25, he who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives when I return and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who is to come into the world. So now Martha stands with us. John chapter 20, the disciples got together after the resurrection, but Thomas wasn't there.

He decided to stay home that night and he missed a great meeting. By the time you decide not to go to church, you're going to miss something. And so Jesus came back the next week because he heard Thomas say, unless I see him for myself and put my fingers in those marks and my hand in his side, I'll not believe.

So Jesus shows up and says, peace. Verse 21, peace be unto you as the father has sent me, so send I you. That's a great commissioning.

And he says to Thomas in verse 27, reach your finger here, look at my hands, reach your hand here, put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said, my Lord and my God.

So we have Thomas standing with us. Now here are eight witnesses, including Jesus himself, that he is the son of God, the only savior. So when you give an uncompromising but loving witness, you're not standing alone.

A third statement, and then we leave. When you give an uncompromising witness, obviously you are doing exactly what Jesus did. This is the way he operated.

What I want to do as we conclude is focus on John chapter four, the story of the bad Samaritan. Our Lord went through Samaria. He came to the city of Samaria, John 4, 5, and being wearied, he sat down by the well.

Now here's an interesting thing. He was hungry, because we're told the disciples went off to buy food. He was hungry, he was thirsty, and he was tired, but he was the son of God.

John wrote his book to tell us Jesus is the son of God, and yet Jesus was also human. He got tired, he got thirsty, he got hungry, and there he sat. A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, give me a drink.

They shocked her. Rabbis did not talk to women in public, particularly Samaritan women, and she had a reputation. She had been married five times, and the man she was living with now was not her husband.

It was a live-in situation that is so popular today. The woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you being a Jew ask drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. That's an understatement.

They hated each other. Now, all he was to her was a Jew. Jesus spoke to her in a gracious way and said, you know, if you asked me, I'd give you living water.

And the woman says to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with. The well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? Now, she's made some progress.

A Jew who apparently may be greater than Jacob. Jesus kept on going. You see, most people we witness to are not going to suddenly believe.

It can happen. We have to have patience, love, kindness. Jesus said, you take one drink of the water I have to give you, and it will be in you forever, eternal living water.

One drink. You keep on drinking this other water of the world. You've been through all these marriages, and now you've got this live-in situation.

You drink all of this sewage of the world, and you'll be thirsty forever. First thing the rich man in Luke 16 wanted when he woke up in hell was a drink. The woman says in verse 15, give me this water.

He says, go call your husband. There's no conversion without conviction. I have no husband.

Yeah, you've had five husbands, and the one you're with now is not. Now verse 19, oh, I perceive you're a prophet. Now she's making progress.

A Jew greater than Jacob, a prophet. He knows all about me. So she begins to discuss religion.

Now here is where the uncompromising witness comes in. Look at it. Our fathers in Samaria worshipped on this mountain, Mount Gerizim, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.

Now we hear this all the time. Now you people immerse, but we sprinkle or spray or whatever we do. You people use a Bible.

We have other books that we use. I get so sick of this ad I see on television where they offer a free book which they call the other Bible. There is no other Bible.

But Jesus patiently worked with the woman. She wanted to discuss religion. Now notice what he says.

Woman, now that's a very kind approach. Believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not know.

Now that is intolerant. That is not politically correct. They had their own temple.

They had their own Torah. They had their own priesthood. They had their own religious system.

And the whole thing was phony. And Jesus told her point blank in a very loving way, you don't even know what you're worshiping. We can say that to most of the people we witnessed.

They don't know what they're worshiping. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. If you were not saved by a Jew, you were not saved.

Our Lord did not come from Korea. I admire those people. Wonderful churches over there.

Our Lord did not come from China or Sweden. Our Lord came to the tribe of Judah in Israel. The Savior is a Jew.

That's intolerant, but it's true. And if your Savior is not a Jew, you're not saved. Salvation is of the Jews.

But the hour is coming and now is when true worshipers, aha, if there are true worshipers, then there must be false worshipers. We'll worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him. And verse 25, she said, I know the Messiah is coming.

You know, when she heard that from John the Baptist, John had ministered not far from here. Jesus said, here I am. And she believed.

And she went into the town and she spoke to the men. Now those men knew her. And she said, come and see a man who told me all things that I ever did.

Verse 29, could this be the Christ? And she was saved and they were saved. And Jesus could have done what some people do. Well, now, you know, you've got your religion and we've got our religion.

And you know, for years, there's been a battle between the Samaritans and the Jews. And there's some things you have to. He didn't talk like that.

He said, you don't know what you're worshiping. You're ignorant. You don't know how to get what you need.

You don't even know who it is who's talking to you. And if you'd asked me, I'd give you eternal life and you wouldn't need that bucket anymore. It'd be springing up in you.

And she believed. When you have an in and uncompromising witness, God will use it. You may be criticized, you may be hated, you may be laughed at, but God will use it.

I want you to notice one more thing and then the pastor will come to close the meeting. John chapter 2, verse 23. Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, okay, he's in Jerusalem, verse 23.

Now look at chapter 3 of John, verse 22. After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea. Oh, from Jerusalem to Judea.

Now look at chapter 4, verse 4. But he needed to go through Samaria. He didn't. There were other ways he could have gone where he was going.

You know why he needed to go through Samaria? Because that woman was there and he was going to lead her to the fountain of living water. She starts in Jerusalem, goes into Judea, comes to Samaria. But look at verse 42 of chapter 4. These men who were believed, who believed because of the witness of the woman and because of the witness of Jesus, they said, now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard him.

We know that this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world. I think you see the sequence, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the world. Where do you find that? Acts 1.8. Our Lord says to the church, you're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

And that power comes from the Holy Spirit. And the only way to have an uncompromising witness is through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, he, the Holy Spirit, shall glorify me.

He doesn't glorify himself. I've been in services where they sing that lovely praise chorus. Father, we love you.

We worship and adore you. Jesus, we love you. Glorify his name in all the earth.

Then they sing about the Holy Spirit and say, glorify your name in all the earth. The Holy Spirit doesn't glorify his name. So when everybody else is singing, glorify your name, I sing, glorify his name.

People around me wonder what's happening, but I want to be biblical. The Holy Spirit is here. And when you find, when he finds Christians who want to glorify Jesus, he says, that's what I'm looking for.

I'll help you. About the time you think you can't say anything for Jesus, Holy Spirit lets you do it. He gives you power.

He starts in Jerusalem, moves on to Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. The day has come, dear people, for an uncompromising witness. And you know what will give you the strength you need and I need? We're going to heaven.

A hundred years from now, it's not going to make any difference what the landlady thinks of you. It's not going to make any difference what your mother-in-law thinks of you or the boss. A hundred years from now when you and I are in glory and we see people who are there because we didn't back off, we didn't play politics, we didn't spread the honey when they needed to feel the acid.

We're going to say, thank God. Thank God. We're going to heaven.

You say, I believe that. Do you believe it enough to want others to go with you? You say, what should I do? Well, I know what I do. I can't say it's the only way to do it, but this is one way.

You get a piece of paper and you write on there the names of people you want Jesus to save. I pray for some very famous people. If I gave you their names, you'd be shocked.

People I have met who are very famous, but they're not saved. I pray for them. I may not be able to witness to them, but somebody else may.

So you make a list, a wanted list. You make a list, say I'm going to pray for these people. And then every day you pray for them and you ask God if it's his will, give you an opportunity to share Jesus with somebody.

And then you don't back off because first thing the devil's going to do is say, shut up. They don't want to hear you. But no, Holy Spirit's going to say, come on, let's go.

And you give that loving, sweet, uncompromising witness that Jesus is the only savior and he's the son of God. And if they get mad, that's all right. You leave it with God.

God can work. Invite some friends to come with you to a meeting, to church, and you don't back off. First apostles didn't back off.

You know what they said? Peter stood before the council and said, there's no other name under heaven given among people by which we can be saved. I have a large section in my library of books on other faiths. I want to know what they believe.

I'm currently reading the Quran. I want to know what they believe. I want to be able to speak to them on their own terms.

If I want them to read the Bible, I'm going to read their book. And I'm going to pray, dear Lord, there's going to be some opportunity somewhere. Now help me to give an uncompromising witness, not a political witness, but an uncompromising witness, because that's the only way to go to heaven.

Let's pray. Gracious father, you've left us here to be witnesses, not prosecuting attorneys, not judges, but witnesses. Give us a love for these who don't know whether they're going to heaven or not.

Help us, father, to be tactful, but not compromising. Help us to be courageous, but not arrogant. Help us to be motivated by the love of the Holy Spirit.

But, oh God, may we not in any way compromise our witness. And may Jesus Christ be glorified. Now I'm going to, before pastor comes, I'm going to ask you something.

How many of you would like to join me in this kind of a Christian life? You want an uncompromising witness. You know you're going to heaven. Praise God.

You know how others can go to heaven. Praise God. And you want that uncompromising kind of a witness.

We're bowed in prayer. If you really want that, just stand up. Just stay in an attitude of prayer.

Just stand up. That's all. And by standing, you're saying, Lord, I'm not going to be a coward.

I'm not going to deny. I'm just going to affirm in love and sweetness. I'm going to be an uncompromising witness.

Lord, bless all who are standing. Fill them with your Spirit. Fill them with your Word.

May we not be so concerned about what people think of us. But, oh, may we be burdened about what they think of Jesus. And give us that sweetness and the opening doors to be able to share Jesus with them.

Help us to do good works that would encourage them to come to Jesus. Now, would everyone please stand? Just everybody standing. There's some here tonight who don't know Jesus.

You're not going to heaven. And if you don't know Jesus, you can't go to heaven. He's the only way.

Oh, I pray. Father, speak to any here without the Savior. And may they come tonight and trust Him.

And if any of us have something in our lives that hinders our witness, cleanse us. Help us to make that new dedication tonight. Oh, God, bless abundantly in this invitation time for Jesus' sake. Amen.