WEBVTT - Winning the Lost, No Matter the Cost, Part 3 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.840 He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:08.399 of Christ. Woe! Not ashamed. That's our biggest problem, isn't it? 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:13.000 We're ashamed of Jesus. And Jesus said, if you're ashamed 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:16.000 of me in this perverse and adulterous generation, I'll be 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:18.200 ashamed of you before my father which is in heaven. 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.160 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.160 junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.960 Steve Heller. Glad you joined us today as we continue 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:38.080 a message winning the lost, no matter the cost. And, pastor, 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:39.960 I think if you were to ask most believers if 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:42.400 they're ashamed of Jesus, they'd say, no, no, I'm not. 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:44.279 I'm not ashamed of him. But then if you were 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.000 to ask them, when's the last time you told someone 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:51.360 about Jesus in your relationship with him? Many believers would probably, 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.440 with a little bit of shame, have to say, yeah, 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.600 it's been a long time, right? 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.560 Because we would not like to think that we are 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:02.920 ashamed of Christ, but you know, there are little things 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.559 that you can do. It's the little things when you're 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:10.400 tempted to be ashamed of Christ. I am a pescatarian now, 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:15.720 not a pesky person, but pescatarian. That means I eat fish, vegetables, 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.840 and fruit, and I go to a place that has 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.959 what they call live food. And there are individuals there 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.200 that are of a different faith. 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:25.800 Okay. 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.480 And so I'm tempted to be coward in front of them, 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.000 you know, with the gospel. So here's what I do. 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.600 I go in, they say, hey, how are you doing today? 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:39.200 I say, I'm doing fine because I don't have a 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.720 problem that Jesus can't solve. That's my tagline. Yeah. You know, 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.840 and so. And I use it all the time. And 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:51.080 in times when I think, man, I don't want to 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:54.120 say anything. I get that out. And that kind of 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.720 breaks the ice. Like, okay, I done broke the ice. 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.840 I might as well go for the gold right now. 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.400 Absolutely. You know, we're talking about the first half of 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.000 what we heard you say just a moment ago. Many 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.280 of us maybe have not considered the second half where 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.440 Jesus says, if you're ashamed of me in this perverse 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.720 and adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed of you before my 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.799 father which is in heaven. That's a pretty heavy thing 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:21.600 to think. 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:26.600 About, really. And theologically, there's a difference of opinion. You know, 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.839 if you ask five preachers, you get six different answers. 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.680 But there are some who think that's in the context 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:37.440 of prayer. That whenever you pray, if you were ashamed 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.440 of Christ, he's not going to acknowledge you at the 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.919 right hand of the father. And there are those who say, no. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.639 That's a reference to the judgment seat of Christ, where 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:49.919 he will wipe away all our tears, because there will 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.400 be shame and sadness at the judgment seat. When we 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.600 see what we could have done and what we could 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:58.960 have accomplished for his glory. But we didn't. 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.910 Yeah. And that's a good reminder that why we do 0:03:02.950 --> 0:03:05.150 have to face the judgment seat of Christ one day, 0:03:05.150 --> 0:03:07.710 and we will be judged for our thoughts and actions 0:03:07.710 --> 0:03:12.430 and deeds and maybe missed opportunities. There is no condemnation 0:03:12.430 --> 0:03:15.350 in Christ. He is going to wipe away that shame 0:03:15.350 --> 0:03:15.709 one day. 0:03:15.750 --> 0:03:19.190 This is the kicker for me, Steve. How could you 0:03:19.669 --> 0:03:26.269 not publicize someone who saved your life? And he's done 0:03:26.270 --> 0:03:29.709 that for us eternally. Yeah. I mean, come on. It's 0:03:29.710 --> 0:03:30.549 a no brainer. 0:03:31.030 --> 0:03:34.389 Well, it's a good reminder and challenge that we do 0:03:34.389 --> 0:03:37.870 need to be winning the lost, no matter the cost. 0:03:37.870 --> 0:03:40.430 In fact, that's the title of today's message. So join 0:03:40.430 --> 0:03:43.430 us in Romans chapter one. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:44.150 --> 0:03:46.030 If God did it for you, he could do it. 0:03:46.070 --> 0:03:49.910 Don't you feel obligated to let somebody know who's going 0:03:49.910 --> 0:03:52.830 through what you went through? That God is a healer. 0:03:52.830 --> 0:03:55.990 That God is a deliverer. That God can set you free. 0:03:55.990 --> 0:03:57.950 That he can write your name in the Lamb's Book 0:03:57.950 --> 0:04:06.390 of Life. We ought to feel obligated. Obligated to tell people. 0:04:06.750 --> 0:04:12.390 Paul says, man, I just feel compelled. I can't help myself. 0:04:12.510 --> 0:04:15.510 I feel compelled to do it now. Thirdly, look at thirdly, 0:04:15.510 --> 0:04:18.510 look at thirdly, look at thirdly, because of converts. That's 0:04:18.510 --> 0:04:20.589 the first stick of dynamite he throws in our lap. 0:04:20.670 --> 0:04:23.870 Then because of compulsion, that's the second stick of dynamite. 0:04:23.910 --> 0:04:28.270 Now notice the third one, verse 15, because of compassion. 0:04:28.630 --> 0:04:30.790 Notice what he says. So as much as in me is, 0:04:30.790 --> 0:04:32.950 I am ready to preach the gospel to you that 0:04:32.950 --> 0:04:35.869 are at Rome also. The word to preach the gospel 0:04:35.870 --> 0:04:38.110 is one word in the Greek. You ain't gotta say 0:04:38.110 --> 0:04:41.910 you ain't mine. It means to preach the good news. 0:04:42.190 --> 0:04:46.230 What is the good news? Well, the good news is 0:04:46.230 --> 0:04:49.510 Jesus Christ died, was buried, rose again the third day. 0:04:49.870 --> 0:04:52.270 That's the good news. Ascended into heaven seated at the 0:04:52.270 --> 0:04:54.470 right hand of the father. Soon coming. King. That's the 0:04:54.470 --> 0:04:56.909 good news. If there is good news, there must be 0:04:56.910 --> 0:05:00.470 bad news. What's the bad news? If you don't accept him, 0:05:00.550 --> 0:05:04.190 You are going to go to hell if you don't 0:05:04.190 --> 0:05:07.790 believe that there is a hell. Die without Jesus and 0:05:07.790 --> 0:05:10.549 one minute after you die, you will believe in hell. 0:05:10.630 --> 0:05:13.550 So what happens? You know what? Here's what gets me. 0:05:13.790 --> 0:05:15.670 I have a classic sermon. You know, we call them 0:05:15.670 --> 0:05:18.950 classics when we want to do them again. And it's 0:05:18.990 --> 0:05:21.110 it's entitled seven Things in Hell that ought to be 0:05:21.110 --> 0:05:23.270 in the church. How many have heard that message? Seven 0:05:23.270 --> 0:05:25.109 things in hell. That one, one, two, three, four. I 0:05:25.110 --> 0:05:27.790 could preach that again. There ain't ten people heard that. 0:05:27.790 --> 0:05:30.390 One of the things I talk about is what are 0:05:30.390 --> 0:05:31.630 what are some of the things in hell I'm going 0:05:31.630 --> 0:05:34.270 to talk about any of them. But but one, the 0:05:34.270 --> 0:05:40.270 rich man said, send somebody to tell my five brothers 0:05:40.790 --> 0:05:47.190 not to come to this place. There is more concern 0:05:47.230 --> 0:05:51.990 for lost people in hell than there is in the church. 0:05:52.550 --> 0:05:56.150 That's a shame. Hey, what would you do if you 0:05:56.150 --> 0:05:58.230 saw somebody's house on fire and, you know, they were 0:05:58.230 --> 0:05:59.669 in there and they didn't know it, and they were 0:05:59.670 --> 0:06:02.669 going to burn up, what would you do? Would you 0:06:02.670 --> 0:06:06.550 tell them? Yeah. Then why aren't you telling your unsaved 0:06:06.550 --> 0:06:09.590 loved ones, family and friends that their house is on 0:06:09.589 --> 0:06:12.550 fire and that if they don't accept Jesus Christ, they're 0:06:12.550 --> 0:06:15.390 going to go to hell? Amen. They're going to go 0:06:15.390 --> 0:06:21.910 to hell. Yeah. Mm. Because of compassion, he says, I'm eager. 0:06:23.830 --> 0:06:26.270 I can tell you what you love by listening to 0:06:26.310 --> 0:06:29.270 what you talk about the most. I can tell you 0:06:29.270 --> 0:06:31.830 what you love by what you do with your time. 0:06:32.110 --> 0:06:34.910 There's a police officer, a state trooper from Florida. I 0:06:34.910 --> 0:06:37.070 don't know if he's still around. It's about 20 years ago, 0:06:37.550 --> 0:06:40.190 a a young lady who was engaged to be married 0:06:40.230 --> 0:06:43.870 was run over by an 18 Wheeler, uh, killed, trapped 0:06:43.870 --> 0:06:45.950 in the car. He couldn't get the license plate because 0:06:45.950 --> 0:06:48.510 the wheels were over the license plate. He reached in 0:06:48.510 --> 0:06:51.950 and grabbed her purse and looked for identification. He opened 0:06:51.950 --> 0:06:54.349 up her purse, which had a flip with one of 0:06:54.350 --> 0:06:57.670 these dual things with a checkbook. He looked through the checkbook, 0:06:57.710 --> 0:06:59.750 saw her name and everything. But then he looked through 0:06:59.750 --> 0:07:02.229 the checkbook and he saw every first of the month. 0:07:02.230 --> 0:07:04.990 There was an exorbitant amount of money. So when he 0:07:05.029 --> 0:07:09.710 finally contacted relatives, your relative, uh, is is is is here, 0:07:09.710 --> 0:07:12.350 and we're trying to extricate her from the car and blah, blah, blah, blah. 0:07:12.390 --> 0:07:16.630 Her fiance came down as they were, you know, they're 0:07:16.670 --> 0:07:19.110 just being on the scene. He said to the state trooper. 0:07:19.110 --> 0:07:21.270 He said, man, he said we were going to be 0:07:21.270 --> 0:07:23.630 married next week. He said, so sorry. He said, but 0:07:23.670 --> 0:07:26.350 I say trooper said, I have a question. And he said, 0:07:26.350 --> 0:07:28.830 what's the question? He said, listen. I looked through her 0:07:28.830 --> 0:07:31.190 checkbook and it was an exorbitant amount of money to 0:07:31.230 --> 0:07:33.990 this church every, every first of the month. He said, yeah, 0:07:34.030 --> 0:07:36.430 because she was a Christian, she loved the Lord Jesus Christ. 0:07:36.430 --> 0:07:40.750 She believed in tithes and offerings. He said, really? This 0:07:40.750 --> 0:07:43.270 state trooper was led to the Lord by her fiance 0:07:43.310 --> 0:07:46.310 right there. Here's the testimony that he went around giving 0:07:46.590 --> 0:07:51.990 saved by a checkbook. Amen. That God used a committed 0:07:51.990 --> 0:07:58.670 Christian's checkbook. Now, my question would be if somebody looked 0:07:58.670 --> 0:08:03.870 at our checkbook. Book. Could they know we love Jesus Christ? 0:08:04.350 --> 0:08:09.150 Could they get saved by looking at our checkbook? Okay, 0:08:09.150 --> 0:08:11.030 I'll leave that alone. Let me move on. Let me 0:08:11.030 --> 0:08:14.950 move on. Let me move on. Compassion. Compassion. But people 0:08:14.950 --> 0:08:16.630 don't care how much you know until they know how 0:08:16.630 --> 0:08:18.750 much you care. Remember the little boy who would go 0:08:18.750 --> 0:08:21.710 visit with his grandmother and his granddaddy? And they lived 0:08:21.710 --> 0:08:23.310 on the beach, and he would go on the beach 0:08:23.310 --> 0:08:25.670 every morning and walk. Well, this morning there were thousands 0:08:25.670 --> 0:08:28.030 of starfish all over the beach, all over the beach. 0:08:28.030 --> 0:08:29.710 So he went out and he started picking them up 0:08:29.710 --> 0:08:31.350 and throwing them in the ocean, picking them up and 0:08:31.350 --> 0:08:33.150 throwing them, just running along, picking some of them up, 0:08:33.190 --> 0:08:35.790 throw them in the ocean. The teenager saw him stepped 0:08:35.790 --> 0:08:37.829 in his way and the little boy tried to step around. 0:08:37.830 --> 0:08:39.910 He stepped in his way and he stepped in his 0:08:39.910 --> 0:08:42.390 way again. He said, little boy, don't you understand? With 0:08:42.390 --> 0:08:45.110 the thousands of starfish that are stranded on this beach, 0:08:45.150 --> 0:08:48.710 it's an exercise in futility. You can't make a difference. 0:08:48.790 --> 0:08:51.469 He ran around. The elderly gentleman, picked up some more, 0:08:51.510 --> 0:08:54.309 picked up some more, stopped and turned around and said, sir, 0:08:54.470 --> 0:08:57.990 I beg to differ with you. It does make a 0:08:57.990 --> 0:09:00.900 difference to the ones that I've thrown back in. It 0:09:00.900 --> 0:09:04.660 makes a difference. How do we change the community? One 0:09:04.660 --> 0:09:08.579 person at a time? That's it. That's it. So there 0:09:08.620 --> 0:09:11.020 are people who are going to hell from the church. 0:09:11.020 --> 0:09:12.860 There are people who are going to hell from the bends, 0:09:12.860 --> 0:09:16.980 from the mansion. So so, so, so don't get it twisted. Yeah. 0:09:16.980 --> 0:09:19.700 What's wrong with our community? Because I'm going to tell you, 0:09:19.700 --> 0:09:22.020 it's a change of nature, not a change of name. 0:09:22.020 --> 0:09:23.980 One brother said to me, you need to change your name. 0:09:23.980 --> 0:09:26.140 You got your slave name, put an X behind it. 0:09:26.179 --> 0:09:29.420 Call your name Abdullah Muhammad X. And I said, listen, 0:09:29.420 --> 0:09:32.900 if I would rob you as James Ford Junior, I'll 0:09:32.900 --> 0:09:36.980 rob you as Abdullah Muhammad X, because it's not a 0:09:36.980 --> 0:09:39.660 change of name that I need. It's a change of 0:09:39.660 --> 0:09:43.420 nature that I need and only Jesus can change the nature. 0:09:44.460 --> 0:09:47.380 That's it. And so he says yes, then, then then 0:09:47.380 --> 0:09:51.580 then because of confidence. Verse 16, because of confidence. Imma 0:09:51.580 --> 0:09:53.940 break this down as quick as I can. I'm just 0:09:53.940 --> 0:09:57.020 going to tell you what he says. He says, for 0:09:57.020 --> 0:10:01.020 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Whoa! 0:10:02.260 --> 0:10:08.020 Not ashamed. That's our biggest problem, isn't it? Yes. We're 0:10:08.020 --> 0:10:12.300 ashamed of Jesus. And Jesus said, if you're ashamed of 0:10:12.300 --> 0:10:15.460 me in this perverse and adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed 0:10:15.460 --> 0:10:18.220 of you before my father which is in heaven. Man, 0:10:18.220 --> 0:10:19.980 we can't be ashamed. How can we be ashamed of 0:10:19.980 --> 0:10:21.740 the person who gave us life? How can we be 0:10:21.740 --> 0:10:24.540 ashamed of the person who changed us? Therefore, if any 0:10:24.540 --> 0:10:26.500 man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things 0:10:26.500 --> 0:10:28.340 have passed away. Behold all things. How can we be 0:10:28.340 --> 0:10:30.820 ashamed of the one who wrote our name in his book? 0:10:30.820 --> 0:10:32.500 How can we be ashamed of the one who washed 0:10:32.500 --> 0:10:34.339 us in his blood? How can we be ashamed? The 0:10:34.340 --> 0:10:36.900 one that adopted us into his family sealed us with 0:10:36.900 --> 0:10:39.420 the Holy Spirit of God. How can we be ashamed 0:10:39.420 --> 0:10:43.420 of the one who died on Calvary for our sins, 0:10:43.620 --> 0:10:46.059 even if we were the only people who lived on 0:10:46.059 --> 0:10:47.980 the face of the earth, how can we be ashamed 0:10:47.980 --> 0:10:49.380 of him? 0:10:51.340 --> 0:10:54.980 Really a powerful question and a great challenge for us today. 0:10:55.020 --> 0:10:58.220 You're listening to Treasure Truth, a message called Winning the lost, 0:10:58.220 --> 0:11:01.620 no matter the cost. And we'll get back to this 0:11:01.620 --> 0:11:04.339 teaching from Romans one in just a moment. Well, I 0:11:04.340 --> 0:11:06.300 want to let you know that you can always follow 0:11:06.300 --> 0:11:09.579 Pastor Ford on social media. If you've not done so before, 0:11:09.700 --> 0:11:12.980 you can like us on Facebook and follow us on 0:11:12.980 --> 0:11:15.940 Twitter or on Facebook. You can even listen to this 0:11:15.940 --> 0:11:19.460 program directly through the Facebook homepage. So come to the 0:11:19.460 --> 0:11:24.220 website treasure. Org and click on those social media links. Again, 0:11:24.220 --> 0:11:28.340 it's treasure. Truth. Radio.com. Once again, here's Pastor Ford. 0:11:29.340 --> 0:11:33.340 My friend Marvin Daniels, when he was the youth pastor 0:11:33.740 --> 0:11:36.820 of Compassion Baptist. It used to be Merle Avenue. He 0:11:36.820 --> 0:11:40.380 was walking down Jeffrey, going under the viaduct to go 0:11:40.380 --> 0:11:43.380 to 95th Street. Some, some, some bangers rolled up in 0:11:43.380 --> 0:11:47.580 a Hooptie threw an Uzi out the back window and said, declare! 0:11:47.860 --> 0:11:49.140 So I told him, I said, I know you was 0:11:49.140 --> 0:11:51.500 feeling good about that because they thought you was a teenager. 0:11:52.660 --> 0:11:55.620 And I said, what'd you do, man? You know, because 0:11:55.620 --> 0:11:57.219 I know what I would have done. He said, what 0:11:57.220 --> 0:11:59.300 would you have done? I said, man, I would saturate 0:11:59.300 --> 0:12:02.900 the place with my absence. Rather they say there he 0:12:02.900 --> 0:12:05.540 go than there he lay. I remember my motto when 0:12:05.540 --> 0:12:07.540 I was in grade school. He who thinks to run 0:12:07.540 --> 0:12:11.740 away will live to fight another day. Hey, I said, 0:12:11.740 --> 0:12:15.020 what did you do? He said, I prayed a quick prayer. 0:12:15.020 --> 0:12:17.459 I said, God, just like in acts chapter four, when 0:12:17.460 --> 0:12:19.339 they beat him and told him not to proclaim, give 0:12:19.340 --> 0:12:21.660 me power, he said, I started walking toward him. I said, yeah, 0:12:21.660 --> 0:12:23.380 what'd you say? He said, I walked toward him and 0:12:23.380 --> 0:12:26.220 I said, I'm not a a Latin king, but I 0:12:26.220 --> 0:12:28.260 do serve the King of kings. I'm not a just 0:12:28.300 --> 0:12:31.020 a gangster disciple, but I am a disciple of Christ. 0:12:31.020 --> 0:12:33.020 And my leader, like your leader is not with you, 0:12:33.020 --> 0:12:34.740 but my leader is not in jail. He's at the 0:12:34.740 --> 0:12:37.580 right hand of the father making intercession for me right now, 0:12:37.700 --> 0:12:40.060 as I'm witnessing to you, I don't have a sign 0:12:40.059 --> 0:12:42.700 like you. My sign is the cross. The cross of 0:12:42.700 --> 0:12:45.220 Jesus Christ. I don't have a color like you. My 0:12:45.220 --> 0:12:47.580 color is red, which stands for the blood of Christ. 0:12:47.580 --> 0:12:49.939 And I'm out doing the same thing you're doing. I 0:12:49.940 --> 0:12:52.180 want you to declare. I want you to become one 0:12:52.179 --> 0:12:54.700 of God's gangbangers. Because the Bible says that if I 0:12:54.740 --> 0:12:56.980 can declare with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and 0:12:56.980 --> 0:12:59.100 believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, 0:12:59.100 --> 0:13:01.059 thou shalt be saved. Do you want to become one 0:13:01.059 --> 0:13:05.260 of God's gangbangers? They said that in words. Crazy threw 0:13:05.260 --> 0:13:07.580 the Uzi in the back seat and pulled off. And 0:13:07.580 --> 0:13:10.939 he said, I hollered out, I'm crazy for Jesus. I said, man, 0:13:10.940 --> 0:13:13.700 that's what it means not to be ashamed of the 0:13:13.740 --> 0:13:17.860 gospel of Jesus Christ. Hey, I tell you, like my 0:13:17.860 --> 0:13:22.939 mama used to say, my mama would fight anybody. Man. Woman. Dog. Cat. 0:13:22.980 --> 0:13:25.059 It didn't matter. And I say, mama, why you do 0:13:25.059 --> 0:13:27.300 something like that? She said, because they can kill me. 0:13:27.300 --> 0:13:28.460 But they can't eat me. 0:13:30.540 --> 0:13:33.860 And I think about it. Nobody can take me out 0:13:33.860 --> 0:13:36.140 unless God is ready for me to go. That's the 0:13:36.140 --> 0:13:38.660 way I look at it. So Imma go anywhere. I 0:13:38.660 --> 0:13:41.939 don't care if they shoot me. It was God's will 0:13:41.940 --> 0:13:42.540 that I go. 0:13:42.540 --> 0:13:44.179 Out that way. Yeah. 0:13:46.300 --> 0:13:47.340 It's good preaching, man. 0:13:47.700 --> 0:13:51.940 So why should I be afraid? Imma live forever. Yeah. 0:13:53.820 --> 0:13:55.420 Now I know what you're thinking I am too, but 0:13:55.420 --> 0:14:00.300 I ain't ready to go today. But that ain't your decision. 0:14:01.380 --> 0:14:03.940 There are people who haven't witnessed, just been in the 0:14:03.940 --> 0:14:07.340 wrong place and got shot. Yes. If you're going to 0:14:07.340 --> 0:14:12.859 get shot, at least get shot for Jesus. Yes. Amen. 0:14:14.179 --> 0:14:17.660 That's it. Pastor Presley White, in the presence of the Lord, 0:14:17.660 --> 0:14:20.020 was witnessing. Witnessing at the book of the blood. How 0:14:20.020 --> 0:14:22.300 many know where that is? Bucket of blood. That's on 0:14:22.300 --> 0:14:26.500 the west side. West side. And Pastor White went out witnessing, 0:14:26.500 --> 0:14:29.140 and he said he walked into the gangbangers. They were whittling. 0:14:29.260 --> 0:14:31.220 One guy was whittling and he said, I want to 0:14:31.220 --> 0:14:33.860 give you a gospel track. And the guy stabbed through 0:14:33.860 --> 0:14:36.620 the track and cut his finger. He said, I just 0:14:36.660 --> 0:14:39.260 asked God, what should I do now? God said, just 0:14:39.260 --> 0:14:42.060 turn and walk away. He said, I just turn and 0:14:42.060 --> 0:14:44.700 walk away. He said there was a church and I 0:14:44.740 --> 0:14:47.380 knocked on the door. My hand was bleeding profusely and 0:14:47.380 --> 0:14:50.060 the pastor came to the door and said, well, what happened? 0:14:50.060 --> 0:14:53.420 What happened? He said, I told him what happened. He said, 0:14:53.420 --> 0:14:58.020 Pastor Ford, his answer hurt me more than the cut. 0:14:58.060 --> 0:15:01.050 I said, what did he say? he fixed up my hand, 0:15:01.090 --> 0:15:03.370 bandaged up and said, you're going to need stitches. And 0:15:03.370 --> 0:15:05.970 he said, you should have known better than to try 0:15:05.970 --> 0:15:09.290 to talk to them people anyway. He said, that hurt 0:15:09.290 --> 0:15:13.610 me more than the cut. Yeah, that here was somebody 0:15:13.770 --> 0:15:17.650 that didn't see the value and the worth in a 0:15:17.650 --> 0:15:22.210 life that Christ died for. Here it is because of 0:15:22.210 --> 0:15:25.770 converting power. Verse 16, because I'm convinced it's the power 0:15:25.770 --> 0:15:27.490 of God. Okay, I gotta tell you this story. It's 0:15:27.490 --> 0:15:30.170 the power of God. Dunamis of God. Implosive. Okay, I 0:15:30.210 --> 0:15:31.930 gotta tell you this story. You already heard it. I 0:15:31.930 --> 0:15:34.890 hope you heard it. It was about the Washington family. 0:15:35.050 --> 0:15:37.130 Come on, Brother Washington, raise your hand. Everybody look at 0:15:37.530 --> 0:15:41.130 Washington right there. His daughter was was diagnosed with a 0:15:41.130 --> 0:15:43.930 congestive heart condition, and they took pictures of it and 0:15:43.930 --> 0:15:49.490 all that kind of stuff. And, uh, we came and, uh, said, okay, 0:15:49.490 --> 0:15:52.090 we're going to pray. She wanted prayer. And so nine 0:15:52.090 --> 0:15:55.410 women stood on this platform, uh, the last Sunday I 0:15:55.410 --> 0:15:58.130 preached here, anointed her with oil, told her to throw 0:15:58.170 --> 0:16:01.010 her hands up, and thank God, uh, Brother Washington took 0:16:01.010 --> 0:16:03.330 his family to the doctor the next day, told the doctor, 0:16:03.330 --> 0:16:05.370 you know what? I'm going to walk by faith. We 0:16:05.370 --> 0:16:07.650 were all going to take this test. But no, we're 0:16:07.650 --> 0:16:09.450 not all going to take the test. I'm just going 0:16:09.450 --> 0:16:11.930 to believe God. Just give her the test the doctor 0:16:11.930 --> 0:16:13.610 gave her the test came back and said, I don't 0:16:13.610 --> 0:16:15.970 know what's going on. I can't I don't see anything. 0:16:16.010 --> 0:16:18.770 I mean, it was there. I don't know what's going on. 0:16:18.770 --> 0:16:21.970 I don't I can't explain it to you. Now get this. 0:16:22.010 --> 0:16:24.010 It's the power of God. But wait a minute, wait 0:16:24.010 --> 0:16:27.210 a minute. Every miracle. See, see, see. Here's where people 0:16:27.210 --> 0:16:30.130 get it twisted in gospel. John. He did seven signs. 0:16:30.130 --> 0:16:33.810 They're not called miracles. They're called signs. Why? Because a 0:16:33.810 --> 0:16:37.250 sign points to something. When you see a sign. Chicago. 0:16:37.250 --> 0:16:40.210 Ten miles. That means you got ten miles before you 0:16:40.210 --> 0:16:43.890 get to Chicago. That's what the sign. The signs were 0:16:43.890 --> 0:16:45.970 all to point to the fact that he was God 0:16:45.970 --> 0:16:49.570 in the flesh. That's why he did the signs, the healing. 0:16:49.570 --> 0:16:52.650 Why would he let a pretty young girl like that 0:16:52.690 --> 0:16:55.770 be diagnosed with congestive heart failure so he could set 0:16:55.770 --> 0:16:58.970 it up so that when the power of God is demonstrated, 0:16:58.970 --> 0:17:02.010 and when that doctor told Vernon that he didn't know 0:17:02.130 --> 0:17:08.010 how it happened, Vernon said, I do. And that doctor 0:17:08.690 --> 0:17:13.450 heard about Jesus with irrefutable evidence that it was the 0:17:13.450 --> 0:17:17.129 power of God. Because he said, because yesterday our church 0:17:17.130 --> 0:17:20.650 believed God and laid hands and anointed with oil, and 0:17:20.650 --> 0:17:24.929 God healed her. Now, whether he accepted or not, he 0:17:24.930 --> 0:17:30.290 heard about the power of God unto salvation to everybody 0:17:30.290 --> 0:17:37.050 that believes. Here's the last one. Here's the last one. 0:17:37.050 --> 0:17:41.770 Notice verse 17. Here's the last stick of dynamite because 0:17:41.770 --> 0:17:44.770 of conveyance. You know, it just starts with, with with 0:17:44.810 --> 0:17:47.850 a C. What do you mean, what it conveys? Here's 0:17:47.850 --> 0:17:50.530 what he says. For therein is the righteousness of God 0:17:50.530 --> 0:17:52.450 revealed from faith to faith. As it written, the just 0:17:52.450 --> 0:17:54.290 shall live by faith. There's a this. This is a 0:17:54.290 --> 0:17:56.770 sermon all by itself. Let me say this the just 0:17:56.770 --> 0:17:59.250 shall live by faith comes from Habakkuk. It's only three 0:17:59.369 --> 0:18:03.530 times in the New Testament. It is Romans 117 right here. 0:18:03.570 --> 0:18:07.649 Galatians chapter. I didn't put it down. And it's in 0:18:07.650 --> 0:18:11.090 Galatians in Hebrew. And here it is. Romans focused on 0:18:11.090 --> 0:18:14.169 the just. It tells about who they are, how you 0:18:14.170 --> 0:18:18.530 get justified. Galatians talks about shall live. And then Hebrews 0:18:18.570 --> 0:18:21.929 talks about by faith. So he brings it together, breaks 0:18:21.930 --> 0:18:24.730 it down, and explain it to us. What he say, 0:18:24.730 --> 0:18:27.690 it's the righteousness of God. The word righteousness is in 0:18:27.850 --> 0:18:31.930 the book of Romans over 60 times. You think he's 0:18:31.930 --> 0:18:34.810 trying to make a point? He's trying to make a point. 0:18:34.850 --> 0:18:37.369 How do you get a person righteous? How do you 0:18:37.369 --> 0:18:42.170 get a person living right, doing right. Get em saved. Why? 0:18:42.450 --> 0:18:48.090 Because faith acronym is forsaking all I trust him. Guess what? 0:18:48.090 --> 0:18:50.690 It is in Mandarin Chinese. Some of you remember this 0:18:50.730 --> 0:18:54.130 Mandarin Chinese. It had to be put together by somebody 0:18:54.130 --> 0:18:57.530 who was a believer. Guess what the word righteousness is. 0:18:58.130 --> 0:19:04.369 They have characters. Now guess what the word righteousness is like. 0:19:06.010 --> 0:19:11.690 Over me. That's the word for righteousness in Mandarin Chinese. 0:19:11.890 --> 0:19:16.090 A picture of a lamb over the word me. So 0:19:16.090 --> 0:19:19.609 how do you get righteous in Mandarin Chinese? Have the 0:19:19.609 --> 0:19:25.810 lamb over you. Amen. Man, this God loved us so 0:19:25.810 --> 0:19:31.250 much that he sent somebody to witness to us. The 0:19:31.250 --> 0:19:37.050 perfect witness came. His name is Jesus Christ. We have 0:19:37.050 --> 0:19:38.890 to give. Now, here's the application. Here it is, here 0:19:38.890 --> 0:19:40.730 it is, here it is. How many of you on Facebook? 0:19:40.730 --> 0:19:42.609 How many of you on Facebook raise your hand? Okay. 0:19:42.650 --> 0:19:46.650 How many of you, uh, tweet. How many of you text? 0:19:47.570 --> 0:19:50.490 How many of you on Instagram? How many of you 0:19:50.490 --> 0:19:53.970 on some of these other things I don't even know about? Okay, 0:19:53.970 --> 0:19:56.370 here's what I want us to do. I want us 0:19:56.369 --> 0:20:01.170 to do a gospel Bombshell. Alright, okay, here it is. 0:20:01.170 --> 0:20:04.050 Here's the gospel bombshell. This week I want you to 0:20:04.090 --> 0:20:09.449 inundate every every media form that we have. So how 0:20:09.450 --> 0:20:14.690 many of you have unsaved friends, relatives, associates or neighbors? Okay, 0:20:15.210 --> 0:20:18.930 let's make a commitment to do this Monday. Take every 0:20:18.930 --> 0:20:21.770 one of those meetings that you have. So Monday, here's 0:20:21.770 --> 0:20:24.969 what I'm going to do. I'm going to email, text message, 0:20:25.010 --> 0:20:27.930 put on Facebook and do an Instagram. Say how are 0:20:27.930 --> 0:20:29.409 you going to do Instagram? I'm going to take a 0:20:29.410 --> 0:20:33.210 picture of me and say, Happy in Jesus. John 316. 0:20:34.570 --> 0:20:36.730 That's what I'm going to do. And then Tuesday I'll 0:20:36.730 --> 0:20:39.010 do another one, you know. But how many of you 0:20:39.010 --> 0:20:43.330 make a commitment every day? Monday, Tuesday? At least once 0:20:43.330 --> 0:20:45.770 in every form of the day. You tell everybody you 0:20:45.770 --> 0:20:48.250 eating barbecue and where you are and all that kind 0:20:48.250 --> 0:20:51.730 of stuff. And some of us, you know, I look 0:20:51.730 --> 0:20:52.969 at some of them, I don't stay on a whole 0:20:52.970 --> 0:20:54.530 lot because I don't I don't like to be on it. 0:20:54.530 --> 0:20:56.489 But some of some of your Facebook pages, I look 0:20:56.530 --> 0:20:58.609 at them and say, man, you wouldn't know there was 0:20:58.609 --> 0:21:00.879 a Christian and all that stuff they're putting on Facebook. 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:04.119 Look at the way they're dressing, man. They really believe somebody. 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:08.080 Believe they're a Christian. Anyway, so now what we can 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:10.960 do is let's use it for Jesus. Alright, okay, okay, 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:13.400 I need to see. I need to see just by 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:17.639 standing how many are going to do it every day. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:22.280 Thursday Friday. Saturday. Come on. Alright. Amen. God bless. How 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:26.439 many of you will do it? Five days. Stand up. 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:31.159 How many of you do it? Four days. Three days? 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.640 How about two days? Can I get a one day? 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:40.159 Can I get you to pass out of track? You 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:43.959 got anybody? That's not saying that you can write a 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:46.280 letter to if you don't want to talk to him. Hey, 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.119 you know what I've been wanting to tell you about 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:54.520 the best friend I have. His name is Jesus. And 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:56.800 then just tell him why he came and what he 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:58.440 did and who he is. 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:04.160 You know, successful evangelism doesn't mean winning people to Christ. 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:06.679 It just simply means being faithful to share the message 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.639 of the gospel. Really, the results are up to God. 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:13.000 You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. Today's program 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:16.159 is called Winning the Lost, no matter the cost, and 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.160 you can find it when you come to our website, 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:21.159 along with a complete archive of sermons. Just come to 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:25.920 treasure Truth Radio. You know, pastor, there are all sorts 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.920 of voices in culture that are bombarding us with messages 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:32.919 that are so contrary to God's Word and to what 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:35.520 Scripture says. And I think one of the reasons that 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:37.639 listeners may want to consider giving a gift to support 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:40.000 is that Moody Radio and Treasure Truth can help us 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:40.919 stand firm. 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:47.399 Amen. Because Moody Network will give us the gospel straight, 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:51.520 no chaser. And we don't want to mix anything with 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:55.200 the Word of God, because if you dilute it, you 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:58.679 pollute it. And you know, Steve, I went on an 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:01.320 all fruit diet, and I gained weight and I couldn't 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:03.600 understand what happened. I mean, you know, all I had 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:10.000 was apple pie, peach cobbler, you know, you see where 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:13.000 I'm going? You get where I'm going. That everything I 0:23:13.000 --> 0:23:16.880 added to it polluted it and took away its nutritional value. 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:19.680 That's what's happening with the word of God today. Hey, 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:25.400 Moody encourages all of us not to be politically correct, 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:27.560 but to be biblically correct. 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:30.920 Well, you can help us do that to to share 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:32.960 the truth of God's Word with those who will come 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:36.080 across this program and across Moody Radio by giving a gift. 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:39.399 Come to Treasure Truth Radio org and click on the 0:23:39.440 --> 0:23:42.560 donate button. Thanks for doing that and for listening today. 0:23:42.560 --> 0:23:45.080 Thanks to our producers, Amy Rios and Ryan McConaughey. For 0:23:45.080 --> 0:23:48.080 Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:51.440 of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.