WEBVTT - Winning the Lost, No Matter the Cost, Part 1 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:04.040 One plants, one waters. God gives the increase. The sower 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:08.240 and the reaper get the same reward. Who's the sower? 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:10.440 The one that put the seed in the heart soil. 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.360 Who's the reaper? The one that prayed with him. The 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.200 one that actually was there when they actually came to Christ? 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.520 You mean both of them? Yes. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.280 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior, 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.360 senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hillard. 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.240 Glad you're with us. As today we begin a new series, 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:38.080 Winning the Lost, no matter the cost. And pastor, before 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:41.480 we talk a little bit more about specific rewards and 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.120 sowing and reaping, what is the reward that the sower 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.280 that the reaper are going to receive? 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:52.120 Uh, well, knowing that because you allow God to use 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.600 you as a vessel, somebody else will be in heaven. 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.560 I think that there's no greater reward. Only two things 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.920 last forever the Word of God and the souls of 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:07.039 men and women. I ask this often at our assembly. 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.920 I ask the question. Of course they know the answer now. 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.520 But the first time nobody gave the answer, I said, 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.280 is there anything better than going to heaven? And they 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:19.080 all said no. And of course I respond, yes. Taking 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:20.240 someone with you. 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:20.680 Yeah. 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.640 And so and so. Now they'll just say yes. Taking 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.560 someone with you. And now I respond, okay, so who's 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.000 going to be in heaven because God used you? 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.639 And that is really a convicting question for many of us. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.440 I think there are so many excuses and reasons that 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.640 believers can give for not taking others with them, but 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.920 this is not an optional thing. We're commanded to do this. 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.880 We are commanded. Yeah, it's not like going to old 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:54.080 Country buffet where you pick and choose. No. We're commanded 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.960 to share the good news of Jesus Christ. 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:01.320 So for the sower, for the reaper, They get to 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.880 share in that reward, but that means that they actually 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:06.640 have to be doing what you're just talking about, that 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.320 they are sharing the good news of the gospel. For 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.440 the person who says, pastor, I hear what you're saying, 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:14.840 but man, I'm so scared I don't even know how 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:16.079 to go about sharing my faith. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.200 Make it a part of your regular conversation. So here's 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:24.040 here's what I do. Uh, okay. You're getting ready to 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:26.040 say something to me. Say something to me. 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:28.720 All right. I'm going to tell you that I had 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:29.799 a hamburger for lunch. 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.840 Oh, you had a hamburger for lunch. That's good man. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.440 Do you know every good and perfect gift comes from above? 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.160 From the father of lights, in whom is no variableness, 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.040 no shadow of turning. I know you don't want to 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:41.960 hear that, but I was just going to tell you 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:43.880 about my friend. My best friend. 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:44.480 Your best friend? 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.320 Yeah. His name is Jesus. And he's God in the 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.239 flesh who died, was buried and rose again the third day. 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:55.040 And so when you incorporate that into regular conversation, I'm 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.720 going to assume that there are occasionally some people who 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.280 really engage with you in that. Probably a lot of 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:01.390 pretty crazy looks. 0:03:01.430 --> 0:03:03.989 Oh, man, I'll tell you. But but I try to 0:03:04.030 --> 0:03:08.950 inculcate the gospel into everything that I do so that 0:03:08.950 --> 0:03:13.070 it becomes just just a very real part. Somebody asked 0:03:13.070 --> 0:03:15.510 me for money, or they say, I'm hungry. Can you 0:03:15.510 --> 0:03:17.470 feed me? Sure. But let me tell you why I'm 0:03:17.470 --> 0:03:21.510 doing this. Not because I'm such a good person. I 0:03:21.550 --> 0:03:24.830 am not, but I have a good person who lives 0:03:24.830 --> 0:03:26.390 in me. And they look at me and I say, 0:03:26.389 --> 0:03:29.150 He's Jesus Christ, who's God in the flesh, who died 0:03:29.150 --> 0:03:31.510 and rose again the third day. That's the good news. 0:03:31.510 --> 0:03:33.430 So I just I just throw out the good news. 0:03:33.470 --> 0:03:37.310 I look for ways to to share the good news. 0:03:37.310 --> 0:03:39.510 And that's what we all are to do. And that's 0:03:39.510 --> 0:03:42.510 what we're looking at in today's message. So I hope 0:03:42.510 --> 0:03:44.790 you'll open your Bible and join us in Romans chapter 0:03:44.790 --> 0:03:48.950 one as we begin winning the lost, no matter the cost. 0:03:49.310 --> 0:03:50.590 Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:51.550 --> 0:03:54.230 Man was out fishing and he was catching all kind 0:03:54.270 --> 0:03:59.110 of fish, but nobody else was catching any fish. Now 0:03:59.110 --> 0:04:01.230 the game warden saw it and he said, you know, 0:04:01.230 --> 0:04:04.990 something's going on here. Something's wrong. And so he decided, 0:04:04.990 --> 0:04:07.150 I'm going to go out with this guy. He's got 0:04:07.150 --> 0:04:10.150 to be doing something illegal to catch all these fish, 0:04:10.150 --> 0:04:13.510 and nobody else is catching fish. So he said, sir, 0:04:13.510 --> 0:04:16.150 I'm going out with you in your boat. So they 0:04:16.150 --> 0:04:17.950 pull out in the middle of the lake and the 0:04:17.950 --> 0:04:20.550 guy has a tarp. He pulls the cover off of 0:04:20.550 --> 0:04:25.789 it and underneath are sticks of dynamite. The warden looks 0:04:25.790 --> 0:04:27.950 and he's thinking to himself, I knew this guy was 0:04:27.950 --> 0:04:31.229 doing something illegal. The guy picks up a stick of 0:04:31.230 --> 0:04:37.830 dynamite lights it, throws it in the lake. Boom! The 0:04:37.830 --> 0:04:41.710 fish are shocked. They come to the top. He takes 0:04:41.710 --> 0:04:45.110 his net, scoops him up and puts him in the boat. 0:04:47.430 --> 0:04:51.589 The game warden said, you can't do that. That's illegal. 0:04:51.589 --> 0:04:54.029 I knew you were doing something illegal, I knew it. 0:04:54.230 --> 0:04:56.990 You can't fish like that. God picked up a stick 0:04:57.029 --> 0:05:00.830 of dynamite, lit the fuse, threw it in the warden's 0:05:00.830 --> 0:05:02.789 lap and said, are you going to talk or are 0:05:02.790 --> 0:05:08.190 you going to fish? Go ahead. Somebody say he fished. Yeah. 0:05:08.190 --> 0:05:12.110 He fished. You see, before he wasn't doing it. And 0:05:12.110 --> 0:05:16.550 so the fishermen had to give him a motivation so 0:05:16.550 --> 0:05:20.110 that he would be able to do what he was doing. Yeah. Uh, 0:05:20.110 --> 0:05:23.390 that's all it's about. Because the church is supposed to 0:05:23.390 --> 0:05:28.510 be a lighthouse to the community. And we are those 0:05:28.510 --> 0:05:31.589 who Jesus said when he told his disciples in Matthew 419, 0:05:31.589 --> 0:05:34.310 anybody ever read that? He said, follow me, and I 0:05:34.310 --> 0:05:38.670 will make you church attenders. Follow me, and I will 0:05:38.670 --> 0:05:42.630 make you fishers of men. In other words, the reason 0:05:42.630 --> 0:05:45.390 we follow Jesus is not for the Benz's and the 0:05:45.390 --> 0:05:48.630 Blings and the Benjamins and all of that. We follow 0:05:48.630 --> 0:05:50.910 him because he wants to make us fishers of men. 0:05:50.950 --> 0:05:54.790 Now he gave them that in Capernaum. And and it's key, 0:05:54.790 --> 0:05:57.630 because what were they doing when he called them? They 0:05:57.670 --> 0:06:00.430 were fishing. Jesus rolls up on him and says, I 0:06:00.550 --> 0:06:02.830 got something for you, baby Baba. Check this out. Here's 0:06:02.830 --> 0:06:05.710 what I want you to do. I want you to 0:06:05.750 --> 0:06:09.789 realize that right now you fish for live fish. Then 0:06:09.790 --> 0:06:12.950 you catch them and they die. Then you have to 0:06:12.990 --> 0:06:16.310 clean them. But I'm calling you to be fishers of men. 0:06:16.630 --> 0:06:19.910 So you'll catch these fish and they're dead. When you 0:06:19.950 --> 0:06:22.830 catch them. They're dead in their trespasses and sin. They're 0:06:22.830 --> 0:06:26.590 depraved in their mind. They're darkened in their imagination. But 0:06:26.589 --> 0:06:28.630 then when you catch them and you give them the 0:06:28.630 --> 0:06:31.310 good news of Jesus Christ, they come alive. But you 0:06:31.310 --> 0:06:33.670 don't gotta clean em. You give em to me and 0:06:33.670 --> 0:06:37.390 I clean em. Now, now, now, you need to understand 0:06:37.390 --> 0:06:40.670 what's going on here, because the church has gotten things backwards, 0:06:40.670 --> 0:06:44.150 haven't we? Vance Havner said it this way. We have 0:06:44.150 --> 0:06:46.710 become the keepers of the aquarium rather than the fishers 0:06:46.710 --> 0:06:48.670 of men. Yeah. This is this is like. This is 0:06:48.670 --> 0:06:50.550 like people say, pastor, when are you going to preach 0:06:50.550 --> 0:06:53.590 the salvation message? And they want the stock to pawn. 0:06:53.630 --> 0:06:58.790 They got the commandments backwards. Jesus didn't say, come. Jesus said, go. 0:06:58.830 --> 0:07:01.230 The first two letters of the word gospel is the 0:07:01.230 --> 0:07:04.349 word go. Oh, yeah. Invite him to church and I 0:07:04.350 --> 0:07:07.310 hope that we'll be doing that. But here's where you 0:07:07.310 --> 0:07:10.710 win the people you win the people on your job, 0:07:10.710 --> 0:07:13.950 in your neighborhood, at the food store, at the health 0:07:13.950 --> 0:07:19.670 food store, at the health club. You. That's where you win, people. Yes. Amen. 0:07:20.550 --> 0:07:24.150 Not in church. Now I will fish if you will 0:07:24.150 --> 0:07:28.310 stock the pond. Yes. Make sure I can catch something. 0:07:28.830 --> 0:07:31.350 You know what that means. Just invite your unsaved loved ones. 0:07:31.590 --> 0:07:35.750 And so we then are those who should be winning 0:07:35.750 --> 0:07:40.110 people to Christ. And so this fisherman gave that game 0:07:40.110 --> 0:07:45.030 warden a motivation. The church ought to be a maternity 0:07:45.070 --> 0:07:49.590 ward where new converts and the cries of baby Christians 0:07:49.590 --> 0:07:52.990 is constantly being heard. Yes, we should be winning people 0:07:52.990 --> 0:07:55.310 to Jesus Christ. That sign in the nursery. Remember the 0:07:55.310 --> 0:07:57.070 sign of nursery? We ought to put one in ours. 0:07:57.110 --> 0:07:59.310 It says we shall not all sleep, but we shall 0:07:59.310 --> 0:08:03.550 all be changed. And that's what we're looking for, a change. 0:08:03.550 --> 0:08:06.590 I know what somebody's saying. I can't fish, I just 0:08:06.590 --> 0:08:09.870 got saved. I don't know anybody ever. Say, don't. Don't 0:08:09.870 --> 0:08:12.270 raise your hand. I can't tell anybody because I don't 0:08:12.270 --> 0:08:15.510 know enough about the Bible. You don't need to know 0:08:15.510 --> 0:08:18.590 anything about the Bible. Okay? Take John chapter four. The 0:08:18.590 --> 0:08:21.350 woman at the well, the Samaritan woman. Remember her, remember 0:08:21.350 --> 0:08:23.950 the dialogue her and Jesus had. So they had a dialogue. 0:08:23.990 --> 0:08:26.150 And so Jesus trying to show her he's the Messiah, 0:08:26.150 --> 0:08:28.790 but she's trying to throw the religious bag in there. 0:08:28.830 --> 0:08:32.429 What what religion do you have? And and you're a Jew. 0:08:32.470 --> 0:08:34.630 You have the Jews. He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, 0:08:34.630 --> 0:08:37.430 it's not about religion. Where are we worship on this mountain? 0:08:37.429 --> 0:08:39.870 Where do you worship? You know, you worship on Saturday, 0:08:39.870 --> 0:08:43.150 worship on Sunday. Who cares what day you worship as 0:08:43.150 --> 0:08:46.270 long as you got Jesus Christ as your personal Lord 0:08:46.270 --> 0:08:50.150 and Savior. And so Jesus just cut to the chase, 0:08:50.150 --> 0:08:53.110 because sometimes what you gotta do is you just gotta 0:08:53.110 --> 0:08:55.230 cut to the chase. So she talking about we worship 0:08:55.230 --> 0:08:57.430 in this mountain where you worship them. You say worship. 0:08:57.470 --> 0:09:02.140 Jesus said, go get your husband. She said, I don't 0:09:02.140 --> 0:09:06.260 have a husband. And Jesus said, you got that right. 0:09:06.260 --> 0:09:10.740 You done had five of em. It ain't new. Yeah. 0:09:12.140 --> 0:09:15.700 And you shacking right now. She said, I perceived I 0:09:15.700 --> 0:09:19.940 must be a prophet. Jesus telling her business. Now what 0:09:19.940 --> 0:09:22.579 does she do? Here's what she did. It says she 0:09:22.580 --> 0:09:26.220 dropped her water pots. Oh, that's so powerful. You want 0:09:26.220 --> 0:09:28.980 to know why? Because that means she changed her agenda. 0:09:29.020 --> 0:09:31.500 Her agenda was to get some water so she can 0:09:31.540 --> 0:09:34.620 exist and clean and wash herself. But she met Jesus. 0:09:34.620 --> 0:09:37.540 And when you meet Jesus, it ought to change your agenda. 0:09:37.580 --> 0:09:40.620 It ought to change what you got as a priority. Now, 0:09:40.620 --> 0:09:43.420 she dropped that water pot. She said, I got to 0:09:43.420 --> 0:09:48.420 tell somebody about Jesus. And the Bible says she ran 0:09:49.660 --> 0:09:55.100 to the city, and she told all the men I met, 0:09:55.179 --> 0:09:59.459 a man who told me everything I ever done. And 0:09:59.460 --> 0:10:03.420 the Bible says, and all the men ran out to 0:10:03.460 --> 0:10:07.500 see what she was talking about. Now, why did all 0:10:07.500 --> 0:10:12.380 the men run out to see what she was talking about? Because, 0:10:12.380 --> 0:10:15.459 she said, I met a man who told me every 0:10:16.660 --> 0:10:22.020 thing I ever did. And some of them jokers was 0:10:22.020 --> 0:10:25.380 running out to make sure Jesus wasn't telling what they 0:10:25.380 --> 0:10:28.980 did with them. Now you know what I noticed about her? 0:10:30.059 --> 0:10:33.380 She didn't go to Moody Bible Institute. She didn't take 0:10:33.380 --> 0:10:37.860 her online evangelism course. She wasn't in your class. Were 0:10:37.860 --> 0:10:43.540 you taught how to win souls for Christ? Immediately, she 0:10:43.540 --> 0:10:48.780 began to tell somebody, come see a man. And you 0:10:48.780 --> 0:10:52.500 know what I like about it? What's God's number for perfection? 0:10:53.059 --> 0:10:57.699 She had five shacking. And the seventh man was a child. 0:10:59.100 --> 0:11:01.140 That's for all you single folk. Come on now. 0:11:03.980 --> 0:11:06.900 That is Pastor Ford with a message called winning the lost, 0:11:06.940 --> 0:11:09.140 no matter the cost. And we're going to have to 0:11:09.179 --> 0:11:11.860 pause for just a moment right here. We'll continue this 0:11:11.860 --> 0:11:15.059 teaching from Romans chapter one in just a little bit. 0:11:15.500 --> 0:11:17.300 Want to let you know that if you ever miss 0:11:17.300 --> 0:11:19.940 a program, or you can always listen online when you 0:11:19.940 --> 0:11:23.900 come to our website, treasure Truth Radio. Download or stream 0:11:23.900 --> 0:11:26.620 the program. Otherwise, you can listen on the go. Well, 0:11:26.660 --> 0:11:29.580 sign up to begin podcasting this program or get the 0:11:29.580 --> 0:11:31.980 Moody Radio app. Not only with the app can you 0:11:31.980 --> 0:11:35.540 listen to this program, but also other streaming music stations 0:11:35.540 --> 0:11:38.339 from Moody Radio. You'll find links to the app when 0:11:38.340 --> 0:11:42.540 you come to our website. Treasure truth radio.org. Back to 0:11:42.540 --> 0:11:44.780 the message again. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:11:45.460 --> 0:11:47.500 And so no, she didn't say I can't fish. So 0:11:47.500 --> 0:11:50.060 here I want to look at this passage and this 0:11:50.059 --> 0:11:53.020 brief span of time I want you to see, because 0:11:53.020 --> 0:11:56.459 there are six sticks of dynamite that Paul is going 0:11:56.500 --> 0:12:00.220 to throw in our laps, hoping it would cause us 0:12:00.260 --> 0:12:05.580 to start fishing. Yeah. Okay. Here they come. Let me 0:12:05.580 --> 0:12:08.740 throw out the first one. Here it is, verse 13. Converts. 0:12:08.780 --> 0:12:11.980 Notice what he says in verse 13. He says, listen, 0:12:11.980 --> 0:12:16.020 the fact that there will be converts ought to motivate 0:12:16.020 --> 0:12:18.780 us to witness for the Lord. Listen to what he says. Now. 0:12:18.780 --> 0:12:22.060 I would not have you ignorant. Stop every time he says, 0:12:22.059 --> 0:12:23.939 I would not have you ignorant. You know what that means? 0:12:23.940 --> 0:12:29.620 They were ignorant. They were stuck on stupid. Paul is saying, listen, 0:12:29.620 --> 0:12:32.140 you don't know this, but you ought to know this. 0:12:32.140 --> 0:12:36.540 He says that ofttimes our purpose to come unto you, 0:12:36.700 --> 0:12:40.179 but was let hitherto that I might have some fruit 0:12:40.179 --> 0:12:43.300 among you also, even as among the Gentiles. See what 0:12:43.300 --> 0:12:46.500 he's saying? He's saying listen to what he's saying. I 0:12:46.500 --> 0:12:51.620 wanted to come, and I was prepared to do so, 0:12:51.780 --> 0:12:53.500 but I was hindered. Now there are two ways he 0:12:53.500 --> 0:12:57.300 could have been hindered. In first Thessalonians chapter two, verse 18, 0:12:57.300 --> 0:13:00.420 he said, Satan hindered us, but that's not what he's 0:13:00.420 --> 0:13:04.020 talking about here. He's saying I'm witnessing and seeing so 0:13:04.020 --> 0:13:07.820 much fruit and so many people come to Christ in Asia. 0:13:07.860 --> 0:13:11.179 I don't have time right now to leave that and 0:13:11.179 --> 0:13:13.820 come to Rome, but I want to come to Rome. 0:13:13.820 --> 0:13:15.620 Notice how he says it. Let me read it again. 0:13:15.940 --> 0:13:19.340 Even as among other Gentiles. Why didn't he say among 0:13:19.340 --> 0:13:22.140 the church? Because he says, listen, I want to go 0:13:22.140 --> 0:13:27.620 after unsaved people. You know what most church growth is 0:13:27.900 --> 0:13:33.140 in the US of a switching. Now, I ain't got 0:13:33.140 --> 0:13:34.540 nothing wrong with it because some of y'all came from 0:13:34.540 --> 0:13:37.260 other congregations. God bless you. You finally listen to God 0:13:37.260 --> 0:13:40.900 Came Where you're supposed to be. Amen. And others have 0:13:40.900 --> 0:13:43.100 left here. And somebody saying that to them, too. So 0:13:44.420 --> 0:13:49.780 how is most church growth transfer people who become nomads? 0:13:49.780 --> 0:13:52.780 You say what pastor said? No, they got mad. Off 0:13:52.780 --> 0:13:57.180 they go. Yeah. That's it. They just. And they don't realize, 0:13:57.220 --> 0:14:02.780 Brother Whit, that all you do is change location that 0:14:02.780 --> 0:14:04.620 once you get to the other part. Now, let me 0:14:04.620 --> 0:14:07.459 just say this to all our new folk who have come. 0:14:07.980 --> 0:14:11.500 Let me say, you going to find some of the 0:14:11.540 --> 0:14:17.980 same kind of problems in this pastor. That you had 0:14:17.980 --> 0:14:23.780 with the last one. Unless there was something immoral. Alright, okay. 0:14:23.820 --> 0:14:26.220 I'm sorry. Let me let me make make you know. Now, now, 0:14:26.220 --> 0:14:29.420 if he was smoking dope, I don't do that. If 0:14:29.420 --> 0:14:30.660 he was sleeping with the women in the church, I 0:14:30.700 --> 0:14:33.460 don't do that. He's still in church with money. I 0:14:33.460 --> 0:14:36.740 don't do that. If he's cussing, I don't do that much. 0:14:43.020 --> 0:14:47.260 You're going to find if you ran from it over there, 0:14:47.380 --> 0:14:50.460 you're going to run into it over here. Only two differences. 0:14:50.900 --> 0:14:56.860 Different name, different face. Same issue, same issue, same issue. 0:14:57.700 --> 0:15:00.650 But that's not what it's supposed to be. Vance Havner, 0:15:00.650 --> 0:15:03.690 the late, great revivalist. He said this. It's a sad 0:15:03.690 --> 0:15:07.690 fact in the church that instead of becoming fishers of men, 0:15:07.890 --> 0:15:13.330 we become keepers of the aquarium. Can't get people to 0:15:13.330 --> 0:15:16.730 share their faith. And he says, listen, it's because of converts. 0:15:16.770 --> 0:15:19.610 I want to see some people get converted. I want 0:15:19.610 --> 0:15:22.330 some fruit. He calls it fruit. Now get this, get this, 0:15:22.330 --> 0:15:24.450 get this, get this, get this. Five times in the 0:15:24.450 --> 0:15:27.610 New Testament, Paul calls something fruit. Let me give em 0:15:27.610 --> 0:15:30.050 to you. Let me give em to you. First of all, 0:15:30.090 --> 0:15:35.250 he calls character fruit. That's Galatians 522 and 23. So 0:15:35.250 --> 0:15:37.450 he says, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, 0:15:37.450 --> 0:15:39.530 long suffering. So let me ask you a question. If 0:15:39.530 --> 0:15:41.850 I put water in this rag and I squeeze it, 0:15:41.890 --> 0:15:44.530 what will come out? If I put orange juice in 0:15:44.530 --> 0:15:47.210 this rag and squeeze it, what will come out? If 0:15:47.210 --> 0:15:49.650 I put grape juice in this rag and squeeze it, 0:15:49.690 --> 0:15:52.930 what will come out? Question. Why is there so much 0:15:52.970 --> 0:15:55.650 hail coming out of so many people who say they 0:15:55.650 --> 0:15:59.530 know Jesus? Answer because that's what's in them. Because when 0:15:59.650 --> 0:16:03.290 you're squeezed, whatever's in you, it's going to come out. 0:16:03.330 --> 0:16:06.690 If you're filled with the spirit, love, joy, peace, meekness, 0:16:06.690 --> 0:16:08.930 that's what's going to come out. But if if hell 0:16:08.930 --> 0:16:10.530 is in you, hell going to come out of you. 0:16:10.530 --> 0:16:12.770 And that's why they look all holy, they can pray 0:16:12.770 --> 0:16:15.130 the roof off the place and all that, know Scripture 0:16:15.130 --> 0:16:18.410 and all that. But every time something happened that, that, 0:16:18.450 --> 0:16:21.290 that they don't agree with, they got this attitude. That's 0:16:21.290 --> 0:16:24.010 because that's what's in them. And that's why God got 0:16:24.010 --> 0:16:27.010 you squeezed. Because he got to squeeze that out of you, 0:16:27.010 --> 0:16:31.050 because the Holy Spirit can't occupy the same place with 0:16:31.050 --> 0:16:35.890 all that garbage we got up in us. Character is 0:16:35.890 --> 0:16:41.090 called fruit, but then conduct is called fruit. Romans 623. 0:16:41.130 --> 0:16:43.370 He calls it the fruits of holiness. You know what 0:16:43.370 --> 0:16:47.210 that means? Living right? Only two things wrong with the church. 0:16:47.330 --> 0:16:54.210 Tight giving and loose living. Alright. Preach, man. And so what? 0:16:54.490 --> 0:16:58.170 What's he saying? He's saying your life is fruit and 0:16:58.170 --> 0:17:02.810 the problem is much of us when it comes to 0:17:02.850 --> 0:17:09.930 living the way we should, are rotten fruit. Mm. But 0:17:09.930 --> 0:17:15.010 then Hebrews 1315. Communication he calls fruit. He says that 0:17:15.010 --> 0:17:17.649 we ought to worship God with the fruit of our lips. 0:17:17.690 --> 0:17:20.410 Hosea calls it a calf. You tie them both together. 0:17:20.450 --> 0:17:23.410 What did the calf do in the Old Testament? Hosea 0:17:23.410 --> 0:17:25.850 46A calf, he says, he says, worship the Lord with 0:17:25.850 --> 0:17:28.369 the calf of your lips. In other words, the calf 0:17:28.369 --> 0:17:30.770 was what you offered as a sacrifice. You tie that 0:17:30.770 --> 0:17:34.130 with Hebrews 1315. He's saying we need to give God 0:17:34.130 --> 0:17:38.130 praise with our lips. We need to open our mouths 0:17:38.130 --> 0:17:41.290 and say, Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus. We praise your name. 0:17:41.290 --> 0:17:44.090 We bless you, Lord. I mean, you get excited about scandal. 0:17:44.130 --> 0:17:47.690 Be talking about that, you talking about power, talking about that. 0:17:47.730 --> 0:17:51.610 You be talking about the Empire talking about that. And 0:17:51.609 --> 0:17:53.730 Empire ain't never done nothing for you in power. Ain't 0:17:53.730 --> 0:17:58.530 never give you no money. But Jesus provides all your 0:17:58.530 --> 0:18:00.889 needs according to his riches in glory. How come you 0:18:00.890 --> 0:18:03.850 can't shout about that? And Jesus wrote your name in 0:18:03.850 --> 0:18:06.369 the Lamb's Book of life, gave you salvation. Cover you 0:18:06.369 --> 0:18:08.729 in his blood. How come you can't shout about that? 0:18:09.690 --> 0:18:11.530 I came in today. I ain't been in here in 0:18:11.530 --> 0:18:14.250 three weeks. I walked in, I said, thank you, God 0:18:14.250 --> 0:18:17.170 that I'm walking in the church, not being wheeled in 0:18:17.170 --> 0:18:21.050 the church. Help me! Somebody! Come on, help me! That's right. 0:18:21.050 --> 0:18:23.330 I said, God, I thank you. I'm on top of 0:18:23.330 --> 0:18:26.050 the ground, and the ground ain't on top of me. 0:18:26.130 --> 0:18:29.530 Thank you. I thank you, God. I'm in my right mind. 0:18:29.530 --> 0:18:32.730 I know everybody think I'm crazy, but I'm in my 0:18:32.730 --> 0:18:37.250 right mind I fed myself this morning, I clothed myself. 0:18:37.290 --> 0:18:47.330 Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yeah, yeah I'm grateful man. 0:18:47.970 --> 0:18:50.609 But then he uses fruit. Oh, y'all going to get 0:18:50.609 --> 0:18:57.570 quiet on this one? Romans 1528 compassionate giving to saints 0:18:57.570 --> 0:19:02.330 who are hurting. Yeah. He says, I'm bringing this fruit 0:19:02.810 --> 0:19:07.090 to the poor. Church of the collection that I got 0:19:07.770 --> 0:19:13.250 from the other saints. It's fruit. Wow. And then here's 0:19:13.250 --> 0:19:17.730 the fifth one. Converts. He says, I want to have 0:19:18.210 --> 0:19:20.810 some fruit among you. Now, let me get this straight. 0:19:21.650 --> 0:19:27.770 Here's here's here's the misnomer. Success in witnessing is not 0:19:28.010 --> 0:19:35.130 leading a person to Christ. Success in witnessing is witnessing 0:19:35.170 --> 0:19:39.169 about Christ. Here's what he said. One plants, one waters. 0:19:39.170 --> 0:19:42.889 God gives the increase. Here's what he said. Jesus himself said, 0:19:42.890 --> 0:19:47.530 the sower and the reaper get the same reward. Who's 0:19:47.530 --> 0:19:49.970 the sower? The one that planted the seed. The one 0:19:49.970 --> 0:19:52.570 that put the seed in the heart soil. Who's the reaper? 0:19:52.570 --> 0:19:54.650 The one that prayed with him. The one that actually 0:19:54.650 --> 0:19:57.170 was there when they actually came to Christ? You mean 0:19:57.170 --> 0:20:01.649 both of them? Yes. because you can't have one without another. 0:20:01.890 --> 0:20:04.490 You can't have a reaper if you ain't had a sower. Yeah, 0:20:06.130 --> 0:20:09.770 and you can't have a sower without a reaper, because 0:20:09.810 --> 0:20:12.650 then everything's going to go rotten. And so he says, 0:20:12.650 --> 0:20:16.650 because of converts. Now, I want you to notice something 0:20:16.650 --> 0:20:19.530 here because what are we trying to do? We're trying 0:20:19.530 --> 0:20:22.530 to let people know about our God who can do 0:20:22.530 --> 0:20:25.330 what our God can do. He said, what are you 0:20:25.330 --> 0:20:26.609 talking about? Let me show you something. Let me show 0:20:26.609 --> 0:20:29.090 you something. I just shared this with the Wednesday crowd. 0:20:29.130 --> 0:20:32.970 Here's what Paul says I was hindered. Uh, now, what 0:20:33.010 --> 0:20:35.770 hindered him? The work of God hindered him. Now, now, 0:20:35.770 --> 0:20:37.850 here's what we got to realize. This. This thing is 0:20:37.850 --> 0:20:41.410 powerful to me. I said, first Thessalonians 218 is is 0:20:41.410 --> 0:20:44.250 is demonic delay. But acts 16 six through eight is 0:20:44.250 --> 0:20:52.490 divine delay. God stopped him from going. Question why? Since 0:20:52.490 --> 0:20:56.130 he wants to go there and witness. Are you having him? Wait? 0:20:56.490 --> 0:21:01.280 My might I postulate a possibility? Ability, say postulate. I 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:06.440 remember when I got converted. Some things changed right away. 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:08.960 Some things didn't change, right? Some things changed. The first 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.400 thing I did, anybody remember. Flushed my drugs down the toilet? 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.240 I used to Pepsi-Cola pusher, you know. Remember when Pepsi-Cola bottles, 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:16.919 you get two cent for them? I was a two 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:19.639 cent nickel and dime pusher, and the first thing I 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.240 did was flush all my drugs down the toilet. That 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:24.840 word got around, man. Ford done lost his mind. He 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.720 ain't got religion and he ain't flushed down the toilet. 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:29.560 And then the other thing I was doing, I was 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:32.160 gaming on welfare. Now, let me tell you what that means. 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:35.840 That means I had a job, a good job, but 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:37.640 I had my wife go to welfare office and say 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.119 that I had left her and the children, so we 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:43.120 was able to get food stamps this way before Lincoln 0:21:43.119 --> 0:21:44.879 was able to get food stamps and she got a 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:46.920 medical card. So here I was. I had a good job. 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:49.280 I was working in a factory making top money, and 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:51.879 then she was getting welfare and food stamps and I 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:56.160 was selling drugs. Big bank, big bank, big bank. But 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:58.840 then it backfired because when I got saved, the first 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:00.919 thing I did was I went to the welfare office 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.120 because the guilt was on me. And I said, for 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:05.320 two and a half, almost three years, we've been cheating you. 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.280 I know I could go to jail, but my guy 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:09.200 who led me to Christ said, one of the first 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:10.960 thing I must do is make restitution. 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:15.320 That is Pastor James Ford Jr. A message he calls 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.240 winning the lost no matter the cost. And we're not 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:21.440 finished with this teaching. There is some more biblical encouragement 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:23.439 still to come next time, but you can request a 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:26.520 copy of today's program when you come to treasure Truth Radio. 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:30.679 You know, pastor, one of the things that's so encouraging 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:33.880 about being involved in ministry like this is regular feedback 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.960 from listeners talking about how God is using this program 0:22:36.960 --> 0:22:38.359 in their lives. 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.240 Yes, they're growing in the grace and the knowledge of 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:45.280 Jesus Christ. Some of them don't have the opportunity at 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.840 times to get to Bible study. 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