How To Introduce Someone to Jesus
March 20, 2004
Pastor Kevin
Well, all through the month of March, we have been studying about how to help friends know about Jesus. In December we talked about how to pray and through the month of January and into February we talked about how to study the Bible and get more out of the Bible. And through the month of March we have been studying about how to help other people know Jesus. And in the month of April, we are going to take a drastic shift and we are going to talk about modern myths. Modern myths.
For example, a lot of people are interested in Atlantis. So one Sabbath we are going to talk about Atlantis, and where did that idea come from? And another Sabbath we are going to talk about Spiritualism. Another Sabbath we will talk about some other interesting things of that nature. So April, if you know people who are interested in those things, be sure and have them come in the month of April because we are going to look at that from the Bible point of view and see just what the Bible can shed light on in those areas.
But today, I would like you turn to I Timothy 2. Letís suppose you have a friend at work who doesnít know Jesus, and Iím going to ask you the question: Is it important? Does it matter that that friend doesnít know Jesus? Should that matter? Well, why should it matter? Well, first off, when a person receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior their life on this earth changes drastically. What do I mean by that? Well, they have the forgiveness of their sins. They know that the sins of their past that they have committed have been forgiven. Little things that theyíve done; bit things that theyíve done; theyíre forgiven. They will not be up against them in the Judgment. They will never be brought to mind, the Bible says. The past is forgiven. Is that good news? Thatís very good news. But besides that, not only are they forgive, but in Jesus, when they receive Jesus Christ, they begin to overcome their weak traits of character and they begin to become victorious in things that were destroying them. The drunkard becomes free from his alcohol and the drug abuser becomes free from the drugs and their power in his life, and the person whoís addicted to lust or whatever it is that theyíre addicted to, Jesus breaks the power of those addictions in their lives. So they begin to live a life of wholeness without being a person who feels like theyíre empty all the time. Is that good news? So thatís true for right now.
And then besides that they become more productive. They become more productive in their homes. They become better dads and better moms, and they become better productive at work, which means they often have opportunities and abilities that God gives them as they walk with Jesus, so they become better on the job when they know Jesus because of their character. So knowing Jesus on this earth is wonderful, but besides that the person who has Jesus Christ as their Savior, according to what Jesus said in John 11. He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me, though he may die, yet...” What’s gonna happen? “He shall live.” So this world and this life is not all there is. The person who knows Jesus not only has a better life now, but has the hope, has the assurance of eternal life and all the joys that that will bring, which is another thing that we’re going to talk about in April, which is: What’s heaven really going to be like? So all of those things God has for us if we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.
So, you know, it’s important then, isn’t it, that the people we know, the people that we love in our homes, our friends and our work associate; it’s important that they know Jesus. Would you agree with that? Well, then there are just three simple things that I want to share with you today about how to help a friend know Jesus. This is probably going to be a little different than something that you may have heard in the past. But I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God that if you follow this easy, three-step plan you will be successful in winning your friends and your family to Jesus. It will happen. Here it is:
First one is I Timothy 2, and we did briefly talk about this. Actually, I shouldn’t say briefly; we talked about it in length in December, but I want to remind you of it. I Timothy 2: 1‑4, and many people take this for granted, but wow! This is one of the most powerful things that you can do to help somebody know Jesus. “Therefore,” he says, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings and all who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Here the Apostle Paul says that if I pray for someone, that will help bring them to a knowledge of the truth and to salvation. Now as I say those words to you, in my mind I’m thinking about people that I’ve prayed for in the past that I saw eventually come to know Jesus as their Savior. And I don’t think I told you this, but if I did, I think it bears repeating in this context, and besides, some of you weren’t here in December. But there was a lady that I baptized. I prayed for her. Man, I prayed for her so hard, and several other people. They were coming to some meetings that I was giving and I was praying for her and she was really wrestling with some of the issues of scripture, and you know, it’s amazing to me how sometimes somebody will struggle with the Sabbath, and you know, that’s tough for people to get their minds around because it’s so different than what they’re used to experiencing. So praying for those people. I’ve seen praying for people wrestling with the Sabbath, how that helps them. Sometimes they wrestle with the idea that when you die you really don’t go immediately to heaven or hell but that you rest in the grave, as the Bible says. Other people struggle over lifestyle issues. Other people wrestle over other items of truth that the Bible has, and I’ve found that prayer, praying for those people, really helps them get through that. You must not underestimate the power of prayer in helping someone come to know Jesus. It’s very important. It’s the most important thing you can do. Try not to say, “Well, all I can do is pray.” My friend, that’s the best thing you can do. That’s the most powerful thing you can do, is to pray for that person. Pray for them, and as you speak to God about them, the Holy Spirit goes into action and the angels of God go into action to bring help to that person. Now, sometimes when you pray for that person, they’ll get angry. They’ll get upset, because the Holy Spirit is moving on their heart and the tension causes them to get angry. Sometimes they may seem to be a little weepy. They may seem to be a little sad because the Holy Spirit is moving in their heart. That’s okay. Let the Spirit have his way. You just keep praying and as you do, they will come to know the truth. Well, anyway, this lady: She finally got through some of these things. It was so, oh my, she just had terrible struggles getting through these Bible truths, but finally one by one she accepted those and finally I had the privilege of baptizing her in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and she became a part of our church. And then she said, “Oh,” she says. “I’m so happy to be a Seventh Day Adventist Christian.” She said, “I’m so grateful for what Jesus has done in my life. I just praise him.” She was so excited, and then she said to me: She said, “But my husband will never join me in my faith.” I said, “Now, why do you say that?” She said, “Oh, pastor, you just don’t know my husband. He is just so hard. He is so hard against God. He is so hard against the Bible. He, oh...” She would just say how hard he was, and I would say to her, “Listen, you pray for him. You just pray for him and do not give up, but you pray for him.” “Oh, do you think that will do any good?” “I know it will do good. I know it will do good. You pray for him.” “Okay, pastor, I will pray for him.” And then I said to her these words. I said, “And whatever you do, no matter what the outlook, never give up praying for him. Pray for him all the time.” And so a few years ago she called me up on the phone, and this was ten years later. She said, “Pastor, I have good news for you.” I said, “What’s that?” And of course I was in a different church by that time, and she said, “You remember how hard I told you my husband was?” I said, “Yes, I remember very clearly.” And she said, “You remember how you told me to never give up praying for him, but I should pray for him all the time and never give up praying for him?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “Well, I’ve prayed for him for his soul to be saved for ten years.” And she said, “This Sabbath he’s gonna be baptized.” I can tell you that prayer has a way of softening a heart and helping a person to know Jesus as their Savior that nothing else you could possibly ever do would accomplish.
In Colossians 4, notice what Paul wrote here. As you know, Paul was a great evangelist. In fact, some people say that he was the second greatest teacher that ever lived, the first, of course, the first greatest being Jesus. But some people say that Paul was the second greatest. Paul was a very intelligent man. He was a person who was very gifted with languages. He knew several languages. He could speak Greek and Hebrew. He could also speak Roman and other languages. Paul was multi-lingual. He was also very intelligent. He was a person who had studied widely. He knew all about the teachings of the philosophers. That’s how he could go to Athens and argue with them philosophy, because he knew all the philosophy. He had studied all that stuff. He was a Pharisee, which meant he knew the Bible backwards and forwards. He was a very intelligent man, but Paul knew something. He knew that all the knowledge and all the talent and all the ability in the world was absolutely no good to win a soul to Christ, except for the power of God. And he knew that the power of God came to a person in only one way, and that is as we pray. And one of these days, sometime in the near future, as I mentioned last week, we’ll study about how to have more of the Holy Spirit in your life. But I’ll just tell you right now, if you want more of the Holy Spirit in your life, it’s very simple. Pray. Pray and ask God to give you that blessing of the Holy Spirit in your life. So in Colossians 4, notice here he says that he asked the church to do something special. “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it in thanksgiving, meanwhile also praying for us that God would open to us a door for the Word to speak the mystery of Christ through which I am so in chains that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.” Paul said, “Pray for me that a door will be opened for me to present the gospel. And that’s why some of you, when you speak to me about different things happening with the church, I say “keep praying”, and I’m asking all of you. I’m asking all of you. Now we don’t all pray the same because we’re not all the same. We don’t all function mentally the same way and relate the same way, but we all, the Bible says all of us should be people of prayer. However we pray, whenever we pray, I am just asking you to please, as a congregation, pray for this church. Pray for your pastor. Pray for the members of this church. Pray for the leaders of this church. Pray for the lost who need to come to this church. Pray about that. That’s the way that we have more of our friends who come to know Jesus.
Now, notice in Acts 4, the early church understood the power of prayer and how important it was to pray to win people to Christ. Now remember. Let’s keep it clear. Why do we want to win people to Christ? It’s because they need Jesus so that they are free from their guilt and free from the bondage of their addictions and free from the restrictions that the Devil has placed in their life and the wounds and the heartaches and all of the yucky stuff that has happened to them in this world. They need Jesus to heal them; to heal their heart; to heal their bodies; to heal their minds. They need Jesus. But not only that, but they’ll be lost forever without Jesus. Can you imagine what it would be to be lost forever? But just, oh, God forbid anyone here should wake up in the second Resurrection. You know, the first Resurrection is when Jesus comes. When Jesus comes, those who love the Lord, who have known him but maybe have died, they will be resurrected and they will be taken to Heaven with Jesus when he comes. But then the Bible says that there’s 1,000 years, and after the thousand years is over it says in Revelation 20 that the rest of the dead will live again and those are the wicked. Those are the people that won’t live forever. Can you imagine those people who will wake up in the second Resurrection and realize that it is forever too late? And I wouldn’t want one of my children to be in the second Resurrection. I wouldn’t want any of my family; I wouldn’t want any one of you, and I mean that with all my heart; I wouldn’t want any one of you to wake up in that second Resurrection. Would you want to see that happen to any of your friends or family? What do you say? No. It’s so important that we share Jesus with the people in our lives. They need Him now and they need Him for eternity. And so it says, right here it says in Acts 4 that the church understood this. Now just think about this. They had walked with Jesus. Many of these people had seen Jesus. For three and a half years they lived with Him. They ate with Him. They saw Him personally. They saw the miracles, were eyewitnesses to the miracles that He performed. But after all of that in His life, Jesus said, “You’re not ready.” Think about that. If you were an eyewitness to what Jesus did, wouldn’t you think you could just go out and, “Well, I saw this and I saw that and I experienced that.” No, Jesus said, “You’re not ready.” Because it is never just the facts that converts a person to Christ. Did you know that you can even know, you can even know intellectually, that you are not saved by your works. You can know that up here. You can know that you don’t get to Heaven by your good deeds. You can know that the only way to get to Heaven is by receiving Christ. You can know, but that doesn’t mean that you have received Christ. You can know a lot of things without it being a part of your experience. You understand? You agree? And sometimes in churches we pile up all of this stuff and sometimes when we go to evangelistic meetings we start out with a, like a platter, and we go to the evangelistic meeting and the evangelist, he’ll lay on there, “Saved by grace.” Okay, I know that. Then he’ll lay on there maybe something like, “The second coming is going to be literal. He’s going to come, you know, literally and it’s going to be soon.” Okay, got that one. Then we put on there something like when you die you rest in the grave and you don’t go immediately to heaven or to hell. Okay, got that. And the seventh day is the Sabbath. Okay, I got that. And you know, you don’t eat unclean meats. Okay, I got that. And you start piling on this platter all of these facts. Choo, choo, choo, choo. And you end up with a big platter of facts. And you can know all that stuff and still not know Jesus. And it is so important that as we go out, we pray, and the people hear Jesus say, “You are not ready.” He said, “You know all this stuff, but,” He said, “you are not ready,” and He said, “get in the Upper Room up there. Stay in Jerusalem until you receive power.” Well, they learned their lesson. And then if you notice here in Acts 4 beginning with Verse 29, He says, they said, “Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word. By stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Boom! You know, when the Holy Spirit comes in answer to prayer, wow! amazing things can happen. You know, the Holy Spirit could do more in a second than you could do in thousands of years to help this person. Know Jesus. It’s incredible, and prayer is the way that that takes place.
Now notice in Luke 22, Luke 22. I hope you always bring your Bibles to church because, you know, for me, I haven’t been to church unless I’ve studied the Bible and I want you to come to Luke 22:32. Notice what Jesus said to Peter. Notice how Jesus understood the power of prayer. He knew that Peter was going to be suffering temptations. He knew that Peter was going to struggle and he didn’t want Peter to be lost. He didn’t want any of His disciples to be lost. His heart must have been broken complete, shattered, when Judas did what he did. He did not want Peter to be lost and so he said there in Verse 22, He says, “but I have” what? “prayed for you.” Wow! “I have prayed for you,” He said, “that your faith may not fail.” Wow! And you know, we need to pray for that guy who works at the same place I do, that he will have faith and that his faith will not fail. You need to pray for that woman who works in the same shop that you do and pray that she will have faith to believe, you know, and so I want to give you some ideas here. You might want to write these down. I didn’t put these on the paper. Here’s some specific things that you can pray about, okay? And this is the way I pray for people.
The first thing I pray is I pray for this person that the Holy Spirit will bring the light of Heaven, the light of truth to that person’s mind. I pray that the Holy Spirit will come to that person and speak to them. That’s a guaranteed answer to prayer because it says that the Holy Spirit goes out into all the world to convict the world. So I pray for that.
Secondly, I pray that God will rebuke the evil spirits away from that person who are trying to keep the light of Heaven from them. Don’t think that doesn’t happen. You just go home and read Daniel 10. There’s a big war going on around us. The evil spirits are fighting with the angels of God, trying to keep the light of God from us. In fact, it’s happening right now in this building, right now in this place. The evil spirits don’t want us to know the truth and love Jesus and they’re constantly trying to keep us from knowing God and the angels of God are with us and defending us. It’s a wonderful thing to study about. We probably should study about angels one of these days.
So then the thing is after that then I would pray, after I’ve prayed that the Spirit will bring truth to their minds and He will rebuke the evil spirit from that person, then if there are some specific things that I have a conviction about that this person needs to know then I will pray that God will either let me, show me how to help them in that area or send somebody else into their life to help them. I pray specifically that God will send a person to that person to bring them the light of truth because that’s the way it happens. You know, probably nobody here, somebody here, maybe, but most of the time, 99 percent of the time none of us have seen an angel that we know about for sure. Some of us have. But most of us haven’t. God doesn’t normally send an angel who goes, “Tada! I have some truth for you.” Usually he sends a person into that person’s life and so I pray that God will send a person, and that’s what Jesus said to do. He said, “Pray that the Father will send forth workers into the harvest.” Remember that? You remember that? Okay, and so we need to pray that God will send a person into that person’s life that we’re praying for. So those are some specific things to pray.
Now here’s an example. I started to share this story with you a few weeks ago. There was a young man who came to our meetings who had been prayed for. He ended up giving his life to Christ. I gave the invitation to come forward that night. He came forward and received Christ as his Savior. He still loves Jesus to this day and that was way over 10 or 12 years ago, and he accepted the Lord. The Lord changed his life. He became a totally new person and I just praise God for that. His name’s Tony. Now Tony, after the second night, he came; he said I would like you to pray for my friends. I said all right, we need to pray for your friends. So he had a friend whose name was Larry and another friend whose name was Doug? Well, about the third or the fourth night into these meetings (we were having a whole week of meetings), about the third or fourth night into those meetings I had another call and several people came forward and here’s how, now I’m going to tell it from Larry’s point of view. This is Larry talking now. He says, “I came to church looking for Grandma and my mom because I needed to find them for something.” And he said, “I came into the church because I knew they were at church.” And he said, “I thought the meeting was over because,” he said, “I saw people standing up around the church.” And he said, “So I walked down the aisle.” He said, “I saw my grandma and my mother,” and he says, “I walked down the aisle to where they was,” and he said, “then I realized that you were praying.” He said, “So I just was quiet and was gonna wait till your prayer was over.” And he said, “And when you said ëAmen’ they turned around and saw me standing there and they thought I had responded to your call.” And he said, “They threw their arms around me and they began crying and saying ëPraise God, Larry you’ve come forward and received Christ. We’ve prayed for this day for years. We’ve prayed daily. We’ve prayed that God would touch your heart and bring you to Christ.’” And he said, “I’m walking out,” and I remember when he told me this story. I remember him walking out. He was like, you ever see somebody who was trapped? He had that look on his face like, you know, “Whoa, what happened to me?”, you know. And so he’s walking out of the church and he says from the front of the church to when he got to the front door he was processing this really quick and he started thinking, you know, “wow, they’ve been praying for me and you know, and yeah, my life really has been a mess and, you know, and yeah, I’m not going in a good direction and I’m not happy and, you know, I probably do need the Lord,” and he was processing all this so by the time he got to the front door he decided to give his life to Jesus. And Larry became a very strong Christian person and he loved the Lord.
Now, Larry had a friend, Doug, and here’s the deal. They asked me to go to an academy to do week of prayer. So I went to this academy to do the week of prayer, but I asked some young men to come with me to share their testimonies, because there’s nothing more powerful than a testimony. And so I asked Tony, and I asked Larry to come along with another guy to share their testimonies as part of these meetings. They said they would come and then Larry said, “Well, I have a friend”, and Tony said, “Can we invite our friend Doug to come too?” I said “sure”. So I assumed that Doug was also a Christian okay, because they knew what all of this was about, right? So we go to the academy and the very first night, I get up there and the first thing we were going to do every night was have a testimony. So I stand up there, and I looked down there at Doug and I said, “Doug, why don’t you come up here and share your testimony”. Well so Doug, he stands up to walk up here and I noticed he looked a little funny, and when he got up there, he shared a powerful testimony. What I didn’t know until later was that he decided between the pew and the pulpit to give his life to Christ. Doug to this day, is one of the strongest Christian men you would ever want to meet. And you know, so think about that. So was it any wisdom on my part? No I was kind of bumbling my way along, right? You know was it any great talent that produced that? No, what was it? It was prayer. Prayer is what did that. When God’s people pray powerful things happen to the people they love. So pray, that’s the first thing, that’s the most powerful thing you can do.
Okay, second, John chapters 13 turn to John chapter 13 verses 34-35. This is just really powerful. Jesus said, and John chapter 13, and I think this is very powerful, John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35 he says “a new commandment, I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” That you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Thus the greatest witness. You know something? Some of you, probably in the past have thought, well I can’t witness because I don’t know all the 27 fundamentals, you know that the Bible teaches. I don’t know them real well. I don’t know them in and out and I can give all the text for all the things. No, no, no, no, relax. The most powerful witness you can give is to love somebody else. Now loving somebody else is going to be different for every person in here. How many of you have studied about the 5 languages of love? How many have read a book or something like that, okay a few of you have. But not everybody perhaps realizes that those 5 love languages are right in the Bible and we see them in the light of Jesus. So when I talk about you loving somebody you’re not going to love somebody else would but everybody needs to give love and everybody needs to receive love. Love is something we all need. It comes in different packages and in different ways. We all need to be loved. Do you agree with that? We all need it; it’s the greatest need in the world. What the world needs nowÖ. am I right? Is love, sweet love, it’s still true isn’t it, even after all these years, okay. That’s the greatest need in the world. All right, so Jesus said by this we will all know that we are his disciples if we love.
Okay, turn to Mark chapter 1, verse 41. This is tricky here. This particular part is pretty tricky. So you gotta be careful. This is, in our day in which we live, you gotta be careful with this. So I have told you ahead of time, that you gotta be careful, with this one. Mark chapter 1 verse 41, these days in which we live, these crazy, weird days in which we live you gotta be careful. Then Jesus was moved with what? And that’s another word for love, he was moved with passion. He stretched out his hand and did what? Touched him. Did you know touch is one of the most powerful ways to communicate love that there is on earth, the most powerful way. They have done studies on this they’ve found that if people do not receive adequate touch, as their growing up they become developmentally disabled without touch. Touch is so important. But in these days in which we live there is so much inappropriate touch, that people are now very careful and in many cases rightly so, so you need to be very careful about who, and what and how, and all that. But let’s also not become so paranoid that we stop giving appropriate touch to those who need it. You understand what I’m saying there? You know, so a hug to the right person in the right way can be a powerful thing. I remember a little lady old enough to be my grandma, see I have to put that in there, because otherwise, you know, in the days in which we live. She comes through the door, to church, and I just you know reached over like this and gave her you know a hug like this you know. I said “I’m so glad you’re here today.” I just gave her a little hug like that, and she looked up at me and she started to cry. And she said “you’re the first person that’s given me a hug in so long, I can’ t remember, that’s how long that’s been.” And that just broke my heart. Here’s a little lady just crying out for somebody to give her an appropriate touch, okay? Same thing is true with guys. To have somebody give them a guy kind of hug, okay. You don’t go like this with a guy, you go “good to see ya here today”, you know. Now the problem is when guys do that to there wives, then it becomes a problem. But you need to have appropriate touch and that’s one way you can do that, so pray about it, be careful, make sure that any touch that you give is appropriate touch. If you have any questions ask somebody older and wiser.
Okay phillipians chapter 2 verse 8. Here’s another way that the Bible says to give. Phillipeans 2 verse 8. Jesus was a giver, He showed His love, in fact John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that he what? That he gave. Another way to show love is to give. In Phillipeans 2:8 it says in being found in appearance of a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Jesus laid aside his crown. Jesus laid aside his royal robes. He laid aside his godly attributes, to know everything, be everywhere and be able to do all things. He laid all that aside to humbled himself to become a man. Jesus gave up everything that in his whole entire being, he gave all of that for you. Because he loves you, not only that, but the Bible says that he will also freely give you all things, that you need for your good. God loves you and he shows you that love by giving to you. Every beat of your heart, every expansion of air in your lungs, is a gift of love from God. He loves you and he gives to you. Another way to show your love is to some little thing to somebody. I remember one of the things that happened, early in our relationship between Dolly and I was I found this little stuffed animal in a store, and this was very early in our relationship. I purchased that and I gave it to her and she was so touched by that little stuffed animal she remembered that oh, yes she still thinks about that all through the years she remembers that little stuffed animal as a gift. It doesn’t have to be expensive stuff. You know, big expensive gifts to show people you love them. Just to buy some little thing to give to that person can illustrate that you love them, that you love them.
Okay turn to Luke chapter 18:41. Luke chapter 18:41. Here Jesus was a person, in fact in Ex, chapter 10, he went about doing good. He was all about looking for ways to help people. One of the ways you can show your love is to help somebody, a deed of service, and in Luke 18:41 He says “what do you want me to do for you, and He said “Lord that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him receive your sight, your faith has made you well.” And immediately He received his site and followed Him glorifying God, and all the people when they see it praise to God. To do something for somebody is so powerful. Now yesterday, before my wife went off to work, we live in a place where we have a lot of pine trees in our yard. And there were pinecones all over our yard that has fallen off in the wind and things like that. So we try to keep our yard picked up but we don’t get it all done every single week, do you? If you do, don’t tell me. But we keep trying to work on it, you know. And so she went off to work and the last thing she did before she went to work is she looked out the window and she sighed. I knew she was looking at those pinecones in the front yard, and then she left. She didn’t tell me she didn’t say “would you please?” she didn’t try to tell you to do it, and she wasn’t trying to tell me to do it. I could tell you know, it was a genuine thing. So when she left I said if there’s nothing else I do today, I’m picking up every single one of those pinecones. So I went out there yesterday and I picked them all up, and that communicated love to my wife, you see. Doing something for someone, can communicate love for that person. Doing something.
Okay, turn to another one here. Go to Mark, chapter 12 versus 34. Mark, chapter 12 versus 34. Words of affirmation, now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him you are not far, from the kingdom of God. He encouraged Him. By acknowledging the wisdom of his answer. He encouraged him, he gave him affirmation “good job”, he said, “way to go, I’m proud of you.” Those comments are so important. I remember one guy with tears in his eyes. And I forget what meeting it was and why it come up but with tears in his eyes this guy came up and was saying I would have given anything for my father to once, tell me he was proud of me. So we, many of us we take for granted how important our little words of encouragement and affirmation are. It’s so important for us to encourage the people in our live and to tell them. Boy you know a coworker, if you notice, what they are doing that’s good, a good job or something. Say to them, something good that they did. You know you really did a good job at that. Now anybody remember here what my blood type is? I told you once, do you remember? B positive, yes, so I always felt that I was suppose to encourage people. B positive, that’s a very good motto, right? It’s in my blood. It’s very important to do that type of thing. And I want to tell you something, you know, so you always know my heart, and that is that I love to encourage people, I love to encourage good, you know why, because so many of us live with negativity, every single day of our lives. So much negative stuff comes into our lives. People telling you by looks, are by little innuendos, or by out and out statements telling you that you are bad somehow. That you don’t look right somehow, that you don’t act right somehow that you don’t cut it somehow. So I’m sick and tired of that and I’m going on a one man vendetta here, to tell the good things that I see in people. Every time I get a chance to give an honest comment to someone to tell them what I appreciate about them I want to do it. Because I want them to know, that they are a valuable person, and have many good things, would you agree with that? And its not flattery unless you’re lying. You know. But if it’s an honest comment, to give to someone to give to that person, don’t hold it back. It might make all the difference in that kids life. You just never know how one word of encouragement might do to somebody.
Okay turn to John chapter 3 verses one and two. This is also another way that God shows his love for us; in a way we can show love for others. John chapter 3 verses one and two. There was of the fairest evening Nicadimas, ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, I know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these things that you do unless God is with them. Jesus made himself available. The woman at he well, you know, the woman that was caught in adultery, Nicadimas, in this case. Jesus made himself available. He took time. Whoa, now there is a gift of love these days to take time, to be with somebody. That’s hard to do in these pressure packed days. But one of the greatest ways you can communicate your love is just show up. I mean that is so rare. Just show up. Just say, you know, I just thought I’d stop for just a minute, are you okay, how are you? I care about you, whatever it may be. Now another example of this kind of love, is there was a man, who was not religious at all. He had no interest in God. No interest in the Bible, and he had been raised, as a seventh day Adventist, but he had become very turned off by what he perceived to be a very works orientated religion. Now I want to tell you something, that can happen in any church. In fact, my experience with people is it doesn’t matter what the name of the church is if you grew up in a church, it had rules and regulations and it often turns off people who were raised in a church. Because that’s all they’ve heard, that’s all they’ve remembered. Don’t do this, and do that, and be like that and dress like that, you know, and hurry up about it, okay? That kind of stuff, and so he was so turned off he stayed away from God for so long. Well one day, he came to church, and I had no clue what his background was, but he came to church and he was introduced to me and we had some friends that I knew that I could do this and that wouldn’t be a problem. And I said to them on that day when they were at church, could you take this guy home to dinner? Because I knew they were always ready to do that. Anytime, any Sabbath, and they said, sure. So I said to him “how would you like to go out for a meal today, to come to this home for dinner?” And he was dumbfounded, I was kind of surprised that it hit him like that. He was just dumbfounded, he couldn’t believe it, you know, first time back to church and he was invited into somebody’s home. Whoa! That was just a shock to him. Couldn’t hardly understand that, and so he went here, had a great time, had a good meal, made some new friends, came back the next Sabbath. And we kept having him over for dinner and different things, going like that first thing you know, he says “Would you come to my home, and give me some Bible studies?” I said “I’d be delighted to”. “You would?” I said “sure”. In fact that’s one thing I often hear from people, I go to people’s homes and give them Bible studies. And I often hear them say to me, we can’t believe that you come to our home to give us Bible studies. You know, the doctor’s don’t make home visits anymore and all that stuff, well I just think that’s the way it should be. To go to their homes to be with them and to take time to be with them and with time, this guy was finally won back to Christ, received Jesus as his savior and was baptized. And later on he said it was when, you invited me to dinner, that my life began to change. Now you often think that you have to come up with all the text for this or that and no you don’t. Pray for people, and love people.
And finally, in Ezekiel, turn to Ezekiel, chapter 3 verses 16-19. Now after you’ve prayed for these people and after you’ve been loving these people you build up trust with these people. And when you trust somebody, you don’t need from them a lot of footnotes about what they’ve said to you. Did you follow me on that? When you trust in people, when you believe in that person’s integrity and you trust that person, when they tell you something you believe it’s true, without them giving you the proof that it’s true, right? Because you trust that person. Well, I want you to turn to Ezekiel, chapter 3 verses 16-19, and notice hear, not only should we love these people and praise for these people, but yes, there comes I time when we need to speak to them. Now it says hear in Ezekiel chapter 3, “now it came to pass at the end of 7 days that the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel therefore, hear the words from my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked of his wicked ways to save his life. That same wicked man shall die in his inequity, but his blood, I will require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die from his inequity, but you have delivered your soul. The Bible teaches very clearly there comes a time in our relationship with these people that we do need to speak to them. But that doesn’t mean you have to know every chapter and every verse that you say to them. Just give them the word at the right time, at the right place, and if they come back to you and say is that in the Bible? You could say, “yeah, it is”. And if they say “Do you know exactly where?” You could say, “I don’t know exactly where but I’ll find it and I’ll give it to you tomorrow. Just speak a word to them, short word, don’t go like me and go on and on and on, you know give them a short, answer, tell them what they need to know, to the point, directly to what is related to what they’re thinking about, or studying about or agonizing over. And whoa, the Holy Spirit will take that word and it will be so powerful, and it will go into their heart, and mind, and it will totally begin to transform their life, because you gave them that simple word, at the right time, at the right place. Apples of gold, the Bible says, and pictures of silver, is a word spoken, in due season.
In John chapter 12, what should I speak to them about? If I’m going to speak to them what should I speak to them about? Here you go. John chapter 12, John chapter 12 verse 32. Come on now, turn to that verse. This is a very important verse. John chapter 32. Says “if I am lifted up from the earth, will do what? Draws. It’s Jesus, that draws people, its Jesus. Talk to people about Jesus. You know I am convinced as a pasture that of all the things that we might talk too much about, Jesus is not one of them. I don’t think, in fact, if somebody accused me of talking about Jesus too much, I would consider that a compliment. Now I’m not talking about you know, going after people like a torpedo looking for a ship, okay? I’m talking about just you know, telling people how good Jesus is, how wonderful he has been to me and that are the next verse.
Turn to John chapter 8, and you’re right there in John so real close by, John chapter 8 verse 39. Says here, oh I gave you the wrong verse, it’s the one about he demoniac, I had a typo in there somehow. And it’s where the demoniac, I wonder if that was Luke, it probably was Luke, now that I was thinking about it. I was in a John mode there. Let’s go here, let’s try it, if it isn’t right I’ll just tell you what it says and you can look it up. So try Luke chapter 8. Yep, Luke chapter 8, verse 39. After the demoniac was healed delivered of his evil spirits Jesus said “return to your own house, and tell them to keep the Sabbath holy.” Are you in Luke? Luke chapter 8 verse 39, right? Okay. Oh, you know it says “return to your own house, and tell them to eat vegetarian.” No? “Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you.” You’re personal testimony about what Jesus means to you is the most powerful thing you could ever tell anybody, because as they come to know Jesus, everything else will come in its due time.
In Matthew chapter 28 that great commission of Christ it says “Go into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I’ve commanded you”, yes? There is a time that we need to tell them things to speak to our friends, at the right time at the right place, as the Holy Spirit opens the door, speak to your friends give them a word. Some of them may not seem to appreciate it. When it looks like they don’t appreciate it, then be quiet. Don’t keep going on. If they have that sour look on their face they probably had enough. So just don’t say anymore. Just pray for them, keep loving them, and then they’ll come back. It’s like with my family, my brother used to, he doesn’t do this anymore in fact, oh I’d like you to pray for my brother. But it used to be when I go visit my brother, he would say, now when you come down here to visit all of us, he said we’re not going to talk about religion. I’d say fine. A prophet’s not without honor saving it’s own country. So you know the worst people to try to talk to is your own family. So I thought, okay, sure. In my heart, my heart’s breaking I’m saying the thing that’s the most important to me is Jesus, and they won’t let me talk to them about Jesus. But if that’s the way it has to be, that’s the way it has to be, you know, I’m not going to force them. So I go down there and within a few hours he brings it up. And so he says “what do you think about this?” And I know what’s going to happen. I tell him what I think and he’s going to go, “that’s it, that’s enough I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” You know. So now you need to pray for him because I just talked to my sister Judy, she’s my second oldest sister, and she told me that she and my brother are having a Bible study, about what happens when you die. And she says that my brother believes that when you die you rest in the grave and you don’t go anyplace until a resurrection. And there went shock and amazement. And she says “I don’t believe that, I think you go someplace.” And I said, “you know would you like some text. I promise not to say anything about the text, I’ll just send you the text.” She says, “okay.” So I send her out this text they’re having this Bible study, please pray for my brother, I couldn’t believe it. I was just so surprised. You know it’s amazing what happens when you study the Bible, with prayer, you actually end up in the right place. It’s pretty amazing. So, as you think on how to win your friends, think of these simple things, pray, pray, pray for them. Number two, love them, now we’re not going to love them all in the same way, but love them. And the third thing is when the Holy Spirit opens the door, speak the word, short, to the point, tell them what the truth is, then back off, and let the Holy Spirit do his work. Does that make sense? Let’s stand for prayer.
Lord make me like you, please make me like you. You are a servant, make me want to. Oh Lord I am willing, do what you must do, to make me like you Lord, please make me like you. Lord, we don’t want to just hoard all these blessings to ourselves. You said “give and it shall be given to you, press down, shaken together, running over.” Please Lord make us vessels which dispense the blessings that you’ve given to us the truths, the relationships that we have with Jesus. And the wonderful blessings about the truths that you’ve given. Help us Lord to remember that it is as we giveth that we receive, and as we bless, we shall be blessed. Please Lord, we want to talk to you right now about these people in our lives, our family, our friends, our co-workers, people in our lives, we want them to be saved. So we mention their names to you right now. So just take a moment in silent prayer, and mention the first names of those people to the Lord he knows each one. Lord, we recognize that we are the hands and the feet and the eyes and the ears and the words that you want to give to these people. Those need to be saved. So Lord, show us, reveal to us right now, some little thing that we can do to love them in you’re name. And Lord we also recognize that there are times that we need to speak out, that we don’t need to be holier than Thou, or in any way be oppressive in about what we say or do but just to give a word of truth and light to a person whose looking desperately for a way out. Lord show us, that word, teach us, that word, that we need to speak to that person in due season, reveal that to us and give us the courage to just lovingly share that beautiful gem. So Father, whether its my brother, or whether it’s our children, or whether it is the people that we work with, or go to school with, Lord we’re just talking to you right now we want them in heaven, and when Jesus comes, we pray that you will bless them right now, and save them on that great day. And now perhaps you would just like to renew your commitment to the Lord. Say “Lord, I am willing to be you’re servant, to show the love of God, to pray, and to speak to the people in my life as you open the door, so they will be safe. Just raise your hand, if you’d like to commit, your life to God and be His servant. So Lord take us from this place help us to have faith and joy, and love and a trusting God, who will always do every good thing. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.