Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Strengthening Your Grip on Evangelism │ Msg 1416 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living (64k)

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Strengthening Your Grip on Evangelism │ Msg 1416 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living (64k) · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: To the world.
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Speaker 2: Bible coating Christians represent a host of confusing and contradictory concepts.
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Speaker 2: We refer to being born again even though we reject reincarnation.
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Speaker 2: We talk out loud to a person we cannot see.
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Speaker 2: In fact, we base our lives on a book we
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Speaker 2: believe God wrote, though we really didn't see him doing that.
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Speaker 2: Our actions are even more inconsistent. Our worry list is long,
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Speaker 2: though we claim he takes our burdens. Our patients with
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Speaker 2: the waitress is short, though she saw us praying. Our
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Speaker 2: driving is often thoughtless and lawless, though that bumper sticker
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Speaker 2: identifies us as Christians. As Christians, we understand those contrasts
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Speaker 2: as the spiritual battle with the flesh. We leave room
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Speaker 2: for such contradictions. But trust me, believer doesn't he or
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Speaker 2: she sees us through a distorted filter, formed from a
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Speaker 2: jumble of exaggeration, confusion, and fact.
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Speaker 1: And although we cannot change the way other Christians live,
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Speaker 1: we can do something about the contradictions we portray. As
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Speaker 1: we share Christ with the world that's lost its way.
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Speaker 1: We have to be winsome wise and of course willing
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Speaker 1: to share, not to mention authentic, And that's what I
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Speaker 1: love about Phillip's example in the Book of Acts, chapter eight.
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Speaker 1: Listen as I read the account recorded in verses twenty
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Speaker 1: five down through verse thirty nine. After testifying and preaching
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Speaker 1: the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John
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Speaker 1: returned to Jerusalem, and they stopped in many Samaritan villages
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Speaker 1: along the way to preach the good news. As for Philip,
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Speaker 1: an angel of the Lord said to him, go south
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Speaker 1: down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.
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Speaker 1: So he started out, and he met the Treasurer of Ethiopia,
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Speaker 1: a eunuch of great authority under the Candate, the Queen
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Speaker 1: of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
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Speaker 1: and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he
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Speaker 1: was reading aloud from the book of the Prophet Isaiah.
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Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit said to Philip, go over and walk
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Speaker 1: along beside the carriage. Philip ran over and heard the
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Speaker 1: man reading from the Prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, do you
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Speaker 1: understand what you were reading? The man replied, how can
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Speaker 1: I unless one instructs me, And he urged Philip to
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Speaker 1: come up into the carriage and sit with him. The
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Speaker 1: passage of scripture he had been reading was this. He
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Speaker 1: was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as
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Speaker 1: a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not
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Speaker 1: open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice.
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Speaker 1: Who can speak of his descendants, for his life was
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Speaker 1: taken from the earth. The eunuch asked Philip, tell me,
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Speaker 1: was the prophet talking about himself or someone else? So,
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Speaker 1: beginning with this same scripture, Philip told him the good
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Speaker 1: news about Jesus. As they wrote along, they came to
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Speaker 1: some water, and the eunuch said, look, there's some water.
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Speaker 1: Why can't I be baptized. He ordered the carriage to stop,
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Speaker 1: and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
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Speaker 1: When they came up out of the water, the spirit
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Speaker 1: of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw
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Speaker 1: him again, but went on his way rejoicing. There are
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Speaker 1: several reasons most of us are reluctant to witness for
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. One is the feeling of ignorance. We don't
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Speaker 1: really know how to go about it. Another is sort
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Speaker 1: of an indifference that sweeps over us. We're well fed,
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Speaker 1: we've heard of the Savior. Our family is growing and
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Speaker 1: we sort of shift that responsibility to someone else. You know,
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Speaker 1: of the evangelist over the tube or at a crusade
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Speaker 1: where he so gifted is able to declare Christ so
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Speaker 1: well another and we are reluctant is because of fear.
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Speaker 1: No one likes to be made a fool of. No
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Speaker 1: one likes to be asked questions they can't answer, especially
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Speaker 1: with a stranger. And we don't like the unpredictable. We're
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Speaker 1: afraid of a hostile response. We're afraid of someone making
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Speaker 1: us look foolish. So we're afraid, so we don't witness.
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Speaker 1: And then there's the bad experience problem that some have
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Speaker 1: had in years past. Someone grabbed us with a collar
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Speaker 1: and pointed a finger in our face and told us off,
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Speaker 1: talked down to us. And for the longest time we
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Speaker 1: struggled against the message of Christ, until finally, through another avenue,
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Speaker 1: Christ met us and came into our lives. These and
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Speaker 1: so many other reasons keep us from it. But the
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Speaker 1: basic feeling among many Christians I meet is I'll sort
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Speaker 1: of leave that for the professional. I'll let the preacher
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Speaker 1: do that, and I'll pay the freight he'll witness, and
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Speaker 1: I'll sort of pick up the tab. I was humored
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Speaker 1: in reading a true story of a local pastor named
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Speaker 1: Jeffrey Cotter in the Eternity issue March nineteen eighty one,
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Speaker 1: and I'd like to share part of it with you now,
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Speaker 1: which shows you that even pastors at times struggle the
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Speaker 1: problem of witnessing. He writes, after winding up a final
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Speaker 1: interview with a large suburban church, I barely had enough
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Speaker 1: time to exchange my suit for a comfortable pair of
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Speaker 1: old blue jeans before boarding the plane home. Because of
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Speaker 1: heavy traffic. I arrived at the airport just at the
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Speaker 1: last call and scrambled onto the plane. After showing the
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Speaker 1: steward my ticket and scanning the seats, I settled in
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Speaker 1: the last unoccupied space, catching a glimpse of the person
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Speaker 1: beside me. He was about my age. His appearance proclaimed
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Speaker 1: him a businessman, conservative blue suit and at a shaycase
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Speaker 1: plus the Wall Street Journal. Of course, there I will
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Speaker 1: faded jeans, tattered off white T shirt, abused at a
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Speaker 1: shay case, and tennis shoes. I wished I had waited
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Speaker 1: until later to change, so I quietly made a resolution.
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Speaker 1: Look straight ahead, hide in a book above all, don't
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Speaker 1: get involved in a conversation about jobs, stay out of
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Speaker 1: all conversation. But that all changed because he had already
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Speaker 1: turned and greeted me. I said, I was fine, of course,
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Speaker 1: Realizing I had to beat him to the punch, I
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Speaker 1: asked him what he did, and he was only too
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Speaker 1: eager to respond, quote, I'm in the figure salon business.
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Speaker 1: We can change a woman's self concept by changing her body.
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Speaker 1: It's really a very profound, powerful thing. His pride spoke
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Speaker 1: between the lines. You look my age, I said, have
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Speaker 1: you been at this long? I just graduated from the
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Speaker 1: University of Michigan's School of Business Administration. They've given me
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Speaker 1: need so much responsibility already, and I feel very honored.
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Speaker 1: In fact, I hope to eventually manage the western part
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Speaker 1: of this operation. So you are a national organization, I asked,
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Speaker 1: becoming impressed despite myself. Oh yes, we're the fastest growing
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Speaker 1: company of our kind in the nation. It's really good
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Speaker 1: to be a part of an organization like that, don't
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Speaker 1: you think, I nodded approvingly and thought impressive, proud of
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Speaker 1: his work and accomplishments. Why can't Christians be proud like that?
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Speaker 1: Why are we so often apologetic about our faith and
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Speaker 1: our church. Looking askance at my clothing, he asked the
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Speaker 1: inevitable question, and what do you do? The spirit began
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Speaker 1: to brood over the face of the deep order and
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Speaker 1: power emerged from chaos. It's interesting that we have similar
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Speaker 1: business interests, I said. You're in the body changing business.
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Speaker 1: I'm in the personality changing business. We apply basic Theocratic
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Speaker 1: principles to accomplish indigenous personality modification. He was hooked, but
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Speaker 1: I knew he would never admit it. Pride is powerful,
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Speaker 1: you know, I've heard about that, he replied, But do
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Speaker 1: you have an office here in the city. Oh, we
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Speaker 1: have many offices. We have offices up and down the state.
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Speaker 1: In fact, we're national. We have at least one office
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Speaker 1: in every state in the Union, including Alaska and Hawaii.
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Speaker 1: He had this puzzled look on his face. He was
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Speaker 1: searching his mind to identify this huge company. He must
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Speaker 1: have read or heard about, perhaps in the Wall Street Journal.
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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, we've gone international and management
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Speaker 1: has a plan to put at least one office in
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Speaker 1: every country of the world by the end of this
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Speaker 1: business era. I paused, do you have that in your business?
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Speaker 1: I asked, well, no, not yet, But you mentioned management.
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Speaker 1: How do they make it work. It's a family concern.
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Speaker 1: There's a father and a son and they run everything.
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Speaker 1: It must take a lot of capital, he asks skeptically.
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Speaker 1: Oh you mean money, I asked, Yeah, I suppose so.
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Speaker 1: No one knows just how much it takes. But we
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Speaker 1: never worry because there's never a shortage. The boss always
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Speaker 1: seems to have enough. He's a very creative guy, and
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Speaker 1: the money is well, it's just there. In fact, those
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Speaker 1: of us in the organization have a saying about our
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Speaker 1: boss owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Oh he's
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Speaker 1: into ranching too, ask my captive friend. No, it's just
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Speaker 1: just as saying we use to indicate his wealth. My
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Speaker 1: friend set back in his seat, musing over our conversation.
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Speaker 1: Oh what about with you, he asked. The employees. Oh,
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Speaker 1: they are something to see, I said. They have a
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Speaker 1: spirit that pervades the organization. It works like this, the
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Speaker 1: father and the son love each other so much that
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Speaker 1: their love filters down through the organization, so that we
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Speaker 1: all find ourselves loving one another too. I know this
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Speaker 1: sounds old fashioned in the world like ours, but I
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Speaker 1: know people in the organization who are willing to die
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Speaker 1: for me. Do you have that in your business? I
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Speaker 1: was almost shouting. Now people were starting to shift noticeably
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Speaker 1: in their seats. Not yet, he said, quickly changing strategies.
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Speaker 1: But do you have any good benefits? Oh, they're substantial,
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Speaker 1: I countered. I have complete life insurance and fire insurance,
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Speaker 1: all the basics. You might not believe this, but it's true.
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Speaker 1: I have holdings in a mansion that's being built for
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Speaker 1: me right now from my retirement. Do you have that
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Speaker 1: in your business? Not yet, he answered wistfully. The light
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Speaker 1: was dawning. You know, one thing bothers me about all
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Speaker 1: you're saying. I've read the journals, and if your business
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Speaker 1: is all you say it is, why haven't I heard
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Speaker 1: about it before? Now that's a good question, I said,
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Speaker 1: After all, we have a two thousand year old tradition.
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Speaker 1: Wait a minute, he said, you're right, I interrupted, I'm
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Speaker 1: talking about the church. I knew it. You know I'm Jewish.
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Speaker 1: Want to sign up? I asked. We became more than
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Speaker 1: casual strangers during the next few minutes. We have all
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Speaker 1: been there. We haven't handled it like that, but we
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Speaker 1: have all been there, fixed in a place that we
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Speaker 1: cannot escape from facing that inevitable dialogue that makes us
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Speaker 1: feel awkward and uncertain and not half as creative. We've wondered,
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Speaker 1: how do I not only when a hearing, but keep
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Speaker 1: a hearing so that I bring him from island B
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Speaker 1: to island A where I live through the bridge of
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Speaker 1: the cross. What are the guidelines that I can use
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Speaker 1: to help me make Christ known in an attractive and significant,
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Speaker 1: an even successful manner. Good question, and we all have
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Speaker 1: asked it in our Christian life. Tucked away in Acts
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Speaker 1: chapter eight is a series of answers, not one answer,
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Speaker 1: but a series of answers. And I'd invite you to
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Speaker 1: turn to the story that is recorded about a man
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Speaker 1: named Philip, who was the Billy Graham of the first century.
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Speaker 1: He was the evangelist. He was gifted. But don't let
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Speaker 1: that turn you off. In case you're not an evangelist,
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Speaker 1: You're still a Christian and we're to do the work
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Speaker 1: of an evangelist, whether we have the public gift or not.
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Speaker 1: Believe me, I haven't the gift either. I am not
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Speaker 1: a gifted evangelist. I struggle with striking up conversations about
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, partly because I know they will come back
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Speaker 1: to that inevitable question, what do you do for a living?
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Speaker 1: And again they write me off because I'm, as they
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Speaker 1: view it, not just as your ordinary layman who has
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Speaker 1: nothing to prove in his witness or hers. But Philip
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Speaker 1: was like that, I take it. He was not a
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Speaker 1: professional evangelist, but was a gifted layman who was engaged
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Speaker 1: in the mainstream of life, and God stopped him and
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Speaker 1: led him to witness. Now, before I say anything about
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Speaker 1: the text itself, I want to give you a primary principle,
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Speaker 1: And if you forget all the other things, don't forget
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Speaker 1: this one. The one thing I find that works best
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Speaker 1: for me. When I forget it, I fail. When I
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Speaker 1: remember it, I am more successful in my witness. Is
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Speaker 1: to put myself in the other person's place. Put myself
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Speaker 1: in the other person's place, which means what I must
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Speaker 1: mentally lift myself out of where and who and what
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Speaker 1: I am and place myself imaginatively inside his skin. Meaning
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Speaker 1: I can't use the God talk I'm familiar with. I
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Speaker 1: can't draw upon the reservoir of knowledge that I have
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Speaker 1: gained over the past few years time spent in the Bible.
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Speaker 1: I have to be careful not to dump the truck
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Speaker 1: on him, but to give it a thimbleful at a time,
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Speaker 1: at just the right moment. And above all, I must
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Speaker 1: see myself as being informed by a stranger I've never
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Speaker 1: met before. So I read into my mind the same
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Speaker 1: feelings of defensiveness he or she must have. In that mind,
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Speaker 1: put yourself in the other person's place. Philip does that,
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Speaker 1: and it's beautiful. Now. The background of Acts eight twenty
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Speaker 1: six is that there's been a revival in Samaria, a
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Speaker 1: massive movement of God, and the momentum is contagious. There
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Speaker 1: was no reason whatsoever for Philip humanly speaking as an
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Speaker 1: evangelist to leave Samaria. That was where the action was.
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Speaker 1: Super work of God was carried on in Samaria. Verse
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Speaker 1: twenty five tells us that the word of the Lord
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Speaker 1: was testified and spoken. They started back to Jerusalem, and
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Speaker 1: they were preaching the Gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
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Speaker 1: And you don't read anything about resistance. These were Jews
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Speaker 1: preaching to the Samaritans. And the door was swinging open.
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Speaker 1: It was a marvelous flashing green light, one delightful experience
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Speaker 1: after another, until God does something strange. Verse twenty six,
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Speaker 1: an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, arise
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Speaker 1: and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: to Geza. Parenthesis This is a desert road. Parenthesis closed.
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Speaker 1: If you've got your pen handy and you're still taking
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Speaker 1: a few thoughts down, put in the margin of your
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Speaker 1: bible right here aside from verse twenty six one word sensitivity, sensitivity,
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Speaker 1: The next verse begins, he arose and went put beside
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Speaker 1: that verse availability, they go together. They're Siamese twins in
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Speaker 1: the witnessing process. Sensitivity availability. Let's go back and build
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Speaker 1: a stage out of the clear blue without any announcement whatsoever,
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Speaker 1: no skywriting, no night visions, just that inner unction from God.
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Speaker 1: Philip realized God no longer wanted him in Samaria, where
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Speaker 1: the action was or the revival was going on. God
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Speaker 1: was leading him to a desert road. You know, God
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Speaker 1: does that at the most well, according to our calendar,
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Speaker 1: inappropriate times does. You're putting your roots down, You're getting
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Speaker 1: financially secure, finally, your kids are beginning to feel more
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Speaker 1: at home, your job is working out, your wife is happy,
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Speaker 1: or if you're a single person, everything is falling in line.
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Speaker 1: Just those things that you've been wanting and all of
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Speaker 1: a sudden you begin to get this internal urging from God,
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Speaker 1: and you don't want to get it because you want
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Speaker 1: it like you've got it, just like Philip must have
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Speaker 1: wanted when God said go to Gaza. Do you notice
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Speaker 1: in verse twenty six and on into verse twenty seven,
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Speaker 1: there's never a reason given. I mean, you would have
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Speaker 1: thought at least for him to uproot this man and
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Speaker 1: put him in a place like a desert road. He
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Speaker 1: would have told it he's got something planned there, and
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Speaker 1: he'd give him a little glimpse of what it was.
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Speaker 1: You know, the Lord always has things planned, he just
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Speaker 1: doesn't tell us about him ahead of time. Aren't you
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Speaker 1: glad he did and tell you that these last five
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Speaker 1: years would be like they would be five years ago.
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Speaker 1: I mean, wouldn't that have been some kind of experience?
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Speaker 1: Or how about just the last twelve months. No, he
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Speaker 1: doesn't lift the veil completely. He just prods us down
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Speaker 1: inside and says, go to gazing. Now. That's kind of
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Speaker 1: like leaving Los Angeles and going to Yuma, Okay, or
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Speaker 1: blythe or Needles. You know, you take your pick. Any
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Speaker 1: one of those three would be fine. That's like the
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Speaker 1: Gaza desert road, and Philip must have scratched his head
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Speaker 1: on the way, wondering what in the world does God
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Speaker 1: have up his sleeve as he leads me from Samaria
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Speaker 1: to Gaza. But he's sensitive, he's available. He arose and
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Speaker 1: went and behold there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court
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Speaker 1: official of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who was in
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Speaker 1: charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: to worship and was returning and sitting in his chariot
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Speaker 1: and reading the prophet Isaiah. Isn't that unbelievable? Here is
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Speaker 1: Philip in the middle of nowhere desert center, has his
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Speaker 1: thumb out waiting for someone to come by. And straight
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Speaker 1: from Mohave on his way to Needles is a little chariot.
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Speaker 1: He sees the dust pockets coming up from behind the
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Speaker 1: wheels as it approaches him, and he wonders, what does
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Speaker 1: God have now? What is God going to do when
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Speaker 1: you were sensitive? When you are available every day? Is
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Speaker 1: that kind of anticipation? Now? It may not be a
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Speaker 1: chariot with an Ethiopian in it every day of your life.
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Speaker 1: In fact, there won't be. But when you are sensitive,
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Speaker 1: and when you are available. God will put those things together,
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Speaker 1: and you will discover in the middle of the most
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Speaker 1: ordinary moment, just the right person, just the right place.
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Speaker 1: Here is this Ethiopian official, the treasure of the Candace dynasty,
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Speaker 1: riding along in his chariot. He has been to church,
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Speaker 1: but he hasn't found the Lord. That's not uncommon either.
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Speaker 1: He has gotten enough interest stimulated in him that he
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Speaker 1: is reading the scroll of Isaiah, and Philip sees it happening.
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Speaker 1: I mean, that is a great, great moment when you're
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Speaker 1: ready to share your faith and you say to the Lord,
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Speaker 1: I am available, I am ready to go your way.
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Speaker 1: For you to see that other door open, and you
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Speaker 1: look straight into the face of God's hand in another
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Speaker 1: person's life. There are few things more exciting than that
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Speaker 1: he sees this Ethiopian eunuch who is sitting in the
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Speaker 1: chariot reading the prophet Isaiah. You're ready with your pencil.
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Speaker 1: Guideline number three. Write it just across from verse thirty,
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Speaker 1: put the word initiative. We've got a sensitive available man that,
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Speaker 1: prompted by the Spirit of God, takes the initiative twenty nine.
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Speaker 1: The spirit said to Philip, go up and join this chariot,
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Speaker 1: and when Philip had run up, he heard him reading
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Speaker 1: Isah the Prophet and said, do you understand what you
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Speaker 1: are reading? Now? That is a tremendous beginning. I mean,
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Speaker 1: when you have known the Lord as long as Philip
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Speaker 1: has known him, or as long as some of you
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Speaker 1: have known the Lord, Oh, there is a great tendency
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Speaker 1: to dump the truck. You know what are you reading?
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Speaker 1: Greek or Hebrew? Taken number of years of both. I'd
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Speaker 1: be happy to share with you what that means, or
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Speaker 1: something as ignorant as you've got the scroll upside down, dummy,
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Speaker 1: You know that kind of thing. We Christians, it's not
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Speaker 1: that obnoxious. But you know what I'm saying, We have
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Speaker 1: the most unbelievable ways of offending and we're not even
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Speaker 1: aware of how open handed, how great hearted, how generous
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Speaker 1: in his spirit for him to say, as he sees
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Speaker 1: the man reading, do you understand what that's all about?
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Speaker 1: When you take the initiative. One of the finest methods
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Speaker 1: is the use of a question. I on occasion have
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Speaker 1: used the question that says, and I've been reading a
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Speaker 1: lot in this magazine about world events, and boy, it's troubling.
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Speaker 1: What do you think is the answer. Take any route
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Speaker 1: you want to take, and he'll come ultimately to island A.
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Speaker 1: But your first step is a question. Another is I
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Speaker 1: am really a student of biography, and I really love
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Speaker 1: the story of great men and women, who, in your opinion,
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Speaker 1: was the greatest man that ever lived. Oh, there are
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Speaker 1: one hundred initiative questions you can take, but you've got
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Speaker 1: to think about him part of a sensitive, available heart
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Speaker 1: that's ready for the right move. How much better than
27:09
Speaker 1: what the late Paul Little, in his book How to
27:12
Speaker 1: Give Away Your Faith, talks about about once every six months,
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Speaker 1: the pressure to witness used to reach explosive heights inside me,
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Speaker 1: writes a Little, Not knowing any better, I would suddenly
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Speaker 1: lunge at someone and spout out all my verses with
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Speaker 1: a sort of glazed stare in my eye. I honestly
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Speaker 1: didn't expect any response. As soon as my victim indicated
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Speaker 1: a lack of interest, I'd begin to edge away from
27:39
Speaker 1: him with a sigh of relief and the consoling thought,
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Speaker 1: all that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution
27:47
Speaker 1: two Timothy three twelve. Duty done. I would draw back
27:51
Speaker 1: into my martyrshell for another six months hibernation, and then
27:56
Speaker 1: he adds a very wise word. I personally believe that
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Speaker 1: parading along the sidewalk in a sandwich board which reads
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Speaker 1: in large, scrawly letters, I'm a Christian, ask me, is
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Speaker 1: not the Lord's method. He did not call us to
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Speaker 1: become odd balls as we represent christ. Some people will
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Speaker 1: think we are fools, and they will tell us so,
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Speaker 1: but their opinion does not give us license to indulge
28:31
Speaker 1: in bizarre behavior. God helped me a great deal when
28:37
Speaker 1: I was studying First Corinthians Chapter one a number of
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Speaker 1: years ago, and I found that it is the cross
28:45
Speaker 1: that is offensive, not the Christian. The cross brings a
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Speaker 1: sword into the heart, not the Christian. I suggest to
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Speaker 1: you that if you want your witness to have a
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Speaker 1: ring about it that is authentic and win some appealing,
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Speaker 1: think of initiatives that can be taken that will help
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Speaker 1: that person become less defensive rather than put him on
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Speaker 1: the edge of awkwardness. Do you understand what you were reading?
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Speaker 1: If you've read Anne Kimol's stuff, she has a most
29:29
Speaker 1: unusual beginning. Can I sing for you.
29:35
Speaker 3: Now?
29:35
Speaker 1: Can you imagine a businessman on a plane sitting next
29:38
Speaker 1: to this dear young woman who leans over and says,
29:42
Speaker 1: can I sing to you? I mean to say no
29:48
Speaker 1: is to say I don't want to hear you, and
29:50
Speaker 1: to say yes is to sort of turn the whole
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Speaker 1: airplane into a gospel song. You fear, But with remarkable skill,
29:58
Speaker 1: this woman has turned that into a method that works
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Speaker 1: for her. It does not work for me, and it
30:09
Speaker 1: may not work for you, but she's found one that
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Speaker 1: works for her. And before you put that down, answer
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Speaker 1: what's your method? What approach do you use? You see
30:23
Speaker 1: this man moves in with a question do you understand
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Speaker 1: what you're reading? And now the answer comes in a
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Speaker 1: most open handed manner. There is no defensiveness. There need
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Speaker 1: not be. He said, well, how could I unless someone
30:38
Speaker 1: guides me? And Philip jumped up on the chariot. No,
30:43
Speaker 1: after that question, mark, there's no movement, it says. He
30:48
Speaker 1: invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The
30:55
Speaker 1: fourth word I want you to mark is the word tactfulness.
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Speaker 1: Tactfulness a sensitivity, an availability, an initiative, followed by tactfulness
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Speaker 1: waiting for the precise opportunity for the next move. And
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Speaker 1: then the most gracious manner possible, he said, would you
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Speaker 1: come up and join me. He invited him to come up. Now,
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Speaker 1: the passage of scripture which he was reading was this,
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Speaker 1: And I know Philip must have smiled deep within him,
31:28
Speaker 1: right out of the nucleus of the gospel. In the
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Speaker 1: Old Testament Isaiah chapter fifty three, he was led as
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Speaker 1: a sheep to slaughter, and as a lamb. Before he
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Speaker 1: shear was his silent, So he does not open his mouth.
31:38
Speaker 1: And I think Philip must have thought, that's the reason
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Speaker 1: I was lifted from Samaria and brought to Gaza, a
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Speaker 1: desert road. Here is a man reading the scroll of
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Speaker 1: Isaiah at just the right time I come onto the chariot.
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Speaker 1: That's the way it is when God is moving in
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Speaker 1: your life and those others here to share your faith with.
31:59
Speaker 1: It's like he in gears that fit together. There's a
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Speaker 1: very little friction as he works as he moves Verse
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Speaker 1: thirty four. The eunuch answered Philip and said, please please
32:18
Speaker 1: tell me of whom does the prophet say this? Of
32:23
Speaker 1: himself or of someone else? Oh, those are great questions.
32:32
Speaker 1: When you have that unsaved person ask you the precise question,
32:36
Speaker 1: you would hope he would ask. Remember, he's an Ethiopian
32:43
Speaker 1: he's never heard of Messiah, isn't Jewish. Something has led
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Speaker 1: in his life to bring him to the place where
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Speaker 1: he was at that moment. We are links in the
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Speaker 1: chain of lives, and we don't know where they've come from.
33:03
Speaker 1: We don't know their future, but right at this moment,
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Speaker 1: we're a link in the process. I tell you I
33:10
Speaker 1: was aware of that all over again when I was
33:13
Speaker 1: reading Evangelism as a Lifestyle by Jim Peterson. He talks
33:20
Speaker 1: about coming to Brazil to minister there on behalf of
33:23
Speaker 1: the Navigators, and he meets this industrial chemist named Oswaldo.
33:30
Speaker 1: The conversation began with Osvaldo asking questions about our motives
33:34
Speaker 1: for being in Brazil. The best way I could think
33:37
Speaker 1: to answer his question was to explain the Gospel to him.
33:42
Speaker 1: I got a piece of chalk and a Bible, and
33:44
Speaker 1: I used the wooden floor as a chalkboard. I spent
33:48
Speaker 1: the next two hours showing him a favorite diagram I
33:51
Speaker 1: often used to explain the message I get this. I
33:55
Speaker 1: was quite satisfied with my performance, and when I finally
33:59
Speaker 1: fil I leaned back and observed his reaction. Certain he
34:05
Speaker 1: would be on the verge of repentance. Instead, he gazed
34:09
Speaker 1: at my illustration and then at me. He was puzzled,
34:15
Speaker 1: do you mean to tell me that this is why
34:19
Speaker 1: you came all the way to Brazil to tell people that?
34:27
Speaker 1: To Oswaldo what I had said seemed insignificant and irrelevant.
34:34
Speaker 1: I recognized at that moment that I was facing a
34:38
Speaker 1: communication problem I had never been aware of before. In
34:42
Speaker 1: my mind, I had always equated evangelism with reaping. But
34:50
Speaker 1: here before me was an empty field. Planting, watering, and
34:58
Speaker 1: cultivation would have to occur before I could hope to reap. Wow,
35:04
Speaker 1: that's good. We have that strange feeling that whoever we're
35:09
Speaker 1: talking to is right on the verge of reaping. You
35:12
Speaker 1: may be no just planting. You may be cultivating what
35:18
Speaker 1: someone planted a year ago, but by the grace of God,
35:22
Speaker 1: you may be harvesting what she planted and he cultivated,
35:28
Speaker 1: and they worked until at that moment, on the plane
35:32
Speaker 1: or at the train, or in that office or at
35:34
Speaker 1: the school, you have reaped the result of those months,
35:38
Speaker 1: shall I say, at times years of swing cultivating. This
35:46
Speaker 1: man had his Bible open. He was reading Isaiah fifty three.
35:49
Speaker 1: He said, tell me, what does it say? Please this
35:53
Speaker 1: man or someone else. Is it the prophet or is
35:56
Speaker 1: it somebody else? Who was the sheep led as a
35:58
Speaker 1: lamb to slaughter. Tactfulness means you let those questions be asked.
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Speaker 1: And even when they ask questions that sound harsh or heretical,
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Speaker 1: or at times blasphemous, you let them be asked. You
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Speaker 1: let it be said. Philip Verse thirty five opened his mouth, and,
36:34
Speaker 1: beginning from this scripture, he talked about philosophy. No, no,
36:45
Speaker 1: put preciseness in the margin of your Bible. Preciseness. He
36:51
Speaker 1: started where the man was, and he led him to
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Speaker 1: the subject of Jesus. You start where they are, and
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Speaker 1: you bring them in the marvelous movement of God to
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Speaker 1: the person of Christ and friends. It is very important
37:16
Speaker 1: that we understand witnessing is not talking about church attendants.
37:20
Speaker 1: It is not talking about some religious rite called baptism
37:23
Speaker 1: or taking of the Lord's table or confirmation. It is
37:29
Speaker 1: not tithing. It is not being morally good and taking
37:33
Speaker 1: care of one's family and being rightly related to a nation.
37:37
Speaker 1: Christianity is being rightly related to a person, and a
37:40
Speaker 1: person is never saved until he becomes rightly related to
37:44
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. He doesn't know that that is the best
37:48
Speaker 1: kept secret in America. We're surrounded by people who think
37:53
Speaker 1: by working somehow, or thinking some way, or taking on
37:58
Speaker 1: some kind of religious something, they'll be in the family
38:01
Speaker 1: of God once God gives them a try to prove themselves.
38:05
Speaker 1: It's a gift, it's not a work. Precisely, talk about
38:11
Speaker 1: the Savior, stay away from the jargon. One of the
38:17
Speaker 1: best books out of evangelism in my book is Out
38:20
Speaker 1: of the Salt Shaker and Into the World by Rebecca
38:24
Speaker 1: Manly Pippert. She tells a brief, yet true account of
38:29
Speaker 1: what happened in her life. I remember a skeptical student
38:32
Speaker 1: who said, I could never be a Christian. My commitment
38:36
Speaker 1: to scholarship makes any consideration of Christianity impossible. It's irrational,
38:44
Speaker 1: and the evidence supporting it is totally insufficient. I answered,
38:50
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you care so much about truth and
38:53
Speaker 1: that you really want evidence to support your beliefs Now,
38:57
Speaker 1: listen to this. You say, the evidence for Christian Chianity
39:00
Speaker 1: is terribly insufficient. What was your conclusion after carefully investigating
39:06
Speaker 1: the primary biblical documents. Well, you mean the Bible, he asked,
39:17
Speaker 1: Of course, I said, the New Testament accounts of Jesus,
39:20
Speaker 1: for example, where did you find them lacking? Oh? Well, look,
39:28
Speaker 1: I remember my mother reading me those stories when I
39:30
Speaker 1: was ten. He replied, Hm, but what was your conclusion?
39:40
Speaker 1: I continued, and as a result, discovered he had never
39:45
Speaker 1: investigated the scriptures critically as an adult. I'm going to
39:50
Speaker 1: tell you something, neither have most of the people I've
39:56
Speaker 1: talked to about Christ never once made a serious investigation
40:02
Speaker 1: of the scriptures. I was on a radio talk show
40:08
Speaker 1: a number of years ago up in the Boston area.
40:10
Speaker 1: I was with a religious editor of the Boston Globe.
40:13
Speaker 1: I was with a pastor from the church there on
40:18
Speaker 1: the big Downtown Church, and another pastor and I and
40:23
Speaker 1: we had people call in who came at us with
40:26
Speaker 1: regard to the Gospel. My continued question back to the
40:30
Speaker 1: listener was have you ever made a serious study of
40:35
Speaker 1: even one of the Gospel accounts or any section of Scripture?
40:39
Speaker 1: And I give them a for honesty in their response,
40:43
Speaker 1: I don't remember what percentage, it must have been, well
40:45
Speaker 1: over ninety five percent honestly admitted they had never done that.
40:52
Speaker 1: A person must come into contact with the living Word
40:56
Speaker 1: of God through the written word of God, for most
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Speaker 1: people that does not occur. Isaiah was speaking to this
41:08
Speaker 1: man's heart. And Philip begins from the scriptures showing him
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Speaker 1: of Christ. And let me say one more word of warning.
41:16
Speaker 1: Be careful about getting rabbit trailed, because people have a
41:20
Speaker 1: remarkable ability to pull you off the subject of Jesus
41:24
Speaker 1: and on to the issue of the heathen, Off the
41:27
Speaker 1: subject of Jesus, and onto the issue of abortion. Off
41:31
Speaker 1: the subject of Jesus, and onto the issue of that
41:33
Speaker 1: church scandal when their mother and father left the church
41:36
Speaker 1: twenty eight years ago. Off the subject of Jesus, and
41:40
Speaker 1: onto the subject of How can you say God is
41:42
Speaker 1: just when we have so many and they will name
41:44
Speaker 1: some unjust thing on earth? You tell them of Christ.
41:53
Speaker 1: That is a basic assignment. This man able to share
41:58
Speaker 1: his faith from the scriptures tells him about Christ. Preciseness. Okay,
42:03
Speaker 1: we have sensitivity, availability, initiative, we have tactfulness, preciseness. And
42:09
Speaker 1: there's one more verse thirty six. As they went along
42:13
Speaker 1: the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, look, water,
42:17
Speaker 1: what prevents me from being baptized? In the margin of
42:21
Speaker 1: your Bible the second century Western text a little bit
42:27
Speaker 1: later in time than the earliest manuscripts, includes this verse,
42:32
Speaker 1: if you believe with all your heart, you may And
42:36
Speaker 1: he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is
42:41
Speaker 1: the Son of God. Guideline number six decisiveness. Decisiveness. You
42:50
Speaker 1: will find people all the time coming to these other
42:53
Speaker 1: terms and coming to these other areas, and your tendency
42:56
Speaker 1: will be to get involved in them and to stay
42:58
Speaker 1: away from that decision. And it might be at that
43:02
Speaker 1: very moment they are most ripe and they're just begging
43:05
Speaker 1: you inside. Help me know how to come to know Christ,
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Speaker 1: Help me know what to say, how to say it.
43:14
Speaker 1: There's a gift, and I'm offering you this gift, and
43:18
Speaker 1: all you need to do is take the gift. It's
43:21
Speaker 1: the gift called eternal life, forgiveness of sins, eternal security
43:26
Speaker 1: with Jesus Christ. If you believe that He died for
43:28
Speaker 1: you and rose from the dead, you can have this gift.
43:31
Speaker 1: Won't you take it? Won't you receive it? You don't
43:36
Speaker 1: have to complicate it. You don't even have to have
43:38
Speaker 1: a lot of theology, you don't have to have seminary training.
43:42
Speaker 1: In fact, it might be better for many of you
43:44
Speaker 1: don't have seminary training. Just keep it simple, stay on
43:48
Speaker 1: the subject of Jesus Christ. And when he says, why
43:51
Speaker 1: do I just get baptized next Sunday? No, wait, that
43:53
Speaker 1: would be fine if first you've come to know Christ.
43:58
Speaker 1: He believes with all his Verse thirty eight says, stop
44:02
Speaker 1: the chariot. They both got down, went into the water,
44:05
Speaker 1: and Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
44:13
Speaker 1: It's the beginning of an evangelistic movement that we're seeing
44:18
Speaker 1: today come to fulfillment. It's a remarkable beginning. Now I
44:26
Speaker 1: hear some who have heard this very patiently saying to themselves,
44:30
Speaker 1: I I choose chuck rather to be a silent witness
44:36
Speaker 1: for God. I believe that God would have me simply live.
44:41
Speaker 1: Don't you think that living my faith is more important
44:45
Speaker 1: than speaking my faith? That's like asking me, don't you
44:48
Speaker 1: think the right wing of this airplane is more important
44:51
Speaker 1: than the left wing of this plane. I think they're
44:55
Speaker 1: both important. But I've never heard someone share their faith
44:59
Speaker 1: and how they came to know Christ because everybody around
45:01
Speaker 1: them stayed silent. You know, I just looked at this
45:05
Speaker 1: life and I realized by watching this wonderful life, that
45:08
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the
45:10
Speaker 1: dead for me, and I came to no Christ. No,
45:15
Speaker 1: how shall they hear without someone to proclaim it? And
45:18
Speaker 1: how shall there be a proclaimer, a herald, a preacher
45:24
Speaker 1: unless he be sent. God has you where he has
45:30
Speaker 1: no one else in this entire place where you will
45:33
Speaker 1: be tomorrow. Not just to be silent, oh, to model
45:39
Speaker 1: the truth. For sure, an unmodeled message is as good
45:43
Speaker 1: as no message at all. But He has you there
45:48
Speaker 1: where no one else will be in touch with those lives,
45:51
Speaker 1: no one else will be in touch with to infect
45:56
Speaker 1: with the truth. Being a silent witness is honored by
46:03
Speaker 1: God in one major case, and that's the table of
46:08
Speaker 1: the Lord. He says, when we take of the bread,
46:12
Speaker 1: and when we drink of the wine, we proclaim the
46:17
Speaker 1: Lord's death until he comes back. Maybe you didn't realize it,
46:22
Speaker 1: but the Lord's table is an evangelistic message for those
46:27
Speaker 1: without Jesus Christ. We invite you, if you choose to
46:30
Speaker 1: continue to reject him, to let the elements pass. Don't partake. Please,
46:37
Speaker 1: for you Christians who walk in the light, it is
46:39
Speaker 1: for you, and that is regardless of your church affiliation.
46:43
Speaker 1: But if you're a child of God and you have
46:45
Speaker 1: back slidden, and you choose not to come back to
46:48
Speaker 1: the Lord in full repentance, confessing to him that life
46:52
Speaker 1: of yours that is a shame to his name, you
46:55
Speaker 1: let the elements pass as well. It is the most
46:58
Speaker 1: serious act of publick worship I know anything about. That
47:04
Speaker 1: is why it isn't just a little add on in
47:06
Speaker 1: our worship services. It is the silent testimony of the
47:13
Speaker 1: death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Maybe bow together, close
47:20
Speaker 1: your bible, set aside your book, your pencil, your paper,
47:26
Speaker 1: alone with God for these moments. The men who serve
47:31
Speaker 1: will come to serve us as we prepare to partake
47:38
Speaker 1: and to declare his death until he comes back. Our
47:45
Speaker 1: loving Father, we thank you for the precise message of
47:50
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ that has come into our lives because of
47:55
Speaker 1: your grace. We were running from you, and you ran
47:59
Speaker 1: to us. We did not want you. You wanted us.
48:06
Speaker 1: Your son came on our behalf, and you set the
48:10
Speaker 1: hound of heaven after us. And we have given ourselves
48:16
Speaker 1: to Christ. We voluntarily, willingly and with delight worship him
48:23
Speaker 1: at this time. Lead those without the Savior, our Father,
48:27
Speaker 1: to receive him now at this decisive moment, that they
48:33
Speaker 1: might partake with us. We pray through Jesus Christ, our
48:39
Speaker 1: Lord Amen.
48:42
Speaker 3: The preceding message, Strengthening Your Grip on Evangelism was copyrighted
48:46
Speaker 3: in nineteen eighty one, nineteen eighty five, nineteen eighty nine,
48:50
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety five, twenty fourteen, and twenty twenty four, and
48:54
Speaker 3: the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four by
48:57
Speaker 3: Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication
49:02
Speaker 3: of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited. In
49:06
Speaker 3: the preceding message, Charles R. Swindall, Incorporated is grateful to
49:10
Speaker 3: Eternity Magazine and the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals for permission
49:14
Speaker 3: to quote the article Witness Upmanship by Jeffrey L. Cotter,