Participants: Kenneth Cox
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000811
|
00:59 Hello, and welcome to Camp Meeting 2007,
01:02 our spring camp meeting 01:04 here in beautiful Thompsonville, Illinois. 01:06 And we welcome all of you who are present in house 01:09 and those who are watching from around the world. 01:11 We've had a good time, have we not, thus far? 01:14 We've had good seminars 01:15 this morning from Steve Darmody, 01:16 and our own Shelley Quinn. 01:18 And this particular sitting will be nonetheless spiritual 01:22 and anointed by God as our speaker is 01:25 our own Elder Kenneth Cox. 01:27 How many heard him on last evening? 01:29 Powerful message, 01:30 powerful message on so many levels, 01:33 you could get that on so many, many levels. 01:35 He had so much to say to us as individuals, 01:38 to us at 3ABN, to the church at large, 01:41 to the world family and anointed method. 01:43 One of the things that we can say about 01:45 Elder Kenneth Cox is that he is worth listening to. 01:49 Now when I say that, 01:51 I mean, he is worth listening to 01:53 because he is a man of God who brings the Word of God. 01:57 We don't need to hear 01:58 in these last days of the words of men. 02:01 We don't need to hear 02:03 the machinations of the mind of men. 02:05 What we need is a clear word from the Lord. 02:07 And I'm convicted that every time Elder Cox speaks, 02:10 he speaks a clear word from the Lord. 02:13 And that is what is so needed in these last days. 02:15 So we welcome you, and we thank you for coming. 02:18 I think it is good to start off with prayer. 02:20 So let's bow our heads just now as we open up 02:22 this particular sitting with a word of prayer. 02:24 Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You, 02:26 because You are so good to us, 02:28 because Christ came to die for us, 02:31 and because Christ now lives for us 02:33 and ministers for us and gives us of His grace. 02:37 We thank You for men and women 02:38 who have dedicated their lives to You. 02:41 We thank You for ears to hear, eyes to see, 02:44 and hearts to feel the presence and power of God. 02:47 And we asked for that presence and power to be made manifest 02:51 in this place during this particular sermon 02:55 as we listen to Your words from Your man servant. 02:58 Bless us now, Lord, and feed us and we thank You 03:01 in Jesus' name, amen. 03:04 Just before Elder Cox comes, 03:07 Dona Klein has two pieces of music 03:10 that will flank the sermon one before and one after. 03:13 I think at first we're going to hear 03:14 "At the Foot of the Cross," Dona? 03:16 And then after the message 03:19 "At the Lighthouse." 03:20 Beautiful organist, beautiful person 03:23 who has been with the Kenneth Cox Ministry 03:24 so very, very long. 03:25 I found out just yesterday that she also gives haircuts. 03:28 She said she was going to give me 03:30 a cut and blow dry I think. 03:33 And I said that would indeed be something to see. 03:37 Dona Klein. 06:00 Thank you, Dona. 06:02 Appreciate that very much. 06:03 I have a question for you, Dona. 06:06 When you do CA's hair, 06:09 what you're going to use, a washcloth? 06:12 Give him before the cut. 06:14 Okay. 06:17 Well, we're happy that all of you are here. 06:18 Appreciate you being here. 06:20 Let me explain to begin with. 06:21 This is not a preaching service, folks. 06:24 It's not what this is, this is a seminar. 06:27 And that's what it's going to be. 06:29 It's going to be a seminar 06:30 in which we're going to teach you how to win souls. 06:37 That's the purpose of the seminar. 06:39 And so it's a teaching process here. 06:43 And that's what we're going to be doing 06:45 today and tomorrow. 06:47 I like to start out 06:48 by telling you of an experience. 06:53 Been probably seven, eight years ago now. 06:58 A little lady called me up. 07:01 Her husband had been a minister in Alaska. 07:05 He had died. 07:07 And she had moved to Lancaster, Ohio. 07:13 She called me up and she said, 07:16 "Brother Cox, I want to do something to 07:20 try to win people to Christ. 07:23 I want to do something to win souls." 07:25 And she said, 07:27 "I'd like to have some videotapes to do that." 07:31 Then I said, "Fine. 07:35 How many sets would you like?" 07:36 And she said, "I'd like to have five." 07:39 Five sets to work with people. 07:42 But she said, "I can't pay for them." 07:44 She said, "I want you to lend them to me." 07:47 And she said, "I can't afford them." 07:49 She said, "I can't pay for them. 07:51 Would you lend them to me?" 07:52 And I said, "Well, 07:54 who are you going to use them with?" 07:56 And she said, "Well, I'm going to try 07:58 and follow up literature evangelist interest, 08:02 where they have an interest, I'm going to go in 08:04 and try to give them some studies." 08:07 And I said... 08:09 Her name is Freda Shorts. 08:11 And I said, "Freda, I'll tell you what," 08:13 and I didn't know Freda from anybody. 08:15 I said, "I'll lend you five sets of tapes 08:20 on the basis that you will call me every month, 08:25 and tell me how it's going. 08:28 You have to call me and tell me 08:29 how many Bible studies or studies you're given, 08:32 and how it's going every month." 08:34 And she said, "Okay, I will do that." 08:36 And so I sent her five sets, and she called me and told me 08:39 how it was going, 08:40 it seemed to be going quite well. 08:42 And one day she called me and she said, 08:45 "Brother Cox, I'd really like to do more." 08:50 She said, "I'd like to have more studies." 08:53 And she said, "I need more videos." 08:56 And I said, "Well, 08:57 how many more videos do you want?" 08:59 And she said, "I want five more sets." 09:02 And I said, "Well, can you use that many?" 09:05 And she said, "Yes, I can use that many." 09:07 And so we sent her another five sets. 09:11 The church in Lancaster, Ohio, folks, 09:15 had 14 members. 09:17 That's how many members were in the church. 09:20 And she began to share the videos with people. 09:27 We worked out a system for her to find interest. 09:32 She was giving... 09:34 Now this lady was in her 09:37 late 50s, early 60s. 09:41 And she was giving, I'm talking about one lady, 09:45 90 Bible studies a week. 09:50 Ninety Bible studies a week, one woman. 09:54 Now let me take it farther. 09:56 Not only was she giving 90 Bible studies a week, 10:00 she's a registered nurse 10:01 and was working full time, 10:04 okay? 10:06 Working full time 10:07 and giving 90 Bible studies a week. 10:11 She has continued to do that over the years. 10:15 The little church in Lancaster, Ohio now has 140 members. 10:22 Most of them are the results of her work. 10:26 Okay? I'm not talking about Africa. 10:30 I'm not talking about India. 10:32 I'm not talking about South America. 10:35 I'm talking about North America. 10:38 You know, I have people say, 10:39 "Well, you can't win souls here." 10:40 Wrong! 10:42 You can win souls here. 10:44 It just takes somebody who is willing to do it. 10:49 Someone who is willing to dedicate 10:52 their life and their time to doing it. 10:56 And if they will do that, God will use them. 11:00 But that is what is necessary for it to take place. 11:04 And so I'm going to share with you in the next two days, 11:08 ways in which you can share with other people 11:12 and how you can win people to Christ. 11:16 Ellen White tells us that soul winning is a science. 11:23 It is. 11:24 And if you follow the rules that there is in soul winning, 11:30 you will see soul saved in the kingdom. 11:34 That will happen, 11:36 but it requires that you're willing, 11:39 requires that you're willing to take that step 11:43 to do it, okay? 11:45 So those of you here and I hope my way, 11:51 probably, my faith was not strong enough. 11:55 But we're going to be sharing out of the manual. 12:03 I'm going to be going through this manual, 12:05 so which you have it in written form. 12:08 If you and I put strong emphasis on this, 12:13 if you are interested, 12:17 I'm not asking you if you just like to know 12:19 I'm saying if you are interested 12:21 in dedicating your time 12:24 and your efforts in all to winning people to Christ. 12:29 You're willing to take it and use it, 12:32 then I want you to raise your hand, 12:34 we'll give you a manual. 12:35 But please do not take a manual 12:39 if you're not willing to take the time 12:41 and effort to do it, okay? 12:44 So that's very, very important. 12:46 If you're willing to take the time 12:47 and the effort, well, then raise your hand, 12:49 they'll give you a manual here. 13:04 We may not have enough. 13:18 I've got this one. 13:25 If we run out, we will try 13:30 to have some made by tomorrow. 13:32 So we can give you the rest of you manuals 13:36 that would like to have them. 13:40 The best way that we have found 13:44 to win souls 13:46 is to have something that you can give them 13:49 and work with them. 13:50 And we use videotapes to do that. 13:54 That's what we use. 13:56 And what I have up here on the platform 13:59 are sets of videotapes. 14:01 These are sets of videotapes. 14:04 These three here are sets 14:07 that go through the complete message 14:11 that cover all the messages. 14:13 These are on DVDs. 14:15 And so that's what's here. 14:18 And each DVD has two presentations on it. 14:23 There are a total of 28 presentations in a set. 14:29 That's what these three sets are. 14:31 And any one of them will work, doesn't make any difference 14:36 which one you're using. 14:37 They all will work. 14:39 We have a couple small sets that we recommend 14:43 that are used as follow up. 14:46 By that I mean, if somebody has gone 14:48 through this complete set, and they've there, 14:52 then you might want to share with them 14:54 one of the small sets that's follow up. 14:57 This one's called "God's Extreme Makeover," 15:00 which basically deals with practical godliness. 15:04 That's the purpose of it. 15:06 It is practical godliness. 15:07 How do I live a Christian life day by day? 15:12 That's what that's about. 15:13 We have one other here, and this one's entitled 15:16 "What is Jesus Doing Now?" 15:19 And this deals with Christ in the sanctuary. 15:23 So this is all on the sanctuary, 15:25 and around that. 15:27 And so those are two small sets that deal with things 15:31 that would be helpful to them 15:33 in understanding the Word of God and following it. 15:36 This is what we use. 15:38 Okay. 15:40 Let me take a few minutes to talk to you about 15:43 how do I find somebody... 15:46 how do I find somebody to share the message with. 15:50 Okay? 15:52 Well, one way in which you can find people 15:56 is simply get you a piece of paper and a pencil. 16:02 Okay? 16:03 And get on your knees and pray, 16:09 and ask God to bring to your mind, 16:13 people that you could share the message with. 16:17 And as the Lord brings those names to your mind, 16:21 write them down. 16:24 Just that simple. 16:26 And then all you have to do is go to them and tell them 16:31 that you've been looking at some DVDs 16:34 on Bible prophecy that you've enjoyed greatly. 16:37 You thought they might enjoy one. 16:38 Would they like to look at one to see? 16:42 Share it with them. 16:43 It's all in the to-do. 16:45 That's one way in which you can get people 16:49 to share it with. 16:50 Another way and this is what free to use a lot 16:56 and that is we have a mailer that we mail out. 17:02 And it just comes to the people's home, 17:04 and it invites them to look at the videos, 17:08 tells them about it. 17:10 And then they mail this card back in saying 17:12 they would like to look at the video, 17:15 and you just simply take it to their house. 17:18 That's the other way. 17:20 And... 17:24 how should I say this? 17:28 The response that you get 17:30 from this card varies, 17:36 and it varies according to the economic strata. 17:41 Do you understand what I mean by that? 17:44 The wealthier the less response, 17:49 just simply works that way. 17:51 And so if you want a better response, 17:55 well, then don't mail it to that part of town 17:57 where they have a lot of wealth. 18:01 But anyhow, if under normal circumstances, 18:05 you would get about 10 per 1000 return, 18:12 that's about what the return is about 18:13 10 out of 1000 that you send out, you know. 18:17 You can either mail those or you can just simply go down 18:20 the street and put them in the door. 18:23 And either way in which you can get names 18:27 to work with. 18:29 But what you've got to do, folks, 18:31 is you've got to make up your mind. 18:35 You've got to make up your mind and say, 18:38 "Well, this is what 18:39 I'm going to do. 18:41 I'm going to win somebody to Christ." 18:44 And make up your mind. 18:45 It can't be something that you say, 18:47 "Well, I think I'll do it or I'll do it long 18:50 as it doesn't interfere with anything." 18:54 That doesn't work. 18:56 The devil will see that it interferes. 18:59 You've got to make up your mind and say, "Yes. 19:03 This is what I'm going to do." 19:06 Freda, 19:09 Lancaster, Ohio. 19:13 I don't know, maybe it's a town of 30,000. 19:21 She has mailed. 19:24 She's covered the town, folks, four or five times already. 19:30 And she can still mail them out and get a response. 19:33 Okay? 19:35 So this excuse that I hear so often saying, 19:38 "Well, these people here aren't interested." 19:41 No, that's not the trouble. 19:43 The trouble is you're not interested. 19:46 That's where the problem is, see. 19:48 And you and I have to work at it to see 19:51 if it's going to take place. 19:53 So you just have to make up your mind. 19:55 This is what I'm going to do. 19:59 Okay, however you do it, 20:04 one set of DVDs 20:11 will only take care of three families. 20:17 Do not try to stretch it more than that. 20:22 Why do I say that? 20:24 Well, if somebody, if, say you've got three people 20:28 that are interested, 20:30 then you going to take them a DVD, 20:33 well, you can't take it to the other person 20:35 till that one finishes. 20:37 And same way on down and about three families 20:40 is as much as you can stretch it. 20:44 Okay? 20:46 So don't try to stretch it more than that. 20:48 But what you need to do is decide how much time 20:53 you want to spend doing this. 20:57 That's what some people never decide. 21:00 I say, "Well, okay, I'm going to take a half a day 21:06 each week to witness for my Lord." 21:09 I mean, if you've got a job, you're working at another job, 21:13 you've got to break up your time. 21:16 You've got to say, this is how I'm going to do it. 21:18 So I say, I'm going to take a half a day, 21:20 and I'm going to do that 21:22 each week to witness for my Lord. 21:24 And so a half a day each week, 21:26 I take these people their videos. 21:30 It's what I do. 21:31 And that's how I witness for the Lord. 21:35 For person will consistently do that 21:39 he or she will win souls. 21:44 No question about it. 21:46 But that's what you've got to make a decision and say, 21:48 "This is what I'm going to do." 21:52 So you're going to take them the DVDs or whatever you have. 21:58 There may be some of you that have videos, 22:02 VCRs or maybe you have DVDs already. 22:07 That's fine. Use them. 22:09 Folks, they won't do a soul in the world 22:12 any good sitting in a bookcase. 22:16 They're worthless. 22:17 You got to take them out and use them 22:20 if they're going to be of any value to anybody. 22:25 So let's say that you have three people 22:31 that you're going to share this with. 22:38 Some things that Freda does, now, like I told you, 22:42 she was given 90 a week. 22:46 I've gone with her, you know. 22:48 Not only have I gone with her to places 22:51 where she was taking the videos to, 22:54 we'd come back at noon from delivering these things. 22:58 And here there would be some of them at her door 23:02 that were waiting for their videos. 23:05 Now let me explain what she does. 23:07 She just takes a clear plastic bag, 23:11 clear plastic bag that has a hole on top of it, 23:14 it'll fit over doorknob. 23:17 That's what she takes. 23:18 And she puts in that bag, these things. 23:23 She puts the DVD that she's going to share 23:26 with the people. 23:28 She puts, if she's going for the first visit, 23:32 let me explain that, she puts a copy of the card 23:37 that they sent in. 23:39 She takes that and puts that right in the front of the bag. 23:43 She takes this card 23:45 or she actually makes a copy of this card, 23:48 and she puts it right in the front 23:50 of this clear plastic bag where it has 23:53 their handwriting and everything on it. 23:56 So they can see it. 23:58 So when she knocks on the door and tells them 24:01 that she's brought their DVD to them, 24:03 then they can't deny the fact that they sent it, okay? 24:07 So she puts that right there where they can see it. 24:10 She puts a, 24:12 actually, there are two presentations on a DVD. 24:16 So she puts two of the outlines 24:20 for that presentation in that bag. 24:23 She puts two quizzes 24:26 that goes along with it in the bag. 24:29 And she puts her card, her business card in there. 24:35 It has her name and address and telephone number on it. 24:37 She puts that in the bag. 24:40 And she just simply goes knocks on the door, 24:43 and person comes to door. 24:44 She tells them who she is, she tells them why she's there, 24:48 and she tells them just briefly how it works 24:52 that they are given the DVD, they can look at it. 24:57 She'll come back next week, and will pick that one up 25:00 and give them another one. 25:03 And she explains that to them how that works, 25:05 and simply leaves it with them. 25:09 If nobody's home, now this is the area 25:12 that you've got to be willing to work with, folks. 25:16 If nobody's home, she simply takes that bag 25:21 and hangs it on the doorknob. 25:25 That's it. 25:27 And leaves. 25:31 Next week, when she... 25:34 Week is past, 25:35 she will call them on the phone. 25:39 Tell them her name, tell them that 25:40 she's the one that came by 25:42 and left there DVD with them. 25:44 Have they had a chance to look at it? 25:48 And if they have, did they enjoy it? 25:51 If they have not had a chance to look at it, 25:55 then she simply tells them, she hopes 25:58 that they will look at it this week, 26:00 and when would be a good time to come back 26:02 and pick it up and leave the next one. 26:05 That's simply what she does. 26:07 And like I said, we'd go out visit 26:09 and come back. 26:10 And here would be three and four of those things 26:12 hung on her doorknob that people said, 26:15 "I've watched it, bring me another one." 26:17 And that's how she took care of 26:20 90 studies a week, just by simply doing that. 26:26 But you just got to go take it there, 26:28 talk with people. 26:30 Now, not everybody, not everybody's going to say, 26:33 "Yes," not everybody's gonna watch it. 26:37 In fact, you'll find some people 26:38 that hard to get them to watch it. 26:42 They'll say they want it and the week will go by 26:44 and they didn't look at it and next week will go by 26:46 and they didn't look at it. 26:48 That happens, folks. 26:49 You just have to understand that. 26:51 The hardest part of the whole thing 26:54 is getting them by 26:58 lessons one, two, three and four. 27:03 If you can get them through those four lessons, 27:06 they go, they'll go the rest of the way. 27:09 But it just is hard to get them started doing that. 27:14 In fact, I talked to Freda this week. 27:17 And she was telling me about, she has an attorney 27:21 that is watching them, and how that... 27:25 What a struggle it was with him to get him started, you know. 27:30 But finally he got started and now he just eaten them up, 27:33 one right after another. 27:35 But it just takes that so you have to work with it. 27:40 What you need to do is to decide 27:45 how much you want to work with. 27:49 See, if you say, "Well, 27:51 I'm going to work with three families 27:53 or I'm going to work with six families," 27:57 you need to decide how much you want to work with. 28:00 Okay? 28:02 Then, folks, you have to start working at it 28:06 so that you keep that going. 28:10 Do you understand what I mean by that? 28:12 What I mean is you may have three people watching it, 28:15 that's what you want to work with. 28:17 One of them may drop out. 28:20 If one of them drops out, 28:23 then you got to find one to take their place. 28:27 So you need to keep that up. 28:30 You've got to work it that way to keep it going, 28:33 so that you constantly have three people 28:37 or three families to work with. 28:40 And as you do, you just simply take them the video each week. 28:47 Now let me tell you a little secret. 28:50 People. 28:53 People do not make decisions based on intellect. 29:01 I'm sorry. 29:03 You know, you may have thought that you were calm, 29:06 cool and collected and you thought it through 29:08 and made a decision. 29:10 Sorry, we don't. 29:12 We make decisions based on emotion. 29:18 That's how we make decisions. 29:21 That's why Ellen White says, 29:23 if we were kind, 29:26 tender, loving, there would be 29:30 100 conversions today, 29:33 where there is one. 29:36 Has nothing to do with intellect, 29:38 has to do with emotion. 29:40 Now it doesn't mean 29:42 that they don't need to understand, they do. 29:45 I'm saying they don't make decisions 29:48 based on intellect, 29:50 they make decisions based on emotion. 29:53 Therefore, what becomes extremely important 29:57 is that you must become their friend. 30:04 If you do not become their friend, 30:09 you'll never get them. 30:11 You've got to become their friend. 30:13 It will not work. 30:17 Listen to me, it will not work 30:20 for you to knock on the door, 30:22 hand it to them and leave. 30:26 You've got to do more than that, 30:28 you've got to become their friend. 30:33 Okay? 30:35 Another thing that you have to do 30:37 to make it work, and that's the reason 30:40 we put a little quiz in there, 30:45 and you have to go through that quiz with them. 30:49 When they give you back the DVD, 30:51 you say, did you have a chance to fill out the quiz? 30:56 If they say, yes, fine, ask for it, take it. 31:01 If they say, no, say, 31:03 "Do you have a moment to fill it out?" 31:05 And go over with them and fill it out. 31:08 But it is important that you go through that 31:13 quiz with them, 31:16 'cause that reinforces 31:18 what they have seen on the video, 31:22 what they have seen that tells them again, 31:25 repeats it, it helps see minute in their minds. 31:29 Also, as you go through the studies, 31:33 at the bottom of that quiz, 31:35 sometimes there is a decision to be made, 31:40 and it will ask for certain decisions. 31:44 People do not... 31:47 How should I put this? 31:54 Getting decisions from people, folks, 31:57 is like cutting down a tree. 32:01 Okay? 32:03 You do not cut down a tree with one blow of the axe. 32:10 You get it by chipping away. 32:14 Same thing is true with people. 32:18 There are certain decisions that you have to get, 32:23 and you have to clear them on those decisions 32:27 as you're going through the studies. 32:29 So when you're down here at the end, 32:32 and you're trying to get a decision 32:35 for the person to step out in faith and follow 32:38 what they have learned, if you didn't clear them 32:41 on all those points, you're not going to get them. 32:48 You're just not going to get them. 32:50 Won't happen. 32:53 So let me ask you, 32:55 if you're clearing people 32:58 on points of faith 33:03 as you're going through it, 33:05 what would be the first thing 33:09 you'd want someone to be clear on? 33:17 What would be the first thing 33:19 you'd want someone to be clear on? 33:27 And the very first thing 33:30 you want that person to be clear on 33:33 is their acceptance 33:35 of Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. 33:41 If they do not do that, if that person 33:45 does not make a decision to accept Jesus Christ 33:49 into their heart as their personal Savior, 33:51 I don't care how much you make clear them on 33:56 other points of belief, you're not going to get them. 34:01 And if you do get them, you wished you had enough... 34:08 'cause Jesus talked about it. 34:10 He said, read it there in Matthew 23, 34:12 He said, "You made him twice the devil." 34:15 That's what He said. 34:17 So you must make sure that person is clear 34:21 on accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. 34:27 And I would say to you here, 34:30 that if you are not clear 34:35 on Jesus Christ being your personal Savior, 34:40 make sure you're clear on that before 34:42 you talk to somebody else. 34:46 Make sure you understand. 34:49 If someone was to say to you, 34:52 "What do I have to do to accept Jesus Christ?" 35:00 What would you tell them? 35:06 If you said, 35:07 "What do I have to do 35:10 to accept Jesus Christ?" 35:14 What would you tell them? 35:19 Would you tell them, 35:21 "Oh, just be good?" 35:28 I can remember, when I was in college, 35:31 the teacher gave us an assignment 35:33 to go out and knock on 20 doors and ask the people 35:37 that came in the door, "What must I do to be saved?" 35:42 I went out and knocked on 20 doors, 35:46 19 out of the 20 told me, 35:50 just be good, 35:54 19 out of 20. 35:57 You need to know how to explain to someone 36:04 what it means to accept Jesus Christ. 36:10 Do you understand? 36:13 Do you understand that there's not any thing 36:18 you can do 36:22 from a human standpoint 36:26 as far as qualifying to be saved, 36:32 that there's nothing you can do? 36:38 Like I told the fifth grade class 36:40 I was talking to 36:42 and this kid asked me the question, 36:43 I said, "The only people that will be saved 36:46 are those that qualify." 36:49 And he, this fifth grade boy, looked at me 36:52 with a snare on his face, and he said, "Okay, 36:55 tell me what I got to do to qualify. 36:59 And I said, "The only people that qualify are sinners." 37:06 And he said, "I qualify." 37:12 There's nothing you can do 37:15 that makes you acceptable, 37:20 understand that there's nothing you do 37:23 that makes you acceptable. 37:26 Jesus makes you acceptable. 37:30 It says that you and I are saved, 37:32 and they be loved. 37:36 It's what Christ did for you 37:38 that makes you acceptable. 37:42 And all that I can do, folks, 37:45 is simply by faith, reach out 37:48 and accept what He has done for me. 37:54 Salvation is totally and completely of God. 38:04 Say that again? 38:06 Salvation is totally 38:09 and completely of God. 38:15 Man's responsibility is simply to obey. 38:22 That's it. 38:24 I can't do anything to make myself qualify. 38:29 There's nothing I can do that adds to what God has done. 38:33 That's totally and completely of Him. 38:37 But I, as an individual, 38:40 the scripture says, simply to obey. 38:44 At least that's what the smartest man 38:46 in the world ever said, 38:49 Ecclesiastes, 38:52 "Fear God, keep His commandments, 38:56 for this is the whole duty of man." 39:01 It's my responsibility is to obey. 39:06 So I've got to explain to that person. 39:09 Now in the videos they have watched, 39:13 videos that explain salvation to them. 39:17 What you've got to do is make sure 39:19 they're clear on it. 39:23 Have any of you ever attended Billy Graham's Crusade? 39:27 Any have of you? 39:29 A few of you. 39:32 If you want to see kind of a strange phenomena. 39:36 When Billy Graham's through preaching 39:39 and he makes a call, and he has the people 39:42 come down out of the bleachers, and they're coming down 39:46 out of the bleachers coming up to the front. 39:49 If you are observant, 39:53 you'll notice that for every person 39:57 that comes down out of the bleachers, 40:00 somebody will come out from underneath the bleachers 40:03 and will come up right beside that person 40:06 and walk with them down to the front. 40:10 Why? 40:11 Because when he's through praying with them, 40:15 then that person will explain 40:18 the gospel to them. 40:21 You see, a minister can get up front, folks, 40:24 and preach the gospel. 40:27 But it takes one-on-one for them 40:32 to really understand it and accept it. 40:36 And for your minister to preach at church 40:38 or for an evangelist to come in 40:41 and hold an evangelistic meeting 40:42 and you sit in your homes and in your pews 40:46 and do nothing, is horrible. 40:54 God expects all of us to be there, 40:58 and to witness and explain to people 41:03 what it means to accept Christ. 41:07 And I have seen people 41:10 very, very young 41:13 that have done that. 41:15 And I've seen people 41:17 very, very old 41:20 that can do that. 41:22 In fact, I remember I had it, was holding meeting 41:25 and this man came up 41:27 front at the close of the meeting... 41:32 spoke to me and asked me 41:34 some questions about the videotapes, 41:38 and just asked me about them 41:40 how they were put together and so forth. 41:47 I'm sure he was in his 80s, 41:52 had arthritis so bad 41:56 that his hands were all gnarled and drawn up 41:59 from what the arthritis had done to him. 42:04 We talked a little bit. 42:06 I didn't know him, didn't know him from Adam. 42:10 He went back out front 42:13 and bought a set of videos. 42:18 That's the last I heard of him 42:21 for about nine months. 42:25 Nine months later, he called me and said, 42:29 "I'm in Wyoming." 42:32 He said, "I need some help." 42:35 And I said, "What help do you need?" 42:39 He said, "I've been using your videos." 42:41 He said, "I have 15 people ready for baptism." 42:46 See, you've got to be willing, folks, 42:50 just to take it out, 42:53 to get on your knees and to pray 42:56 and ask God to guide and direct you to someone 43:01 that you can share it with. 43:03 And if you'll do that the Lord will open the door, 43:07 one after another. 43:10 So you've got to lead that person 43:13 to an acceptance of Christ. 43:14 And in this manual is an outline 43:19 that takes you through 43:21 how to lead a person to Christ 43:22 step by step by step. 43:29 Let me just break it down very quickly. 43:34 Let's say that wall there 43:38 represents where you were born. 43:42 Let's say this lectern 43:47 represents where you accept Jesus Christ. 43:52 Let's say the wall there represents where your life 43:55 comes to an end. 44:01 When you accept Christ, when you accept Christ 44:06 as your Savior, 44:09 any sin 44:12 that you have done 44:14 from the day you were born 44:18 to the day you accept Jesus Christ 44:21 is paid for by His death. 44:27 I don't care how dark that sin may be. 44:36 I don't care if that includes murder. 44:44 I don't care how bad it may be. 44:49 I don't care if it includes homosexuality. 44:57 However dark that sin may be 45:03 is paid for by the death of Jesus Christ 45:07 and you are clean. 45:11 You don't have one thing against you. 45:16 You are perfectly clean. 45:21 My problem... 45:22 And by the way, 45:24 the scripture says this is a gift. 45:26 Do you understand that? 45:28 It's a gift. You know why it's a gift? 45:31 'Cause you can't pay the debt. 45:34 If you pay the debt, you forfeit life. 45:38 You can't pay the debt. 45:40 Christ paid it. 45:41 All you can do is accept what He did. 45:45 Okay. My problem is I'm clean. 45:49 I don't have one thing against me. 45:53 If I could get from here 45:57 to there 45:59 without doing anything wrong, I'd be saved. 46:03 What do you think my chances are? 46:08 You sound like you don't think they're very good. 46:15 Can't. 46:17 Dear friend, that's the reason Jesus came 46:22 and spent 30 years on the earth. 46:26 See, if all that was necessary for you to be saved 46:30 was for Jesus to die, 46:32 He could have done that as a baby. 46:36 But it required a perfect life. 46:41 So He came here 46:43 and He lived an absolute perfect life. 46:48 Never sinned, not even so much as in thought. 46:54 So when I accept Him, 46:57 His death pays the debt for my sins. 47:03 And He gives to me 47:06 His perfect life. 47:11 That is given to me by faith. 47:15 And I accept what He's done for me. 47:18 That's reason it says it's a gift, 47:21 because I don't have a perfect life. 47:24 All I can do is accept what He has done. 47:29 The Bible has one word for all that. 47:33 It calls that grace and says you're saved by grace. 47:39 Okay, so you've got to explain to that person 47:43 what it means to accept Jesus Christ. 47:48 What's the next thing you would take them to? 47:53 If you're going to take them step by step through beliefs, 47:58 you've explained to them 47:59 what it means to accept Jesus Christ. 48:01 They've accepted Jesus Christ, what's the next step? 48:09 Baptism. 48:12 Sorry, 48:14 sorry. 48:16 The Bible does not tie baptism to doctrine. 48:22 It ties baptism to the acceptance of Jesus. 48:27 Baptism is a public declaration 48:31 of my acceptance of Jesus Christ. 48:35 That's what baptism is. 48:38 So when I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, 48:42 then the next point I need to be moving to, 48:45 is to decide to be baptized. 48:50 And if you watch the videos, that's the way it'll take you. 48:55 It'll take you from the acceptance 48:56 of Christ to baptism. 49:02 Now, unfortunately... 49:07 we many times tie baptism to doctrine, 49:11 not the acceptance of Christ. 49:14 The Bible doesn't do that. 49:16 There is not one, sorry. 49:20 There's not one, you can't show me one 49:23 in all of God's Word of one long termed baptism. 49:30 You show me one. 49:33 The jailer at Philippi, when did they baptize him? 49:39 That night! 49:43 No such thing. 49:45 Now that doesn't mean that we need to be putting them 49:50 in the water before they're ready. 49:54 That's not when I'm standing up here preaching. 49:57 I am saying to you 50:00 that when you're working with these people 50:02 and that person has made a decision to accept Christ, 50:05 you need to be getting a decision 50:08 from that person next to be baptized, 50:12 okay? 50:14 That may be at the end of looking at the videos, 50:17 but you need to be getting the decision there. 50:21 At that point, 50:22 you shouldn't be getting it clear down at the end. 50:28 That's not the way the Scripture teaches it. 50:31 I need when that person has made the decision 50:33 to accept Christ. 50:36 Then they need to be making decision to be baptized. 50:44 I was preaching on Sabbath. 50:47 This old gentleman came in, I've never seen him before. 50:53 Sit down in church. 50:55 When the service was over, 50:57 I was standing at the door shaking people's hands. 50:59 He came by and I shook his hand and said, 51:02 "We're very happy to have you here at church." 51:04 And I said, "Have you been here before?" 51:05 And he said, "No, this is my first time." 51:08 I said, "Well, we're very, very happy that you came. 51:11 Hope you'll come back." 51:13 And I said, 51:15 "Would you mind if I came out to visit you." 51:18 He said, "Not at all, like for you to." 51:21 And I said, "Well, this week, 51:22 I'll try to come out and see you." 51:25 So that week, I went out to see the old gentleman. 51:28 And we talked and I said to him, I said, 51:32 "Why did you come to church? 51:33 What got you to come to church?" 51:36 He said, "When I was a young man," 51:39 he said, "I gave my heart to Jesus Christ." 51:42 He said, "I went to church all the time." 51:46 He said, "Every time the church door was open, 51:47 I was at church." 51:49 He said, "I love to go to church." 51:51 I said, "Enjoy it." 51:53 He said, "When I was about 19-20 years of age," 51:56 he said, "I started dating this young lady." 51:59 He said, "We went together for some time," 52:00 he said, "she didn't go to church." 52:03 He said, "I didn't pay much attention to it." 52:05 He said, "I fell in love with her." 52:07 And he said, "We got married." 52:11 And he said, "After we got married, 52:13 she started objecting to my going to church." 52:17 He said, "Every time I came home from church, 52:19 we wound up in an argument." 52:21 And he said, "That went on until," 52:23 he said, "I finally just quit going to church." 52:26 And he said, "I haven't gone to church in all these years." 52:30 He said, "My wife died two weeks ago, 52:34 "he said, "I decided to come back to church." 52:38 In my mind, I said to myself, 52:42 "This time, you'll know what you're doing." 52:45 See, 'cause I thought 52:46 you hadn't studied somebody for, 52:48 oh, you know, at least six months or a year. 52:52 And so I said to him, "Would you like to study?" 52:55 He said, "Very much so." 52:57 So I studied that old gentlemen, folks. 52:59 I didn't just study with him, I gave him assignments to do. 53:03 He could have gotten a degree from the seminary, you know. 53:08 We were studying Acts Chapter 2, 53:13 we came to that text where it says, 53:15 "Three thousand were converted in a day and were baptized." 53:20 And I'll never forget, he looked at me and he said, 53:21 "Brother Cox, if Peter would have 53:24 put those people through, 53:25 what you've put me through, there wouldn't be 3000? 53:32 And I learned something. 53:33 You see, it's important that they tie their baptism 53:40 to their acceptance of Jesus Christ 53:42 as their personal Savior. 53:45 Very, very important they do that. 53:48 We will continue to go through points of belief, 53:52 and what you need to do to clear them 53:55 on those points of belief, so that when you're through 53:58 you'll be able just simply to ask 54:01 and they'll make the decision and come into the church. 54:04 We hope it will be helpful to you. 54:06 Dona is going to play for us a beautiful song, 54:10 entitled "The Lighthouse." 56:33 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 56:35 Father, we thank You. 56:37 Thank You, Lord, 56:38 that in spite of our weaknesses, 56:42 in spite of our sinfulness, 56:45 in spite of our inability, 56:49 You are still willing to use us, 56:53 to make us witnesses. 56:55 We pray that You'll bless each one here 56:59 that as they go about their daily activities 57:04 that they may be a witness. 57:07 A witness of Jesus with their hearts 57:12 may be surrendered to You. |
Revised 2019-08-29