Winning the Lost, No Matter the Cost, Part 2

Zoe is spiritual life. And Zoe. This life, Zoe is in Christ. And so if I want to live eternally with him, then I need to know him.

they all went to see her. Now here's my point. Let me ask you some questions. Okay? Uh, after she got saved, did she attend Moody Bible Institute?

Because you can't have one without another. You can't have a reaper if you ain't had a sower. Yeah. Amen. And you can't have a sower without a reaper, because then everything's going to go rotten. And so he says, because of converts. Now, I want you to notice something here. Because what are we trying to do? We're trying to let people know about our God who can do what our God can do. He said, what are you talking about? Let me show you something. Let me show you something.

I just shared this with the Wednesday crowd. Here's what Paul says I was hindered. Uh, now, what hindered him? The work of God hindered him. Now. Now, here's what we got to realize. This. This thing is powerful to me. I said, first Thessalonians 218 is is is demonic delay. But acts 16 six through eight is divine delay. God stopped him from going. Question. Why? Since he wants to go there and witness. Are you having him? Wait. My might I postulate a possibility. Say postulate. I remember when

I got converted, some things changed right away. Some things didn't change, right? Some things changed. The first thing I did, anybody remember? Flushed my drugs down the toilet? I used to have Pepsi-Cola pusher, you know. Remember when Pepsi-Cola bottles? You could get two cent for them? I was two cent nickel and dime pusher. And first thing I did was flush all my drugs down the toilet. That word got around, man. Ford done lost his mind. He ain't

got religion. And he didn't flush drugs down the toilet. And then the other thing I was doing, I was gaming on welfare. Now, let me tell you what that means. That means I had a job, a good job, but I had my wife go to welfare office and say that I had left her and the children, so we was able to get food stamps just way before we was able to get food stamps and she got a medical card. So here I was. I had a good job.

I was working in a factory making top money, and then she was getting welfare and food stamps and I was selling drugs. Big bank, big bank, big bank. But then it backfired because when I got saved, the first thing I did was I went to the welfare office because the guilt was on me. And I said, for two and a half, almost three years, we've been cheating you. I know I could go to jail, but my guy who led me to Christ said, one of the first things I must do is make restitution. So this guy

had me. That's why my marriage is such a wreck. I had to go tell my wife, every woman that I ever mess with. You know, I had to go and confess to everybody what I had stolen and and make restitution. And I'm going back, you know? Yeah, yeah. You know, when you're just missing it at your crib and you thought so, and so did it. I told you he did it. I know he's like that. I did it, you know, that kind of stuff. Yeah. Here's your money back, man. Here's this back. You know, all

that went through all that. But I didn't want to do that one. He said, well, then you don't want to be fully obedient to Jesus. I said, okay, so I go and I'm sitting up there, I'm sweating bullets, man. And, uh, you know, the the supervisor comes out and she says, sir, this has never happened. I don't even know what to do. Here's what I'm going to tell you. We're going to just erase this from our records in this office. Just don't do it again. I said, Praise God. Praise God.

God is a deliverer, baby. Because I thought I was going to jail, man. And and so here's what happened. Here's the end of the story. So because of that now, whenever my job started laying off and I was one of the ones that got laid off and, um, uh, I went to unemployment and they said, well, you can only get $158 a week because you're you're a single person. I said, I'm married. Well, not according to our records. Your wife and children are on welfare. I said no, no, see,

I was gaming on them. Well, that ain't we ain't got nothing to do with that. This is what you get. So now it's like, I don't, man, I don't have a job. I can't take care of my family. So then, you know, I got an undesirable discharge from the military. And so, I mean, this thing is all stacked against me. So they said city of Pittsburgh has 50 job openings, and there were over 2000 applicants. I said, I can't go. I might as well not go, Ray said. You don't

believe God, that God can overcome your past? I said, well, yeah, he did. He said, what did he do with the welfare thing? He said, go down there and apply for the job. So I went down and applied for the job, I got it. Now let me let me tell you what happened before. The guy used to sell drugs for Clyde. I don't know if you remember Clyde, but anyway, Clyde, uh, I was talking to him before I got this job. Uh, I was talking to him, and he said, yeah, you broke.

Now you did, you know. Come on, you might as well come on back, you know, and get your drugs from me, man. You know? No, no, no, I ain't into that. Jesus, you know, blah blah blah. I'm telling you. He said. Yeah, I heard about that. He said, but if you're Jesus so powerful, how come you don't have a job? Man, that hurt me, man, I went home, I got down on my knees. I said, did you hear what he said? That's that's the way I did it. I was I was newly saved. You know, I wasn't

all that prim and proper. Oh, God, that dwelleth thou I, I, I come from the streets, so I that's the way I talk to him, you know, and I, truth be known, I still talk to him that way. I say I don't like it. I'm going to tell you I don't like it because you told me to come boldly to the throne of grace. Alright? I don't like what's going on. I gotta deal with it. But Lord, you're gonna have to do something. And so I told. I said, you hear what he said about you? He talking about if

you're so great, how come I don't have a job now? Lord, this thing is deeper than just. I need to pay the rent. Because I've been telling all these people how good you are. You got to get me a job. So then Ray told me, going down there and applied, I applied, I got the job. The first person I told after my wife was Clyde. I went down the alley. I knocked on his door. And Clyde, guess what, man you was talking about last week? About your God. So great. How come you don't have a job? I got a job.

And not just any job. I got a job I shouldn't even have because the city wasn't even supposed to hire me. But my God is so powerful that he overruled the rules. Because my God is the God who makes the rules. And I said, and then I took him down Romans Road. Now that's why I come to tell you once again, you know that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. All have sinned come short and I'm telling them. Witness to him. And he says, man, get out of my face.

I said, you can pray a prayer of faith, man. Just ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart. Man no, I don't want to hear. He slammed the door in my face. Fast forward the video a couple years ago, probably about eight now, I was asked to go up to Grand Rapids and preach to some brethren up there about about about 3 or 400 of them. And I'm preaching. I preach Friday night, then I preach two messages on

Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I finished the message. A guy come running to me and he said to me, he said, he said, man, I've been waiting years, almost 20 years to talk to you. I said, what? He said, you don't know who I am. I said, no, he said, I'm Clyde's brother, Clyde. Clyde who? You know what, Clyde I'm talking about. I said, man, come on. Are you serious? He said, yeah. And I've been asking people, when are you coming back home? And every time you come home,

the preacher of home church, I miss you. But now I live in Detroit. I gotta tell you, I've been wanting to tell you this story for over 20 years. What story? He said the day that you witnessed to my brother Clyde, I was in the living room. You were on the porch. And when you told him. Romans 623, Romans 523, Romans ten nine and ten and asked him to pray. I did, I got saved. Now get this,

I said, man, man, praise the Lord. He said, no, no, no, no. He said, all through, all through grammar school, all through high school I lived for the Lord. The Lord. When I got ready to graduate, he said, I'm calling you to preach for me. So don't go to a secular school. I got a full ride. Don't go to secular school, go to a Christian college. So I went to a Christian college. I'm just graduating now, the Bible College of Detroit, getting ready to go to seminary. I'm going to be

a pastor. And I said, I've got to tell him how God used him, and he didn't even know it.

Just come to our website, npr.org. Click on the contact link, fill out that form, and we'll make sure that Pastor Ford sees that. And who knows? If you ask a question, we may answer that in a future broadcast. Again, come to Treasure Truth Radio org and click on the contact link back to the message. Here is Pastor Ford.

about Jesus. He doing all the work in me, and he giving me all the reward. Now, how many crowns can you get? I know you know this. Okay, let me. Let me walk through these crowns real quick. You know I'm already. There's the incorruptible crown. First Corinthians 925 through 27. That's for people who master the flesh. Who walk in the spirit more than they walk in the flesh. Then the second crown you can get is called the crown of glory. That's the shepherd's crown. It's given to all

pastors who faithfully shepherd God's flock. And you say, well, then that's not for us. Yes, it is, because when you come in and God has gifted you and brought you to this place, and you say, I espouse the vision, I'm getting involved in the plan and purpose of God, then you get that crown because you work with me to fulfill God's vision and purpose for this local assembly. Alright. Why? Because if you give a prophet a cup of water in the name of the Lord, you receive a prophet's reward.

Then the crown of life. James 112 is also revelation two seven and it's given to those who faithfully endure temptation. And it's a martyr's crown for all of those who lose their life for the cause of Christ. Like the over 2 million people, uh, every six months that's given their life for Christ. Then there's the crown of righteousness. Second Timothy four eight. It's given to those who live

right and who love the rapture of the church. Then this one, the one that I'm talking about, converts that everybody who drops a seed, everybody who witnesses is somebody. God says you've got a crown of rejoicing. What is that? It's given to those who win. Souls who witness for the Lord. It's a crown that you can get. Amen. Notice secondly, with me. Notice. secondly with me. Here's the second stick of dynamite that Paul was going to throw

into our laps. He says because of verse, verse 13, notice because of compulsion, verse 14, notice he says, I am debtor both to the Greeks and the barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise. Wait a minute. The word debtor means you have an obligation. Now get this. Who's this obligation to or to whom is this obligation? Christ. Get this. Paul says, I owe a debt to Jesus that I pay to you. How do you pay your

debt to Jesus? Tell somebody else about him. Because the gospel is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Yeah. Here's here's what the Bible said. He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord. Isn't that a powerful principle? That's why I don't ever hesitate. I don't hesitate, sister. Hit me up last night. Me and my children, I said, okay, boom, boom. I gave it to her. Why? Because I know I can't outgive God. I gave it to her. I lent it to the Lord.

And I don't know about you. I'm biblical. Sometimes I remind them, I remember I lent that money. I gave it to her. But you told me you was going to pay it back. Hey, man, I don't know what y'all doing. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Say, what's he doing now? Get this. It's a financial debt to all men. The word obligation is a financial term. He says I have a debt to all men. See, the Greeks called everybody barbarians. Why didn't he say Jews?

He said Greeks and barbarians. Because he's speaking to those who are sophists, say sophists. There are people who who were erudite. They were people who like to pontificate, who really were into the the. Okay, let me see if I can get you to understand. They were bougie. Okay. Now you understand. Yeah. Or they were. No. That's a ghetto person who who's trying to be bougie. Yeah. And so and so they always look down on other people. And every time I hear it, you people, it's a

derogatory term. I say you people, who is you people. I mean, you know, you know, you people. Have you ever noticed? We're proud of things of which we have no control. We're proud of race. We're proud of face. We're proud of grace, and we're proud of place. And we had nothing to do with any of them. Do you think that most of of us in here would look like we look, if we could have picked our own face? Hey, man. No, we got used to it. Should I tell everybody I'm a good looking black man?

I don't care what anybody say. Shoot. God, don't make no junk. But I am somebody. That's it. You know I already got a woman. Ah. That's right. So she think I look good? I don't care what everybody else say. Shoot, I ain't, ain't nobody else. Give me no money. And so he says listen, it's kind of like it's kind of like, uh, there was a Angelo brother and the Chinese brother. They were friends. And so the Chinese brother said,

come to a funeral with me. So they went to the funeral, and the Chinese brother went up and took a bowl of rice and put it by the picture. So he comes back and American Brother says to him, what is that all about? He said, well, when somebody dies, we take the rice and we put it up there because some people believe, I don't believe it, but it's just a custom. Some people believe that they'll eat the rice. He said, well, when are they going to eat the rice?

He said, well, when the people who you give flowers start smelling them. Make sense to me. And so what's going on here? He's saying listen, listen, listen, listen. Do you have an obligation? Do you feel obligated? Let me let me tell you. Let me tell you. Let me tell you. Uh, Pastor Hickman, pastor Hickman is a friend of mine. But you know what? You know what that

hanging out with that brother has done with me. Not only educating me about what he talked to you about, because we talk about that kind of stuff all the time. But I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what happened. I tell you what happened. He takes me to Maggiano's. Have you ever been to Maggiano's? I ain't never been to Gino's. You've been in Chicago all this time. You've never been. I ain't never been to Maggiano, man, you know? Come on, Imma take you. So we go. We go

to Marciano's. And so a lady walks up to us. She's pushing a cart. She's a bag lady. She says, uh, excuse me, gentlemen, I don't do drugs. And never have I lost my family, my home, because I was a homemaker. My husband worked in a fortune 500 company. He got hooked on drugs. We lost everything. My children are gone. Husband's gone. House is gone, I lost everything. Could you help me out? He pulls out five, $100 bills. Don't

y'all mess with that man. And gifts, he says. I know why God told me to take this out because I wasn't going to take it out because I don't do cash. But God told me when I was at the bank, you're going to give to somebody and you'll know who it is when I tell you. And he gave her $500 bills. She said, oh, I can stay at the Y for a couple months. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I looked at him, I said, I don't do drugs. But but but you know what?

Here's what, here's what happened. Here's what I saw Elder Betts, over time of just hanging with him and just it's like I'm way more generous than I ever was just by hanging out with that man. Now, let me tell you why. Because now, when somebody bless me, like somebody blessed us and said, okay, I'm going to let you go downtown and I'm going to let you go on my dime. We stayed in a $600 a night room for $95 a night. I mean, come on now. Don't

hate celebrate. God will let you participate. Now guess what? We're. That's. Guess what we do now. Here's what we do. Every time somebody does something like that for us, we look for somebody to bless. We say, who is it that have an anniversary coming up and they may just have a meal, may not be, you know, okay, let's, let's send them to, let's send them to a couple days or send them to a meal or do and that's what we do. We look for somebody to bless why

we feel so obligated. Because we now don't you feel obligated if God saved you from crack? Don't you want a crack head to get saved? If God saved you from being a whore or a whoremonger, why don't you want somebody else to stop horn and quit being a horn monger, a drinker, or a drugger a beater abuser? If God did it for you, he could do it. Don't you feel obligated to let somebody know who's going through what you went through? That God is a healer.

That God is a deliverer. That God can set you free. That he can write your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. We ought to feel obligated.

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