He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Woe! Not ashamed. That's our biggest problem, isn't it? We're ashamed of Jesus. And Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me in this perverse and adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed of you before my father which is in heaven.
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Heller. Glad you joined us today as we continue a message winning the lost, no matter the cost. And, pastor, I think if you were to ask most believers if they're ashamed of Jesus, they'd say, no, no, I'm not. I'm not ashamed of him. But then if you were to ask them, when's the last time you told someone
about Jesus in your relationship with him? Many believers would probably, with a little bit of shame, have to say, yeah, it's been a long time, right?
Because we would not like to think that we are ashamed of Christ, but you know, there are little things that you can do. It's the little things when you're tempted to be ashamed of Christ. I am a pescatarian now, not a pesky person, but pescatarian. That means I eat fish, vegetables, and fruit, and I go to a place that has what they call live food. And there are individuals there that are of a different faith.
Okay.
And so I'm tempted to be coward in front of them, you know, with the gospel. So here's what I do. I go in, they say, hey, how are you doing today? I say, I'm doing fine because I don't have a problem that Jesus can't solve. That's my tagline. Yeah. You know, and so. And I use it all the time. And in times when I think, man, I don't want to say anything. I get that out. And that kind of breaks the ice. Like, okay, I done broke the ice. I might as well go for the gold right now.
Absolutely. You know, we're talking about the first half of what we heard you say just a moment ago. Many of us maybe have not considered the second half where Jesus says, if you're ashamed of me in this perverse and adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed of you before my father which is in heaven. That's a pretty heavy thing to think.
About, really. And theologically, there's a difference of opinion. You know, if you ask five preachers, you get six different answers. But there are some who think that's in the context of prayer. That whenever you pray, if you were ashamed of Christ, he's not going to acknowledge you at the right hand of the father. And there are those who say, no. That's a reference to the judgment seat of Christ, where he will wipe away all our tears, because there will
be shame and sadness at the judgment seat. When we see what we could have done and what we could have accomplished for his glory. But we didn't.
Yeah. And that's a good reminder that why we do have to face the judgment seat of Christ one day, and we will be judged for our thoughts and actions and deeds and maybe missed opportunities. There is no condemnation in Christ. He is going to wipe away that shame one day.
This is the kicker for me, Steve. How could you not publicize someone who saved your life? And he's done that for us eternally. Yeah. I mean, come on. It's a no brainer.
Well, it's a good reminder and challenge that we do need to be winning the lost, no matter the cost. In fact, that's the title of today's message. So join us in Romans chapter one. Here is Pastor Ford.
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. Obligated to tell people. Paul says, man, I just feel compelled. I can't help myself. I feel compelled to do it now. Thirdly, look at thirdly,
look at thirdly, look at thirdly, because of converts. That's the first stick of dynamite he throws in our lap. Then because of compulsion, that's the second stick of dynamite. Now notice the third one, verse 15, because of compassion. Notice what he says. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. The word to preach the gospel is one word in the Greek. You ain't gotta say you ain't mine. It means to preach the good news.
What is the good news? Well, the good news is Jesus Christ died, was buried, rose again the third day. That's the good news. Ascended into heaven seated at the right hand of the father. Soon coming. King. That's the good news. If there is good news, there must be bad news. What's the bad news? If you don't accept him, You are going to go to hell if you don't believe that there is a hell. Die without Jesus and one minute after you die, you will believe in hell.
So what happens? You know what? Here's what gets me. I have a classic sermon. You know, we call them classics when we want to do them again. And it's it's entitled seven Things in Hell that ought to be in the church. How many have heard that message? Seven things in hell. That one, one, two, three, four. I could preach that again. There ain't ten people heard that. One of the things I talk about is what are what are some of the things in hell I'm going
to talk about any of them. But but one, the rich man said, send somebody to tell my five brothers not to come to this place. There is more concern for lost people in hell than there is in the church. That's a shame. Hey, what would you do if you saw somebody's house on fire and, you know, they were in there and they didn't know it, and they were going to burn up, what would you do? Would you
tell them? Yeah. Then why aren't you telling your unsaved loved ones, family and friends that their house is on fire and that if they don't accept Jesus Christ, they're going to go to hell? Amen. They're going to go to hell. Yeah. Mm. Because of compassion, he says, I'm eager. I can tell you what you love by listening to what you talk about the most. I can tell you what you love by what you do with your time. There's a police officer, a state trooper from Florida. I
don't know if he's still around. It's about 20 years ago, a a young lady who was engaged to be married was run over by an 18 Wheeler, uh, killed, trapped in the car. He couldn't get the license plate because the wheels were over the license plate. He reached in and grabbed her purse and looked for identification. He opened up her purse, which had a flip with one of these dual things with a checkbook. He looked through the checkbook,
saw her name and everything. But then he looked through the checkbook and he saw every first of the month. There was an exorbitant amount of money. So when he finally contacted relatives, your relative, uh, is is is is here, and we're trying to extricate her from the car and blah, blah, blah, blah. Her fiance came down as they were, you know, they're just being on the scene. He said to the state trooper. He said, man, he said we were going to be married next week. He said, so sorry. He said, but
I say trooper said, I have a question. And he said, what's the question? He said, listen. I looked through her checkbook and it was an exorbitant amount of money to this church every, every first of the month. He said, yeah, because she was a Christian, she loved the Lord Jesus Christ. She believed in tithes and offerings. He said, really? This state trooper was led to the Lord by her fiance right there. Here's the testimony that he went around giving
saved by a checkbook. Amen. That God used a committed Christian's checkbook. Now, my question would be if somebody looked at our checkbook. Book. Could they know we love Jesus Christ? Could they get saved by looking at our checkbook? Okay, I'll leave that alone. Let me move on. Let me move on. Let me move on. Compassion. Compassion. But people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Remember the little boy who would go
visit with his grandmother and his granddaddy? And they lived on the beach, and he would go on the beach every morning and walk. Well, this morning there were thousands of starfish all over the beach, all over the beach. So he went out and he started picking them up and throwing them in the ocean, picking them up and throwing them, just running along, picking some of them up, throw them in the ocean. The teenager saw him stepped in his way and the little boy tried to step around.
He stepped in his way and he stepped in his way again. He said, little boy, don't you understand? With the thousands of starfish that are stranded on this beach, it's an exercise in futility. You can't make a difference. He ran around. The elderly gentleman, picked up some more, picked up some more, stopped and turned around and said, sir, I beg to differ with you. It does make a difference to the ones that I've thrown back in. It makes a difference. How do we change the community? One
person at a time? That's it. That's it. So there are people who are going to hell from the church. There are people who are going to hell from the bends, from the mansion. So so, so, so don't get it twisted. Yeah. What's wrong with our community? Because I'm going to tell you, it's a change of nature, not a change of name. One brother said to me, you need to change your name. You got your slave name, put an X behind it.
Call your name Abdullah Muhammad X. And I said, listen, if I would rob you as James Ford Junior, I'll rob you as Abdullah Muhammad X, because it's not a change of name that I need. It's a change of nature that I need and only Jesus can change the nature. That's it. And so he says yes, then, then then then because of confidence. Verse 16, because of confidence. Imma break this down as quick as I can. I'm just going to tell you what he says. He says, for
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Whoa! Not ashamed. That's our biggest problem, isn't it? Yes. We're ashamed of Jesus. And Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me in this perverse and adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed of you before my father which is in heaven. Man, we can't be ashamed. How can we be ashamed of the person who gave us life? How can we be ashamed of the person who changed us? Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things
have passed away. Behold all things. How can we be ashamed of the one who wrote our name in his book? How can we be ashamed of the one who washed us in his blood? How can we be ashamed? The one that adopted us into his family sealed us with the Holy Spirit of God. How can we be ashamed of the one who died on Calvary for our sins, even if we were the only people who lived on the face of the earth, how can we be ashamed of him?
Really a powerful question and a great challenge for us today. You're listening to Treasure Truth, a message called Winning the lost, no matter the cost. And we'll get back to this teaching from Romans one in just a moment. Well, I want to let you know that you can always follow Pastor Ford on social media. If you've not done so before, you can like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter or on Facebook. You can even listen to this program directly through the Facebook homepage. So come to the
website treasure. Org and click on those social media links. Again, it's treasure. Truth. Radio.com. Once again, here's Pastor Ford.
My friend Marvin Daniels, when he was the youth pastor of Compassion Baptist. It used to be Merle Avenue. He was walking down Jeffrey, going under the viaduct to go to 95th Street. Some, some, some bangers rolled up in a Hooptie threw an Uzi out the back window and said, declare! So I told him, I said, I know you was feeling good about that because they thought you was a teenager. And I said, what'd you do, man? You know, because I know what I would have done. He said, what
would you have done? I said, man, I would saturate the place with my absence. Rather they say there he go than there he lay. I remember my motto when I was in grade school. He who thinks to run away will live to fight another day. Hey, I said, what did you do? He said, I prayed a quick prayer. I said, God, just like in acts chapter four, when they beat him and told him not to proclaim, give me power, he said, I started walking toward him. I said, yeah,
what'd you say? He said, I walked toward him and I said, I'm not a a Latin king, but I do serve the King of kings. I'm not a just a gangster disciple, but I am a disciple of Christ. And my leader, like your leader is not with you, but my leader is not in jail. He's at the right hand of the father making intercession for me right now, as I'm witnessing to you, I don't have a sign like you. My sign is the cross. The cross of
Jesus Christ. I don't have a color like you. My color is red, which stands for the blood of Christ. And I'm out doing the same thing you're doing. I want you to declare. I want you to become one of God's gangbangers. Because the Bible says that if I can declare with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Do you want to become one of God's gangbangers? They said that in words. Crazy threw
the Uzi in the back seat and pulled off. And he said, I hollered out, I'm crazy for Jesus. I said, man, that's what it means not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hey, I tell you, like my mama used to say, my mama would fight anybody. Man. Woman. Dog. Cat. It didn't matter. And I say, mama, why you do something like that? She said, because they can kill me.
But they can't eat me.
And I think about it. Nobody can take me out unless God is ready for me to go. That's the way I look at it. So Imma go anywhere. I don't care if they shoot me. It was God's will that I go.
Out that way. Yeah.
It's good preaching, man.
So why should I be afraid? Imma live forever. Yeah.
Now I know what you're thinking I am too, but I ain't ready to go today. But that ain't your decision. There are people who haven't witnessed, just been in the wrong place and got shot. Yes. If you're going to get shot, at least get shot for Jesus. Yes. Amen. That's it. Pastor Presley White, in the presence of the Lord, was witnessing. Witnessing at the book of the blood. How many know where that is? Bucket of blood. That's on the west side. West side. And Pastor White went out witnessing,
and he said he walked into the gangbangers. They were whittling. One guy was whittling and he said, I want to give you a gospel track. And the guy stabbed through the track and cut his finger. He said, I just asked God, what should I do now? God said, just turn and walk away. He said, I just turn and walk away. He said there was a church and I knocked on the door. My hand was bleeding profusely and the pastor came to the door and said, well, what happened?
What happened? He said, I told him what happened. He said, Pastor Ford, his answer hurt me more than the cut. I said, what did he say? he fixed up my hand, bandaged up and said, you're going to need stitches. And he said, you should have known better than to try to talk to them people anyway. He said, that hurt me more than the cut. Yeah, that here was somebody that didn't see the value and the worth in a life that Christ died for. Here it is because of
converting power. Verse 16, because I'm convinced it's the power of God. Okay, I gotta tell you this story. It's the power of God. Dunamis of God. Implosive. Okay, I gotta tell you this story. You already heard it. I hope you heard it. It was about the Washington family. Come on, Brother Washington, raise your hand. Everybody look at Washington right there. His daughter was was diagnosed with a congestive heart condition, and they took pictures of it and
all that kind of stuff. And, uh, we came and, uh, said, okay, we're going to pray. She wanted prayer. And so nine women stood on this platform, uh, the last Sunday I preached here, anointed her with oil, told her to throw her hands up, and thank God, uh, Brother Washington took his family to the doctor the next day, told the doctor, you know what? I'm going to walk by faith. We were all going to take this test. But no, we're not all going to take the test. I'm just going
to believe God. Just give her the test the doctor gave her the test came back and said, I don't know what's going on. I can't I don't see anything. I mean, it was there. I don't know what's going on. I don't I can't explain it to you. Now get this. It's the power of God. But wait a minute, wait a minute. Every miracle. See, see, see. Here's where people get it twisted in gospel. John. He did seven signs. They're not called miracles. They're called signs. Why? Because a
sign points to something. When you see a sign. Chicago. Ten miles. That means you got ten miles before you get to Chicago. That's what the sign. The signs were all to point to the fact that he was God in the flesh. That's why he did the signs, the healing. Why would he let a pretty young girl like that be diagnosed with congestive heart failure so he could set it up so that when the power of God is demonstrated, and when that doctor told Vernon that he didn't know
how it happened, Vernon said, I do. And that doctor heard about Jesus with irrefutable evidence that it was the power of God. Because he said, because yesterday our church believed God and laid hands and anointed with oil, and God healed her. Now, whether he accepted or not, he heard about the power of God unto salvation to everybody that believes. Here's the last one. Here's the last one. Notice verse 17. Here's the last stick of dynamite because
of conveyance. You know, it just starts with, with with a C. What do you mean, what it conveys? Here's what he says. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it written, the just shall live by faith. There's a this. This is a sermon all by itself. Let me say this the just shall live by faith comes from Habakkuk. It's only three times in the New Testament. It is Romans 117 right here. Galatians chapter. I didn't put it down. And it's in
Galatians in Hebrew. And here it is. Romans focused on the just. It tells about who they are, how you get justified. Galatians talks about shall live. And then Hebrews talks about by faith. So he brings it together, breaks it down, and explain it to us. What he say, it's the righteousness of God. The word righteousness is in the book of Romans over 60 times. You think he's trying to make a point? He's trying to make a point. How do you get a person righteous? How do you
get a person living right, doing right. Get em saved. Why? Because faith acronym is forsaking all I trust him. Guess what? It is in Mandarin Chinese. Some of you remember this Mandarin Chinese. It had to be put together by somebody who was a believer. Guess what the word righteousness is. They have characters. Now guess what the word righteousness is like. Over me. That's the word for righteousness in Mandarin Chinese. A picture of a lamb over the word me. So
how do you get righteous in Mandarin Chinese? Have the lamb over you. Amen. Man, this God loved us so much that he sent somebody to witness to us. The perfect witness came. His name is Jesus Christ. We have to give. Now, here's the application. Here it is, here it is, here it is. How many of you on Facebook? How many of you on Facebook raise your hand? Okay. How many of you, uh, tweet. How many of you text? How many of you on Instagram? How many of you
on some of these other things I don't even know about? Okay, here's what I want us to do. I want us to do a gospel Bombshell. Alright, okay, here it is. Here's the gospel bombshell. This week I want you to inundate every every media form that we have. So how many of you have unsaved friends, relatives, associates or neighbors? Okay, let's make a commitment to do this Monday. Take every one of those meetings that you have. So Monday, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to email, text message,
put on Facebook and do an Instagram. Say how are you going to do Instagram? I'm going to take a picture of me and say, Happy in Jesus. John 316. That's what I'm going to do. And then Tuesday I'll do another one, you know. But how many of you make a commitment every day? Monday, Tuesday? At least once in every form of the day. You tell everybody you eating barbecue and where you are and all that kind
of stuff. And some of us, you know, I look at some of them, I don't stay on a whole lot because I don't I don't like to be on it. But some of some of your Facebook pages, I look at them and say, man, you wouldn't know there was a Christian and all that stuff they're putting on Facebook. Look at the way they're dressing, man. They really believe somebody. Believe they're a Christian. Anyway, so now what we can do is let's use it for Jesus. Alright, okay, okay, I need to see. I need to see just by
standing how many are going to do it every day. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday Friday. Saturday. Come on. Alright. Amen. God bless. How many of you will do it? Five days. Stand up. How many of you do it? Four days. Three days? How about two days? Can I get a one day? Can I get you to pass out of track? You got anybody? That's not saying that you can write a letter to if you don't want to talk to him. Hey, you know what I've been wanting to tell you about
the best friend I have. His name is Jesus. And then just tell him why he came and what he did and who he is.
You know, successful evangelism doesn't mean winning people to Christ. It just simply means being faithful to share the message of the gospel. Really, the results are up to God. You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. Today's program is called Winning the Lost, no matter the cost, and you can find it when you come to our website, along with a complete archive of sermons. Just come to
treasure Truth Radio. You know, pastor, there are all sorts of voices in culture that are bombarding us with messages that are so contrary to God's Word and to what Scripture says. And I think one of the reasons that listeners may want to consider giving a gift to support is that Moody Radio and Treasure Truth can help us stand firm.
Amen. Because Moody Network will give us the gospel straight, no chaser. And we don't want to mix anything with the Word of God, because if you dilute it, you pollute it. And you know, Steve, I went on an all fruit diet, and I gained weight and I couldn't understand what happened. I mean, you know, all I had was apple pie, peach cobbler, you know, you see where I'm going? You get where I'm going. That everything I added to it polluted it and took away its nutritional value.
That's what's happening with the word of God today. Hey, Moody encourages all of us not to be politically correct, but to be biblically correct.
Well, you can help us do that to to share the truth of God's Word with those who will come across this program and across Moody Radio by giving a gift. Come to Treasure Truth Radio org and click on the donate button. Thanks for doing that and for listening today. Thanks to our producers, Amy Rios and Ryan McConaughey. For Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.