March 8, 2024 • 23 mins
There is a stark contrast between the 'natural man' and those awakened by the Spirit. If you are born again, you are a living temple of the Holy Spirit, and every personal interaction is an opportunity to be a vessel of the Lord.
Through 1 Corinthians 2, we unravel how the Spirit allows us to comprehend and share the heavenly gifts we've been graced with. Every time we interact with someone, whether it's with an atheist, an idol worshiper, or someone who's simply lost their way, it is a precious chance for them to witness Jesus Christ through our words and deeds.
NEW BOOK! I'm pleased to say that we have completed a new book that has been years in the making. The Ten Shirot: Songs of Redemption looks at ten songs that were sung through pivotal times in Scripture. It's an examination of the redemption of Jesus, of worship, and of Scripture in a way that we believe you probably haven't seen before. Check it out at https://a.co/d/0a4KIooL .
The Redeeming Love Bible Broadcast is a ministry of Grace Baptist Tabernacle. We're located at 121 Arborside Lane in King, NC and we can be reached at welcome@gracebaptisttabernacle.org. Please continue to share these episodes, and please consider coming to visit our church. We are excited and expectant for you to come!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Greetings and welcome to the redeeming love Bible
broadcast.
My name is Phil Duddy,evangelist with Grace Baptist
Tabernacle of King, northCarolina.
I'm very, very glad to have youwith me on the program today.
We are going to have part twoof our series called Witness and
very, very excited.
As we get into the broadcasthere today, as always, please do
feel free to contact us atredeemingthelostaticloudcom.
(00:33):
We would love to hear from youand we would love to know how to
pray for you as well.
Our text here we're going to bejumping off of 1 Corinthians,
chapter two, starting in verse11.
So 1 Corinthians, chapter two,starting in verse 11, the Word
of God says this For what manknoweth, the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which isin him.
(00:55):
Even so, the things of Godknoweth no man but the spirit of
God.
Now we have received not thespirit of the world but the
spirit which is of God.
Now we might know the thingswhich are freely given to us of
God, which things also we speaknot in the words which man's
wisdom teaches, but which theHoly Ghost teaches, comparing
(01:17):
spiritual things with spiritual,but the natural man we see with
, not the things of the spiritof God for there.
Foolishness on him.
Under him, neither can he knowthem, because they are
spiritually discerned.
And hallelujah, amen, thankfulfor the Word of God.
Today, and looking at thisseries, this entire series I
(01:40):
know we're on the second part ofit, but looking at the series
on a whole, it's been one of themore challenging ones that I've
done and I'm glad that the Lordis the one who's given this to
me.
Amen and hallelujah.
But the challenging aspect ofit is more in the language,
because there aren't reallywords in English for what we're
(02:05):
describing in this series.
The best one that I've found inthe Word of God is witness.
It's being a witness of JesusChrist as the Lord has made us
to be, and simply living thatout.
Living that out no matter whowe're around, no matter what
we're going through, no matterwhat's going on, no matter what
(02:26):
city we're in, no matter whatcountry we're in.
We are living as witnesses ofJesus Christ, witnesses that he
is alive, witnesses that what hehas said is true, witnesses
that he's not only willing buthe's mighty to save and to
forgive sin and to make peopleborn again and to heal people.
(02:49):
And witnesses that everythingthey said is true and that
eternal life starts now, thatthe spirit is alive, that we are
the temples of the Holy Ghost,that the Father loves us, that
the Father is not willing thatanybody should perish, but that
everyone should come torepentance and life in Jesus
Christ.
(03:10):
Because of all of these thingsand along the way, people
encounter Jesus Christ, alongthe way the people we interact
with, because Jesus is alive,he's made us alive and we're
walking, talking temples of theHoly Spirit and the church is
(03:31):
really just a bunch of livingpeople and it's not a bunch of
buildings, it's not a bunch ofdenominations, it's not a bunch
of books or tapes or anythinglike that, but it's a bunch of
living people that we've allbeen to the same cross, we're
washed in the same blood andwe're filled with the same
spirit and so we're brothers andsisters in the Lord and the
Lord fitly joins us together andwe have local churches and so
(03:58):
we have a worldwide church andthat worldwide church is kind of
made up of local churches andthose local churches are made up
of individual people who aresaved and born again and spirit
filled and living out eternallife, glory and hallelujah.
But as we're living along theway, we're encountering people.
(04:19):
We're meeting people and Ireally like the word encounter,
like the word encounter,especially for what we're
talking about.
It's a helpful word and so whatdoes it mean?
It's an encounter.
You can boil it down to ameeting.
It's a meeting particularly ofa sudden or an accidental nature
, and it's a meeting of two ormore people, and I really like
(04:45):
this word because Jesus is aliveand Jesus is one of those two
people.
You know, we're temples of theHoly Ghost, we're vessels of the
Holy Ghost, we are, you know,sort of the hands and the feet.
(05:05):
You know, if you will, you knowit's been described that way.
The church is described as abody and we reach out and we go
and we tell and we demonstrate,you know, by our very lives, by
the way we live our lives, bythe way we talk, by the way we
act, by the way we speak, by theway we handle our business, by
the way we take care of ourfamilies, by the way, by the way
(05:28):
we worship.
And worship is not somethingthat's confined to a few minutes
of music in a church service.
Worship is something thatalways goes on between us and
the Lord.
It always goes on and in ourchurches and our church meetings
, gloria and Honoluluia.
(05:49):
We get together and we worshiptogether, but we worship
together because we've beenworshiping individually, we've
already been worshiping and weget together and we worship and
then after after you know, themeeting's over we go our ways
and we continue worshiping andalong the way, people encounter
(06:13):
Jesus in us.
People encounter Jesus in us.
We are His hands, we are Hisfeet and we are the body of
Christ.
We are the church and as welive, we have this encounter
People who don't know Jesus,people who aren't Christians,
(06:36):
people who aren't born again.
As we encounter them, theyencounter Jesus.
A meeting goes on, particularlya meeting of two or more people.
A meeting between Jesus andthis lost person that we're
talking to.
A meeting between Jesus andthis atheist that we're talking
(06:58):
to.
A meeting between Jesus andthis idol worshiper that we're
talking to.
Whatever the case may be,whoever you're talking to, there
is an encounter going on.
Wherever that person is,whatever fornication that
person's into, whatever hatredthat person's got walking around
, whatever lust, whateveridolatry, whatever deception
(07:24):
that person's trying to put onyou, whatever the case may be,
there's an encounter that goeson, especially when we say the
name of Jesus, especially whenwe say the name of Jesus,
especially when we give someonethe Word of God, even if it's
one sentence out of the Word ofGod, even if it's John 3.16,.
(07:46):
For God so loved the world thathe gave His only begotten Son.
Hallelujah.
Whosoever believes in Him,there's no condemnation, but
they're going to see everlastinglife.
They're going to see eternallife, whatever the case may be.
You give someone one sentenceout of the Word of God and you
(08:08):
say the name of Jesus.
You know, jesus knows you,Jesus loves you.
Jesus doesn't want you toperish.
Jesus wants you to have eternallife.
Jesus wants you to haveforgiveness.
Jesus wants you to come undergrace.
You're under the mercy of JesusNow.
He wants you to come undergrace, he wants you to live.
He wants you to have life.
(08:30):
He wants you to have healing.
You say the name of Jesus andthings happen.
Why do things happen?
Because this person over herewho's living life against Jesus,
this person over here who'sworshiping idols, this person
over here who's worshiping themoney, worshiping the hatred,
worshiping the scientificknowledge, worshiping the
(08:53):
politics, worshiping theentertainment, worshiping the
sexuality and worshiping thealcohol, worshiping the drugs.
Now in this person who's inidolatry, this person who's in
unbelief, this person who isperishing, this person who is
slowly being consumed by theirsin death is taking hold this
(09:15):
person who is going minute byminute by minute by minute by
minute toward the second death,this person is you know, it's
what you know.
We can go back to 1 Corinthianshere.
The natural man receiveeth notthe things in the spirit of God
for their foolishness under him.
This is a natural person, wegot over here.
This is a natural man, we gotover here.
(09:35):
They're into the idolatry,they're into the sin, they're
into the lust, they're into, youknow, the pride, they're into
the ego, they're into thearrogance, they're into the
possessions, they're into whatyou know, and it manifests
itself in a thousand differentways, folks.
But you know, we can boil itall down to the natural man.
And they receive not the spiritof God, their foolishness under
(10:00):
him.
Neither can he know them,because they're spiritually
discerned.
And so we have an encounter.
We have an encounter, and thatis where our focus, that is
where things happen Peopleencountering Jesus personally
(10:22):
and responding to Jesuspersonally, not only
encountering Jesus personally.
And again, how do they do that?
They do that, you know, becausethe church encounters them.
They encounter the church We'vegot the spirit of God.
And you know, this person overhere, the natural man, does not
(10:46):
have the spirit of God.
And so there's an encounterthat goes on, there's a meeting
that goes on, and that happenson a personal level.
You know, it may sort of startout just sort of on a social
level, but man does it getpersonal.
I'll tell you what it getspersonal.
And there is always, always,always, always, always, always,
(11:11):
a response to Jesus.
There's a response to Jesusthat goes on, and it's been my
experience.
People either run to Him orthey run from Him.
Even if they don't say a word,to go completely silent, to go
completely blank, they arerunning from Jesus.
(11:32):
That silence is a response andit's a running from.
It's trying to get away fromJesus, trying to push Jesus off,
trying to get this vessel ofthe Lord off your back, whatever
the case may be.
But we can boil that to it's ano.
So it's either a yes or a no.
(11:52):
It's either a running towardJesus or it's a running away
from Jesus, but there's always aresponse, there's always a
product of this encounter, ifyou will.
And I love this definition ofencounter for another reason too
it's sudden and it's accidental, it's a sudden or an accidental
(12:13):
meeting and it just we don'twake up looking for it, we don't
wake up knowing that this isgonna happen.
It's not a set appointment,it's not a set time.
And hallelujah, becausesalvation belongs to Lord, folks
, salvation belongs to God.
And I don't know about you.
But the day I got saved, Ididn't wake up saying, okay,
(12:36):
today I'm gonna get saved.
At about nine o'clock tonightit didn't happen.
I was going about life.
I was a natural man.
I was into all the sin and allthe lust and stuff like that
that I was into.
That was life, that was normal.
Mine just happened to belooking very moral and looking
very religious and stuff likethat on the outside.
(12:56):
But sin is sin, no matter howit looks on the outside.
But I didn't wake up sayingthat, okay, I'm gonna get saved.
At about nine o'clock tonight.
It wasn't like that.
No, there was one vessel of theHoly Ghost over here and, by the
foolishness of preaching theLord, god Almighty, starts to
(13:19):
work.
And I encountered the HolyGhost, I encountered Jesus that
night.
And it wasn't planned and itwas sudden and it was a meeting,
a meeting between me and ameeting between me and the
living God.
And there was a response and itwas all very, very simple, all
(13:48):
very, very simple, all very,very personal, all very, very
God-reaching and God-drawing andme responding.
And that's how it works.
You might say, that's how itmoves, that's how salvation
happens.
People respond to God and I knowGod draws and God moves and God
(14:10):
reaches and his personalencounter takes place.
And if there's a response infaith, there is a response in
faith.
Somebody puts their faith inGod.
Now, glory, hallelujah, andthen God does a miracle and that
person receives eternal life.
That person receives the HolyGhost.
That person receives, wereceive, we receive, we receive,
(14:33):
we receive.
And then, all of a sudden, wecan receive the things of the
Spirit because we've got theSpirit.
We receive the Spirit of God,we receive Him by faith.
And this is not a thing.
And this is where I see a lotof people trip up and this is
where I see a lot of real damagedone.
This is not a thing that we can.
(14:56):
It's not a matter of education,it's not a matter of training.
It's not a matter, you know,this isn't like math, this isn't
like language, this isn't likescience, this isn't like that
Education.
You know I love education,value education.
(15:17):
You know my kids.
You know they're getting aneducation.
You know I've got an education,my wife's got an education.
I know a lot of people you know.
They've got classroom education, they've got trades education.
They've got, you know, streetsmarts, they've got book smarts
and all that.
That's a wonderful saying.
At the same time, we're nottalking about education.
We can't educate a lost personenough to make them a saved
(15:46):
person.
We can't educate people to kindof engineer this encounter.
We can't teach people.
We can't teach people who arein sin and then just give them
an education and make themsaints.
That's not it.
It's not a question ofeducation.
(16:07):
People can memorize the Word ofGod all they want, but if
there's no encounter on apersonal level, there's no
encounter and there's nosalvation.
There's no, you know, washingof the blood, there's no humble
brokenness over the revelationof sin, there's no personal
encounter between this personand Jesus and it's just
(16:32):
education.
And you know, salvation is notby education through works.
No, salvation is not byeducation, it's not by training,
it's not, you know, by churchmembership, it's not by seminary
degree, it's not by anythinglike that.
No, salvation is by grace andthrough faith, not of works,
(16:54):
lest any man should boast.
And so we cannot train people.
We can't train a sinner intobecoming a saint.
It's just not that way.
But no, how is it?
You know, we see this from theNew Testament, folks God starts
(17:18):
drawing people, somebody gets upand somebody starts preaching
and then, by the foolishness ofthat preaching, this encounter
starts to take place.
Or you've got a situation likePhilip in the Ethiopian eunuch,
where it's kind of one-on-one,but there was an encounter that
(17:38):
took place.
You've got a situation likePeter in Cornelius Cornelius,
hallelujah and Amen.
He believed God before he knewwhat God was going to tell him.
There was faith there, and soGod set up an encounter.
God set up a meeting.
God kind of took Peter and hesent Peter over here and Peter
(18:04):
went into the house and Peterstarted preaching and the Holy
Ghost started coming up on him.
There was an encounter.
This encounter can be sort ofwith big groups or it can be one
on one, but it all revolvesaround this foolishness of
preaching as well, because wedon't preach ourselves, we don't
(18:26):
preach our denominations, wedon't preach our theologies, but
we do preach Jesus.
We preach Jesus, we preach himcrucified.
We preach Jesus.
We preach the blood he shed.
We preach Jesus, we preach him.
(18:46):
He died on the cross and wepreach him risen up again on the
third day.
We preach him alive, becausehe's alive today.
And my, my, my, how God kind ofuses us like a vessel, like he
pours it into us and then wepour it out to other people.
And that's been the way it'sbeen since the church was born.
(19:09):
That's how the church was born.
You go back in the book of Acts.
The Holy Ghost came upon.
You know they all up there inone accord, they're waiting for
the promise of the Father andthe Holy Ghost comes in.
And all of a sudden, the HolyGhost comes in, the Holy Ghost
fills them.
They go out and they startpouring out what the Holy Ghost
gave.
And a whole bunch of encounterstook place and you had a whole
(19:36):
bunch of people responding toJesus in faith and you had the
church born on the streets.
That day the church was born onthe streets.
You know, hallelujah.
The church wasn't born in theseminary classroom, the church
(19:56):
wasn't born even in a churchhouse, but the church were born
on the streets and glory,hallelujah and amen.
It was real simple.
You had a bunch of spiritfilled men and they went out and
they said what the spirit gavethem to say.
And people met Jesus and peopleput their faith in Jesus and
(20:20):
Jesus responded A whole bunch ofpeople got saved that day.
A whole bunch of people got theblood of Jesus applied to them
that day.
A whole bunch of peoplereceived eternal life that day.
They received the Holy Ghostthat day.
Glory and hallelujah.
You know, we need to get back tothis folks and let our focus be
(20:40):
on living out life as a witnessof Jesus Christ, living out
life as a witness.
And as we live as a witness, weencounter people.
People encounter us, but that'sonly in the human.
(21:02):
As we walk around, you know,filled with the Holy Ghost,
people encounter the living God,people encounter Jesus and my.
You know how easy a thing is itjust to give someone the word
of God and you watch thatencounter happen.
As we speak the word of God andthere must be a speaking we
(21:28):
speak the word of God.
This other person over here isa natural person over here.
It's a natural man over here.
It goes in through the ears theword of God does.
But there's something else thathappens there as well.
There's a very real meeting anda very real interaction and in
(21:50):
the space between one second andthe next, that person starts
running to God or running awayfrom God, and so amen in
Hallelujah.
You know we keep it simplebecause glory, hallelujah, god
kept it simple and so we'regonna be continuing on with this
series when it comes you knowit's called Witness and I thank
(22:13):
you for being here with me todayand again, let us know how we
can pray for you redeeming thelost.
At iCloudcom.
That's the best way to get ushere at the program.
You can also reach us.
We're a ministry of GraceBaptist Tabernacle.
We're a church, you know.
We meet in King, north Carolina, and we've got a website,
(22:33):
wwwgbtministriescom.
You can find our service timesthere.
You can find our servicelocations there.
We would be thrilled to meetyou in person.
Please do feel welcome andexpected in any of those
services.
There's a Sunday morning at 10,there's a Sunday evening at six
and there's a Wednesday eveningstarts around seven, and please
(22:57):
do come and visit us.
We would love to meet you inperson and thank you again for
listening to these.
Please do continue.
Play them for your churches,play them for your family, play
them for your friends and helpus continue to reach a whole
bunch of people around, not onlyAmerica, but around the world
(23:17):
as well several differentnations and we thank you for
being part of the program.
Thank you for praying for us,thank you for supporting us as
well, and may the Lord continueto richly, richly bless you.
Amen.
Greetings and welcome to the redeeming love Bible
broadcast.
My name is Phil Duddy,evangelist with Grace Baptist
Tabernacle of King, northCarolina.
I'm very, very glad to have youwith me on the program today.
We are going to have part twoof our series called Witness and
very, very excited.
As we get into the broadcasthere today, as always, please do
feel free to contact us atredeemingthelostaticloudcom.
(00:33):
We would love to hear from youand we would love to know how to
pray for you as well.
Our text here we're going to bejumping off of 1 Corinthians,
chapter two, starting in verse11.
So 1 Corinthians, chapter two,starting in verse 11, the Word
of God says this For what manknoweth, the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which isin him.
(00:55):
Even so, the things of Godknoweth no man but the spirit of
God.
Now we have received not thespirit of the world but the
spirit which is of God.
Now we might know the thingswhich are freely given to us of
God, which things also we speaknot in the words which man's
wisdom teaches, but which theHoly Ghost teaches, comparing
(01:17):
spiritual things with spiritual,but the natural man we see with
, not the things of the spiritof God for there.
Foolishness on him.
Under him, neither can he knowthem, because they are
spiritually discerned.
And hallelujah, amen, thankfulfor the Word of God.
Today, and looking at thisseries, this entire series I
(01:40):
know we're on the second part ofit, but looking at the series
on a whole, it's been one of themore challenging ones that I've
done and I'm glad that the Lordis the one who's given this to
me.
Amen and hallelujah.
But the challenging aspect ofit is more in the language,
because there aren't reallywords in English for what we're
(02:05):
describing in this series.
The best one that I've found inthe Word of God is witness.
It's being a witness of JesusChrist as the Lord has made us
to be, and simply living thatout.
Living that out no matter whowe're around, no matter what
we're going through, no matterwhat's going on, no matter what
(02:26):
city we're in, no matter whatcountry we're in.
We are living as witnesses ofJesus Christ, witnesses that he
is alive, witnesses that what hehas said is true, witnesses
that he's not only willing buthe's mighty to save and to
forgive sin and to make peopleborn again and to heal people.
(02:49):
And witnesses that everythingthey said is true and that
eternal life starts now, thatthe spirit is alive, that we are
the temples of the Holy Ghost,that the Father loves us, that
the Father is not willing thatanybody should perish, but that
everyone should come torepentance and life in Jesus
Christ.
(03:10):
Because of all of these thingsand along the way, people
encounter Jesus Christ, alongthe way the people we interact
with, because Jesus is alive,he's made us alive and we're
walking, talking temples of theHoly Spirit and the church is
(03:31):
really just a bunch of livingpeople and it's not a bunch of
buildings, it's not a bunch ofdenominations, it's not a bunch
of books or tapes or anythinglike that, but it's a bunch of
living people that we've allbeen to the same cross, we're
washed in the same blood andwe're filled with the same
spirit and so we're brothers andsisters in the Lord and the
Lord fitly joins us together andwe have local churches and so
(03:58):
we have a worldwide church andthat worldwide church is kind of
made up of local churches andthose local churches are made up
of individual people who aresaved and born again and spirit
filled and living out eternallife, glory and hallelujah.
But as we're living along theway, we're encountering people.
(04:19):
We're meeting people and Ireally like the word encounter,
like the word encounter,especially for what we're
talking about.
It's a helpful word and so whatdoes it mean?
It's an encounter.
You can boil it down to ameeting.
It's a meeting particularly ofa sudden or an accidental nature
, and it's a meeting of two ormore people, and I really like
(04:45):
this word because Jesus is aliveand Jesus is one of those two
people.
You know, we're temples of theHoly Ghost, we're vessels of the
Holy Ghost, we are, you know,sort of the hands and the feet.
(05:05):
You know, if you will, you knowit's been described that way.
The church is described as abody and we reach out and we go
and we tell and we demonstrate,you know, by our very lives, by
the way we live our lives, bythe way we talk, by the way we
act, by the way we speak, by theway we handle our business, by
the way we take care of ourfamilies, by the way, by the way
(05:28):
we worship.
And worship is not somethingthat's confined to a few minutes
of music in a church service.
Worship is something thatalways goes on between us and
the Lord.
It always goes on and in ourchurches and our church meetings
, gloria and Honoluluia.
(05:49):
We get together and we worshiptogether, but we worship
together because we've beenworshiping individually, we've
already been worshiping and weget together and we worship and
then after after you know, themeeting's over we go our ways
and we continue worshiping andalong the way, people encounter
(06:13):
Jesus in us.
People encounter Jesus in us.
We are His hands, we are Hisfeet and we are the body of
Christ.
We are the church and as welive, we have this encounter
People who don't know Jesus,people who aren't Christians,
(06:36):
people who aren't born again.
As we encounter them, theyencounter Jesus.
A meeting goes on, particularlya meeting of two or more people.
A meeting between Jesus andthis lost person that we're
talking to.
A meeting between Jesus andthis atheist that we're talking
(06:58):
to.
A meeting between Jesus andthis idol worshiper that we're
talking to.
Whatever the case may be,whoever you're talking to, there
is an encounter going on.
Wherever that person is,whatever fornication that
person's into, whatever hatredthat person's got walking around
, whatever lust, whateveridolatry, whatever deception
(07:24):
that person's trying to put onyou, whatever the case may be,
there's an encounter that goeson, especially when we say the
name of Jesus, especially whenwe say the name of Jesus,
especially when we give someonethe Word of God, even if it's
one sentence out of the Word ofGod, even if it's John 3.16,.
(07:46):
For God so loved the world thathe gave His only begotten Son.
Hallelujah.
Whosoever believes in Him,there's no condemnation, but
they're going to see everlastinglife.
They're going to see eternallife, whatever the case may be.
You give someone one sentenceout of the Word of God and you
(08:08):
say the name of Jesus.
You know, jesus knows you,Jesus loves you.
Jesus doesn't want you toperish.
Jesus wants you to have eternallife.
Jesus wants you to haveforgiveness.
Jesus wants you to come undergrace.
You're under the mercy of JesusNow.
He wants you to come undergrace, he wants you to live.
He wants you to have life.
(08:30):
He wants you to have healing.
You say the name of Jesus andthings happen.
Why do things happen?
Because this person over herewho's living life against Jesus,
this person over here who'sworshiping idols, this person
over here who's worshiping themoney, worshiping the hatred,
worshiping the scientificknowledge, worshiping the
(08:53):
politics, worshiping theentertainment, worshiping the
sexuality and worshiping thealcohol, worshiping the drugs.
Now in this person who's inidolatry, this person who's in
unbelief, this person who isperishing, this person who is
slowly being consumed by theirsin death is taking hold this
(09:15):
person who is going minute byminute by minute by minute by
minute toward the second death,this person is you know, it's
what you know.
We can go back to 1 Corinthianshere.
The natural man receiveeth notthe things in the spirit of God
for their foolishness under him.
This is a natural person, wegot over here.
This is a natural man, we gotover here.
(09:35):
They're into the idolatry,they're into the sin, they're
into the lust, they're into, youknow, the pride, they're into
the ego, they're into thearrogance, they're into the
possessions, they're into whatyou know, and it manifests
itself in a thousand differentways, folks.
But you know, we can boil itall down to the natural man.
And they receive not the spiritof God, their foolishness under
(10:00):
him.
Neither can he know them,because they're spiritually
discerned.
And so we have an encounter.
We have an encounter, and thatis where our focus, that is
where things happen Peopleencountering Jesus personally
(10:22):
and responding to Jesuspersonally, not only
encountering Jesus personally.
And again, how do they do that?
They do that, you know, becausethe church encounters them.
They encounter the church We'vegot the spirit of God.
And you know, this person overhere, the natural man, does not
(10:46):
have the spirit of God.
And so there's an encounterthat goes on, there's a meeting
that goes on, and that happenson a personal level.
You know, it may sort of startout just sort of on a social
level, but man does it getpersonal.
I'll tell you what it getspersonal.
And there is always, always,always, always, always, always,
(11:11):
a response to Jesus.
There's a response to Jesusthat goes on, and it's been my
experience.
People either run to Him orthey run from Him.
Even if they don't say a word,to go completely silent, to go
completely blank, they arerunning from Jesus.
(11:32):
That silence is a response andit's a running from.
It's trying to get away fromJesus, trying to push Jesus off,
trying to get this vessel ofthe Lord off your back, whatever
the case may be.
But we can boil that to it's ano.
So it's either a yes or a no.
(11:52):
It's either a running towardJesus or it's a running away
from Jesus, but there's always aresponse, there's always a
product of this encounter, ifyou will.
And I love this definition ofencounter for another reason too
it's sudden and it's accidental, it's a sudden or an accidental
(12:13):
meeting and it just we don'twake up looking for it, we don't
wake up knowing that this isgonna happen.
It's not a set appointment,it's not a set time.
And hallelujah, becausesalvation belongs to Lord, folks
, salvation belongs to God.
And I don't know about you.
But the day I got saved, Ididn't wake up saying, okay,
(12:36):
today I'm gonna get saved.
At about nine o'clock tonightit didn't happen.
I was going about life.
I was a natural man.
I was into all the sin and allthe lust and stuff like that
that I was into.
That was life, that was normal.
Mine just happened to belooking very moral and looking
very religious and stuff likethat on the outside.
(12:56):
But sin is sin, no matter howit looks on the outside.
But I didn't wake up sayingthat, okay, I'm gonna get saved.
At about nine o'clock tonight.
It wasn't like that.
No, there was one vessel of theHoly Ghost over here and, by the
foolishness of preaching theLord, god Almighty, starts to
(13:19):
work.
And I encountered the HolyGhost, I encountered Jesus that
night.
And it wasn't planned and itwas sudden and it was a meeting,
a meeting between me and ameeting between me and the
living God.
And there was a response and itwas all very, very simple, all
(13:48):
very, very simple, all very,very personal, all very, very
God-reaching and God-drawing andme responding.
And that's how it works.
You might say, that's how itmoves, that's how salvation
happens.
People respond to God and I knowGod draws and God moves and God
(14:10):
reaches and his personalencounter takes place.
And if there's a response infaith, there is a response in
faith.
Somebody puts their faith inGod.
Now, glory, hallelujah, andthen God does a miracle and that
person receives eternal life.
That person receives the HolyGhost.
That person receives, wereceive, we receive, we receive,
(14:33):
we receive.
And then, all of a sudden, wecan receive the things of the
Spirit because we've got theSpirit.
We receive the Spirit of God,we receive Him by faith.
And this is not a thing.
And this is where I see a lotof people trip up and this is
where I see a lot of real damagedone.
This is not a thing that we can.
(14:56):
It's not a matter of education,it's not a matter of training.
It's not a matter, you know,this isn't like math, this isn't
like language, this isn't likescience, this isn't like that
Education.
You know I love education,value education.
(15:17):
You know my kids.
You know they're getting aneducation.
You know I've got an education,my wife's got an education.
I know a lot of people you know.
They've got classroom education, they've got trades education.
They've got, you know, streetsmarts, they've got book smarts
and all that.
That's a wonderful saying.
At the same time, we're nottalking about education.
We can't educate a lost personenough to make them a saved
(15:46):
person.
We can't educate people to kindof engineer this encounter.
We can't teach people.
We can't teach people who arein sin and then just give them
an education and make themsaints.
That's not it.
It's not a question ofeducation.
(16:07):
People can memorize the Word ofGod all they want, but if
there's no encounter on apersonal level, there's no
encounter and there's nosalvation.
There's no, you know, washingof the blood, there's no humble
brokenness over the revelationof sin, there's no personal
encounter between this personand Jesus and it's just
(16:32):
education.
And you know, salvation is notby education through works.
No, salvation is not byeducation, it's not by training,
it's not, you know, by churchmembership, it's not by seminary
degree, it's not by anythinglike that.
No, salvation is by grace andthrough faith, not of works,
(16:54):
lest any man should boast.
And so we cannot train people.
We can't train a sinner intobecoming a saint.
It's just not that way.
But no, how is it?
You know, we see this from theNew Testament, folks God starts
(17:18):
drawing people, somebody gets upand somebody starts preaching
and then, by the foolishness ofthat preaching, this encounter
starts to take place.
Or you've got a situation likePhilip in the Ethiopian eunuch,
where it's kind of one-on-one,but there was an encounter that
(17:38):
took place.
You've got a situation likePeter in Cornelius Cornelius,
hallelujah and Amen.
He believed God before he knewwhat God was going to tell him.
There was faith there, and soGod set up an encounter.
God set up a meeting.
God kind of took Peter and hesent Peter over here and Peter
(18:04):
went into the house and Peterstarted preaching and the Holy
Ghost started coming up on him.
There was an encounter.
This encounter can be sort ofwith big groups or it can be one
on one, but it all revolvesaround this foolishness of
preaching as well, because wedon't preach ourselves, we don't
(18:26):
preach our denominations, wedon't preach our theologies, but
we do preach Jesus.
We preach Jesus, we preach himcrucified.
We preach Jesus.
We preach the blood he shed.
We preach Jesus, we preach him.
(18:46):
He died on the cross and wepreach him risen up again on the
third day.
We preach him alive, becausehe's alive today.
And my, my, my, how God kind ofuses us like a vessel, like he
pours it into us and then wepour it out to other people.
And that's been the way it'sbeen since the church was born.
(19:09):
That's how the church was born.
You go back in the book of Acts.
The Holy Ghost came upon.
You know they all up there inone accord, they're waiting for
the promise of the Father andthe Holy Ghost comes in.
And all of a sudden, the HolyGhost comes in, the Holy Ghost
fills them.
They go out and they startpouring out what the Holy Ghost
gave.
And a whole bunch of encounterstook place and you had a whole
(19:36):
bunch of people responding toJesus in faith and you had the
church born on the streets.
That day the church was born onthe streets.
You know, hallelujah.
The church wasn't born in theseminary classroom, the church
(19:56):
wasn't born even in a churchhouse, but the church were born
on the streets and glory,hallelujah and amen.
It was real simple.
You had a bunch of spiritfilled men and they went out and
they said what the spirit gavethem to say.
And people met Jesus and peopleput their faith in Jesus and
(20:20):
Jesus responded A whole bunch ofpeople got saved that day.
A whole bunch of people got theblood of Jesus applied to them
that day.
A whole bunch of peoplereceived eternal life that day.
They received the Holy Ghostthat day.
Glory and hallelujah.
You know, we need to get back tothis folks and let our focus be
(20:40):
on living out life as a witnessof Jesus Christ, living out
life as a witness.
And as we live as a witness, weencounter people.
People encounter us, but that'sonly in the human.
(21:02):
As we walk around, you know,filled with the Holy Ghost,
people encounter the living God,people encounter Jesus and my.
You know how easy a thing is itjust to give someone the word
of God and you watch thatencounter happen.
As we speak the word of God andthere must be a speaking we
(21:28):
speak the word of God.
This other person over here isa natural person over here.
It's a natural man over here.
It goes in through the ears theword of God does.
But there's something else thathappens there as well.
There's a very real meeting anda very real interaction and in
(21:50):
the space between one second andthe next, that person starts
running to God or running awayfrom God, and so amen in
Hallelujah.
You know we keep it simplebecause glory, hallelujah, god
kept it simple and so we'regonna be continuing on with this
series when it comes you knowit's called Witness and I thank
(22:13):
you for being here with me todayand again, let us know how we
can pray for you redeeming thelost.
At iCloudcom.
That's the best way to get ushere at the program.
You can also reach us.
We're a ministry of GraceBaptist Tabernacle.
We're a church, you know.
We meet in King, north Carolina, and we've got a website,
(22:33):
wwwgbtministriescom.
You can find our service timesthere.
You can find our servicelocations there.
We would be thrilled to meetyou in person.
Please do feel welcome andexpected in any of those
services.
There's a Sunday morning at 10,there's a Sunday evening at six
and there's a Wednesday eveningstarts around seven, and please
(22:57):
do come and visit us.
We would love to meet you inperson and thank you again for
listening to these.
Please do continue.
Play them for your churches,play them for your family, play
them for your friends and helpus continue to reach a whole
bunch of people around, not onlyAmerica, but around the world
(23:17):
as well several differentnations and we thank you for
being part of the program.
Thank you for praying for us,thank you for supporting us as
well, and may the Lord continueto richly, richly bless you.
Amen.
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