1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,600 We're in Acts chapter 17, and again, we're going to give you 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,120 the 10 commandments of witnessing to Jewish people. 9 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,800 Why is that? Because we want to look at some 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,720 of the principles and being able to witness to those Jewish 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,520 friends, those neighbors, those people that you have come across 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,040 in your community, how can we better reach them for Christ? 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:47,000 And so, as we would imagine, witnessing to a Jewish person is 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,960 not an easy thing. But just like any other group, 15 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:54,440 God desires these dear people to come to Christ as their Savior. 16 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,280 Now before we start, we need to remember that there are 13 17 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,440 different beliefs that are typically agreed on by the Jews. 18 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,800 And I had my clicker right here. What did I do with my clicker? 19 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,040 I had it right out there. It is over here. 20 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,320 OK, All right. HVAC. 21 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,200 All right. See, I said it right there. 22 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,120 OK, we're good. What are these 13 different 23 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,440 beliefs that we've looked at? We've looked at him for the last 24 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,160 several weeks. We see that God alone exists and 25 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,840 his creator. God is 1 and unique. 26 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,400 God is incorporeal and incomparable. 27 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:24,840 God is eternal, both first and last. 28 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,480 We are to pray to God alone and to no other. 29 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:29,480 The words of the prophets are true. 30 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,760 Moses was the chief prophet, and Moses's prophecies are true. 31 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,960 The Torah, the first five books of the Bible and the Oral Torah, 32 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,120 the Talmud were given to Moses and divinely preserved. 33 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,400 There will be no other Torah since it cannot be changed. 34 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,680 God knows all things, including the thoughts and deeds of men. 35 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,120 God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. 36 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,440 The Messiah will come. The dead will be resurrected. 37 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,000 And as we've talked about before, there is much that we 38 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,320 would agree upon with these 13 different beliefs. 39 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,320 And again, we call them judeo-christian values 40 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,760 oftentimes that we have here in the United States of America. 41 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,039 And the reason why is because there's a lot of commonality 42 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:10,919 between these. However, we would also say that 43 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,400 where there are differences, they are major. 44 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,680 Again, they are looking for their Messiah to come. 45 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,400 We know that Messiah is Jesus, and that alone is enough to make 46 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,720 someone damned and lost and to miss eternity and spend an 47 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,440 eternity in the lake of fire because they do not understand 48 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:30,560 who Jesus Christ is. And so it's important for us to 49 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,440 be able to witness to our Jewish friends. 50 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,040 Now, we sometimes may be fearful to be able to do this. 51 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,640 Perhaps if you have a Jewish friend you're afraid about 52 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,680 talking about Jesus may spoil that friendship. 53 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,160 Maybe you feel guilty that there are Christians in the past who 54 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,080 have treated Jewish people poorly, and you don't want to be 55 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,480 looked upon in that very same way. 56 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:52,960 Maybe you don't know your Old Testament the way that you would 57 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,080 like to know it, and you're afraid that they'll be able to 58 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,600 spout off Old Testament verses and you'll be lost and not be 59 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,000 able to know understand how to be able to give them the gospel. 60 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,200 Well, today I want to give you the 10 commandments of 61 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,680 witnessing to the Jewish people. Now, interestingly enough, in 62 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,200 the studies that I have done this week in this issue, there's 63 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,200 all kinds of different thoughts and opinions about it. 64 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:20,080 But I would say that these 10 things were refrains that I kept 65 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,240 hearing over and over again. There's a lot of commonality 66 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,800 that came with this, the idea that these are some very basic 67 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,720 things that everyone can agree upon that are helpful when you 68 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,200 are trying to witness to those in the Jewish community. 69 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,880 But before we do so, I want us to look at Acts chapter #17 and 70 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,920 we'll begin in verse #16 and the reason why is because, well, 71 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:43,960 Paul is in the city of Athens here. 72 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,800 We've looked at this before in the past and Paul is going to 73 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,320 start witnessing to a very hard hearted people. 74 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,040 Now listen, these are not Jews here. 75 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,520 Let's just be clear that Paul is talking to the Gentiles here in 76 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,960 Athens. However, I do believe that we 77 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,040 can find some principles here that will be very helpful to us. 78 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,720 Now look at verse #16 it says now while Paul waited for them, 79 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,840 this is the party. This is his group that had been 80 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,320 left behind, his gospel preaching group. 81 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,120 He was waiting for them in Athens. 82 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,880 However, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city 83 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,560 wholly given to idolatry. Listen, Paul couldn't be silent 84 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,480 in the face of those who did not believe in Jesus Christ, in the 85 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,440 face of the wickedness of the people of Athens, Paul just 86 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,360 couldn't be silent. Isn't there something to be said 87 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,240 for us here this morning as we look at the wickedness of our 88 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,960 world and we look at the exceeding sinfulness that's all 89 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,400 around us? Really we we should have 90 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,440 something within us saying, I can't be silent, I can't hold 91 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,400 back. I need to be able to give the 92 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,720 gospel to as many people as possible. 93 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,080 And it says of her. 17 therefore disputed he and the synagogue 94 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,320 with the Jews. So the Jews are mentioned here 95 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,800 and with the devout persons and in the market daily with them 96 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,840 that met him. So he was disputing in the 97 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:58,920 synagogue. But really we find on top of 98 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,240 that, he was really just out in the marketplace and in his daily 99 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,400 life. This wasn't something where Paul 100 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,680 was going to soul winning once a week or once a month and 101 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,000 spending a couple hours just handing out tracks. 102 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,120 Listen, there's nothing wrong with that. 103 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:12,640 We do that here at Liberty Baptist Church. 104 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,600 Praise the Lord for it. But soul winning, witnessing to 105 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,000 people is more than something you do once a week or once a 106 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,240 month on a Saturday. It is a lifestyle. 107 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,320 It is the idea that you were always soul conscious. 108 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:27,560 And here he is. He's in the marketplace of this 109 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,400 wicked city and he looks around and you know what he sees? 110 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,680 He doesn't see goods for sale. He sees souls that need saving. 111 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:35,520 That's what he sees in the marketplace. 112 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,080 And So what is he going to do? He is disputing with people 113 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:40,400 there. And that doesn't mean that he's 114 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,200 going around with a bad attitude. 115 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:44,320 That doesn't mean that he's going around trying to tick 116 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,560 people off, but he is going around and making sure that they 117 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,120 understand who Jesus Christ is. And then it says, then certain 118 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,240 philosophers of the Epicureans and the Stoics encountered him, 119 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,520 and some said, what will this babbler say? 120 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,720 And others, some he seemeth to be center forth of some strange 121 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,720 gods because he preached on them, Jesus and the 122 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,680 resurrection. Listen, when you give the word 123 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,160 of God, there are people who are not going to like it. 124 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:13,960 There are people who are going to disagree. 125 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,640 There might even be some that will make fun of you. 126 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,240 Say, pastor, that's not a good way to encourage us to give the 127 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:19,680 gospel. Well, I'd rather you have your 128 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:21,840 eyes wide open about what the situation is. 129 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:23,280 Not everybody's going to like it. 130 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,960 Some called him a tabler, others said, He's setting forth strange 131 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:27,880 gods. Why? 132 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,480 Because he talked about and preached about two things, Jesus 133 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,120 and the resurrection. That alone was enough to be the 134 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,800 dividing line for those people that were there. 135 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,360 And it says in verse #19 And they took him and brought him 136 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,920 unto the Arapegus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine 137 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,200 whereof thou speakest is? For thou bringest certain 138 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,400 strange things to our ears. We would know therefore, what 139 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,800 these things mean for all the Athenians, and strange, which 140 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,440 were there spent their time and nothing else but either to tell 141 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:03,760 or to hear some new thing. Now I'm bringing us here because 142 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:06,360 not because necessarily these Athenians were Jews. 143 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,600 Again, he did talk to the Jews in the synagogue, but he's 144 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,720 primarily talking to Gentiles. But Paul is in front of him, or 145 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,560 has in front of him rather a very impossible task, seemingly. 146 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,200 So the Athenians were filled with the Epicureans. 147 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,760 The Epicureans were those that would say eat, drink and be 148 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:30,720 merry, for tomorrow we die. The Stoics had the idea that 149 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,080 they were very much kept to themselves. 150 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,400 And I had my pastor or the man who led me to Christ, Steve 151 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,000 Baker, who said that the Stoics, their line would have been que 152 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,360 sera, sera, whatever will be, will be. 153 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,000 Their idea of life was I guess this is what it is and just that 154 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,960 word stoic and the way we use it today kind of gives you the idea 155 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,240 of where they were. So you have some people that are 156 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,240 very entrenched in their own beliefs and they truly don't 157 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,840 understand who Jesus Christ is. In fact, this is a major 158 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,600 introduction for them. So what does Paul do here? 159 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,840 It says in verse 22 that Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill 160 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,720 and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye 161 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,160 are too superstitious for as I pass by and beheld your 162 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:18,040 devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown 163 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,760 God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship him, declare 164 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,760 I unto you. Now we don't have time to go 165 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,760 into all the details here, but he sees this tomb, the unknown 166 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,160 God and uses it as a way to be able to witness to them. 167 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,159 But what Paul does is he acknowledges you are very 168 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:36,200 spiritual people. He he he acknowledges the fact 169 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,320 that they are very religious in their own way. 170 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,720 But listen, religious doesn't mean saved. 171 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,440 Religious can still mean lost. In fact, often times it is that 172 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,640 those who are very religious are lost because you can be very 173 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,800 earnest about something, but you can be very earnestly wrong. 174 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,760 And so Paul is saying this. Listen, you all are very earnest 175 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,480 in what you believe. And couldn't we say that about 176 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:00,560 the Jews? Aren't they very earnest about 177 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:02,600 what they believe? And they have been so for 178 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,880 thousands of years, he says, but you're worshiping something of 179 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,400 what you're ignorant of. And I would say that to the 180 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,040 Jews, to our Jewish friends, they are also worshiping someone 181 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:15,160 of whom they're ignorant of. They worship Jehovah, not 182 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,360 realizing that they are in worshipping Jehovah, supposed to 183 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:22,480 worship Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but they are ignorant of 184 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,560 these things. And so Paul takes this and goes 185 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:27,920 head on with it. He doesn't go around it, He 186 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,720 doesn't skirt around it. He just says, listen, I want to 187 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,000 acknowledge how religious you are, but you're missing the 188 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:34,480 boat. I want to acknowledge how 189 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,480 spiritual you are, but you've missed the true God, verse 24. 190 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,400 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he 191 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,600 is Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples made 192 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,080 with hands. Now listen, when we talk about 193 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,600 our Jewish friends, certainly there's a lot of confusion for 194 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,160 them about the temple, isn't it? And about temple worship. 195 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,920 In fact, you asked them today about temple worship. 196 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,160 If they're supposed to be worshiping in the temple, how 197 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,160 are their sins forgiven if there is no temple? 198 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:03,840 And they have all types of different answers for that. 199 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,400 And really they're unsatisfying at best. 200 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,200 And basically, basically what I have read, it comes down to the 201 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,520 fact, well, we don't have a temple, so God understands. 202 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,320 So God just understands that you can't have your sin forgiven. 203 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,360 What was the point of it in the first place? 204 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,320 Because the Bible says that he understands that we're as dust. 205 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,120 And so shouldn't it really matter whether someone's even 206 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:24,800 giving in the temple at all or not? 207 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,400 And so he acknowledges here even the temple. 208 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,360 Of course, their temples would have been different because 209 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:30,400 we're talking about the Gentiles. 210 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,440 But you see the principle here. Neither is worship with men's 211 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:35,560 hands as though he needed anything. 212 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,800 See He giveth to all life and breath and in case there's 213 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,800 anything we missed all things life and breath and all things. 214 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,880 This is what God has given us and have made of a one blood all 215 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,520 nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and 216 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,240 had determined the times before appointed and the bounds of 217 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,840 their habitation. I love verse 26 because when 218 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,440 someone talks about the different races, the different 219 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,560 colors, and they talk about black and white and all these 220 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,680 different things, listen, what does the Bible say? 221 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,720 We're one blood that we have all come from the same background 222 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:08,800 and that we're all in the same predicament, aren't we? 223 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,800 That we all need salvation through Jesus Christ. 224 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,880 That that the Bible makes it clear that we can look at a 225 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,360 church like ours with different races, with different colors, 226 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,640 with different languages and realize this. 227 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,280 There's a beauty to that because God has created us all and we're 228 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,240 thankful for that. And it's the world that tries to 229 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,680 divide us, as we saw last week, and tries to stir and sow 230 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,800 division between us. Verse 27 That they should seek 231 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,880 the Lord if haply they might feel after him and find him, 232 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,520 though he be not far from every one of us. 233 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,680 For in Him we live and move and have of our being, as certain 234 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:45,360 also of your own poets have said. 235 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:49,680 For we also are His offspring. For as much then as we are the 236 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:53,000 offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead. 237 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,520 Of course, that's talking of the Trinity. 238 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:59,320 The Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art 239 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,240 and man's devices. Now what does Paul talk about? 240 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,680 He talks about the Trinity. He makes clear who the Godhead 241 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:09,320 is, and that that is important, that even when we talk to our 242 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,600 Jewish friends, that they will need to understand that God, God 243 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,640 is Father, Son and Holy Ghost to get a stumbling block for the 244 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,920 Jews at the times. Verse 30 of his ignorance God 245 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,680 winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, 246 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,520 because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the 247 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,160 world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained, 248 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:34,680 whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He had 249 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:39,000 raised him from the dead. Now Paul just flatly lays out to 250 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,080 this very religious people that they are religious, but they are 251 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,400 missing the mark and particularly they're missing the 252 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,200 mark about Jesus Christ. And again, we see a lot of 253 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,720 commonality with that. But the response is a lot of 254 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,880 times what we will receive as a response from those the Jewish 255 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,280 community. Verse 32, when they heard of the 256 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,600 resurrection of the dead, some mocked, others said we will hear 257 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,400 the again of this matter. So Paul departed from among 258 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,160 them. I'll be at certain men clave 259 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,320 unto them and believe, among which was Dionysius the Arab, 260 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,000 Arab Pegite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 261 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,440 A pole in his fruitfulness was not very fruitful in Athens 262 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,360 compared to other places. There were other places where 263 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,240 large churches were established and grew. 264 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,920 I think of Corinth, I think of Ephesus, just as a matter here, 265 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,680 a Thessalonica that are just places that Paul is visiting 266 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:35,080 around the very same time. It was a very difficult task and 267 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,240 it was one that seemingly there wasn't a lot of fruit. 268 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,200 Well, does that seem to be some connection with how we would 269 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,320 look at witnessing to the Jews? It is difficult, it is hard, it 270 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,160 is long term and there may not be a lot of fruit. 271 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,680 But I will say this, it is still important that we witness to 272 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,000 everyone now, no matter how hard it may be. 273 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:57,920 And I have to remind you, aren't you glad someone witnessed to 274 00:13:57,920 --> 00:13:59,520 you? Aren't you glad someone talked 275 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,360 to you? You were a probably a hard case 276 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:05,200 yourself in many different ways, but yet someone took the time 277 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,800 and the effort. And listen, just because we feel 278 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,720 a little bit like a fish out of the water talking to someone who 279 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:15,560 is Jewish, we still must, like Paul, be bold and be able to use 280 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,560 their own religion to be able to show them, particularly the 281 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:22,640 Jewish people, because the Jewish religion, the Talmud, if 282 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,880 you will, not the Talmud, the Torah points to who, Jesus 283 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:27,760 Christ. So they just need to be really 284 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,120 redirected from what they're already reading in the word of 285 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:32,960 God. And so let's get into these 10 286 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,400 commandments here this morning and you can write these down. 287 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,920 I hope they'll be a help to you. But the first one is this. 288 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,080 Don't think it'll be easy. Don't think it will be easy when 289 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,320 it comes to witnessing to the Jews. 290 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,640 Many Jewish people take religious observance seriously, 291 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,240 even they themselves, even if they themselves don't believe in 292 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,600 God. I read this testimony this week. 293 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,360 My grandfather faithfully attended worship services every 294 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,200 Friday evening and every Saturday morning at the Orthodox 295 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,440 synagogue in his neighborhood, but once told me he didn't even 296 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,400 believe in God. And this man continued, his 297 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,760 grandfather said. How could anyone believe in a 298 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,720 God who would allow the Holocaust? 299 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,600 He said to me. When I asked him why he still 300 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,520 went to the synagogue, he looked at me with a puzzled look, 301 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,360 shrugged his shoulders and said Because I'm Jewish. 302 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:22,960 The contradictions there. He doesn't believe in God but 303 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:24,600 still goes to an Orthodox synagogue. 304 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,800 Why? Because it's just what he does. 305 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,400 He was Jewish. And remember, sometimes the 306 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,600 difficulty and we'll find this and being able to give the 307 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,920 gospel to the Jewish people is that Jewish, that when it comes 308 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,480 to being Jewish, you have the Jewish religion, but you also 309 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,480 have the ethnicity of being a Jew. 310 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,840 And so being able to untie all that is sometimes very 311 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,520 difficult. Meaning this don't think it will 312 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,240 be easy. There could also be hostility 313 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:54,560 towards Christians as well. So being able to give the gospel 314 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,080 to a Jew can sometimes stir up some animosity that might be 315 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,760 buried or maybe that's actually very close to the surface. 316 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,960 What author said you're asking them, You're asking them to join 317 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,080 Christianity may seem as alien or as distasteful as asking them 318 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:13,440 to join a local neo Nazi party. Now that's not hyperbole that 319 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,400 that's saying that this is a could be a very great offense to 320 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,920 someone who is Jewish to bring up Christianity. 321 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,280 The reasons for this response stretched far back into history 322 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,800 and while some might be unfair, like the Holocaust sometimes 323 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,040 could be blamed upon Christians, while certainly that is not the 324 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,400 case, others are grounded in fact. 325 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:37,200 For instance, Martin Luther, those who hold up Martin Luther 326 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,760 as as the man of the Protestant Reformation. 327 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,200 Of course the way that I feel about Martin Luther is a little 328 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:46,240 different because of being a Lutheran for 16 years, but yet 329 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,080 Martin Luther is held up by many. 330 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:53,840 But Martin Luther was a very great anti Semite and in fact, 331 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,040 in his book written later in life, The Jews and Their Lives, 332 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,640 that's the title of the book, The Jews and Their Lies. 333 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,600 He suggested that synagogue should be burnt to the ground 334 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:05,680 and the homes of Jewish people destroyed. 335 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,319 And listen, that's not hyperbole because I have understood from 336 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:13,520 my history being in the Lutheran Church before I got saved, that 337 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,599 the Jewish or rather the Lutheran Church has had a great 338 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:19,960 struggle over the years and how to address Martin Luther's 339 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,640 anti-Semitism. And so you and I understand 340 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:25,880 something like that and say, well, listen, we got nothing to 341 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,160 do with Martin Luther. I mean, I'm a Baptist, I'm not a 342 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,000 Protestant. I didn't protest anything. 343 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:31,560 And we didn't come out of the Church of Rome. 344 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:33,520 And all God's children say Amen about that. 345 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,160 We didn't come out of the Church of Rome. 346 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,120 So we're not Protestants, We're Baptists. 347 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:39,680 That's why when people ask you, are you a Protestant or a 348 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,480 Catholic, you say, well, I'm neither, I'm a Baptist. 349 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,640 And they look at you funny and then you give them the gospel 350 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,120 because that's that's the truth, all things considered. 351 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,560 But in the mind of a Jewish person, it just all comes 352 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,800 together. You are a Christian, and 353 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,800 Christians have done some pretty bad things and have said some 354 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,360 pretty bad things to the Jews. Listen, whether that's 355 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:01,480 completely true or not, this is what you're going to combat. 356 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,080 So don't think it's going to be easy. 357 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,400 I didn't say give up, but just don't think that it's going to 358 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,600 be easy. Now, in many ways, giving the 359 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,840 gospel someone is never easy. It's never truly simple because 360 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,120 there's a back and forth nature that comes to presenting the 361 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,760 faith to somebody. But understand, in this case, it 362 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,640 will be even more exceptionally difficult than most. 363 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,080 So that's number one. Number two, build close 364 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:28,200 relationships #2 build close relationships. 365 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,480 Now don't befriend a Jewish person merely to get them saved. 366 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:36,240 However, you do need to be able to find people in your community 367 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,280 and be able to get to know them so you can win them the Christ. 368 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,560 Now listen, I'm not suggesting you just go around to the 369 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,880 library or go to the store and just walk around the aisle and 370 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:46,880 say, hey, you Jewish people here. 371 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,000 That could be a problematic in this day and age for a lot of 372 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,520 other reasons. This is where when it comes to 373 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,240 just the way that you handle yourself, when it comes to your 374 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,960 outreach, your soul winning, your witnessing, you just need 375 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:02,360 to be out meeting people and talking with people. 376 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,840 Because if you do talk to enough people and get to know enough 377 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,680 people, eventually you will find some Jewish people in the 378 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,880 community. I've been very active over the 379 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,480 last several years. I've tried very hard to be able 380 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,880 to meet people in the community. Like I tell you, I don't get to 381 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:16,640 go out in the workplace like you all do. 382 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,120 And so because of that, I have to go out in the community and 383 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,400 find excuses to be able to meet with people. 384 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:24,520 That's why I've done things with town hall. 385 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,960 That's why I've been on a town committee in the past, the 386 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,000 Commission on Disabilities. It's why I do the work that I do 387 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:31,920 at Easton Community Access Television. 388 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,760 It's why I call baseball games. And baseball will be coming up 389 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:36,880 here in a couple months. I'll be calling baseball games 390 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,360 again for the television station. 391 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,800 Why do I do that? Because I think that I'm gonna 392 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,840 be, you know, the the next Joe Castiglione. 393 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,360 You know, probably not. I do it because do you know the 394 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:53,320 amount of people that I get to meet and I get to talk to and 395 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,040 I'm not going around at the baseball field. 396 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,120 Any Jewish people over here? Anybody. 397 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:03,480 Any Jews? Yeah, Cuz, cuz again, hold on. 398 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,120 That's no I'm good I think so I'm getting some of my coffee 399 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,760 but if it has a lung they could let me borrow I'd appreciate it. 400 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:23,640 So about hollered mine out, but we can't do that. 401 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,080 But you just get around the community, you meet people, and 402 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,240 this is the way we should be in being able to give the gospel. 403 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,880 But don't, as you befriend someone who's Jewish, truly get 404 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,240 to know them and understand that if they get the idea that you 405 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,320 are just in their life just to win them to Christ, they're 406 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,080 going to feel that they're going to understand that and it may 407 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,640 put them off. Just be genuine in your 408 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,560 affection for them. Be genuine in their caring for 409 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,680 them. It your your time with them must 410 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,880 not rise and fall with the fact of whether they accept the 411 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:54,920 gospel or not. Meaning this. 412 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:57,400 If you do have the chance to to give them the gospel and they 413 00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,920 refuse, then don't just say well I guess we're not going to talk 414 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:01,760 anymore. Continue to keep them in your 415 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:03,360 life. Continue to talk to them again, 416 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:07,200 build close relationships and again you will not meet Jewish 417 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,720 people by sticking to your own circle. 418 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,600 Get to know them. Get to understand even some of 419 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,360 the feasts, the Jewish feast. I had been actually talking the 420 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:19,200 last couple weeks with Brother Sam Wilson, our missionary to 421 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,640 the Jews, and knowing that I've been teaching on this, we've 422 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,360 been corresponding back and forth a little bit to get some 423 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,960 ideas and be able to get some study materials. 424 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,640 And he's in the next few weeks, he's actually in the process of 425 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,640 compiling video lessons to be able to help people understand 426 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,400 better the Jewish feast, the Jewish calendar, so that you can 427 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,440 watch that. And so you would know how to 428 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,040 approach a Jewish neighbor for Rosh Hashanah, that you would 429 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,040 know how to approach a Jewish neighbor for Hanukkah and give a 430 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:48,000 gift or something like that. They're one of the Jewish feasts 431 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:49,400 were yet to give away Jelly doughnuts. 432 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,840 And I'll tell you, I don't know about that, but I, I like the 433 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:52,600 sound of it. Amen. 434 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,280 And so, but if you were to go to a Jewish family and give them a 435 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,360 half dozen Jelly doughnuts, could you imagine to them how 436 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,840 much that would mean to them, that you understood that? 437 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:05,840 And to be able to give them maybe even a track to be able to 438 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:10,520 explain how a Jewish feast work together with the word of God? 439 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,960 These are things that you can do, but you have to have that 440 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,200 mindset. You have to be thinking this way 441 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,000 #3 don't wait for them to talk about Jesus. 442 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:20,760 If you're waiting for a Jewish person to talk to you about 443 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:21,960 Jesus, guess what's going to happen? 444 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,600 You're going to wait a very, very long time. 445 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,240 They may not even talk to you about God in general. 446 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,520 And So what do you need to do? You do need to have a place 447 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,560 where you come to understand that you need to talk to that 448 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,520 person about Jesus Christ. Jewish people typically cannot 449 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:42,320 comprehend how a person can be a Jew and a Christian at the same 450 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,560 time. They presume that if they accept 451 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,840 Jesus, they can no longer be Jewish. 452 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,480 And so because of this, it will not be a topic of conversation. 453 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,120 But don't wait for them. Excuse me to talk about 454 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:57,360 spiritual things. May I remind you, Romans 116 455 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,480 that the Bible tells us that the gospel is the power of God and 456 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,440 it was given what to the Jew first and then also to the Greek 457 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,080 or the Gentile, the Jew first. But we often have a Gentile 458 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,520 first mentality. The idea is that what we're 459 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,480 going to reach the people who we are the closest to, which would 460 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,320 be other Gentiles. There's more around us, there's 461 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,520 more of them, but we do need to have a Jew first mentality in 462 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,960 the sense that not that the Jewish people are more 463 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,240 important, the Gentiles. We've covered that the past 464 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,280 several lessons. We're not saying that, but you 465 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,440 do need to be aware that those Jews do need the gospel and that 466 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,040 you need to bring Jesus Christ up to them. 467 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:39,240 But don't do all the talking. Jewish people generally like two 468 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,400 way conversation. It's part of their culture to be 469 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,480 able to ask questions and to be able to receive questions. 470 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,120 So be willing to do that and we'll talk more how to do that 471 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,000 in just a moment #4 this is important. 472 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,160 Affirm your solidarity with the Jewish people. 473 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,080 Affirm your solidarity with the Jewish people. 474 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:00,720 And what I mean is not to affirm their beliefs, but rather to 475 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:05,360 affirm their status as a nation. To affirm that you believe. 476 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:09,720 Not like those rioters and protesters and looters and 477 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,200 hooligans who are out there in pro Palestinian rallies who will 478 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,760 chant from that the that the Jews need to be exterminated. 479 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,000 This is what they are chanting from the river to the sea is a 480 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,040 chant of extermination. Don't let anyone try to tell you 481 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:26,640 that it's anything else other than that. 482 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,360 The only way that those groups can have from the river to the 483 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:33,840 sea is to forcibly remove and to put genocide upon the Jewish 484 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,400 people. And so you will find that many 485 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,560 people, particularly after what took place on October 7th a 486 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:44,120 couple years ago, they're going to be even more nervous to be 487 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:46,120 able to talk to you about the Lord. 488 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:47,560 They don't know where you're coming from. 489 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,520 Just think of the attacks that have taken place, that one in 490 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,240 Pittsburgh a few years ago, the attack that just took place in 491 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,080 Bondi Beach over in Australia. These are people that have very 492 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,200 good reason to be skittish. These are people who have very 493 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,560 good reason to wonder what your motivations are when you're 494 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,040 talking to them. And so because of that, it is 495 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,600 good for you to affirm what you believe about the word of God 496 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,080 and the Jewish people. There's a gentleman here several 497 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,520 years ago, I've mentioned him many times before, his name is 498 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,240 Dan Woodward. But whenever we would go door 499 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,400 knocking or talking to people about the Lord, it's amazing 500 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,920 that we'll talk to people and they'll say something like this. 501 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,760 You start talking to him about the church and they'll stop you 502 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,680 and say I'm Jewish. And I'll be honest with you, at 503 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,960 1st that stymied me. I didn't know what to do. 504 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,840 Because when you go around meeting people door to door in 505 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,240 Tampa, FL, then people don't say I'm Jewish. 506 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,240 They say como esta. That's what most people say. 507 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,240 There's a lot of Hispanics, you know, and Rivera ought to be 508 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:48,120 able to speak in kind. But instead I'd say donde esta. 509 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:49,800 I know. And I walk away. 510 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,880 I don't know what's going on. You know, it's pretty sad 511 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:53,880 actually. But people say I'm Jewish and 512 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,000 they kind of throw that out. There is a way to kind of say 513 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,760 this. Conversations done, I'm done. 514 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,600 And that's kind of how I felt that I kind of deflated when 515 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,000 people would say I'm Jewish. Well, I was, we always still 516 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,360 want you to come to the church. And again, it was just didn't go 517 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,560 anywhere. But Dan Woodward did something 518 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:10,120 that I never seen anyone do before. 519 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:12,720 And I actually heard of other people like Sam Wilson who have 520 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,280 talked about it since. But when someone would say, 521 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,960 well, I'm Jewish, he would say you're 1 of God's chosen people. 522 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,120 Our church loves Jewish people. And I'll tell you that 523 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,920 immediately changed the tone of the conversation. 524 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,440 You're 1 of God's chosen people. I mean, I'll think of themselves 525 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,400 that way. Our church loves the Jewish 526 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,880 people. Now all of a sudden, the tenor 527 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,120 of the conversation changed. I'm not saying that they were 528 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:39,600 going to let you into the house or talk to you about the Lord, 529 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,120 but it will change the way the conversation will go because 530 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:46,760 again, I'm Jewish is usually held out as a way to say stop 531 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,800 what you're doing. The conversation's done. 532 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,280 I don't want to talk about it anymore. 533 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,920 But affirm your solidarity with the Jewish people again, 534 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,520 particularly since the October 7th attack of a couple years ago 535 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:02,240 #5 find out what they believe. There may not be a belief system 536 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,840 as diverse as Judaism. Think about this. 537 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,960 Judaism can run the gamut from ultra Orthodox, meaning this. 538 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,000 Not just that we are following what the Tor and the Talmud 539 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,400 says, but we are holding it to the extreme ultra Orthodox. 540 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:22,480 You can go from that side all the way to atheism in the same 541 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,640 belief system. Do you have that with the 542 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:25,480 Muslims? No. 543 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,000 Do you have that with Jehovah Witnesses? 544 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:28,120 No. Do you have that with the 545 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:28,760 Mormons? No. 546 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,360 So when someone tells you they're a Jew, you know what you 547 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,360 understand? Almost nothing. 548 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,840 You don't know if they're religiously Jewish, you don't 549 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:38,120 know if they're ethnically Jewish. 550 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:41,280 You don't know if they're conservative, you don't know if 551 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,440 they are an atheist. You have no idea where they are. 552 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,440 And one of the things you always have to do in witnessing is ask 553 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,000 questions. But it is so important, more 554 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,320 than maybe with any other group, that you ask questions. 555 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,280 And again, Jewish people as part of their culture oftentimes 556 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,840 appreciate and enjoy back and forth debates and questions. 557 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,240 This is something that they can often, not always, but that they 558 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,640 often relish and would enjoy. So what do you do? 559 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,160 You ask questions. What do they believe about God, 560 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:11,520 the afterlife, sin, righteousness, ethics? 561 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,120 You ask them questions to understand about their beliefs. 562 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,760 One author said this. Consider answering a question 563 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,160 with a question instead of an answer. 564 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:23,640 He says this is a very Jewish thing to do. 565 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,280 They say, don't you think all religions are basically the 566 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,520 same? So you could say, well, don't do 567 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,440 you think? So how do you come to that 568 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:34,680 conclusion? Now listen, this approach has a 569 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,560 pedigree going all the way back to Jesus himself. 570 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,320 Well, what would he often do? He would ask the disciples a 571 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,040 question in response to their question. 572 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,280 He often asked the Pharisees a question. 573 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:52,320 In the question, you know, hey, the the whose authority? 574 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,880 The Pharisees said, do you have to do the miracles that you do? 575 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,560 And Jesus says, you know, I'll be glad to answer that question. 576 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:00,240 But before I do, I have a question for you. 577 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,840 John the Baptist's baptism, where did his authority come 578 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,400 from? From God or from man? 579 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,320 And immediately the Pharisees realized, either way we answer 580 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,440 this question, we're toast. And they said, well, we don't 581 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:13,880 know. And Jesus said, well, I can't 582 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,600 answer your question either. So Jesus often used this as a 583 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:21,080 rhetorical flourish, not to be able to wiggle himself out of 584 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,440 what the Pharisees were doing, but to expose the absolute 585 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,400 fraudulent nature of the Pharisees to the people. 586 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,800 In this case, even asking a question or having a question 587 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,840 asked to you and answering with the questions, not being 588 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,000 evasive, but it's trying to drill down on exactly what that 589 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,520 person believes. Again, try to avoid yes or no 590 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,320 questions. Try to ask open-ended questions. 591 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,720 Here's a few. What's it like being part of 592 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,280 your religion? As a Jewish first person, how do 593 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,520 you practice your religion? Do you follow Judaism because of 594 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,040 your own choice, or is it because of a family tradition? 595 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,000 What do you believe about Messiah? 596 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,840 Have you ever considered the possibility that Jesus really is 597 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,360 the Messiah? Why or why not? 598 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,520 Do you think there's a difference between religion and 599 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,280 the relationship with God that Jesus talked about? 600 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:06,960 Do you believe that entrance into heaven is dependent on 601 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,720 keeping the law? If so, how well have you obeyed 602 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,240 the 10 commandments? How often do you read the Bible? 603 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:13,800 What role does it play in your life? 604 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:15,880 Now listen, if you ask this to a stranger, they'll tell you to 605 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,880 get lost. If this is someone that you have 606 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,480 a long standing relationship with, you may be more able to 607 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,480 ask those types of questions and that's why it takes time. 608 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,520 Number six, this should go without saying, Use the Bible, 609 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,600 use the Bible. Why should we use the Bible? 610 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:38,240 Well, turn to Romans chapter #10 You're very familiar with this 611 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,920 text likely already, but I want you to look at it in light of 612 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,240 the idea of giving the gospel to the Jews, because we often don't 613 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,880 look at this text in light of witnessing to the Jewish people. 614 00:30:49,120 --> 00:31:01,760 Romans 10 verse #13 Romans 10 verse #13 Familiar with this 615 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:03,760 verse. For whosoever shall call upon 616 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,120 the name of the Lord shall be saved, and all of God's people 617 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,920 should say Amen at that. But only a few did. 618 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:15,520 But anyway, verse 14, how then, how then shall they call upon 619 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,120 him and whom they have not believed? 620 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,040 And how should they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? 621 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,040 How shall they hear without a preacher? 622 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,600 Again, is that preacher just talking about the pastor? 623 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,160 It's not just talking about the pastor, it's talking about the 624 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:31,400 proclaimer of the Word of God. In essence, you can be a 625 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,360 preacher as well. When you are proclaiming, you're 626 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,440 publishing the Word of God to the lost. 627 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,160 And how shall they preach, except they be sent as is 628 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:41,720 written? How beautiful are the feet of 629 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,920 them that preach the gospel piece and bring glad tidings of 630 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:46,000 good things. Verse. 631 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,600 It goes back to Isaiah 52. Verse #7 But they have not 632 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:54,480 obeyed the gospel, for Isaias said, Lord, who hath believed 633 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,960 our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, 634 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,200 and hearing by the Word of God. Boy, that's really what it comes 635 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,680 down to right there, isn't it? If you mark in your Bible, I 636 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:04,880 mark verse #17 because it's a big one. 637 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,880 For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. 638 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,760 Now listen, this is where we're going to take it over into a 639 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:13,920 little bit of a different direction, because we don't 640 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,160 often think of the Jewish nature of this text. 641 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,760 Look at verse #18 But I say, have they not heard? 642 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,040 Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their 643 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:25,400 words unto the ends of the world. 644 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:30,920 But I say, did not Israel know? For Moses saith, I will provoke 645 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,080 you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish 646 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,000 nation I will anger you. But as Scias is very bold, and 647 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,080 saith, I was found of them that sought me not, I was made 648 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,640 manifest unto them that asked not after me, but to Israel. 649 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,680 He saith, All day long I've stretched forth my hands unto A 650 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,480 disobedient and gainsaying people. 651 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,360 What is Paul saying here? He's saying that the people of 652 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,680 Israel have stiff armed God. They've stiffed armed this 653 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,640 message that we just talked about and a strange nation, a 654 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,400 strange group of people. Who would that be? 655 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,320 The Gentiles they have embraced. And what has that done? 656 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,800 It's provoked Israel to jealousy, but yet God is still 657 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:09,920 willing. He stretched forth his hands 658 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,520 unto A disobedient and gainsaying people. 659 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,120 We could put it this way, God still wants the people of Israel 660 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,840 to be saved, but what does that come down to? 661 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,720 It comes back to what we just read before that if they are to 662 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,480 be saved, it's through the Word of God. 663 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,760 You must use the word of God. Don't shy away from the Word of 664 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,600 God. Don't shy away from the New 665 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,600 Testament. Sure, the Old Testament's 666 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,800 important, but use the whole counsel of God. 667 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,200 Listen, it's for the Gentiles, it's for the Jews. 668 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,280 What can you discuss? You can discuss Old Testament 669 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,120 prophecies. That's a great place to start. 670 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,840 I'll give you several very quickly, and I know I'm going to 671 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,320 read these too quickly, but you could maybe review these later 672 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,600 online or through the podcast. The Origin and Birthplace. 673 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,120 The Messiah prophesied in Micah 5/2 as we saw just a few weeks 674 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,800 ago on Sunday morning, Fulfilled in the book of Matthew, in the 675 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,080 book of Luke, the birth, ministry and victory of the 676 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,960 Messiah prophecy, Genesis 3/15. Remember that the very first 677 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,920 mention of the gospel. We just saw that not long ago as 678 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,080 well. Fulfilled in Galatians 44 679 00:34:10,199 --> 00:34:15,920 Matthew 2762 through 63. First John 3 8 is a descendant 680 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,840 of Abraham the Messiah. Genesis 12 one through 3, but 681 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:21,880 fulfilled in Matthew chapter one verse one. 682 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,840 He's from the tribe of Judah. Genesis 4910. 683 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,239 Fulfilled in Luke 333 from the House of David. 684 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:31,920 Given in the Davidic covenant. Second Samuel 712 through 13. 685 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,239 Fulfilled in Luke 331. Born of a virgin. 686 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,159 We just saw that last Sunday morning, didn't we? 687 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,600 Isaiah 714 and fulfilled in Matthew and Luke. 688 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,560 He's God in the flesh. Isaiah 96 and seven fulfilled in 689 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:48,320 Matthew 11 and John 114. A prophet like Moses. 690 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:53,159 Deuteronomy 1815 fulfilled in John, acts in two different 691 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:55,239 passages. The humility of the Messiah seen 692 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:59,040 in Zechariah 99 and then fulfilled in John 1212 through 693 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,640 14. Matthew 21, five through 10. 694 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,880 The crucifixion of the Messiah. Listen, take all of Psalm 22, 695 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,840 read Psalm 22. We're all familiar Psalm 23. 696 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,320 Go back to Psalm 22 and read through that and you'll see how 697 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,840 very closely it tracks to the crucifixion of Jesus Jesus 698 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:16,960 Christ. And again, these weren't the 699 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,400 kind of things that Jesus Christ could have staged because they 700 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,240 were done unto Him. They were placed upon him. 701 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,320 And so we see that these were fulfilled in all the Gospels. 702 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:30,080 The suffering servant, Isaiah chapter 53. 703 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:32,800 You can read Isaiah 53 and come to the point. 704 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,320 Well, who is this Speaking of? Who is this Speaking of? 705 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,280 Who is this fulfilled in? And of course, you can look in 706 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,280 the book of Acts and you find that when Philip talked to the 707 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,480 Ethiopian eunuch, he was reading Isaiah 53. 708 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,160 Now he wasn't Jewish, but he was reading Isaiah 53. 709 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,120 And he said, I wish somebody would understand that would 710 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:49,760 explain this to me. I wish I knew what I was 711 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:51,920 reading. And he made it very clear. 712 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,560 Stephen did, or rather Philip did, that he preached unto him 713 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,680 Jesus Christ, that Isaiah 53 is all about Jesus Christ. 714 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,640 These are all prophecies of which you can use the word of 715 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:06,200 God to be able to help someone understand who Jesus is, use the 716 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:07,960 Bible. Let's get through these others 717 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,480 quickly #7 pray regularly. Pray regularly. 718 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,320 If this is a long term relationship you are fostering, 719 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,480 it will require long term prayer as well. 720 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:18,160 Couple verses I've given you before. 721 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:22,320 Colossians 4, verse three with all praying also for us, that 722 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,280 God would open up unto us a door of utterance to speak. 723 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,840 The mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that door of 724 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,160 utterance, that the door would open to be able to speak. 2nd 725 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,640 Thessalonians 3 one through 2. Finally, brethren, pray for us 726 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,640 that the word of the Lord may have free course and be 727 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:42,520 glorified even as it is with you, and that we may be 728 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:46,720 delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not 729 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:48,240 faith. What did Paul want? 730 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,800 He wanted a door of utterance. He wanted the word of God to 731 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,560 have free course. Pray for these things, 732 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:56,520 specifically 1st Corinthians 16 verse 9. 733 00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:00,480 A great door and effectual is open unto me, but there are many 734 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,840 adversaries. And so pray because there are 735 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:07,040 many who will be opposed to you giving the gospel #8 Invite your 736 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:10,800 Jewish friend to church. You said that's crazy, pastor, 737 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,320 that'll never happen. Well, I can tell you 3 different 738 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,800 Jewish people over the 12 years I've been the pastor here that I 739 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:18,960 have had come to Liberty Baptist Church. 740 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,920 Most of them only came one time, but every single one of them was 741 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,800 willing to come and came here with a good spirit. 742 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,640 Now, none of them accepted Christ as far as I know, but yet 743 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,880 at the same time they all came, you know, a way to know if 744 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:36,560 they'll come or not to ask. The first time a Jewish person 745 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:38,920 to my knowledge came here to Liberty Baptist Church was our 746 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:40,400 state representative Claire Cronin. 747 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:44,360 Claire Cronin ended up becoming the ambassador for Joe Biden to 748 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,760 Ireland for four years, lives here in Easton. 749 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,200 But we had our believe our 2nd anniversary. 750 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,360 I've told you this before. I, I just sent a postcard to her 751 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,360 office at Beacon Hill. And the next thing I know, I got 752 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,560 a call from a secretary saying, Representative Cronin wants to 753 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:01,680 let you know that you'll be at your services on Sunday. 754 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,600 I just sent her a postcard and she showed up. 755 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,480 Thank the Lord for it. I think of another woman here in 756 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:10,840 town, a name that I won't name because I'm praying that she 757 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,600 will still come, but came to one of our New Year's celebrations 758 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,160 several years ago. There was a group that was 759 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:18,520 singing at that time. And, and I watched her wiping 760 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:21,800 tears from her eyes that she was moved by the song, She was moved 761 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,080 by the service, stayed for lunch. 762 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,520 We had a lunch that day after the New Year's celebration. 763 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,800 I'll move. She was, we remain friends with 764 00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:30,640 her to this day, but hasn't accepted Christ. 765 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,600 There was another gentleman in our town who we had a town 766 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:36,520 meeting a couple of years ago. He was causing a major 767 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:38,640 disruption in the town meeting. He was in his 80s. 768 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:42,040 Town meeting was going in One Direction. 769 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:44,760 He wanted to talk about water quality because of the PFAS and 770 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,680 that kind of stuff that's in the water, you know that those micro 771 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:49,880 plastics and all that stuff. He wanted to talk about that, 772 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,240 but it wasn't on the agenda. And he also didn't have his 773 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:54,400 hearing aids in. He didn't know what's going on. 774 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:57,560 And he was disrupting the meeting to the point where he 775 00:38:57,560 --> 00:38:59,800 says you want to take me away, you want to take me away. 776 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,160 And the police chief in the back said, I'm right back here. 777 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:04,800 And that kept him calm for a little while, but then he kept 778 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,720 going. I looked at the police chief. 779 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:09,320 I went over to him and I know him. 780 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,400 And I said, do you mind if I go try to talk to him? 781 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:13,920 He's in the very front row. I went and talked to him, 782 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:19,000 subdued him, calmed him down and up, connecting him with the town 783 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,440 administrator and also the gentleman who's the head of the 784 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,960 water department. Went to go visit his house on 785 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:25,320 Saturday. Guess what happened? 786 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:28,680 Came to church on Sunday. It's come a couple times over 787 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,040 the years and we still go and visit them every once in a 788 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:33,240 while. He's in his late 80s, served in 789 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,360 the Coast Guard and has served our country. 790 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:38,800 I just like talking to him when his hearing aids are in because 791 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:40,920 it does make it a lot easier, all things considered. 792 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,560 You know what you ask him. Don't be afraid to ask someone 793 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:49,040 to come to church, right? Don't be afraid to ask them to 794 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:54,040 do that which they need to do #9 don't neglect being an unspoken 795 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,760 testimony. It's 1045, by the way, Miss 796 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,840 Cassandra, all right? Don't neglect being an unspoken 797 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,040 testimony. Like all people, your Jewish 798 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,840 friends are watching to see your genuineness, even and even more 799 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,840 wary, even with an even more wary eye than others quite 800 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,520 likely have. Listen, often times we're very 801 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,560 concerned about making sure we're handing out tracks. 802 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,440 I'll be honest with you. Their old saying is true. 803 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:20,720 Your talk talks and your walk talks. 804 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,200 But your walk talks more than your talk talks. 805 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:25,400 I had to read that to make sure I didn't mess it up. 806 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,240 Meaning this, that you can say to somebody you need to get 807 00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:30,920 saved, but they want to actually watch to see if you're actually 808 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,480 living for Christ. And if you're not living for 809 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:34,760 Christ, they're not going to listen to you. 810 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,320 And your Jewish friends will have a very wary eye towards 811 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,720 you, making sure that you are doing that. 812 00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:43,440 What you need to do #10 be in it for the long haul. 813 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:45,320 These are people. There are people who've been 814 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:48,120 witnessing to Jewish friends for dozens of years, dozens and 815 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:49,480 dozens. Be patient. 816 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,560 I'm going to give you this story and I'm going to be done, OK? 817 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:56,160 The very first year we were here, I was desperate to find 818 00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,000 ways to get involved in the community, desperate just to 819 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:03,000 connect with people. I was already going out to doors 820 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,200 and doing all those things. But I want there was a message 821 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:07,440 board here in town. There's a gentleman that ran the 822 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:12,520 message board that also had a television show in Easton. 823 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,920 When I say television show, I'm talking like two or three people 824 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,480 that probably would watch on the Easton Community Access 825 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,800 Television. And I remember watching it one 826 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:22,960 night because I'm just trying to figure out like who's in town. 827 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,520 They're talking about town politics, all the stuff. 828 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,800 And he said, well, our guest canceled this evening. 829 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:28,800 If there's anybody that'd like to come and be our guest on our 830 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,560 show, we're live right now. Just come down to the station. 831 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,720 I told my wife. I said I'm drive, I'm driving 832 00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:36,120 down to the station, I'll be right back. 833 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:38,320 And I drove down and we started talking. 834 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,200 He was impressed that the local pastor would come down. 835 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,760 I didn't know that he was a Jewish man, but he had a 836 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:45,640 wonderful conversation. Well, I ended up becoming a 837 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:47,800 regular guest on that show for a little while. 838 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,520 We talked about the Lord, we talked about town politics, we 839 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,480 towned about all kinds of stuff. And again, I don't know that 840 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,320 anybody's watching, but I, I, I enjoyed being able to have that 841 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,400 interaction, got to meet other people through that. 842 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,760 Fast forward that that show didn't last for very long and 843 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,320 it, it went off the air. But my friendship with this 844 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:09,760 gentleman continued, Go to 2020 and now it's April of that year 845 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,680 and I have COVID and I have it bad. 846 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:17,560 I don't feel well, I feel awful. And this gentleman calls me on 847 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:18,560 my phone. Now, he doesn't know I have 848 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:19,720 COVID. He doesn't know anything's going 849 00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:21,240 on. He called me on his phone. 850 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:24,280 I don't answer because I don't feel well, but I listen to the 851 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,840 message. He called me to let me know that 852 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:31,680 his son just a couple hours before had been going down Bay 853 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:35,320 Road, right up the road here, very narrow, very windy road. 854 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,320 And there was another man coming the opposite direction who was 855 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:42,480 on his phone, veered over head on collision. 856 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:44,680 The man who was on his phone lived. 857 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:49,560 His son died. And he called me because he need 858 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,640 spiritual counsel and guidance and help. 859 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:54,440 You say, well, pastor, what did you call him when you felt 860 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:55,920 better? It's one of those times as a 861 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:59,360 pastor, you just man up and you say, we got to talk right now. 862 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,360 It don't matter how I feel. You know, it's interesting. 863 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:04,880 Who did he call? They call a rabbi. 864 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:07,520 They call someone from the synagogue. 865 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:13,200 He called his Baptist pastor friend to be able to help him 866 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,080 during that time. He's told me before, you know, 867 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:17,720 when I pass away, I want you to do the funeral. 868 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,000 I said, Are you sure you want to do that? 869 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:22,360 You don't know what I'm going to say and you may not like it. 870 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:24,760 And we've been able to have conversations about that. 871 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:27,560 I'll say this. He still doesn't know the Lord. 872 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,760 He moved down to South Carolina a couple years ago to retire 873 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,040 with his wife and keep in contact with him on Facebook. 874 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:38,120 But it takes time. But I would tell you, people are 875 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:40,400 out there if you're looking lost. 876 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:42,640 People of all stripes are out there if you're willing to look. 877 00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:46,160 So let's find ways to reach our Jewish friends and neighbors for 878 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,600 the gospel. Thank you for listening to the 879 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:51,240 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 880 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:54,880 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 881 00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,000 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 882 00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:02,880 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 883 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:06,800 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 884 00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,880 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.