Comfort Springboards for Budding Preachers

Open-Air Preaching Transcripts
1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-1-878859-24-2
Verlag: Living Waters Publications
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 124 Seiten

Based on his more than forty years of open-air preaching, Ray Comfort has discovered certain principles that can help you preach the gospel effectively: how to draw a crowd, how to begin speaking, how to hold their attention, what subjects to cover. When he began preaching outside a local courthouse, he found a completely different dynamic. He didn't have to gather an audience-it was already there. Whether you speak to a captive audience or need to draw a crowd, these transcripts of dozens of open-air sessions will offer helpful tips and illustrations to capture and keep their attention. Just as Jesus used parables to garner the attention of the crowds around Him, painting vivid pictures in the minds of His hearers to press home eternal truths, these creative 'springboards' are modern-day parables to help you bring understanding of the gospel to your listeners.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Comfort, Ray

Leseproben

Judas Was in Charge of the Finances

If I was to approach some of you this morning and say, “Are you a Christian?” one or two of you may say, “Yes.” Some of you would say, “Ah … I’m not sure; I try to be.” One or two of you may say, “I’m not a Christian because there’re hypocrites in the Church—that’s why I’m not a Christian.” And you’d say that because you don’t understand what a “hypocrite” is. A hypocrite is not a Christian; a hypocrite’s a pretending Christian. And the Church is not filled with hypocrites because the Church is not the building; it’s made up of the people.

So, as I said, a hypocrite is not a Christian; he’s a pretending Christian. That’s what the word “hypocrite” means. It means “actor.” Judas Iscariot was a hypocrite. He was an actor. I’ve got a friend who used to look at Leonardo Da Vinci’s picture of the Last Supper (the painting of the last supper) and he’d say, “What I liked to do as a young man was look for Judas.”

Heckler: (Unintelligible) … I bet when that tree dies and you’ll be long gone, that tree’s going to outlive what you are sitting here talking about. [A young man sitting next to him, who seemed to be his son, tries to stop the man from hindering God’s Word.] Freedom of speech. If he can talk, I can talk. That tree was put here by God; this guy was not. That tree’s not bothering me. That tree’s not trying to persuade me.

Son: If you’re going to do that …

Heckler: Freedom of speech; I can talk.

Son: Hey, did you hear me?

Heckler: I hear you. I’m also hearing something I don’t want to hear. I have the right to not be bothered by somebody.

Son: (Unintelligible.)

Heckler: That tree’s not bothering me and God put that tree here.

Son: Listen, stop it … (Unintelligible.)

Heckler: I don’t care. It stopped him for a couple seconds. I am so proud.

Son: Stop it.

Heckler: Do you have permission to record any of this? Because if any of this is used and I ever see it anywhere, I will sue you.

Ray: You cannot see what’s been “heard,” sir.

Heckler: My, that’s a beautiful tree. God made a thing of beauty.

Son: Do you realize you’re @#$%! me off?

Ray: Folks, I’d like to agree with this man totally. That tree will be here long after I’m dead and gone.

Heckler: That tree is not bothering me a bit.

Ray: Probably, I’ve got another 25–30 years, God willing. Life is very transient. The Scriptures say, “Life is but a vapor that appears for a moment and vanishes away.”546 Folks, I would like you to think closely about what this man said. It’s so true. Trees last longer than most of us. That big tree … I don’t know, it may last 100–150 years. I don’t know. But if you’re lucky you’ll probably average 70 years. Do you know how many people die on roads every year in the U.S.? Forty-two thousand. Every day 1,500 people die of cancer—every single day in the U.S. Just under a million die of heart disease in the United States each year. Throughout the world 150,000 people die every 24 hours. So think about your mortality. This man has got perception. He perceives that life is transient. So while I’m speaking, please think about that.

Now, I was talking about hypocrites before, saying my friend would look at Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper and look for Judas. He’d say, “Where is that evil guy with his hands clasped, hooked nose, counting the money?” That’s totally unbiblical. Judas is probably a good-looking guy like my friend here.

He was in charge of the finances, the Bible tells us.547 Did you know that? He was such a good guy, when some woman bought some expensive perfume and gave it to Jesus, he said, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”548 He was a good guy, Judas Iscariot. But the Bible gives us insight. It says, not that he cared for the poor but he looked after the finances, and would steal from the finances.549

Judas was a hypocrite, he was a pretender, and the Bible says Jesus knew “from the beginning who would betray Him.”550 He knew who was going to betray Him. He knew Judas’s heart. He was such a good actor, when he was about to betray Jesus, Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me,” and the disciples, instead of looking at old hook-nose down the end and saying, “Ah, yeah, we know what you’re talking about,” they said, “Is it I, Lord? Is it me?”551 They suspected themselves rather than the trustworthy treasurer. And even when Jesus said, “It’s he who puts his hand in the dish” and Judas went out and betrayed Jesus, the disciples thought that he had gone to give money to the poor. That’s what a good actor Judas was.

Oh, yeah, there is such a thing as a hypocrite. But listen to what the Bible says of those who judge hypocrites. In the book of Romans it says, “You who judge another and do the same things, do you think you’ll escape the judgment of God?”552 You see, maybe you see someone who says, “I’m a Christian,” but they watch dirty movies, and you know that’s wrong. Uh, huh … Do you watch dirty movies? Or you say,“He calls himself a Christian, but he’s a liar.” Do you lie? “He calls himself a Christian, but he doesn’t pay his taxes—I know that.” Do you pay your taxes? Do you think you’ll escape the judgment of God if you lie and steal?

Do you realize that God considers lust to be the same as adultery? Jesus said, “Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart.”553 Folks, every man will give an account himself to God. I won’t give an account of this man. He won’t give an account of me. We have to give an account of ourselves to God. And the standard that God will judge us by is the Ten Commandments, and who of us can say, “I’ve kept that Law?”

Heckler: (Unintelligible discussion with his son.)

Ray: The Bible says if you hate someone, you’re a murderer.

Heckler:I am not a murderer … (Unintelligible.)

Ray: Think about it. If you lie or steal, then you’re a lying thief. Let me tell you what’s going to happen to hypocrites. You’ll find this very interesting.

I had a friend years ago who had a little parakeet. They called it “Bluey.” It was trained to come and sit on the plate at meal times and eat from the meal. Neat little bird, Bluey. One day this young lady came into the kitchen and left the door open. The bird saw the blue sky and thought, “Yippee, freedom!” and it flew toward the door. The girl loved the bird, so she ran to the door and slammed it … and stopped half that bird getting out.

Folks, if you read the book of Matthew, chapter 24, the same thing will happen to the hypocrite. The Bible says, “If that servant shall say in his heart,‘My Lord delays his coming,’ and begins to smite his fellow servants and drink with the drunkard, the Lord of that servant will come in an hour he thinks not and cut him in half and give him his portion with the hypocrites.”554 So, folks, if you know hypocrites aren’t real in their faith, how much more does Almighty God? And He’ll hold them accountable. The Bible makes it clear, all hypocrites will go to Hell. Folks, I don’t want you to go there either. If you’ve got a conscience this morning, you’ll know you’ve violated those Commandments. I mean, is God first in your life? Do you love the One who gave you life—with heart, mind, soul, and strength? A man who lacks understanding will look at a tree and see a tree. When a man who has insight looks at a tree, he’ll not just see a tree, he’ll see it as the Creator’s hand—the genius of Almighty God.

Folks, when you become a Christian, God will open the eyes of your understanding. No longer will you just see a sunset, but you’ll see it as the creation of Almighty God … the blueness of the sky … you’ll see birds fly—all things will become new. All things can become new for you today because of what God did through Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. All of us have violated those Commandments. None of us can point a finger at the other. We’ve “all sinned and come short of the glory of God”555—every single one of us, and the Bible says, “All liars will have their part in the lake of fire.”556 Hell is a reality. God will have His Day of Justice, and if you’ve sinned when you stand before God on the Day of Judgment, Hell will be your portion for eternity. I don’t want that to happen to you. You don’t want it to happen to you. That’s not God’s will. He made provision for you to be forgiven through the suffering death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was on the cross, He took the punishment for the sin of the world. All your sins were laid upon Jesus Christ. He paid your fine in His life’s blood. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes upon Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”557

Folks, that’s what God offers you through Jesus Christ—everlasting life. So what must you do to find that salvation? How can you find God’s forgiveness? Repent—an old-fashioned word, it just means to turn from your sins. Confess and forsake them. Trust Jesus Christ. Folks, don’t just believe in Jesus; trust in Him. I believed in Jesus before I was a Christian. The Bible says “demons believe and tremble.”558 You must trust in the Savior, and the moment you do that, the “eyes of your understanding will be...