Evangelism Amidst Apostasy - 3/8/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

sure to subscribe, follow, and share

with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

>> Well, that's the truth tonight. Amen.

And I appreciate that fact. I'm thankful

for a church recognizes that. And u

there's no greater need.

No greater need. And people to meet the

Lord, to know him, to love him. Amen. To

be changed by him. And uh

I'm so thankful. You I was thinking

about this just a minute ago. There's

nobody that's ever met the Lord that

hadn't been changed. Amen.

>> You say, "What do you mean? Not

everybody's come to Christ has gotten

saved." No, but they can't leave. Amen.

The same way that they came.

>> They have to walk away willfully. Amen.

Uh from an outstretched arm and an open

hand. And I thank God uh for the night

he reached way down farther than I could

reach up.

>> Amen.

>> And save my soul. Amen.

>> And uh I know I'd be in hell if it were

not for his grace. But I'm so thankful

he saw fit to save me and give me new

life. Amen. I bless his name for it. I

thank him for his grace and his mercy.

If you have a Bible tonight, I'd like

for you to turn with me if you would

please to the book of Jude. The book of

Jude. If you would stand and on

reference to the reading of God's word

tonight, the book of Jude. And uh

just felt impressed to look here

tonight. This probably the last message

that I share with you out of the book of

Jude. And uh don't dread it tonight.

Something I want to share with you is

very important. And uh he was singing

that song. I was thinking a minute ago

as the song's been ministering to my

heart here of late quite a bit by the

Ellis family called Jesus love is real.

>> Yeah.

>> And uh I was listening to that song

going down the road all the other day

and first verse that song kind of says

something along the lines of people long

for love and they're looking lots of

places where they can't get enough.

>> And uh I was thinking about that. You go

by the beer joints and the ABC stores

and all the places that our community

seems to be full of and people are just

looking for something to fill them up.

>> And uh you realize tonight we know the

truth.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. And this is not just a social

gathering. Amen. I didn't come just to

see you. Amen. And I sure hope you

didn't come to see me. But I tell you

this, I come to get help from heaven.

Amen. And we need his help. Amen. And

because his love is real. Amen. and I

bless his name for it tonight. Let's

look verse number 21. Verse 20. Let's

look at verse 20 tonight. We'll read

down through the end of the chapter. And

like I said, don't don't let the

familiarity uh of this series uh get you

in a ditch. And I'll say this series

preaching is good. It's beneficial

because the Bible is written line upon

line and you ought to study it line upon

line. And we ought to never try to

cherrypick verses out and try to make

our point. But we ought to always labor

to uh construct the context and give the

context because if you don't know the

context, there's no fruit to the text.

And so uh we want to make sure that you

know what's going on. That's why I've

been preaching through this book uh this

way. And let's look verse number 20 of

Jude chapter or Jude chap verse number

20 only one chapter. Verse 20. The Bible

says, "But ye, beloved, building up

yourselves on your most holy faith."

Now, we talked about that there on last

week about building up yourselves. And

he says, "Praying in the Holy Ghost."

Verse 21, he says, "Keep yourselves in

the love of God, looking for the mercy

of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal

life. And of some have compassion,

making a difference, and others save

with fear, pulling them out of the fire,

hating even the garment spotted by the

flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep

you from falling, and to present you

faultless before the presence of his

glory with exceeding joy. To the only

wise God, our Savior, be glory and

majesty, dominion and power, both now

and ever. Amen. Father, I come before

you tonight and I ask you humbly to help

us, Lord, as we've gathered here. And I

pray, God, tonight that you would move

in our midst. Lord, I thank you for the

good presence of God in the service this

morning. And Lord, I thank you for

speaking to hearts, for speaking to my

heart. And God, I thank you for the word

of God that was shared. And God, I ask

you tonight humbly that you would anoint

us. Uh fill us with thy spirit, God, I

pray, remove the flesh far from us. Help

us to say nothing, God, that would

hinder the work of the Holy Spirit, but

God, to say everything, God, that you

would desire us to say. I pray you'll

help us to receive with meekness the

engrafted word. And I pray we'd see no

man save Jesus only. And open our eyes

and we might behold wondrous things in

thy law. And Lord, we pray, Father, that

you would be exalted and magnified and

lifted up. God, you said if you'd be

lifted up, you draw men unto yourself.

And so, I pray you'd do that tonight in

the midst of this service. and for

whatever needs are present. If there's

somebody here lost, I pray they'd be

saved. God, if there's somebody here,

Father, that is saved and out of the

will of God, I pray they'd get right

with you tonight. And Lord, most of all,

I pray you'll get glory. And for what

you do, we'll thank you for it because

we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. And

amen. You can be seated this evening.

Now, we've looked at this series uh

through the book of Jude, messages

concerning apostasy. And I want to look

at this text tonight, these last four or

five verses here of the book of Jude,

and share to you this thought on

evangelism

amidst apostasy.

Evangelism

amidst apostasy. Now, I realize tonight

when we look at our world, the world we

live in, and I'll say this, when you

narrow it down not just to a world view

of America, but a worldview of

Christianity in America, we realize that

more so than the right way, there is the

apostate belief in America. The crowds

are being drawn to apostate religion.

And I've made no bones about it through

these series of messages what these

apostates look like. And you say,

"Preacher, I'm really not sure what they

are." are. Well, I'm not going to

belabor the point tonight. You can go

back and listen to the messages. Amen.

But there are people who are greedy of

gain and they're serving only to fill

their own pocketbook and to serve their

own flesh. And I was reading this text

and praying about the direction the Lord

would have us to go tonight. I don't

didn't know this was for sure if this is

where he wanted us to be. But he really

led me to these verses and something

maybe I've never seen before in these

verses. And I want to lay out three

things to you tonight. And I just like I

did this morning, I'll give you the

message outline and then you can put in

it as we go along. I want to note first

of all tonight in the message number one

the devotion to our savior in verse

number 21 of this chapter and then in

verses 22 and 23 I want to note the

discernment of souls. devotion to the

Savior in verse 21 and the discernment

of souls in verses 22 and 23 and then in

verse 24 and 25. I want to note the

divine sanctification that is mentioned

in these verses tonight. And we're going

to spend the majority of our time on

that second point. But I want you to

notice tonight by way of introduction

here, he is listed in verse 21. It's a

continued statement from verse 20. And

we dealt there with building up

yourselves there on last week and we

talked about the task of it and the

trust in it. The tool is prayer and the

thread throughout all of it is the

presence of the Holy Spirit that's

mentioned there in verse number 20. But

in one continued statement that comma he

says in verse 21, keep yourselves in the

love of God. And I thought about that

phrase. Now, I understand tonight we

think about the love of God and and we

was praising him for that, his great

mercy and grace towards us. And no doubt

we love him because he first loved us

tonight. Amen. Is anybody in the

building? Amen. We love him because he

first loved us. And when John Jude says

here to his readers, he says, "Keep

yourselves in the love of God." He's not

saying that it would be possible for us

to get outside the bounds of God's love.

But it is possible for us to forget the

goodness of his love. And you say, "What

is that?" Well, if you turn over just a

few chapters into the book of

Revelation, that first church of Asia

Minor, that church of Ephesus, you

remember what Jesus had to say to that

church. He said, "I have somewhat

against you." And what did he say to

him? He said, "Because you've left your

first love." Amen. And it's not that

God's love could get away from us or we

could get out of God's love. But the

truth is we could forget the fact that

we are living amidst God's love. Amen.

I'll tell you this tonight. Peter says

it this way that there's many people who

have forgotten that they were purged

from their old sins. We've forgotten

that God loves us and that God lives for

us and that God wants to give us life

and life more abundantly. And it is

possible to get outside of that

blessing. But let me remind you tonight,

we ought to be reminded every day of our

life when we wake up that it's the love

of God that allowed our heart to beat

through the night and our lungs to pump

air through the night. Amen. And when we

rise up, it's the grace and love all of

Almighty God that our eyes opened up and

our mind come back into consciousness.

You say, "PREACHER, WHAT ARE YOU

SAYING?" I'm saying that every day the

love of God manifests itself to us and

we ought to do our very best to keep

ourselves in the love OF GOD EACH AND

EVERY DAY. AMEN.

>> NOW, we know tonight that sin can hinder

us from fellowship. We know that

complacency and apathy can hinder us

from in fellowship tonight. And so, the

command is the same that we are to keep

ourselves in the love of God. And that

simply means to live in the realm of his

love. And so I think about our devotion

to the savior. Number one, we ought to

live in the realm of the love of God.

Amen. You say, "What is that?" Well,

that's that is uh feeling his love,

accepting his love into our life and

allowing him to bless us. But also as

that blessing intercedes, intersects

into our life, we ought to interject

that love into other people's lives.

Amen. What did Jesus tell his disciples?

He said, "By this shall all men know

that you are my disciples." Why? Because

when you have love one to another. Amen.

And we ought to let that love shine. He

said, "Let your light so shine before

men that they might see your good works

and glorify your father which is in

heaven." And what is that? That's the

love of God shed abroad in our hearts by

the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

And we ought to do our best to live in

the realm of God's love. Amen. It is

possible to dwell outside of it. But

I'll tell you this, once you've ever

been in it, you don't want to be outside

of it. Amen. But I notice this. He

doesn't only tell us to live in the

realm of God's love, but he also tells

us to look for the revelation of our

Lord Jesus Christ. Look what he says in

verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of

God. Continued statement, looking for

the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto

eternal life. And you say, "Preacher,

well, how can I keep myself living in

the love of God?" Well, long as you stay

looking, you'll stay loving. Amen. As

long as you're looking for him to come.

Amen. As long as you're keeping your eye

on that eastern sky. Amen. Knowing that

just any day now, amen, our Lord's

coming back. And one day, friend, the

clouds are going to split and he's going

to step out. Amen. HE'S GOING TO SAY,

"COME UP HITHER." AMEN. AND YOU KNOW

WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO? WE'RE GOING TO

GO UP WITH HIM. AMEN. WE'RE GOING TO

MEET THE LORD IN THE CLOUDS and the

saints. Amen. That rose before us. And

forever, forever and ever and ever,

WE'LL BE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. HEY, IF

YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO LIVE IN THE

REALM of God's love, you just keep

LOOKING FOR THE REVELATION OF THE LORD

JESUS CHRIST TO SHOW UP ON THIS EARTH.

LET ME SAY IT AGAIN, FRIEND. HE IS SOON

COMING. And I'll tell you this, I'm

looking forward to it. Amen. I know

tonight that he is coming. He says,

"Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus

Christ." And I just want to remind you

of this fact that it is the mercy of God

that he showed up the first time that

God would allow his son to become come

come to this earth and be roed in the

likeness of sinful flesh and live and

die for you and I and get up again and

go back to heaven. But let me remind

you, it's the mercy of God that he is

coming back again one of these days for

you and I because we don't deserve the

fact for him to come back and take us

home. But aren't you thankful him in his

mercy and his grace? He's going to come

and retrieve us under himself. And one

of these days, we'll see him high and

lifted up. Amen. I don't know about you,

but I JUST FEEL GOOD IN MY soul tonight.

Amen. I'M GLAD I'M SAVED AND ON MY WAY

TO HEAVEN. PRAISE GOD. AND MY DEVOTION

TO THE SAVIOR IS MY LOVE FOR HIM, BUT

I'M ALSO LOOKING FOR HIM. AMEN.

>> I'm looking for him to come. Looking for

the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto

eternal life. And so we consider the

devotion to the Savior. Much more I

could say about that tonight, but I want

to deal with this subject here tonight

concerning the evangelism

amidst apostasy. Now, I've had some

people ask me here at the church since

since I've been here, preacher, uh,

preacher, I just don't know. You talk

about soul winning and visitation, and I

just don't know how how to do that.

Well, let me say this. As a child of

God, it's inherent in you that you want

to win people to Christ. Okay, that's a

natural desire. Amen. That's something

that should be a part of who you are.

Amen. And leadership has failed when

they fail to teach you that you should

win souls. Amen. The Bible said in

Proverbs 11 verse number 30, the fruit

of the righteous is a tree of life. And

he that winth souls is what? Wise. Amen.

It's proper to win souls. Jesus was a

soul winner. What did he say? He said,

"The son of man's come to seek and to

save that which was lost." Amen. And

what was it? It was the lost souls of

the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Amen. And when they turned their back on

him, you know what he did? He turned to

the lost souls of the gentile race. And

that's what we're here doing tonight. We

are here witnessing to the fact that

Jesus is interested in souls. And you

say, "Preacher, well, I just don't know

about all that." Well, let me just say

this. The person that won you to the

Lord was sure about it.

>> Amen. Aren't you thankful for somebody

that was certain and sure about the so

in fact of the scriptures that they came

to where you was and said, "Hey, if you

don't get saved, you're going to die and

go to the place that God created for the

devil and his angels." And you'll go

there. You don't have to go there,

though. You can find the way out. I'll

show it to you. Jesus died to save you.

HE LIVES TO SAVE YOU. AND IF YOU'LL

TRUST HIM, HE WILL SAVE YOU. AMEN. And

you can escape hell. Aren't you thankful

for that person, that preacher, THAT

SUNDAY SCHOOL teacher that believed in

it? Amen.

>> You say, "Preacher, but that still

doesn't answer the question of how to do

it." Well, Jude gives us some principles

here tonight, and it's going to come

with an ugly word. Okay? We dealt with

this thought of devotion, but I want to

deal with this subject of discernment.

Now, I'll say this to you tonight. It's

something that much of our church is

lacking in this day and time. You say,

"What is discernment?" Well, it's the

ability to determine between evil and

good. It's the ability to determine

between what's right and what's not.

It's knowing the difference basically

what that is. And you notice in this

text, the Bible says in verse number 22,

"And if some have compassion making a

difference, and others save with fear,

pulling them out of the fire, hating

even the garment spotted by the flesh."

Now, we had a missions conference back

here several months ago at the church

last year. I guess it was about August,

somewhere near September. And we we call

the missions conference making a

difference. Now, the reason why we we

didn't base it off of this verse, okay?

It's the thought that many people have

in their mind when we think about this

making a difference thought, but that's

not what this means. It's not making a

difference in the sense of we're going

to make a difference in the lost world.

Because truth is, we have no ability to

make any difference in this world. You

say, "Preacher, well, what does it

mean?" Well, I want to lay on your heart

tonight this truth concerning the

discernment of souls. Jude is talking

about soulwinning here. He's not talking

about making a difference for the cause

of Christ. You say, "Well, how do you

see that?" Well, notice the verse with

me. What's the first word of that verse?

Verse 22.

And this is a continued statement. Now,

this is not a continued statement from

verse 21.

Interjected amidst this statement is

verse number 20 and 21. This is a

continued statement from verse 18 and

19. Now, I want you to look at this text

with me tonight. We're going to use our

Bibles to do a little thinking. All

right? So, stay with me. Notice verse 18

and 19. The Bible says, or verse 17,

notice the statement. But, beloved,

remember ye the words which were spoken

before the apostles of our Lord Jesus

Christ, how that they told you there

should be mockers in the last time, who

should walk after their own ungodly

lust. These be they who separate

themselves sensual having not the

spirit. Notice verse 22 now. And of some

have compassion

making a difference. Now you say what

does that how does that relate to the

verses that were just of before. Well

Jude is talking about evangelizing

people amidst apostasy.

And let me say this. Evangelism in this

day is as hard as it's ever been.

Because people's got more of a head

knowledge than they've ever had. Ain't

that right, brother? They know more

about the Bible and more about church

than they've ever known before because

it's it's mainstream.

And uh you know, I'm thankful. I was

listening to somebody talk the other day

talking about Charlie Kirk and

everything that he's brought into the

Christian world. And I tell you this,

the people that's operating on his

platform now don't believe like he did.

>> Amen. They don't believe like he did.

They don't operate with the same spirit

that he had. And it don't take about 10

seconds to realize that they don't hold

the same values his wife nor none of the

rest of that crowd. They don't hold the

same values that he did. Amen. And what

I'm trying to say is is that

Christianity it's made been made

mainstream and it's been made the cool

kid thing to be Young Life and and

Turning Point and all of these big

organizations. It's known nationwide.

And I'm Look, I'm not throwing stones

tonight, but here's what I'm doing.

They're they're I'm trying to tell you

that these are worksbased organizations.

It does not it does not teach the the

faith of the Lord Jesus Christ as it is

scriptural. And so when he says here in

the text, he is giving us two different

methods. Verse 22 and verse 23. Verse

22, he is dealing with a compassionate

method. Write that down. In verse 22, he

is dealing with a compassionate method

to soulwinning. Verse number 23, he is

dealing with a cautionary method to sew

in. And you say, "What is that?" Well,

verse 22, he says, "And of some have

compassion." Well, the instruction there

is in verse 22, he's not t he's not

saying, "And some people have

compassion." No, that's not what he's

saying. What he's saying is and of some

that means some have compassion. What is

he talking about? He's talking about the

apostates in verse number 19. These be

they who separate themselves sensual

having not the spirit. There are certain

people that you have to witness to that

they know a whole lot.

And amidst their great knowledge of the

Christianity that they think they know

about, they're clever devils is what

they are. Amen. They don't know anything

about real faith. But what they do know,

they're very tender about it. And if you

come to them and tell them they're going

to die in rot in hell, they're going to

laugh at you.

And so you can't go to them and beat

them in the head with truth and expect

them to receive. He says in the text,

notice it, and of some have compassion.

There are some people that when you deal

with them about salvation, you're going

to have to be very tender.

>> You say, "Preacher, I can't picture that

in my mind." Well, let's just put it in

real simple terms. This is not exactly

what the text is talking about, but it's

simple terms to understand. You're not

going to witness to a 5-year-old the

same way you're going to witness to a

60-year-old person that's been on

alcohol their whole life.

>> When a 5-year-old boy or girl is lost

without God and they need to be saved,

you know what you do with them? You

don't look at them and say, "You're

going to die and rot in hell because of

your sin." That's not the way you deal

with them.

>> You deal with them and you say, "Now

look, all right, you've come to me

today. You ask them what their need is."

And I'm just gonna give you a little

crash course right here. If I had

somebody come to the altar under 10

years old, they've been in church their

whole life and they want to get saved.

This is how you would deal with them.

You would ask them. They come to the

altar and you say, "Why'd you come up

here today?" All right. Why' you Why'd

you come up here today? What can I help

you with? And depending on what they

tell you in that next sentence is going

to determine how you approach this need.

If they can't tell you the reason why

they came to the altar, they're not

ready to get saved.

When God turns the light on, they come

to this altar, they're going to know

what they need.

>> And so if that child tells me,

"Preacher, I need to be saved." You know

what I'm going to immediately begin to

do? I'm going to immediately begin to go

to the verses that they should be

memorizing.

Amen. The Romans road, John's road.

Amen. John 3:16, John 15. All those

John 3:16

verses, all that text. I'm going to

immediately begin to go to those

scriptures and I'm going to tell them

Romans 3 verse number 23. For all have

sinned and come short of the glory of

God. Do you know what sin is? And I'm

going to ask them if they can tell me

what sin is. Sin is anything I think,

say, or do that displeases God. And if

they tell you, well, my I I tell lies

and I say things that I shouldn't say.

You know what? For a 5 to 7, 10 year

old, that's what their sin's going to

be. Okay? They're going to disobey their

parents. They're going to tell things

that they shouldn't tell. Jude says,

"And of some, have compassion." And with

that young and you're going to look at

them and say, "Hey, we want to tell you

how you can be saved."

You say, "Because of your sin, you were

created in sin." You got to make sure

you tell them that. In sin, you were

conceived. From your birth, you were a

sinner. You've never been perfect.

>> And because of that sin, you need to be

saved from your sin. But Jesus died

>> for your sin.

>> He took your sin debt. He paid your sin

debt. And because of that, you can be

saved. Amen.

>> And then after you tell them that and

they have their questions, you know,

depending on what questions they have,

you take them down whatever road you

need to go down. But ultimately, this is

what you get to. You tell them Jesus

loves you.

>> And that's what you tell everybody.

>> But the method that you get to that

point's a lot different sometimes.

>> He said, "And of some have compassion."

You say, "Well, preacher, how does this

apply to apostates?" Well, people who

are ignorant

of Bible doctrine and Bible truth, but

they've been fed a lie from the world

that salvation is me doing enough works

or me being faithful to church or me

signing a church role or me being

baptized. And you know what you can't

tell them? Look them and say when they

say, "Well, I'm saved because I got

baptized." You can't look at them and

say, "No, you're not."

>> You know what you have to do? You have

to begin to softly,

gently lead them to the truth. See, you

can't take somebody that's been steeped

in religion for all their youth years

and been told this, that, and the other

and expect them to turn it all around in

just a minute.

>> Some you've got to have compassion. That

word compassion that and if some have

compassion, that phrase literally means

the action word to compassionate,

to show mercy is what that is. It means

to extend grace. When dealing with

someone that is needing compassion,

needing mercy, there's a there's a a

steps here I see in the verse. He says,

"And of some have compassion making a

difference." You say, "What is that

making a difference?" That word

difference there literally means a

distinction,

means to discern,

to see that this person needs a soft

approach. You know what? As a

seven-year-old boy, you know what helped

me get saved? That verse that says, "And

the it's the goodness of God that leads

thee to repentance.

When I got saved, I didn't I didn't have

a whole load of sin laundry list of

things that I was carrying around on my

back. But all I knew is God was dealing

with my heart and I needed what he had

to offer.

>> And you know what? As I'd watched my

daddy surrender to the ministry and I

remember going to the altar that night

and I just said, "Lord, I'll do whatever

you want me to do." Seven years old

because I knew that salvation wasn't

just sins of commission, but sins of

omission. Because you know what? Before

that point, I'd never told anybody about

Jesus. But you know what? After I got

saved, I went to my family members that

I knew didn't believe like mom and daddy

did. And mom and daddy tried to tell me,

"Hey, look, they're not going to be

excited about you being saved." But you

know what? That fire in my heart, I just

wanted to tell them so bad because I'd

been saved. There was a difference that

had been made in my life. What I'm

saying is on some there's got to be

mercy that's shown. I thought about

this. You see here in the text, there's

the mercy of God that's expressed and of

some have compassion. Second of all, not

only the mercy of God is expressed, but

there's a message of grace that's

exchanged.

You see, when some when a young child's

never been steeped in sin, you're not

going to talk to them about alcoholism

and fornication and adultery.

>> You're going to talk to them about the

truths that are on their level.

>> Their lies just going to send them to

hell. the same way the drunks alcohol

will.

>> Amen.

>> And so you deal with them on their

level. There's a message of grace that

must be exchanged. You must express to

them that Jesus loves them and far

greater than their sin is the love and

sovereignty of Almighty God. You've got

to be so careful. Heard people talk

about having a bad experience. I've

heard people say this um later on in

life. Well, my mom and daddy told me I

was too young to be saved. Oh no. Never

tell a child that

>> you're not ready yet. You don't know

whether they're not ready or not yet.

>> The truth is when they come to you and

say, "Daddy, what does it mean to be

saved?

>> What do I need to do to be saved?" And

you begin to talk to them. And the more

you talk to them, the more that they

become broken in their sin, you know

what you need to do? You need to lead

them to the foot of the cross.

>> This Jesus died for you, baby. Jesus

died for you. But Jesus lives for you.

He didn't stay dead, but he got up so

you could be saved. And if some have

compassion, you've got to have mercy on

them. And for your children, that's

patience.

>> That's what it is dealing with all

people who's been staked in religion.

People who are ignorant and don't know

any better. You've got to have

compassion, making a difference, showing

discernment.

The mercy of God must be expressed.

There must be a message of grace that is

exchanged. But I'll say this, for those

that have been steeped in religion, not

so much for children, it may be the

case, but I don't know. For some, you're

going to have to mitigate some guilt.

You say, "What do you mean by that?"

Well, you see, there's things that

they've been taught their whole life

that they're just finding out's wrong.

>> They didn't know any better. People who

are ignorant, you can't expect them to

jump on the wagon with you just right

off the bat. when they've been taught

for 25, 30 years, you know, however long

they've been living, you know, most time

this is the younger generation, my

generation up to 35, 40, very tender

people. Tender. You got to be, you got

to be merciful with them.

>> They're going to be guilt. They're going

to have some guilt, some things in their

life that they're going to have to get

over. And you say, "What is that?" Well,

you're going to have to discern whether

or not they're ready for it. You know,

some people the first time that they

hear the gospel, they're not going to be

ready to receive it in that moment.

It takes discernment knowing when you're

dealing with somebody, it's going to

take some patience, some mercy, because

not everybody's ready at the same time

you were. Man, I'm thankful that for our

children around here's been raised in

Christian school and mom and daddy, we

go witness to them and they've been

steeped in it and they know it. We talk

to them. You know what happens when God

turns the light on? They're ready

because they know the truth.

But most children, that's not the case.

Most people, that's not the case. Man,

isn't it sad? There's 30, 40, 50 year

old people in this community that's

never heard the name Jesus.

You say, "Preacher, that ain't so."

Well, I promise you, we could go within

10 miles of this church and you could

find somebody, probably more than one

that would say to you, "Nobody's ever

told me about Jesus."

I I think about this compassionate

compassionate method here that he

shares. And if some have compassion

making a difference using discernment.

Got to be careful. I tell you this,

salvation is is a is the most important

thing that's ever done. It's if it's

worth doing, it's worth doing right.

Somebody say amen.

>> You got to tell them the truth. But you

got to do it in love. Amen. But I

noticed this and this is where many of

us fall tonight. And look, I don't want

you to think tonight that I'm hyper

sensitive. Amen. And I'm going to, you

know, tiptoe around everybody's

feelings. But I'll tell you this, a

child, you got to be careful.

I don't want to hurt their feelings when

I'm trying to lead them to Christ. If

they're ready to receive Christ, you

better not down them.

>> Amen.

>> Down their character, their more you. If

they say, "Well, I tell a lie." You're

not going to look at them and say,

"Well, you hellion."

>> No. You know how you say that? You know

that's not right, little Johnny.

You see, you got to do it with

discernment.

It's what we're lacking this day and

time. You said, "Preacher, what is

discernment? the Holy Ghost of God

speaking to your hearts what it is.

Notice this. I see not only here the

compassion that he shows in this

discernment, but consider the caution

that he shows in verse 23. What's those

first two words of verse 23?

And others. So there's a clear

differentiation here. He's wanting to

move on from this first thought to the

next thought. And again, he's dealing

with the witness evangelizing

apostates. Listen to what he says. and

others saved with fear, pulling them out

of the fire, hating even the garment

spotted by the flesh. So, so for showing

compassion, this deals with the thought

of expressing the mercy of God, having

ex a message of grace exchanged with the

and also mitigating some of the guilt

that they have. And let me just say

again on that point, there's some things

that children when they realize that,

you know, their lie is going to send

them to hell, that guilt, that guilt's

going to ride on them. Tender, how

tender they are, that's going to hurt

them. You have to show them the love of

God. I feel like I can't emphasize that

enough. Amen. You got to make sure

you're doing this thing the right way.

But I'll say this. He also gives us here

in verse 23. And I I notice three points

in this. You you see this caution that

he gives and others save with fear. Now

he's clearly given a differentiation

here. And what is that? Well, number

one, he relates a vision of fear in

verse 23. And others save with fear. It

does not mean that there are other

people who are out of their fear and

dread of, you know, somebody dying and

going to hell that they're going to go

and witness to them. That's not what

this means. It means that others are

employing.

All right, notice that. And others save

with fear. For some people, in order to

see their need, they going to have to

get scared.

>> Now, I'll be honest with you. I' I've

been in the belief a long time. I you

know I I've I've struggled with that for

many years because I thought to myself

well you know in my case as a young boy

I you know that even years after I got

saved I struggled my salvation because

of fear. I I I had a very sensitive fear

in my life about hell. And I remember

preachers preaching on that even after I

got saved. It took me many years to get

the truth settled in my heart that I was

never going there. And I thought to

myself, well people that just get saved

because they want to get out of hell,

that's just a fleshly thing. In in a

sense it is. Okay. In a sense it is. If

only reason you got saved is cuz you

wanted to get out of hell free card.

Amen. That's pretty shallow.

Amen. But you know what the Bible says

and others save with fear. You know what

the Bible trumps man's ideas and

opinions. You know that.

>> And I'll admit to you tonight, the Bible

literally says right there it is. Others

save with fear. Some people for the

drunk in the ditch, he's going to have

to get scared out of his mind

in order to be saved. There are some

people that they're going to have to

lose a loved one. They're going to have

to have some near-death experience for

God to get a hold of them. They're going

to have God's going to have to do. You

say, "Well, what's an example of that?"

Well, let me just give you an example.

All right. When Zakius got saved, you

know what the Bible said? Jesus come by

and he was up there in that tree. You

remember what he said? Zakius, come

down. He was wanting to see Jesus. Amen.

He said, "You come down. man, I'm going

to your house today. Amen. You know the

song. And so what did Zakius do? He

climbed down the tree and went to went

to his house and Jesus met him there and

he got saved. Amen. And paid all that

money back that he had stolen. God saved

and salvation had come to his house.

That's what Jesus said. But you know

what? The Apostle Paul on the road to

Damascus, you know what happened to him?

He had a supernatural

experience with God.

>> God had to grab him by the neck.

Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

It's hard for thee to kick against the

pricks. Saul fell to the GROUND BEING

BLIND. WHO ART THOU, LORD?

SAID, I'm Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Two very different situations. But you

know what happened? Salvation came in

both of them.

>> Look what he says. And others save with

fear. Saved with fear. Now, now here's

this vision of fear. Some people's going

to have to see something. And and so let

me say this to you. All right? When we

when we're dealing with somebody about

salvation, nobody's salvation experience

is the same. And so when you are

witnessing to somebody, you ought to

never use your experience as an example.

You ought to go to the Bible and say,

"This is what salvation is. For

whosoever shall call upon the name of

the Lord shall be saved." All right?

What has got them to that point? You

can't change that. If they've had some

near-death experience, if you're sitting

on the side of the road with somebody

was in a car accident and they've had a

near-death experience and you're

witnessing to them and you tell them

that verse and they're ready to get

saved, praise the Lord for it. But you

don't need to go through your testimony

>> in order to lead them to the Lord. You

need to go to this Bible.

>> Amen.

And so he says there needs to be a

vision of fear and some saved with fear.

Salvation is wrought out of a fear of

their heart.

Notice this. Not only a vision of fear,

but there needs to be a uh they are

vigilantly free. Now, I use that for a

sake of literation. Look what he says.

Verse 23. And others saved with fear.

Notice that pulling them out of the

fire. That word that word pulling there

has the same ideas of of the word

rapture. It's that that Greek word uh

harp harpun punzo. I can't remember

exactly how it's said, but it has to do

with that that shooting. It's a

retrieving. A harpoon, you know, it's

something that's shot with a rope on it

and then you can pull it back to

yourself. The rapture when we're taken

out, we're literally catched away. The

Bible says, and this verse, pulling them

out of the fire, it has the same idea.

We're reaching out. We are harpooning

them and pulling them back. You know,

tell some people you have to win that

way.

Some people are so steeped in their sin,

you have to literally take the gospel

and just stab them through the heart.

You say, "Preacher, you can't do that."

No, I can't. But I've watched the Holy

Spirit do it.

>> You preach a message to people and they

fall in a million pieces and they come

running to the altar. I've seen it time

and time again. They come running. Why?

Because they're so deep in sin. It takes

something. The the magnitude of the sin

they're in, hear what I'm fixing to say.

The magnitude of the sin that they are

in is so large that the salvation that

is offered to them has to be just as

large to get their attention.

You think about that for a minute. You

understand what I'm saying? They have to

be vigilantly. I'm talking about

vehematly vigilantly. There has to be a

strong reaching forth. And others say

with fear pulling them out of the fire.

That fire represents sudden destruction.

If it were not for the reaching forth of

the gospel, God reaching his hand into

their life and through fear in their

life getting a hold of them, they would

be destroyed. You've seen it. I've seen

it. People that are at the end of their

life on death, death's bed because of

their sin, what do they do? THEY CRY OUT

TO JESUS BECAUSE HE'S REACHING OUT HIS

HAND. THEY'VE GOT NOTHING ELSE TO LOOK

TO. THEY'VE GOT NOTHING ELSE TO CLING

TO. AND SO JESUS REACHES DOWN HIS HAND.

AND IN DESPERATION, THEY CRY OUT TO GOD,

"LORD, SAVE ME."

>> Because they in a place where the fire's

going to take them.

Notice this. Not only the vision of fear

and that they need to be freed, but I'll

say this. He tells us that it's

dangerous to witness to these type. Look

what he says. And others save with fear

pulling them out of the fire. Look what

that last phrase says. Hating even the

garment spotted by the flesh. That that

image has the idea of leprosy.

That leper, he would wear those garments

and and you know those garments would be

tainted. They would be to throw away.

He said, "You know, we're not even not

even hating the disease. We're hating

the the garment that's stained by the

disease." He says, "When you witness to

these people," he said, "you've got to

give them the gospel and nothing else."

I'll tell you this, there's been some

people in my life, and I know that

probably didn't make sense to you right

off the bat, but there's been some

people in my life God told me, I felt

like he led me through the Holy Spirit

to go and give them the gospel. But you

know what? I felt like he impressed upon

my heart, you don't strike up a

conversation with them.

You can't be friends with that person.

You can't love on that person because

they're going to pull you into their

mess.

>> Look what he says. Hating even the

garment spotted by the flesh. That

garment is not the one that's lost. That

garment is the one who is saved trying

to win the one that's lost.

You ever seen it? Mom comes walking

through the house with them muddy

clothes and what's she doing?

There's some people you got to handle

with care.

Notice it again. Hating even the garment

that is spotted by the flesh. You say,

"What is that?" Well, that's that means

we got to stay vexed by the flesh.

Stay vexed. Your flesh is defiled. And

you know what'll happen to you if you

try to witness to them. And and then out

of that, you know what? God get the

devil get a hold of you.

You say, "Preacher, there ain't no way

that could happen." I'm telling you,

friend, he's he's he's subtle.

He walketh about as a roaring lion,

seeking whom he may devour.

>> Let me say this tonight. You say,

"Preacher, I'm not at all interested in

this." You probably number one either

need to get saved or you need to get

right with God.

>> This right here is what our life is,

church.

>> Witnessing to other people. And if you

are not careful, good Christian people

get pulled into it all the time. If you

witness to somebody and that dirtiness

of their life gets on you, man, I'm

telling you, there's things that can

happen.

We need to stay vexed by the flesh,

hating even the garment spotted by the

flesh. We got to stay clean. I'll tell

you this. Uh be careful about those

family members that you have when they

want to drink and party and live it up.

You say, "Preacher, well, I'm going to

go witness to them." Well, let me just

say this. It's a whole lot easier for

them to drag you down than it is for you

to pull them up. Right?

>> Your flesh will overtake you a whole lot

more likely than the spirit will

overtake them in the midst of that

drinking mess. You're not going to be

able to witness to somebody who's who's

who's sousted,

completely gone. They're not in their

right mind anyway. There's a reason why

they call that stuff spirits.

They can't receive the truth because

they don't have no employment of the

mind to receive it with.

that man, that demoniac there in g in

the gatherines, Bible says that they

found him and he was naked. He was

running about through the tombs cutting

themselves and after Jesus dealt with

him, what happened? He was clothed in

his right mind. But you know what it

took? It took Jesus getting a hold of

him.

>> Nobody else could help him. You remember

that? The Bible says no man could bind

him. No, not with chains. You know, the

only way you'll deal with a man like

that is if God first breaks him.

>> That's exactly right. The only way that

you'll win somebody who has an addiction

that overtakes them, God's going to have

to break them first,

>> and then

then and only then will they be able to

receive the truth. Notice this, and I'm

done tonight. There's the devotion to

the Savior. There is the discernment of

souls.

And notice how it continues here. And

and I said I said all that to say this.

He's telling us how to evangelize amidst

apostasy. And I want to remind you

soulwinning it is the most important

thing that the church does apart from

praying and worshiping God. We want to

glorify God number one but we want to

win souls number two. That's our

calling. That's what we're supposed to

do. Visitation ought not to be the most

poorly attended thing of the church.

>> It ought not be the thing that everybody

gets out on because they think, "Well, I

just don't I don't I don't I just don't

know about that. I'm not that kind of

person, preacher.

Let me ask you this. You better be

thankful the person that won you to the

Lord wasn't that kind of person.

>> Notice verse 24. I'll say more about it

in a minute. Now unto him that is able

to keep you from falling and to present

you faultless before the presence of his

glory with exceeding joy. To the only

wise God our savior be glory and

majesty, dominion and power both now and

forever. Now he gives us this admonition

here, this divine sanctification. What

is that? Well, he says, "Now unto him

that is able to keep you from falling."

Amidst this age of apostasy, it would be

easier for any of us to stumble than

it's ever been.

Any of us, you, me, any of us. Right

now, in this moment is the most

dangerous time that you could live as a

Christian.

>> The last days, perilous time shall come.

It's only gotten worse, and it's only

going to get worse until he comes back.

Evil men and seducers, what does the

Bible say? shall wax worse and worse,

deceiving and being deceived.

For every truth, there's 10 lies. For

every truth, there's a hundred lies. For

every true man of God, there's 10 that

ain't preaching the word.

I'm telling you, it's a dangerous time.

But Jude says this. Now, to him that's

able to keep you from falling.

You see, God is able to preserve you in

the present.

right now in this time he is able to

preserve you. But you know what that

takes? You say, "Preacher, do you feel

like you need preservation?" I know I

need it because you know what? If I

wasn't care if it wasn't careful, I

could fall into some doctrine.

>> Turn this church inside out and upside

down.

>> Devil like nothing more than that.

>> The devil would love for me to become a

Calvinist and tell you you can't know

that you're saved. And I and you know

you e you were either saved when you

were born or or you ain't going to ever

get saved. He would love for me to

become that way. He would love for me to

roll over and get on my back and quit.

He would love Amen. If all of you just

quit believing and quit trusting the

Lord and quit being faithful to church,

he would love that.

>> Amen.

>> But let me remind you, it's going to

take God to preserve you from the

attacks of the enemy. He is able to keep

you from falling. He is able to preserve

you. But I'll say this, he's not only

able to preserve you in the present, but

I'll say this. He's also able to present

you perfect in the future. Look what he

says. Notice the verse. He's able to

keep you from falling and to present you

faultless. Faultless before the presence

of his glory with exceeding joy. Now,

this is what I love about this. You say,

"Preacher, well, I'm never going to be

faultless." Well, there ain't never been

a one that is. But you know what? The

reason we can be righteous and we can be

blameless before God is because Jesus

placed his righteousness on us. Right?

>> Because of that, he can present us pure

and blameless before the Lord. Paul

said, he said, "I've fought a good

fight. I've kept the faith. I've

finished my course. Henceforth laid up

for me, a clown of crown of

righteousness, which the Lord shall give

me at that day, not to me only, but all

to them to them also that love his

appearing." The truth is, you know, Paul

said at one place, Philippians said, "I

count not myself to apprehend it." He

said, "But this one thing I do. I'm

pressing forward the mark for the prize

of the high calling of God in Christ

Jesus. He said, "I'm reaching forward to

those things which are before and

leaving behind, forgetting those things

which are behind." He's pressing toward

that mark. And you know what? One day in

his life, he said, "I've finished."

You know what? I didn't think it was

possible that I could finish, but you

know what? If I stay in the will of God

and stay with the word of God and let

the witness of God, the Holy Spirit

guide my life, you know what he's

telling me? I can finish.

>> You don't have to finish disqualified.

You can finish perfected. He is able to

present you faultless before the

presence of his glory with exceeding

joy. So much in these verses. To the

only wise God, our savior be glory and

majesty, dominion and power both now and

forever.

The only way that we'll make it in there

is if his sanctification takes us there.

Let me say this to you tonight. The

drive the drive of this message has been

this subject of discernment and souls. I

dealt with a message this morning

concerning the souls of men.

And the truth is tonight, the soul is

the most valuable thing that is.

>> My soul, your soul, it's the most

valuable thing that there is.

Let me say this to you. There's plenty

out there that have not been reached

with the gospel.

And this is what I'm afraid of. You say,

"Preacher, well, I want to reach them. I

want to reach them."

This is what I'm afraid of. People are

not prepared to reach them.

You say, "What do you mean I'm not

prepared to reach them?" Well, you're

not faithful in your Bible.

You're not faithful to your prayer

closet. I'll tell you this. I'd hate to

try to be leading somebody out of hell

and hadn't prayed in a week.

Hadn't read my Bible in three days.

You say, "What does it require?"

requires faithfulness.

There's going to be souls that come in

this week. I ain't ain't a doubt in my

mind. I feel like the Holy Ghost been

impressing me about this since we since

we started talking about this meeting.

There going to be people here this week

that's lost. And the thing is, I don't

know. I mean, there's some of you I

don't think I could trust you to lead

them to the Lord.

You say, "Preacher, how dare you say

that?" I'm just trying to be real with

you. You don't live it.

It doesn't mean anything to you. Why do

you expect to be able to lead somebody

to God if if your Christian life doesn't

even mean anything to you?

>> This thing's more than a game.

>> It's more than Sunday and Wednesday

night and revival meeting. It's more

than that.

>> You're going to have to have some

discernment. You know where that comes

from? It comes from time in this book

and time on your knees.

And we need it.

And the thing is, I believe we're not

having missionaries and preachers called

is because men are not listening.

They're not taking seriously the call of

God on their life because they're not

even opening the Bible enough to hear

it.

I'll tell you this, the call of God

started working in my life in my

personal private study time. When I felt

God calling me to preach, it wasn't

because I heard some sermon somewhere.

It's because there was a burning in my

heart from that book right there that I

was reading in my own time. You got to

tell somebody about what that says. And

it's more than just soul winning and

just witnessing. There was a fire shut

up in my bones and I just couldn't let

it go. But you know what? They come a

day when that preacher preached a

message and God said, "Son, it's time."

You know what I did? I didn't hesitate.

I've heard people say this. Well, you

know, you ought to wait a little while

and think about that. I tell you what, I

was just as sure as anything I ever

done. That's what he want me to do. Why

don't you take it seriously?

I can't understand a person that would

spend their life saying that they're

called of God, never do anything with

it.

>> Saying that you're saved, never telling

anybody else how to be saved.

It's serious.

Let me ask you tonight, what's your

decision? Because the truth is we're

living in apostasy. We would all agree

with that. But the command is still the

same. What Jesus say? Go ye, teach all

nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father and the Son and of the Holy

Ghost, teaching them to observe all

things whatsoever I've commanded you.

You know what that requires?

Discernment.

You going to have to know some things.

Don't wait on me to teach you

everything. Don't wait on these

gray-haired saints of God here to teach

you how to seow win.

I know it's quiet,

but when we going to take it seriously,

every head bowed and every eye closed

tonight.

I told you this

when I first came to the church, and

I've been telling you this since I came,

that we're going to take this thing

higher.

We're going to draw near to God.

You know what that's going to require?

That's going to require things to get

holier.

It's going to require people to be more

right with God than they've ever been.

It's going to require you to embrace the

burden maybe you've never embraced

before.

You say, "Preacher, I want to win

souls." But you say that, but you're not

faithful.

This altar's open.

Say, "Preacher,

if I come up there, I'm going to admit

you need what I'm saying."

Let me tell you this. Every one of us

need to step it up,

include myself. There's souls that's

lost and dying all around us every day.

And if we don't reach them, who's going

to? Let me ask you, who's going to get a

burden?

Who's going to shed tears on an altar?

Who's going to decide that they're going

to lose some sleep?

Say, "Preacher, well, God's not put it

on me." It's because you can't take it.

Get in your prayer closet AND GET BEFORE

GOD AND SAY, "GOD, MAKE ME WHO YOU WANT

ME TO BE."

I'm talking about real Christian life,

real discernment, real devotion to God.

The reason why you can't shout that

Jesus is coming back is because you

don't ever talk to him.

Man, I'm telling you, I'm thankful that

when I step foot over there, I'm not not

concerned ABOUT WONDERING WHAT HIS voice

is going to sound like. I know what his

voice sounds like. He greets me in the

morning and goes with me through the day

and goes to bed with me at night. I KNOW

HIS VOICE AND I BLESS HIS NAME. THAT HE

WALKS WITH ME AND TALKS WITH ME AND

TELLS ME THAT I'M HIS OWN. AND MAN, I'M

TELLING YOU, IT'S JOY LIVING FOR JESUS

AND SERVING FOR JESUS. BUT WHY DON'T

SOME OF YOU GET IN ON IT?

You're going to have all week,

but even then, I'm afraid some of you

still won't.

I'm being real candid tonight. But I got

to tell you the truth.

Some have come to pray. You need to come

tonight.

You may be here tonight and you're not

saved.

Say, "Preacher, I don't know Jesus.

Would you pray for me?

Preacher, I'm not saved. Nobody looking

around but me. Holy Ghost deal with your

heart.

Hey, Jesus loves you.

Wherever you're at, Jesus loves you.

He died to save you." Let me say this.

There's no pit too deep. There's no

place too dark that his mercy can't

reach through and have a you can have a

breakthrough tonight and know him and be

close to him and have what YOU'VE NEVER

HAD BEFORE IN YOUR LIFE. You can lay

your head on your pillar TONIGHT WITH

PEACE. LET ME SAY THIS TO YOU, CHILD OF

GOD. YOU CAN LAY YOUR head on your

pillow tonight WITH PEACE IF YOU ONLY DO

WHAT GOD IS TELLING YOU TO. You say,

"Preacher, but it hurts. IT'S GOING TO

COST ME." WELL, LET ME SAY THIS. THE

CHRISTIAN LIFE WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING.

But unless you're willing to surrender,

you'll never know that true peace,

that peace of God that passeth all

understanding.

Father, I pray in Jesus name tonight.

Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you'd join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 7:00 p.m. For

more information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.