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ABC Prayer Crusade

Getting Through to God

Glenn Coon

01-Oh God, Do You Care?

02-I Have Trouble Everywhere

03-My Drowning Brother Saved

04-Sincere Sinners

05-Hallelujah 6000 Dollars

06-Then Everything Went Wrong

07-The Agony Was Great

08-Satisfying Fellowship

09-Legalism Be Gone

10-Answers Delayed, Why?

11-Jesus Disobeyed Me

12-Converted Against Her Will

13-Stake Your Claim

14-Eternal Life Now?

In our study at this hour, friends, we hope that the Holy Spirit will make clear to us how we should communicate with men and women who appear antagonistic or flippant or unconcerned.

In 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 7 it says, For the Lord seeth not as man seeth.

For man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart.

I'd like you to notice 4 classes of individuals to whom we communicate.

Like the individual who called me on the telephone at midnight from across the continent and presented to me in sobs his longing for reconciliation in his home.

He hoped that somehow I might be some factor in this.

But of course, I could not compel or try to compel love.

Love is based either on admiration, romantic love, or common interest, filial love, or divine pity, divine love.

And only if this is present can there be a true reconciliation you see.

But this was an obvious seeker all of us are able to recognize the obvious seeker but then the second class is that individual appears to be extremely antagonistic.

We're tempted not even pray for this individual.

And if we do talk with this individual, we're tempted to take him on, to win an argument or to belittle him.

Notice God's attitude toward this belligerent appearing person.

In the 102nd Psalm, verses 20 and 21, it says, he hath looked down from his sanctuary.

From the height of heaven hath the Lord beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, and to loose those who are appointed to death." God looks down and he sees inside of the human heart.

He looks beyond the facade of bitterness and antagonism, which we don't usually do.

We don't stop usually to diagnose, to analyze, why is this person bitter?

Why does he appear to be so antagonistic?

No man can love until he knows he is loved, 1 John 4, 19.

So the individual who appears so bitter, so antagonistic, is actually reflecting a situation that exists in his heart.

Is there a God in heaven who is giving me any hope?

And not realizing that there's infinite love extended to him and forgiveness and cleansing, he becomes more and more bitter.

And if we look on the outward appearance, not realizing that the basic trouble with his heart is that he doesn't know he's loved and we do not reflect love, our whole communication is counterproductive.

Let me give you an illustration of how we can communicate with those who apparently are so antagonistic.

By the way you may wish to read at your convenience 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 24 to 26 it says there that we should in meekness communicate to those who oppose themselves If peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.

A personal illustration of how nearly I came to completely misunderstanding the bitter antagonist.

We're conducting a series of meetings in a in a tabernacle We devoted 7 and a half minutes to questions and answers 1 evening as we're still in the prayer room just before we were ready to step on the rostrum, somebody stepped in, thinking we were through praying, and handed me a set of questions.

And as I looked at this series of questions, I glanced down quickly and I noticed it said read these aloud to the audience and Then answer them at once.

I realized just to have read them to the audience would take probably 15 minutes and we only had devoted 7 and a half minutes to the question answer period and I noticed that these questions are very belligerent and at once the coon in me said ah I can nail that fella to the wall I have enough text of scripture to take care of that, smarty.

And then, thank the Lord, the Lord caught up with me and the Lord said something like this, how would it be if you represented Jesus instead of Kuhn?

If you can reveal, if you can reflect, if you can dramatize the kindness of Jesus Christ and the infinite love of God, you may lead him to repentance.

Oh I said thank you Lord, but I still sort of bristled, you know.

When I stepped out onto the rostrum and answered a lot of other questions, I only had about maybe 30 seconds left.

I picked up this series of questions, 28 series of questions.

By this time the Lord had gotten through.

And I said, friends, I hold in my hand some wonderful questions.

And I said, I'm sure these questions come from a very sincere individual.

They deserve far more than a few moments.

This fine individual deserves an hour or 2 when we could sit down quietly together and I'd be happy to do that since our time is so limited now.

And with that I laid the questions aside.

The Holy Spirit blessed me because I'd let Jesus control me.

2 or 3 nights later I got another letter from this same individual.

Dear sir, the way you answered my questions the other night broke my heart.

Then he went on to say, I was reared in a Christian home.

As a little boy, I knelt by my mother's knee.

I was in love with Jesus Christ, but as I grew up, little by little, I lost my fellowship in Jesus.

I began to backslide and wander away from him.

Then I began to pick up these infidelic, atheistic, doubting books.

And little by little, I lost the Lord entirely until finally everything in my life seemed to go wrong and I became very bitter.

And he said, so I've wandered on for years without God, without hope.

And he said, with that thought in mind, I came to the conclusion that Christianity was a humbug and Christians were all hypocrites.

And I came to your meeting the other night to stir up a little strife.

But he said, when you treated me as kindly, so kindly as you did, it broke my heart.

I listened through your sermon, and the Lord got through to me with his love.

I returned home from your meeting, and sir, for the first time since I was a little child I fell on my knees before my heavenly father and I implored him to forgive me for all my transgression I received forgiveness and cleansing and now he is my personal savior.

Friends, as I read that letter, it seemed like the goose bumps almost came out on my arms.

Suppose I'd taken him on, not recognizing, not analyzing, not diagnosing, that the reason why he was belligerent was he didn't understand that God loved him.

And God, through me, unworthy though I was, revealed a little of that love.

Oh friends, realize that he is bitter, he's antagonistic because he doesn't know the love of God.

Instead of our arguing and belittling and taking him on, let's say, oh Lord reveal through me to him that God loves him.

God isn't saying, when you shape up, I'll love you.

While we were yet sinners and enemies, God loved us.

The third class is the unconcerned, apparently.

Maybe they're just absent from church and we think, well they don't care and if they don't care why should I care?

Ah friends, maybe they're absent for the same reason the man was belligerent.

Maybe somehow the love of God is faded out.

Maybe he's never gotten through to them with his immense immeasurable love.

Perhaps we Christians have not somehow been able to dramatize his love.

Somehow they haven't realized that God loves us just as we are.

5 years ago, we're holding a series of meetings in El Paso, Texas.

1 of the officers of the church came to me 1 day and he said we had a little difficulty in our church several years ago and he said we took sides and he said my brother and I found ourselves on the losing side and So my brother has not returned to church anymore.

He or his wife He said my wife and I are in regular attendance, but he said he doesn't come anymore.

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Getting Through to God

04-Sincere Sinners

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