Winning Christ

I want to read a verse to you this morning from Paul's writings to the church in Philippians he says but what things were gained to me those I counted lost for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things but laws for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done or rubbish that I might win Christ this is an amazing statement from the Apostle Paul I want to win Christ this was not about Paul's salvation it was Secure in his salvation this was beyond that I lost everything it means nothing to me I want to know Christ and I want to win Christ and I want to preach to you about that this morning when in Christ you can be seated uh there was a there was a an old Leonard Ravenhill book that I don't know my my Hunger for God whatever prompted me to go back and and read this book and it stirred me again as it did so many years ago and it reminded me of something a man told us that came to our church maybe 10 12 15 years ago but he came up after a very stirring service and he said man I love you Pastor I love brother Ryan he said my old pastor this is not a reflection on him because anyway he just said he always told us how good we were and he said you and brother Ryan you're trying to make us better well I thought that's what preaching was for anyway he's a great guy I would have told him he's a great guy but you know as you age priorities change amen I read about an older man he bought a little electronic device at Target and as he was checking out the the cashier asked him said do you want to buy this little uh plan this little warning plan that goes with it and he said ma'am I'm so old I don't even buy green bananas I wish to go preach I'm sure your pastor went and preached for this man in the St Louis area and he was a sweet sweet man he was aged a little he always had all the guys that were working up at World Headquarters would come he'd have us preaching so I went there a number of times during the years that I was up there and it was kind of an interesting observation so they they had like they had Sunday school like we all of us did many years ago and then they'd have morning worship well Sunday school he would pick his he would pick up the podium and he would take it halfway back in the congregation and so all the people were sitting in the back so I had gone there about three times and my curiosity got the best of me and I asked him I said can you tell me why why do you take the podium to the back he said Brother Dean I tried for years to get everybody to move up and he said I couldn't get him to move up so I just moved back there with them you know I I didn't tell him this he was my Elder but it reminded me of King jeroboam when he said to Israel after the division of the Nations the tribes he said it's too hard for you to go to Jerusalem it's a long way that's a long journey so I'm going to build you a I'm going to build you a golden calf up here in the north and I'm going to build you one in the south in other words we're going to make it convenient for you even name the golden calf Yahweh isn't that amazing so we're gonna we're gonna fix you up there is uh there is uh years ago Rebecca's daddy Brother David Scott who was our assistant for 10 years and has now been in Atlanta 25 years it's hard to believe but David Wilkerson some of you younger ones wouldn't know David Wilkerson but he was kind of an icon wrote the cross in the switchblade and uh anyway he came for a convention at Shreveport and they had nightly services and the church that sponsored him fixing to make some of you real nervous the church that sponsored him that the Pastor said why don't we have a meaning for pastors during the daytime so Shreveport Convention Center we went down and there was a ton maybe 600 pastors every denomination and so we were excited about hearing him and he so he he spoke and his subject was television y'all don't get nervous I'm not your pastor I'm not going to work anybody over I have never heard anybody preached so hard against the evils of television when I tell you he skinned the hides and poured in salt it was amazing nobody went to the Altar and prayed but at any rate so the next day the second session so we go back wondering what he's going to preach on the next day but the crowd had disappeared there's hardly anybody there the truth was everything he said was the truth everything he said was true but this was funny so he gets up and said now we got rid of all the people who are not serious about God and he taught one of the most incredible Bible lessons on the priesthood that I have ever heard now I didn't tell you that to rebuke anybody I just I'm telling you that because it fits in my message isn't it amazing that Paul at the end of his ministry and they say this epistle to the Philippians is one of his last Epistles that he wrote it from a prison in Rome isn't it amazing that at this stage of his life after seeing what he saw the Miracles he saw people raised from the dead the punishment he suffered the days he's been in jail I mean he didn't go into town looking for a hotel he knew he was going to have free rent in a few days he knew that he's going to prison isn't amazing at this stage of his life he's still talking about winning Christ that I might win Christ is that that is astonishing to me that this great apostle who they said of Paul he turned the world upside down and he's talking about winning Christ so as as I aged I began to think in my own life how can I win Christ this is not about my salvation I heard brother J.T if you make a statement many many years ago about his salvation he said Heaven is not my goal Heaven is my destiny I've been born again I've obeyed Acts 2 38. I do my best to stay full of the Holy Ghost and lay aside every weight and the sin I'm absolutely secure in my salvation this morning amen I do a lot of repenting in my life just to make sure do you you should put it under the blood you confess your sins and forsake them you know but but anyway Heaven is my destiny that's not my goal I want to win Christ I found this verse in the in the in the song of songs which is Solomon's he said and of course we know we know that this is a parallel between Christ and the church The Pride this little Song of Solomon but he said in chapter 4 verse 9 thou Hast ravished my heart my sister my spouse thou has ravished my heart with one of thine eyes with one chain of thy neck how fair is thy love my sister my spouse how much better is thy love than Wine and the smell of thine ointments than all spices this word ravished is an interesting word and it caught my attention and when I looked it up it literally means to unheart you've ravished my heart what we would say you stole my heart so here is the type of Christ and the Bride In Christ is saying you stole my heart you ravished my heart are you listened to me amen I want you to listen to me so I I start thinking about how how is it that I could have Jesus say of me and I know this is the bride and it's the corporate bride it's all of us how can we win Christ how do we have him say of us Atlanta West you stole my heart it's not that we don't know he loves us we know that because we believe his word but for him to say to this little bride this man who had all the wives you know it's like Ronnie Lacombe said he said Sarah sometimes me and God disagree he said he called him the wisest man in the world and he had 700 wives there's no reflection on you ladies it kind of is wasn't it I anyway I didn't mean it that way so I remembered this book that Gary Chapman wrote many many years ago and we give this book to every couple that's getting married in our church and if they read it it'll help them they should call the five love languages okay so you have these five love languages you say I have number one quality time you have physical touch you have acts of service you have words of affirmation and you have receiving gifts so when I'm thinking about winning Christ are you with me I'm like I wonder to myself because my wife and I have studied this we've identified Each Other's Love Languages very clearly it's pretty plain so I'm wondering does God have a love language is there something I can do that's his love language well hey if I can find out I'm going to do it because I want to win Christ I want to win Christ amazing so I'm thinking about quality time you know my wife and I hit the big 5-0 June tonight does that give us a hand all right yeah 50 years you know what we did nothing all my kids came at a letter date and when they could get their calendars together and we did something all right but it was like Patsy Huntley y'all know the huntleies they had their 50th anniversary and they have a little land and a mobile home on the land he said I want to do something special for you for our 50th wedding anniversary and she said let's go out and spend one whole month a month of July in our mobile home turn your phone off it's going to be me and you you know what our love language is quality time my wife told me last Friday who I'm fixing to get excited I'm going home this evening Hallelujah she said I miss being with you you know my love language is words of affirmation so I'm not saying my wife's love language is quality time but I wonder if that's one of God's love languages quality time can I spend some time with you Mickey Mangan wrote that song I miss my time with you it's God I miss my time with you I wonder if God has a love language called quality time I like when you come and spend time with me turn your phone off get off Facebook get off Instagram set everything aside pick up my love letter to the church and you'll spend some time with me if that's and you know what that is one of his love languages he likes that could you not give me one hour that's what he said wasn't it could you not pray with me one hour that's what he said to his disciples I don't eat all day just give me some time I think that's the Cry of God to the church today I think the last day church is being called to quality time [Applause] let's have a prayer meeting let's get together let's talk to him let's shut the world out and it's hard to do my phone was buzzing while I was sitting here in worship and and I'm a little lady d and I'm OCD a little bit I grew up OCD and then my wife diagnosed me add and as my doctor if he'd give me some medicine for ADD and he looked at me and said who diagnosed you I said my wife he kept typing his computer I said well he said no I said why not he said we never tried it on anybody your age that's a comforting thought that's wild so I was LCD growing up God healed me literally that's a testimony then my wife diagnosed me with ADD and after the doctor told me that I just decided I'm old there you have it God wants time so here's another one physical touch now pretty much all men have this love language you know physical touch Not all men and that's that's one of my love languages is let me let me tell you what I found out when you when you get in the presence of God and you feel like you've touched him I think he likes that things die in the presence of God things that you couldn't get rid of by yourself in your heart in your mind anger bitterness any frustration you get in the presence of God and when you touch him when you touch him something happens and things can die and diseases can be healed it happened in the Bible didn't it if I can just Touch the Hem of His Garment I know I'll be made whole we want to touch him that's what we're doing today in our praise and worship and what beautiful praise and worship you have we're trying to touch God we're trying to reach out and touch God why don't you give the Lord a hand clap right now now and then there's acts of service and I can prove you in the Bible that this is one of God's love languages I want to win Christ so I want to find out what moves the heart of God I want to find out what he favors I want to find out what his love language is my wife's love language is acts of service it's real simple I'm fixing to give you guys a little marriage advice all right no I don't think I will you'll forget it anyway here here's here's my spouse 50 years why do I have to ask you to take the trash out hey here's some ladies laughing real hard because they've said it 50 times when you open the trash can you see it just like I do it's full that light bulb's been out three weeks and you got to know my wife a light bulb even if she never turns it on if it don't work it's got to be fixed it's called acts of service you know water the flowers pull the weeds out get the lawn mowed it's too hot in this house call the AC man boy I'm hitting some nerves right now my wife is they call them junkers do we have any junkers in the house he used to call it Shabby Chic and Furniture I don't think they do that anymore I never heard of the term I I didn't know anything about it so they go junking they go they have this big deal called trade days in Canton Texas and it takes you all day to go through all that it's a fleet it's a it's a glorified flea market and you go out under the trees you don't go where it's cool you go out under the trees because that's where you get the best deals and you bring it home and you paint it and and you paint it white nearly everything in our house she's painted and when you get through painting it you scrape it you get a hammer you get a chain you bust it up I mean everything in our house was getting painted White I'm afraid to bend over I get painted here it's an acts of service I gotta hurry on so one night one night she's been to Canton she's been up it's near Dallas she's been to Canton to trade days so I have a pickup so we're we're in the bed and she says how about me and you exchanging Vehicles tomorrow this is strange I said so you wanna you want my truck yeah you you can drive my car I'm laying here thinking this is weird I said so you bought something today you couldn't fit in your Forerunner yeah I did I found a great deal I'll bring it home and paint it white I said why don't I go with you you would do that well I I know what her love language is I said I would love to do it I don't have to I don't have anything to keep me from doing it I won't go tomorrow the office I'll go with you brother this was one awesome day I've never had so many I love years in my life I'm I'm talking about man grabbing my hand on the way home rubbing my shoulders caressing my arm I'm like ah let's get home let's get home as quick as we can here it's a wonderful day you know you you know what happened I spoke her love language and so I'm asking does God have a love language are you a volunteer in the church do you have any acts of service do you know I know this please as God because God taught us that it's greater to go down than to go up that heat values servanthood that he places a high value on people who are willing to wash somebody else's feet which would translate Maybe into our world is to just an act of kindness to somebody else hello that God loves for us to do more amen somebody shout out Hallelujah right now I gotta hurry on and then there's words of affirmation you know what he likes that God likes for you to say hey God you're great you know how I know he likes it he commanded me to do it if you have breath you're supposed to praise God hey Atlanta West hear me in America we ought to be the greatest praisers in the world we ought to have more Thanksgiving and praise than anybody in the world [Applause] the Bible said serve the Lord with gladness I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord when the preacher says clap your hands you ought to clap your hands with joy when he says shout you ought to shout because that's one of his love languages words of affirmation God doesn't need it to be God I need it to understand that God appreciates and loves that I've had I've had the privilege of praising and worshiping god with people across the globe and it's been a delight I I don't even have time to tell you of all the experiences that I've had but my my missions Endeavor started in Hong Kong on about the 40th floor of a high-rise and then in the Philippines with dirt floors you know I mean I'm on like the 40th floor of a skyscraper in a closed room and people to praise and then we're in the Philippines where people never sit down I don't know why they bring chairs to church because people just worship and go out in the Barrio and there's a floor I've been in Mexico in a Coliseum I think it was 110 degrees in there Mexico in this Crusade was the only place I've ever been where the women sweated like the men when they had prey service those women put big beautiful colorful streamers on tambourines and they came out of those they came out of the out of the bleachers and in the Coliseum down to the floor worshiping God I've been in Puerto Rico up in the mountains and lizards crawling on the wall and people praising God I was in a field in Nicaragua with ten thousand nicaraguans they had rented 5 000 chairs they should have saved their money they never sat down almost 2 300 people received the Holy Ghost in three nights they rode in the backs of pickups coming to church I've been in Panama in Panama I'm preaching in a country church and they're cooking in a hole in the ground in the back and you can smell it coming up over and I'm I'm preaching with that going on all right and and after the service missionary Hopkins said do you want to eat with them or you want to go to town I don't know what they're eating I want to go to town I've been in Costa Rica in a place and I I will never forget a lady feeding her baby with one arm and the other arm up like this I could tell you of many places I've been in the Dominican Republic where it was so hot sweat was pouring off of my body nobody's sitting down and here's what I've observed in all of my travels around the world the people who appear to have the least to praise God for praise him the most and the people who have the most to thank God for seem to praise him the least that's one of God's love languages it's not a secret the greatest Revival in the world is happening in those third world countries and in China in underground churches come on Atlanta West God's got a love language and one of them is clap your hands all you people and Shout [Applause] [Music] yeah the people who look like they have less to praise God for praise him more [Applause] foreign one of the last of these Love Languages is receiving gifts and that's the love language of a lot of people you know I have a son-in-law you just give him a baseball cap and he goes crazy you know buy him a shirt we're opening Christmas gifts and he leaves everybody else and goes in tries the shirt on comes out strutting I like this get him to get him a cap you know and he's thrilled out of his mind my wife she don't dislike flowers she'd rather have the cash I see a lady with her hand out back there she's like that was probably 70 bucks give me the money honey I'll go junk and find something to paint White I will tell you this is God's love language so much that he has said the first fruits are mine I've always been amazed that when David asked God if he could build him a temple and God said no I don't need it Heavens my Throne Earth is my foot still what are you going to build for me and Solomon built that Temple with the materials that David had accumulated through War and he built that Temple God said I don't want it but when they dedicated it he showed up they didn't have to RSVP God they offered sacrifices without number the Bible said don't count them it don't matter this is for God I appalled Atlanta West did you say 280 thousand for move the mission tell you this is one of his love languages I told your pastor this story I hadn't thought of in a long time and I'm going to close real quick but I thought of this uh so the last building we built we didn't have to borrow any money we were blessed and thrilled and thankful the the banker who had loaned US money on our life center called me and he said pastor Dean who's doing your loan I said but yes we're not having to borrow money and we saved our money and he's like hey that's cool glad to hear that anyway a few days later he called me and said can I have a meeting can I have an appointment I said come on I'll make you some coffee he came out and we were sitting drinking coffee and he said brother Pastor Dean I looked at your financial statement and I noticed that uh the strength of your church is in two things it's in your tithing and in your missions giving he said I'm on the committee the finance committee of it he named the church he said we have 6 000 members and he said I think two percent of our people tithe and he said how do you get your people to tie that's well I don't know we believe it's Bible we preach it he said every January my pastor takes four weeks and he does this stewardship campaign and he talks about tithing and he said it don't work I said yes we probably teach it differently than you how do you teach it I said we tell them they're going to hell if they don't y'all don't believe I told him that do you the truth is I've never told anybody that never told the church that but I have told them you're going to have a curse on your life that's not the point ladies and gentlemen Atlanta West that's not the point any guests that are here today we're trying to win Christ we're trying to win Christ to an agriculture Society who lived and died on agriculture God said I want your first grapes I want your first barley I want your first lamb because that's one of his love languages it's a signal to God so let's review them quality time physical touch acts of service words of affirmation receiving gifts I want to win Christ if these are his love languages do you want to speak them do you want to Ravish his heart do you want to steal his heart amen amen so much Hallelujah I want to close today if the musicians will come because I want time for us to pray we need a demonstration maybe somebody wants to come and make a commitment say God I want to win you there's some areas here I failed in and if this is what you want I want to do it we our prison our ladies in prison ministry want a lady of the Lord her name is Burrito wrong uh this is quite a few years ago Rita was a trip she's an African-American lady and they they prayed her through twice you got out of prison the first time she had an addiction to drugs and the first time she got out of prison she got back into real lifestyle she went back the next time she went into prison she started coming to our church now she was a trip she had one of our men made her some teeth we have a man that makes teeth and he made her some tea she had ruined her teeth with drugs and she was the case she was the case she told me years later she said pastor I didn't want to come to this white church now we're multinational like you are here but we're predominantly white he said I didn't want to come to this white hockey Church that's her words and I said why she said cause y'all are not going to like My Worship she believed in the hand on the help stuff like we have videos of her jumping up and down I will never forget the first missions conference we had she was working two jobs just to pay her bills two jobs and it was crazy she was a blast in the prayer room I had to start wearing earbuds they'll literally turn on my music so I mean when she prays for her kids that are lost she prays for them like this God I done told you and told you about Richard he's fixing to get me another grandbaby and I don't need no more grandbabies he gonna be back in jail I don't know what to do I don't talk to God and that's the way she prayed I put in my air buds first missions conference she came in the side door I happened to be on that side of the church she had a sandwich bag she was a pastor look at me yeah she had a sandwich bag and she had a lot she had money in there she had written on the outside with a sharpie missions offered Rita how much money you got in there she said I got a thousand it was like a thousand two hundred and twelve dollars where did you get that I asked people for it it's a true unempbellished story I asked people for it said his permissions pastor I wish I had that bag I wish I had it I miss her we were in Canada on vacation my daughter calls me crying Dad I think Purina just got killed in a car wreck she was in our church probably eight years no charity no I called I hung him and I called verita's best friend Carolyn I said when she answered the phone she was crying I was Caroline it's not true she wasn't that old she couldn't talk she was crying you know what happened I didn't know I didn't know she gave everything away she gave everything away [Music] she had a blowout and her tires were bald and if I would have known [Music] there's a hundred people in Bossier who would have bought her tires but we didn't know we did not know we had our funeral was the most awesome funeral I've ever attended in my life her lifetime ago was to get out of the ghetto and she really didn't live in a ghetto but she called it a ghetto she would have never got out because anything extra she had she gave it away I mean when she got out of prison one of our sweet ladies said Rita come I want to fix you supper and she went to her house Sabrina what can I do for you tonight she said do you have a bathtub oh yeah I have a bathtub can I take a hot bath [Music] I haven't had a hot bath in a long time yes at the end of her funeral I started singing address change address change notification I'm moving to a brand new home she got out of the ghetto she spoke his love language now listen to me brothers and sisters we're too educated in the Bible not to know she would probably still been us been with us had we known you cannot ignore what God is calling us to do today cannot ignore it let's stand somewhere in this building there's somebody that wants to make a commitment to God maybe you've never been baptized as the Pastor said earlier you're ready to step out and do something to win Christ I want to Ravish his heart lift your hands high right now all over this building close your eyes and lift them up to Jesus and say Jesus show me what I can do steal your heart it's not about your salvation if you've been obedient and been born again it's about coming to this stage in life where you're saying I want to win Christ [Music] I want to win foreign there's a Revival coming that your new facility won't hold and I know you long to be out of two services but when we win Christ he's made some promises to us the Harvest is bigger than you realize do what you can do but it should never be enough so is there something you can do to speak a love language of God this morning foreign [Music]