Telling The TRUTH
101511 Telling The Truth 28 Minute Program
[music] You're listening to "Telling the Truth" from Triple T. Christian Youth Ministries, "Telling the Truth to and Through Teenagers." Here is Triple T. founder and president, George Dooms. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is running rampant in Sodom and Gomorrah, and God is about to do something about to take a drastic step. But Abraham is pleading with God. Listen to Genesis 1824, New King James Version. Suppose there were 50 righteous within the city. Would you also destroy the place, and not spare it for the 50 righteous that were in it? Negotiations with God sometimes are listened to, and sometimes heated. What about you? When you see people turning their backs on God, when you see them running away from Him, trying to destroy others with them, are you concerned, are you compassionate, are you praying for those people who are lost, who need Jesus? I hope you are. Whoever you are, whoever they are, God has a plan that is called the plan of salvation. Jesus came to save sinners. He died, he was buried, he rose again, and the gospel is that message and an invitation to believe, to trust. Are you willing to share your faith, if you are a believer, with those who do not know Christ? I hope you are. I hope you will. Today, someone is waiting, someone is ready. Would you tell them the truth? Genesis 1825, New King James Version, presents the continuing plea from Abraham to God, not to destroy Sodom. Listen, "Forbe it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked, far be it from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" Of course, God will always do right. And Abraham was trying to rationalize, what about you? Are you concerned about people who are heading for an eternity away from God? There is a real hell, there is a real heaven, and those who believe on Christ are going to heaven. Those who do not are condemned already because they have not believed. Who you know, who needs to know that Jesus loves them, that he dies for them, that he rose again, and that he wants to give them life that lasts forever? Are you willing to pray with other believers? Are you willing to read God's word? Are you willing to go with the gospel to those who need the Lord? I hope you will do something right now. Pray, of course, asking God to keep those people alive and wait until you can go to them with the gospel. But don't procrastinate, don't put it off, get ready to go now with God's wonderful, glorious, thrilling good news. Abraham has pleaded with God, saying if you can find 50 people, will you spare them? Listen to how God responds. Genesis 1826, New King James Version. And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom, "50 righteous within the city, "then I will spare all the place for their sakes. "50 righteous out of the entire city?" Yes, God is very willing to go the extra mile, always. But what about you? Are you willing to go the extra mile pleading with God not to destroy the people who are messing up their lives and the lives of others because they are rejecting God's love? Are you willing to not only ask God to spare them, but are you willing to go to them with the good news of the saving power of the Lord Jesus? God wants us to put feet in our prayers. He wants us to activate our influence. He wants us to pray for those people who need Him, to pray with other believers, to read His word, and then to go. There is somebody waiting for you to tell them the truth. Jesus said, "I am the way." The truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except by me. Would you tell that truth to someone for whom you care today? I hope you will. Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, "I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself "to speak to the Lord." Genesis 1827, the King James Version. Humbling himself, going before God, Abraham had asked for mercy on those people who had rejected the Lord. If God can just find 50, are you willing to talk to the Lord about a few people? Some of us are praying for the whole world, and that's wonderful, but what about the specific individuals within your sphere of influence whom you could be reaching with the gospel? Are you praying for them? Are you praying for God's direction? Are you praying for God's mercy? Are you praying for God's help? Are you praying for God's wisdom? God will lead you. He will guide you. He will direct you, if you ask Him. Get ready to go with the gospel. Are you willing? Do you care about the people who really need the Lord? I want to somehow motivate you and other believers to just take the gospel and present it. Present it effectively, present it passionately, present it biblically, and then watch God work wonderfully. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were in trouble. They had sinned against God, and God was angry. He was about to make a move that would destroy that entire city, but Abraham was very, very concerned. Abraham thought that there might be just a few people that were right with God. He listened to the conversation between God and Abraham, Genesis 1828, New King James. Suppose there were just five less than the 50 righteous. Would you destroy all of the city for lack of five? And he said, "If I find 45, I will not destroy it." God is patient. God is wonderful, but we need to understand that God will always fulfill His promise. Even if that promise is the destruction of a sinful city. What are you doing about the place where you live? Are you pleading with God for the people who are not right with God? Are you going to them with God's glorious gospel? Are you concerned enough to agonize in prayer before the Lord? Are you really, really anxiously awaiting their redemption, their personal salvation? Are you going with the gospel? Are you praying with others? Are you heeding the word of God? Then go now. Abraham was very concerned about the forthcoming destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He continued to negotiate first for 50 righteous people to be found, then for 45. Now listen to Genesis 1829, New King James, and the reduced number. Then he spoke to him again and said, "Suppose there should be 40 found there." And he said, "I will not do it for the sake of 40." 40 righteous people in a big, big city. God compassionately said, "Yes, if you find 40." What about where you live? How many people really are living for the Lord? And what about all of those masses who have not yet responded to God's wonderful love and opened their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you doing something about it? Are you pleading with God? Are you asking Him to save them? Are you putting feet on your prayers and going with God's wonderful plan of salvation? His redemptive idea that Christ died was buried in rose again for the sins of people? And if they would trust Him, that is Jesus Christ, they would be saved? Are you telling people the truth? Are you getting the message into the hearts and minds and circumstances of those for whom you are concerned? I hope you are. I hope you will. I hope you will continue to go with God's glorious gospel today. Can you imagine how much apprehension Abraham had as he approached God for the fourth time? First asking that Sodom be spared if 50 righteous people could be found there. Then 45, then 40. Now listen to Genesis 1830, New King James Version. And he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak." Suppose 30 should be found there. And he said, "I will not do it if I find 30 there." Reducing the number again and again because he couldn't believe that there might not be that many who were righteous in that one city. How many righteous people do you know who live where you are, who are really in tune with God? How many people do you know who are not in tune with God? What are you doing about it? Are you praying with other believers whom you know who are also concerned and are you praying for their friends and your friends and together? Are you going with the gospel to all of your friends? However many that might be. Pray. Read God's Word. And then take John 3, 16 seriously. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that her beliefs in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Tell someone today. Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m. you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T. 13,000 US-41 North at Boone Building Harmony Road midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. [MUSIC] Harvest possibilities. Sewing and reaping is a very biblical concept. Between the first time the word harvest appears, Genesis 822 and its final time, Revelation 1415, harvest is used a total of 68 times. 55 in the Old Testament and 13 in the New Testament. All of these by Jesus. In Mark 4, 26 through 29, Jesus presents the principle of sewing and reaping. Listen to the very first time harvest is used in the word of God. Genesis 822, while the earth remains seed time and harvest cold and heat winter and summer and day and night shall not cease. But then comes the wrap-up. Revelation 14, 14 through 16. Then I looked and behold a white cloud. And on the cloud sat one like the son of man, having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped. Meanwhile, listen to the concept of sewing and reaping. As Jesus shares it in Mark 4, 26 through 30. And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man would scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow. He himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself, first to blade, then the head, after that, the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come, sewing and reaping. Triple T has three distinctives. From the very outset they are aggressively evangelistic, Bible believing, church connected. Aggressively evangelistic, Matthew 9, 36 through 38, and Luke 10, 1 through 3, Jesus says the harvest truly is plentiful, truly great, but the laborers are few. Then Jesus gives a solution to the problem. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. In the book we can have revival now, Dr. John R. Rice writes, "The 12 are gone forth to preach, but these are not enough. The harvest truly is great, but the trouble is not with the harvest, it's with the laborers, not enough." Again, 70 now are commanded. Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. These are only new converts. They were not even grown sheep. They were only lambs, but Jesus said, "Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves." They were all he had, and with yearning heart, he sent these new converts out to wind soles. There was no trouble with the harvest. The trouble was lack of laborers. God had a manpower shortage then, and he has one now. Triple T is Bible believing. Jesus speaks on this same theme the third time. "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work. Do you not say there are still four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest, and he who reaps, receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together." That's John 4, 34, 35, and 36, New King James. Dr. Rice writes, "All these scriptures should burn in our hearts, for they are as applicable today as they were when Jesus uttered these principles, thrice repeated." In the first chapter of the book, Dr. Rice quotes Matthew 9, 36, 38, New King James, here. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labors into his harvest." Rice says, "Oh, if only he had spirit-filled and prepared workers to teach them, win them, save them." Triple T is Bible-believing. Dr. Rice continues, "After these 12 had been sent out to preach and teach and heal Jesus appointed 70 other workers and told them the same thing. After these things, the Lord appointed other 70 also and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to go. Then he said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labors into his harvest. Go your way. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves." Luke 10, 1-3. "We are church-connected. Working with and through pastors, youth workers, and concerned Christians, affiliated with local Bible-believing churches has always been a Triple T distinctive. April through September 2011, Triple T co-labored with tri-state congregations and their pastors and leaders. We've taken teams to minister in 17 of these local church facilities, and youth and adults from 43 local churches have attended Triple T events. It's wonderful to meet new people, to minister with them, and to them, and God has done some tremendous things." And pastors and youth workers from these and other tri-state congregations are endeavoring to follow up and disciple those who have made the decision to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. At county fairs and street festivals, other events and our Triple T Saturday nights, over 300 responded to the gospel during summer surge. Tammy directed fair share, 36 people participated. She made sure the right people were at the right places, setting up each venue, sometimes three fairs in three different counties simultaneously. Mary and I were also on the go most nights during those four weeks of fair share. We traveled across the tri-state, encouraging the teen missions, teenagers and leaders, and the traveling tigers as they shared the gospel with 1,500-plus people, one-on-one. And 268 personally responded. Harvest happenings began Saturday, October 1, and they are to go through Saturday, December 31, New Year's Eve, light the night. The focus will continue to be on communicating Christianity to and through teenagers. Proverbs 6, 6 and 8, New King James, paints a picture that should serve as a marvelous motivator. Go to the aunt, you slugger. Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer or ruler provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. When more adult couches and youth come to Triple T for peer evangelism training, the harvest can be ongoing. On the 22nd of October is the very next 3G day, 3G stands for God's Global Go. It's a challenge to train youth and adult coaches to share the gospel one-on-one effectively with people who need the Lord. The following verse says, let us know it's time to get up and get going with the gospel. We then, as workers together with him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God and vain, for he says, in an acceptable time, I have heard you. In the day of salvation, I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6, 1 and 2, New King James. Triple T is the Christian communication center, training and sending gospelizers into the world. Encouraged by my parents, my pastor and his wife, some other very special people as a teenager, I was afforded many opportunities to communicate Christianity. Today, working with some of the world's greatest teenagers, it is an honor and privilege to challenge each one to develop their God-given talents to creatively communicate Christianity. Opportunities are provided every Saturday for youth to be on stage or behind the scenes learning and sharing God's good news with their peers. The very special dynamic of Triple T Christian youth ministries is the constant influx of 10-year-olds entering the 10-year target spectrum and those exiting their teenage years as they celebrate their 20th birthday. The vision, every youth to hear the gospel with an invitation to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ before turning 20. And the beautiful part of all of this is thousands reached and trained as youth are continuing to communicate Christianity wherever in the world, God leads them. Now they're involved as witnesses to Jesus in their Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and at the ends of the earth. They are currently in reality world changers from all walks of life here, there, and everywhere, investing their time, their talent, their treasure for their glory of God. (upbeat music) The biblical concept of sowing and reaping is articulated very effectively by Jesus. In Matthew chapter 13, listen, on the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered to gather to Him so that He got into the boat and sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parable, saying behold, a sower went out to sow. And as He sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop. Some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty. He who had ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said to Him, why do you speak in parables to them? He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. Whoever has to Him more will be given and He will have abundance. But whoever does not have, even what He has will be taken away from Him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled which says, hearing you will hear and shall not understand. And seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes, they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears. Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. But blessed are you, your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Therefore, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some 100 fold, some 60, some 30. Not a parable he put forth to them, saying the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in the field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tears among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tears also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? "How then does it have tears?" He said to them, "And enemy has done this. "The servant said to him, "Do you want us then to go "and gather them up?" But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tears, "you also uproot the wheat with them. "Let both grow together until the harvest, "and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, "first gather together the tears and bind them in bundles "and burn them, but gather the wheat into my bore. "God is always doing things in a very concise manner. "The sowing and reaping concept, "a biblical truth that we shared a while ago "all began to be talked about in Genesis 8.22. "While the earth remains a seed time and harvest, "cold and heat, winter and summer, "and day and night shall not cease. "Today is the day of salvation. "Have you received Jesus Christ personally? "If you have, are you telling other people how they too? "Can become believers? "Are you telling the truth? "Are you sharing God's ABCs? "Admit you sin, believe on Christ, confess to him publicly. "Christ through you can change the world." Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m. you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 US 41 North at Booneville and Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. For your free copy of the "Telling the Truth" newsletter, call 812-867-2418, 812-867-2418 or write Triple T, 13,000 US 41 North, Evansville, Indiana 47725. Tune in to "Telling the Truth" next week at this same time on this same station. (upbeat music) (dramatic music)