It talks about the fruits of the Spirit.
Let me turn there myself as well.
Galatians chapter 5, and it mentions there in verse number, let's see, 22.
It says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness.
And you say, what exactly does it mean by goodness?
Well look at Galatians chapter 6, Galatians chapter 6.
And whenever you're trying to figure things out in the Bible, what you do is you compare
spiritual things with spiritual things.
And so in Galatians 5 we see goodness, and so you go to the next chapter, it's gonna
give you some insight into what we're talking about.
And notice what it says in Galatians 6, starting at verse 9, and let us not be weary in well-doing,
for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
What it's saying in verse 9 is this, that you know, you're doing a lot of good things,
but don't get tired in the Christian life.
Look, the Christian life is very difficult.
And no matter how dedicated you are as a soul winner, there are times where you start to
grow weary and tired.
And you know, it's interesting because some days you can be the most zealous person in
the world, and you feel like you're always just gonna love soul winning, love reading
the Bible, and then the next week sometimes you're like, I don't even wanna open the Bible,
I wanna relax, I don't wanna have to work so hard.
And the Bible says though, you're gonna reap if you don't faint.
There are rewards we're gonna get up in heaven if we don't faint and give up, okay?
And notice what it says in verse 10, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good
unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
So when it's talking about doing good, we're talking about goodness, doing good works,
being a good person, okay?
Now it says do good unto all men, but then it says especially unto them who are of the
household of faith.
So what the Bible's saying is, you should be a good person in general anyway, but especially
to fellow believers.
You ought to do good things and be a good person.
And so our first point today is this, that you need goodness or to be a good person,
especially to those that are saved.
Now turn to Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians two.
Ephesians chapter two, and we're gonna look at verse number 10, and one thing I've noticed
reading the Bible is that oftentimes you'll look at verses that are really famous and
that you love, Ephesians two, eight, and nine, and oftentimes the verses right before or
right after are just as significant and very important.
Now obviously the Calvinists go crazy with Ephesians two, 10, because as unsaved people
they don't understand the Bible.
But I don't think verse 10 is all that confusing, because what the Bible says in verse 10 is
this, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus onto good works, which God
hath before deigned that we should walk in them.
Notice how it says we should, it doesn't say you will, it says you should walk in them.
That's not that confusing.
So we should live a good life.
And when you're a saved person, God has good works, and he does have a plan for your life,
and you have the free will to either do it or reject it.
And all of us from time to time, we do it, and sometimes we reject it.
None of us always does what God wants us to do.
It says we should walk in them.
But notice how it says we are created in Christ Jesus onto good works.
God expects you to be a good person doing good things, especially unto them who are
of the household of faith.
Turn to Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, and this should be a pretty
obvious point, and I think it is, but quite honestly, the way most people live their lives,
they don't really care about other people.
Look, the point of your Christian life is it's not about you, it's about other people.
That's the whole message that Jesus was preaching.
Yes, he laid down his life for us.
Yes, he died for us.
But his whole life was lived in a way where he says, I care about other people more than
myself.
Even though I don't feel like doing good works, I want to relax, I'm going to still do good
and care about other people.
That's the way Jesus lived his life, and us as people, look, there's a lot of things we
want to do, but you should care about other people more than you, and you should be doing
good to them.
Notice what it says in Ephesians chapter four.
Understand this, that the book of Ephesians is written to a church.
It's part of the, called church epistles, as they say.
The church at Ephesus, and so when we're talking about the book of Ephesians, this is written
to a group of saved people.
It's written to a church, and so Ephesians chapter four talks about the body of Christ,
and it says in verse number 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed onto the day of redemption.
Now there are many ways that you can grieve the Spirit of God.
Notice you can't lose being indwelled with the Spirit of God.
That's not what it says, but you can grieve the Spirit of God.
Obviously if you live a sinful life, if you're a bad person, if you're breaking all of God's
rules, all of his commandments, you're going to grieve the Spirit of God, but it does say
you're sealed onto the day of redemption.
What does that mean?
It means that you're saved forever, and Ephesians one verse 13, it talks about being sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise.
So the Bible's saying is you are saved forever, you cannot lose your salvation, you are sealed.
It's a done deal the moment you believe on Jesus Christ.
But how can we grieve the Spirit of God?
Notice verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be
put away from you with all malice.
What the Bible's trying to tell you is that if you're a bitter person towards your brother
in Christ or sister in Christ, or you're full of wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking,
you are going to grieve the Spirit of God.
Now look at these things that he's mentioning.
He says, let all bitterness.
It's interesting that when a person is a bitter person, they don't harm the person they're
bitter at.
Look, if I preach something or if I say something and you get mad at me and you hate my guts
and you're very bitter, it doesn't really harm me.
It harms you.
You're destroying your own life.
Bitter people are miserable people.
And there are people that will complain about stuff and they'll say, well, you know, back
in 1995, you know, we did this and you said this.
It's like, man, that was like 25 years ago.
It's like, forget about it.
That was a long time ago.
And yet people will be bitter and they'll always think about this and meditate on it.
And that's why they stay mad.
If they would just forget about it, then it would be done.
People stay bitter and they destroy themselves.
But see what the Bible is trying to tell you is you ought to be doing good to your fellow
brother and sister in Christ.
And the church of Ephesus, this is referring to a church.
So if you are bitter against somebody else in church, if you want to destroy your own
life, then just stay bitter.
You will destroy your own life.
You're not going to harm the person you're bitter at, but you're going to destroy your
own life.
And if you're a smart person, what you're going to do is put away your bitterness, put
away your wrath, put away your anger, then basically put away your gossip and criticizing
other people.
Put away your evil speaking toward other people because otherwise you're going to destroy
yourself and you're not being filled with the Spirit because the Bible says you ought
to be filled with goodness.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Now look, every single one of us from time to time does something wrong to others.
And every single one of us from time to time has something wrong done to us.
But if you're not willing to forgive your brother, then your brother or sister won't
forgive you when you need that forgiveness.
Notice what it says in verse 32, and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Now ask yourself this question, do we deserve to be forgiven by God?
No we don't.
And the Bible says you ought to forgive your brother or sister in Christ in the same way
that God has forgiven you.
God forgave us when we did not deserve it, and if your brother or sister in Christ does
not deserve to be forgiven for what they did, you forgive them anyway.
That's what it's saying in Ephesians 4 verse 32.
You say, well, what if they don't say they're sorry?
You forgive them anyway.
That's what you're going to do if you follow Ephesians chapter 4.
Look, all of us have done things wrong to other people, and I want people to forgive
me, but if I'm not willing to forgive others, why would anyone forgive me?
Now turn to Hebrews chapter 10.
Hebrews chapter 10.
Now there are many different ways we can do good works onto our fellow brother or sister
in Christ.
Many times in life things come up and maybe we're busy and we don't want to help out,
but if you're a good-hearted person, you're going to choose to help anyway.
And one thing is mentioned in Hebrews chapter 10.
I want you to notice what it says in verse 24, and let us consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works.
And the Bible says don't think about yourself, but consider one another.
Consider your brother and sister in Christ.
How do you provoke people onto love and to good works?
How do you help somebody be a good person?
That's what it says in verse 25.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
See one major way you can provoke people to love and to good works is by coming to church.
That's what it's saying in Hebrews 10.
And oftentimes we look at Hebrews 10 25 and look, I've quoted that many times, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together.
But if you look at the context, the main reason why is because you ought to care about other
people more than yourself.
You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, I'm tired.
I don't feel like going to church.
But what about the people at church?
Do they want you to come here?
That's the big question.
Now, look, I understand things come up, you know, if you get really sick or you have major
things come up, you're all going to miss from time to time.
I understand that.
But I want you to understand that if you wake up and you had just a few hours too little
of sleep last night, you say, Oh, man, I only got four hours of sleep.
Usually I get seven.
That's not a reason to skip church.
That's a very weak reason to skip church.
I remember one time I got somebody saved in West Virginia, and it was on a Saturday we
had soul winning.
And she said she was going to come to church the next day and she was going to ride our
bus route.
And this was an older lady.
But we would also pick up adults if they really wanted to come to church, and we'd stop at
their location.
And she says, I want to come to church.
And I showed up, I knocked on her door.
And then she's like, Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm not going to be able to make it to church
today.
My kitten is sick.
It's like your kitten, your cat is sick.
And you say, you know, what do you do?
What you do is you put a smile on your face, you say, Oh, that's okay, hopefully you'll
be able to come next week.
But it's just like your cat is sick.
And that's a reason to skip church.
And look, this lady was what we say in the US was a cat lady, a cat person.
And that's not really a compliment when you call someone a cat person.
You look in her house, and it was filled with like a dozen cats.
It smelled terrible.
And it's like, you know, and your reason for skipping church is one of your kittens is
sick.
It's like, you're gonna have a cat sick every single week, especially living in a place
that smells like that.
But it's like, that is not a reason to skip church.
And yet people will come up with reasons all the time.
It's like, Oh, my cat's sick.
It's like, Oh, I didn't get enough sleep.
Look, those are not reasons to skip church.
And even if you don't feel like coming to church, the question is, do the people at
church want you to come?
Because you're supposed to consider one another, the Bible says.
Now turn to Psalms 25, Psalms 25, and you say, what's something that prevents us from
doing good onto our fellow brother or sister in Christ?
Why is it that we care more about ourselves and we're not willing to help people out if
they and I want you to realize that when it comes to helping somebody out and doing good
to them, usually these things come up when you don't expect them to.
It's kind of like, you know, in one day, something comes up and you've got to set aside what
you want to do to help somebody else out.
Look, we would all like to just plan our days out in advance.
And you've got plans maybe and then all of a sudden, you've got to put those aside because
something comes up.
That's going to take place from time to time.
But what it says in Psalms 25 verse 7, Psalms chapter 25, right in the middle of your Bible,
the book of Psalms, Psalms 25 verse 7, remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgression.
According to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord.
And I want you to notice how mercy and goodness are linked together.
And see, going back to Ephesians 4, and you don't have to turn there, but one thing that
prevents people from doing good onto their fellow brother or sister in Christ is because
they're just not merciful toward other people.
And that is one reason why you don't want to help people out because you remain bitter,
you have a bad attitude.
And look, you need to put aside your bitterness and your complaints.
When we're in a church like this, we're around each other quite a bit.
And so from time to time, somebody's going to do something that's going to make you mad.
But look, if you stay mad at them, you're only harming yourself.
Now turn to Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5.
And so number one today is this, that we ought to do good to those that are saved.
And I think that's a very obvious point.
But one thing the Bible highlights is that everybody does good to those that like them.
But the question is, are you willing to be nice and do good to those that are your enemies?
And see, the Bible tells you, you are supposed to do good to your enemies as well.
I want you to notice what it says in Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5 verse 16.
Matthew chapter 5 verse 16, it says, let your light so shine before men that they may see
your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
And the Bible says that we ought to live our lives in a way that people can actually see
the good that we do, that we're a good person.
Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not telling you to practice lifestyle evangelism.
Only when it comes to soul winning, we go and win lost souls to the Lord.
That's what the Bible teaches us.
But at the same time, when it comes to your personal job at work, people ought to look
at you and say you're a little bit different than the average person out there.
You're someone who does not show up late for work and lie on your timesheets.
You're someone that works hard.
You're someone that doesn't have a foul mouth or say dirty jokes and things such as that.
You're someone that's not interested in the movies and the music that the world has to
offer.
You ought to be a little bit different than the world and the world ought to look at you
and see your good works.
And that's what we're talking about when we talk about goodness.
Look, you ought to have a reputation at work that you're a little bit different than everybody
else.
When I was at my job in Maryland, I was known as the guy who always read the Bible during
lunch break.
That's what I was known as.
I was known as the person who basically was just interested in reading the Bible, not
talking about the movies and music and things such as that.
Now I want you to notice Matthew chapter five, verse 43.
Matthew chapter five, verse 43, where the Bible reads.
Matthew chapter five, verse 43.
And it says, he have heard that it hath been said, thou shall love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy.
Now I want you to realize when Jesus says you've heard that you should love your neighbor
and hate your enemy, he does not say that the Bible teaches that you're supposed to
hate your enemy.
He's saying you've just heard this said before, that you're supposed to love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.
Notice what it says in verse 44, but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and
persecute you.
And the Bible says that you are supposed to love your enemies and you're supposed to bless
those that would curse you and do good to them.
That's what we're talking about, doing goodness.
Now we're not talking about loving God's enemies though.
There's a big difference there.
See the Bible speaks about people that the Lord hates.
They've rejected God, they're children of the devil, they're never going to believe
on Jesus Christ, they're never going to be saved.
And when it comes to God's enemies, those are people we're not to love, we aren't to
do good to them.
But when it comes to your personal enemies, the people that do not like you at your job,
you ought to do good to them.
Let me give you an example of this.
When I worked in Maryland, I remember one time, you know, I had made a post about the
Bible online about soul winning, and I remember I woke up the next day on Facebook and there's
like this really long argument thread.
And from someone who was my coworker, and then also from people that are like like-minded
in the movement, that are just blasting my coworker and saying how you're wicked, you're
unsaved, I'm just thinking you got to be kidding me.
It's like this doesn't really benefit me any.
And so then all of a sudden I remember I wake up the next day, you know, and I go to work
and that lady comes over to my desk right in front of my supervisor and yells at me
in the office and says how I'm such a bad person.
Keep in mind, all I did was make a post about how, you know, I went out soul winning and
you know, somebody got saved.
I was excited about it.
It was kind of a cool story.
And this lady's just like yelling at me because somebody I've never even met that lives, you
know, on the other side of the United States just wanted to argue with them.
You know, look, that's foolish.
If you want to start an argument on your own Facebook, that's one thing.
Don't start World War Three on somebody else's Facebook and, you know, blast their brother,
blast their friend or blast someone else.
It's like you don't even know who that person is.
Okay.
And they were just blasting them.
And this person just yelled at me right in front of my supervisor and I was just being
nice and I said, you know, hey, you know, I apologize.
Can we talk about it?
They're just yelling at me.
But I'll tell you what, I was there for another year and a half of that company and I was
always nice to them and they would always just, you know, they'd walk by me and be like,
you know, really mad and hate my guts and everything like that.
But I always just acted nice to them.
They would allow doors to slam in my face and everything be so mean.
But whenever I saw them, I said, you know, hello, you know, I was just polite to them.
And I remember I saw a turning point about a year and a half later where they were actually
nice to me.
Now, they never apologized to me for what they had done, but they ended up being nice
to me.
You say why?
Because in fact, you can win people over through your attitude.
And basically, I forgave them when they really didn't deserve it because look, who knows,
I could have been fired from that.
I mean, I was kind of worried.
It's like they're blasting me right in front of my boss.
And it's just like, man, you got to be kidding me.
What the Bible says, though, is you're supposed to do good to those that are your enemies
because I don't hate this person.
You know, she was a part of a church that teaches you have to be baptized to go to heaven.
In America, the Church of Christ is, you know, a different Church of Christ than here in
the Philippines.
But they believe you have to be baptized to go to heaven in their water, okay?
You have to be baptized in their water to go to heaven.
And if you live before the 19th century, then I don't know, since their church didn't exist,
I don't really know what happens.
But you have to be baptized in their water and, you know, you run into these people,
you say, hey, what do you think it takes to get to heaven?
They always just say, Acts 2 38.
That's what they always say.
That's what they believe.
Okay?
But, you know, this person, I don't hate them because I hope they do get saved one day.
Now notice what it says in verse 45.
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his Son
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if he loved them which love you, what reward have ye?
Do not even the publicans the same?
And if he salutes your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
Do not even the publicans so?
So the Bible says is, if you're nice to those that are nice to you, look, everybody's nice
to people that are nice to them.
That's no big deal.
But are you going to be nice when somebody's actually mean to you and they don't deserve
it?
Then it says in verse 48, be therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.
Now when the Bible says perfect, it does not mean without sin.
The Bible's not saying you must be sinless in order to go to heaven.
It's basically saying being complete, you know, the perfect or fully whole man.
So basically in all areas you ought to be doing well as a Christian.
Now I want to hand you guys out something here today.
If I could have a couple men maybe hand these out and I'll keep a copy myself.
Give half to brother of Prince and then, well, I'll give half to brother JR.
And I'm going to explain this story here in a second.
You say what exactly is this picture?
And this is a picture from something that happened 450 years ago.
And you say, why are you bringing up this story?
Because honestly, this is the perfect example of doing good to people that are your enemies
and doing good to those that do not deserve to be forgiven.
Okay.
And I'll wait till you guys are given a copy of this.
And I'm going to read you this story, but this is basically a man.
He was an Anabaptist.
And if you look at our, you know, when you watch the documentary being Baptist, it will
talk about the Anabaptists.
The Anabaptists were the Baptists of their day.
They are our forefathers of the faith.
We are not Protestants here today.
The Protestants came out of the Catholic church.
We didn't come out of the Catholic church.
The Catholic church has always been false.
And the Anabaptists, if you look up in history, it's kind of funny because everybody wanted
to kill the Anabaptists.
The Catholics wanted to kill them.
The Protestants wanted to kill them.
The Calvinists wanted to kill them.
And then all those groups kind of got together to team up against the Anabaptists.
The Catholics and Protestants kind of put aside their differences to just persecute
the Anabaptists.
I remember a long time ago when I worked a job and at my job, I was talking to someone
who was a Jehovah's Witness at the job.
Actually, I was talking to a Mormon, a Mormon lady at the job.
And that's when this Jehovah's Witness who also worked there came in.
And I realized both of them kind of put aside all their differences.
And I was the one who was wrong.
It's like they could agree you got to work your way to heaven.
And I was the one who was the bad guy is what was taking place.
And what you see is the enemies of God often linked together against God's people.
It's throughout the entire Bible.
Let me read you this story about this man.
It says no story of an Anabaptist martyr has captured the imagination more than the tale
of Dirk Williams.
Dirk was caught, tried, and convicted as an Anabaptist in those later years of harsh Spanish
rule under the Duke of Alba in the Netherlands.
He escaped from a residential palace, turned into a prison by letting himself out of a
window with a rope made of knotted rags, dropping onto the ice that covered the castle moat.
So here's this man.
And the reason why he was convicted is because he got baptized.
He was being put to death because he got baptized.
He got the death penalty because both the Catholics and the Protestants, they installed
a basically state-run death penalty if you get baptized as an adult.
Now look, probably half of us in this room got baptized, so to speak, as babies.
I myself did as well in a Protestant church.
But obviously the Bible teaches you must believe first.
But when you get baptized as an adult, what you're doing is basically rejecting the Catholic
church, rejecting the Protestant church.
And the result is that if you don't go along with the program, they're going to want to
put you to death.
So he's getting the death penalty for getting baptized.
Here's what it says then, seeing him escape, a palace guard pursued him as he fled.
Dirk crossed the thin ice of a pond, the Honda Gats, safely.
His own weight had been reduced by short prison rations, but the heavier pursuer broke through.
So basically he's been in prison and he's lost a lot of weight because they're not feeding
him.
They're basically kind of torturing him and then they're going to basically burn him to
death.
And he ends up escaping.
He goes through the ice and he gets to the other side.
He's home free.
This guy pursues after him.
This guy breaks through the ice, as you can see in the picture.
And he hears the guy scream and he basically turns around and in his heart he just couldn't
watch an unsaved person die because he knows that person's going to die and go straight
to hell.
He turns around and he grabs him.
He helps rescue him and the guy he helped rescue actually turned him in and he got burned
to death at the stake.
That's what took place.
Now look, it's too bad the story doesn't end with he helps this guy out.
Kind of like an act 16 situation would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?
He helps this guy out.
He gets killed, but this guy ends up getting saved.
Unfortunately, that's not the story.
I don't know whether this guy who turns him in was a reprobate.
I don't really know.
But obviously Dirk Williams, he turns around and says, you know what, I just can't let
somebody die because in your heart, if you're filled with the spirit, you have goodness
filled in there and you want to just do good under your fellow man, even if they are unsaved.
We walk outside and we see all these people, all these Catholics vainly worshiping their
idols realize those people are going to die and go to hell.
They're trusting in their works.
And it's sad.
It's sad that the percentage of saved people is so low.
And I don't know what the percentage is, but you know, when we first moved to this church,
we didn't run into a whole lot of saved people.
It's very rare.
Now we run into more because we've personally won them to the Lord, but quite honestly,
it's very rare you meet saved people when you go out soul winning.
And this person actually cared about him.
This was 450 years ago.
He has compassion.
He helps this man.
Then he ends up getting burned to death.
You say, why would he end up doing this?
Because when you're filled with the spirit, you're filled with goodness.
And the Bible does tell us to love our personal enemies.
Once again, we're not saying somebody who is God's enemy.
We're not talking about someone who's a reprobate, someone who's a child of the devil, someone
who has no hope of salvation.
But when it comes to your personal enemies, look, this guy is just doing his job.
It doesn't necessarily mean he's a reprobate, but he is the enemy of Dirk Williams, and
Dirk Williams helped him out.
This was in 1569, 450 years ago.
Now turn to Luke chapter six.
Luke chapter six.
And you say, Brother Stuckey, why is it difficult to do good works from time to time?
What hinders us from doing that?
Well, Luke chapter six gives us some insight on this in verse 45.
What it says in verse 45, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth
that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth
that which is evil.
For the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh.
So what the Bible is saying is, the good you do on the outside is going to be because
of the fact on the inside, you're good.
See, that's why we always preach about cleaning up the inside, because when you clean up the
inside, the outside ends up getting cleaned.
What the Bible is saying here in Luke six, verse 45, is that someone who in his heart
is a good person is going to do good works.
But look, if you're someone that inside of your hearts, and look, I don't know your heart
here today.
Because man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
God looks at the inside.
He knows what's inside your heart.
He knows what you've been watching and what you're actually meditating on.
I don't know that, but realize this, that if you choose to meditate on what the world
has to offer and the sin that's out there, you're not going to be someone who's going
to be wanting to do good works.
If you clean up the inside, though, and you're a good person on the inside, it's not going
to be that difficult to do good on the outside, because everything that happens on the outside
comes from what's on the inside.
That's what the Bible's teaching.
Now, turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12.
And I want you to notice here in Romans chapter 12, verse 14, Romans chapter 12, verse 14.
And so when it comes to doing good, obviously one good thing we do, which we're going to
talk about, is soul winning.
Obviously, what better thing could you do for an unsaved person?
But not just soul winning, though.
We as God's people, we ought to be different, not just the fact that we go soul winning,
but that we're just good in general.
Notice what it says in Romans 12, verse 14, bless them which persecutes you, bless and
curse not.
And the Bible says we're supposed to bless those that are our enemies, not persecute
them.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep.
Be of the same mind one toward another.
Rise not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.
Be not wise in your own conceits.
Recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men.
And so in verse 17, it says, don't recompense to somebody evil for evil.
What it's saying is that if somebody does evil to you, you don't do evil back to them.
Don't recompense to them evil for evil.
If somebody does wrong to you, you just forgive them.
You don't go evil.
And look, throughout the Bible, you'll see people, even God's people, that somebody does
something to them, and then they just go back and wage war against them.
Think of Samson in the Bible.
Now how did Samson die?
I mean, he ended up committing suicide, but if you go back to that story, he basically
just goes to war with the Philistines.
It goes back and forth, back and forth, just waging a war.
And what's the end result?
Well, I mean, you end up losing your eyes, you end up committing suicide and destroying
your life.
That's what we see.
Look, we ought to just forgive one another.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Notice what it says in verse 18, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under the wrath, for it
is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.
And the Bible says, if it's possible, live peaceably with all men.
What that's telling you is it's not always possible.
I wish I could have peace with everybody that's out there, but the reality is that's not possible.
The reality is the Catholics aren't really going to like the sermons I preach.
The reality is people of other religions aren't going to like the things I say because of
the fact they believe something different.
And the Bible says you should live at peace with people if that's possible.
But you look at the world we live at today, how is that really going to be possible?
The world we live at today, they hate us.
You look at the LGBT agenda, they hate our guts.
They hate us.
They don't like us.
You say, why?
Because of the fact they don't like the God of the Bible.
They don't like what we say and they get mad at us.
Look, what the Bible teaches though is when someone's just our personal enemy and not
God's enemy, that is someone we're supposed to forgive, but it's not always possible to
have peace with everybody.
You say, why?
Because a lot of people don't like the message that we're preaching.
And it's like, you know what, it is what it is.
People come to this church and they leave because they don't like the message.
But what the Bible tells us is we should always be preaching the truth.
That's what it says in verse 20.
Verse 20, therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink.
For in so doing now shall he coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
And what it says in verses 20 and 21 is that if you have an enemy and he's hungry, you're
supposed to feed them.
If you have an enemy and they're thirsty, you're supposed to give them drink.
And the result is that if they choose not to forgive you and to basically be okay with
you and put aside their problems, what the Bible says is there's going to be heat coals
of fire upon their head.
Basically they're condemning themselves as guilty.
Now look, I remember Pastor Anderson put up a video about this where some Baptist pastor
went back to the Greek and he had this crazy story about what it means to heat coals of
fire on his head.
He's like back in Jewish society, they'd have, you know, this big container or whatever,
and they would carry it from house to house on the top of their head.
They'd be having coals of fire on their head.
It's like, what are you talking about?
Now, if you look at the context, what it's saying is that if somebody doesn't want to
forgive you, then you know what?
They're basically condemning themselves.
But sometimes you can overcome evil with good.
That's why it's important to be a good person and have goodness, because it's not good in
your personal life to have a lot of enemies.
I don't want to have a lot of enemies.
And quite honestly, as much as I can live at peace with people, that's a good thing.
Okay, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter five, 1 Thessalonians chapter five, 1 Thessalonians
chapter five, 1 Thessalonians chapter five, verse 15, the Bible reads, see that none render
evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves
and to all men.
And the Bible says that we don't render evil for evil.
So if somebody does something wrong to you, you don't recompense that.
The Bible says you are supposed to do good to that person.
Now I want you to go to Psalms 139, because I want to really drive in a point here today.
And see, the Bible says, though, as much as we should forgive our personal enemies, we
must make a clear distinction between what is our enemy and what is God's enemy.
And see, the Bible talks about this.
And you know, one big false belief that people have about God, they have this idea that,
you know, God just loves everybody.
And no matter what, you know, God is just love, you know, even though the Bible calls
God a jealous God, I mean, even though God created hell, God is just love, love, love,
peace, peace, peace, joy, joy, joy.
He would never, you know, send anybody to hell.
He would never basically, you know, be really angry at somebody.
But wait a minute, what does the Bible say?
Because no matter what you were taught in your church growing up, that doesn't matter.
What does the Bible teach?
Look, every single one of us was probably taught false things in our church growing
up.
It doesn't matter what you were taught.
It matters what the Bible says.
And look, every single person in this room, in order for you to get saved, you had to
reject what you believe before, repent of what you believe, and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ.
It doesn't matter what you were taught.
I grew up as a United Methodist.
And you know what, I call it United Methodist.
You say, why?
Because I'm not a Protestant anymore.
Because when I heard the gospel, I realized, wow, this infant baptizing religion is wrong.
It's not what the Bible teaches.
Then I mean, the United Methodists, their leaders call themselves reverends.
I mean, did you know the word reverend is in the Bible one time?
And who's it in reference to?
God.
So what does that mean?
It means he's worthy of being revered.
No man is worthy of being revered.
And look, God is reverend, and no man should ever call themselves reverend.
That is a blasphemous term, because holy and reverend is thy name, the Bible says.
Nobody's name should be reverend.
And yet I grew up in a religion where it was like, you know, I'm a reverend, whatever.
And they wear this long purple robe, and it's like, just go back to the Catholic Church.
You're not really that much different.
But notice what it says in Psalms 139, verse 19.
Psalms 139, verse 19, it says in verse 19, Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God, depart
for me therefore, ye bloody men, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies
take thy name in vain.
And see what it says here in Psalms 139, David says, or the Psalmist says, that God is going
to slay the wicked.
He doesn't say he's going to slay the wicked.
He says God is going to slay the wicked.
And look, that is what the Bible teaches, that there are people that are bad people,
because notice what he says, ye bloody men.
See people that are reprobates, children of the devil, they hate us.
They would kill us if given the chance.
If they had the authority, they would get rid of us.
They don't believe what we do.
They hate what we believe.
And notice they speak against God.
They take God's name in vain.
These are not just your personal enemies at work that don't like what you believe.
These are not just your personal, you know, enemies at your old job or whatever your old
church that they believe different things.
No, this is talking about someone who's God's enemy.
They basically hate the God of the Bible.
And look, most people in this country are going to tell you that they believe the Bible.
But oftentimes when you talk to them, it's obvious the God they believe in is not the
God of this Bible.
And they hate the God of this Bible.
I was preaching the gospel yesterday, and I sat down next to someone and started preaching
the gospel.
And I realized very early on, okay, this guy is a sodomite.
And it's just like, I'm not going to waste my time.
But then all of a sudden, three other people were listening.
And I basically ignored this guy and talked to the other three people.
And I was explaining the gospel and things such as that.
And it was very obvious this person hated every single word that I was saying.
It was trying to destroy the conversation.
You say, why?
Because everybody in the LGBT hates the God of the Bible.
That is what the Bible teaches.
They hate the God of the Bible.
They don't like it.
They don't like the words that say that death penalty was pronounced upon them for their
wicked lifestyle.
I didn't write that.
That's what the book of Leviticus says.
Notice what it says in verse 21.
Now look, the Bible says throughout, we do not hate our enemies.
But notice verse 21, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, and am not I grieve
with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them my enemies.
What does the Bible say?
As God's people, you ought to hate God's enemies.
Not your personal enemies, but God's enemies.
And let me just be very clear here.
We have this stance and the LGBT is not welcome at our church.
Let me make it very clear in case there's any confusion, you say why?
Because they hate the God of the Bible.
They're children of the devil, and they will never get saved.
They hate the God of the Bible.
You say, I don't like that.
Look, then you can can leave.
You can just leave the doors then if you if you hate the words I'm saying, because that
is what we believe.
And we don't shy away from what we believe.
We're just open and honest about what we believe, because we don't want to have to deal with
this problem because of the fact there's kids in this church and we want to protect those
kids from wicked people that would defile them.
You say, well, I think you're a little bit extreme.
That is what the Bible teaches.
Look, I'm not going to I'm not going to spend my whole time just going back to Genesis 19
and Judges 19.
But we know what the Bible says.
We're not shy about it.
And I want to make it very clear.
You say, well, I didn't realize that.
Well, you realize that now.
Okay, that's what the Bible teaches.
Notice what it says in verse 23.
Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting.
Now, verses 23 and verse 24 are very interesting, because when you preach like this, they say
you're a hate creature.
But then David says, search me and see if there's any wicked way in me.
He's basically saying, you know what, he basically says we're supposed to hate God's enemies.
And then he says, search me and see if there's any wickedness in me.
What is he saying?
He's saying these are God's words, there's nothing wrong with these words.
The thing I just preached, he said, Brother Stuckey, that's hatred.
No, that's love for God's people, and love for children, and protecting this church.
Look, that is what the Bible teaches.
Now turn in your Bible to Isaiah 52.
Isaiah chapter 52.
And so first, we ought to love people that are of the household of faith.
We ought to love our personal enemies, but not God's enemies.
There's a distinction.
And you say, Brother Stuckey, I don't fully understand what you're saying.
On November 24th on our anniversary, I wanted to preach a really interesting sermon series
as we're bringing in new visitors.
And we're going to have a five or six part sermon series on the reprobate doctrine.
And we're going to look really in depth on it.
And so if you have any confusion about that, you know, I encourage you to come on November
24th, and you're going to see very clearly what the Bible teaches.
And there's going to be no confusion left.
And quite honestly, you know what?
It's a topic that we need to be aware about, because in the day we live in, the amount
of reprobate is increasing quite rapidly.
You feel like we're getting a lot of people saved, but quite honestly, the reprobates
are increasing at a much faster rate than we're winning people to the Lord.
Notice what it says in Isaiah 52.
Last, we're going to talk about soul winning.
And see, the Bible speaks about soul winning being the good news or the good tidings.
Notice what it says in Isaiah 52 verse seven.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith
unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.
Notice how it talks about the gospel of peace being good tidings, good tidings of good.
Look, the best good you could possibly do is preaching the gospel to the in its unsaved
world.
Say, why do we focus so much on soul winning at this church?
Because that's the most important thing we could possibly do.
If there's one good thing you could do in your life, it would be to win the loss to
the Lord.
You say, why?
Because if they die, they're going to spend forever in hell.
Turn to Isaiah 61.
Isaiah 61.
Isaiah chapter 61.
And throughout the Bible, it talks about soul winning being good tidings and good news and
good things.
This goes along with goodness.
Notice what it says in Isaiah 61, verse one.
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
onto the meek.
He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound.
And once again, it talks about preaching good tidings onto the meek.
And so the number one thing we should be doing is winning souls to the Lord, preaching the
good news.
Turn to Nahum chapter one.
Nahum chapter one.
If you go to the Minor Prophets, you have Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Jonah, Micah, Nahum.
And as Brother Chris mentioned when he preached here a few weeks ago, he talked about soul
winning being in the Old Testament.
We're looking at verses in the Old Testament that talk about the gospel and talk about
preaching the gospel because soul winning has always been the heart of people that love
the Lord.
I remember when I first got saved, my first thought was, what about my family?
What about my friends?
What do they believe?
And so if you're filled with goodness, you're going to actually care about other people.
And the number one thing you're going to want to do is preach the gospel so people can believe
on Jesus Christ.
Nahum chapter one, verse 15.
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace.
O Judah, keep thy solemn feast, perform thy vows, for the wicked shall no more pass through
thee.
He is utterly cut off.
And the Bible talks about bringing the good tidings upon the mountains.
This verse really kind of means a lot to me because I grew up in West Virginia and it's
called the Mountain State.
The college is the West Virginia Mountaineers.
In fact, Mountain Baptist Church in Fairmont, West Virginia, this is their theme verse because
you're literally preaching the gospel on the mountains.
You're climbing up steep areas just to get to one house.
I mean, you get done after an hour and your legs are burning.
You're sweating.
You're like, man, and you only knock like 10 doors.
There's areas of West Virginia.
You have to drive from house to house because they're not that close and it's pretty difficult.
And so what we see here, though, is bringing good tidings, okay?
Now turn to Romans 10, Romans chapter 10.
Romans chapter 10.
And so this is throughout the Bible where it talks about the gospel being the good news
or the good tidings.
It kind of makes you wonder about churches and people that are pastors or whatever that
never do any soul winning.
I got to wonder how much are you filled with goodness in your heart because of the fact
when you're looking at your cross-referencing, the gospel is good news, good tidings.
It's good tidings of good.
I mean, he's being very repetitive.
And if you're filled with goodness, you're going to want to preach the gospel.
And when churches are doing no soul winning, look, they can call themselves a church and
I don't even care if they believe the same thing as us, they're not really a church.
Because what are they accomplishing if they're not preaching the gospel?
Notice what it says in Romans 10, verse 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Now verse 13 talks about calling on the name of the Lord and in context it talks about
believing in your heart.
But then in verse 14 it makes it clear how are they going to believe unless there's a
preacher.
Every single person in this room is saved.
You are saved because somebody gave you the gospel.
There is no exception to that.
Every single saved person throughout the Bible and in today's world, they heard the gospel
from someone.
That's the way it works.
Verse 15.
And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.
And the Bible talks about bringing glad tidings of good things.
And it calls it the gospel of peace.
And look, it's a very peaceful message we're presenting to people.
Now look, it is true some people get mad at that message, but it's like our message is
as peaceful as possible.
Basically all you got to do is just believe and you go to heaven.
I mean how much more peaceful can it get?
I mean it's a nice message all you have to do is believe and it's a good message we're
presenting.
And so when you look at these people that are repentance preachers and all they do is
basically talk about all the sin you have in your life and how you're a wicked person
how is that good news?
And basically just give all of it up.
You're asking somebody to give up all of their sins that sounds pretty hard to me.
I don't know about you but I still sin.
If I had to give up every single thing I did wrong in my life then I guess I have no hope
of going to heaven.
But see the Bible says you don't have to give up anything you just have to believe and that
is the message throughout the Bible.
It's good news that's being presented.
And when you hear these repentance preachers and they preach and say you got to turn or
burn how is that good news?
Look people struggle with their sin.
I have never smoked a cigarette in my life but you know I would say that there's probably
people in this room that smoke just going by the odds because plenty of people smoke
in the Philippines.
And quite honestly it's probably difficult to quit it.
People want to quit it.
The sins in my life I want to get rid of them.
It's not easy.
And if I had to get rid of all of them before I could be saved I have no hope.
Look we all struggle with various sins in our life.
It's not easy.
And the great news is God doesn't expect you to change in order to get saved.
He says I'm willing to accept you with all of your problems if you believe on me.
Turn to Titus chapter 2.
Titus chapter 2.
We'll get a few more places here.
Titus chapter 2.
Notice what it says in Titus chapter 2 verse 14.
Titus chapter 2 verse 14.
Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself
a peculiar people zealous of good works.
See the Bible says that you as a saved person God wants you to be peculiar a little bit
different zealous of good works.
He wants you to be a good person and do good things in your life.
And look the average person out there they don't do that.
You ought to be a little bit different in your life.
During your lunch break you know reading the Bible is probably what you should be doing.
And when people see that they will think it's kind of strange.
At my old job I remember I heard a girl at the work had reported me because I brought
a Bible to work and she said it was offensive.
And it's like I never talked to anybody about the Bible.
I would just open my Bible and read during my lunch break.
I would just sit there eat my food just quietly.
And she was criticizing me to management saying it's inappropriate he should have his Bible
banned from her.
You say why?
Because of the fact they hate the things we believe.
But you know quite honestly I was at a company of plenty of people and I don't know anybody
else who ever brought a Bible to work.
And there's other people that said they were Christians you know I don't know exactly what
all of them believe but you would think bringing your Bible to work is not that strange.
But it becomes strange when nobody is actually doing that though.
And when you look at other Christians or other so-called Christians and they're like afraid
to bring their Bible everywhere.
It's like I don't understand that.
It's like I like to bring my Bible pretty much anywhere.
And you know I often have my book bag with me and even if I'm not planning to use the
Bible I still like having my Bible on me just because I like having the Word of God near
me.
And people might think that's strange but as a saved person you're supposed to be zealous
of good works.
Look at Titus chapter 3.
Titus chapter 3.
You say Brother Stuckey why is it so important to maintain good works?
Because we're talking about soul winning right now but you're talking about doing good works
in general.
And what the Bible teaches is that when you do good works it's actually going to help
you be a better soul winner.
Even though the good works aren't always talking about soul winning.
Because notice Titus 3 verse 14.
Titus 3 verse 14.
And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful.
See the truth is that if you're someone who's just not a good person you're going to be
unfruitful.
Turn to Luke chapter 8.
Luke chapter 8.
Which means you're not going to be bearing any fruit to the Lord.
Now when it comes to being fruitful that can mean a few different things in the Bible but
one immediate context is the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth
souls is wise.
And the Bible says you ought to be careful to maintain good works and it's going to help
you not be unfruitful.
It's going to help you win souls to the Lord.
Notice what it says in Luke 8 verse 15.
So why are so many people struggling to do good works or the first works of soul winning
as the Bible says?
Well notice what it says in Luke 8 verse 15.
But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the
word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.
Now this is the parable of the sower and this is the fourth in the group.
The first group does not get saved.
The second and the third do get saved.
And the fourth also gets saved but only the fourth is someone who's a soul winner who's
actually really living for God.
But notice how it's said in an honest and good heart.
This goes back to what I said earlier.
If you want to be a good person and do good works you must clean up the inside.
You say how do you do that?
It means you must not listen to the things that are sinful.
You must not look at the things that are sinful.
You ought to watch the things you watch on Facebook or YouTube or movies or music because
honestly you might say I can keep this in my life.
It's going to cause you to be unfruitful.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And look the vast majority of people in this room we love soul winning and the last thing
you would want to do is be someone who's not a soul winner anymore.
Now turn to one last place actually Proverbs 20, Proverbs 20.
Turn in the middle of the Bible and you get to the book of Psalms.
The next book is the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 20.
So if you want to become a good soul winner and do good works well you need to cleanse
up the inside.
You need to cleanse up your heart.
Now here's the thing everybody thinks they're a good person.
Isn't that true?
Everybody thinks they're doing what's right.
That's why it's so hard for some people to get saved because you're telling them that
they're not a good person.
That there's none righteous, no not one.
And they say no I am a good person.
I do good things.
But the Bible teaches none of us are really good and all of us need a savior.
But notice what it says in Proverbs 20 verse 6.
Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness but a faithful man who can find.
You see most people think that they're really a good person.
They're doing all these good things.
But then the Bible says even though people think that a faithful man who can find, basically
it's actually really hard to find someone who's actually just doing good and a good
person.
And so you say what should I take away from this sermon Brother Stuckey?
Well you know quite honestly you just need to be a good person.
That's what it's talking about when it talks about goodness and the reality is at this
church it's not really that confusing to know what you need to do.
Because we preach everything the Bible says it's just going to be your choice whether
or not you're willing to do good things or if you're going to care more about yourself.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father thank you for allowing us to be here today.
We just ask you to bless this time, bless this sermon to our lives.
Help us apply this to our lives God.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.