begin with our singing this morning let's go to him number 374 will begin number 374 send the light
him number 374 begins there's a call comes ringing or the restless waves send the light
number 374 let's sing it out on this first verse together now there's a call comes ringing or the
slam send the lie
send the lie there are souls to rescue there are souls to send send the lie
send the lie send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore
send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore
we have heard the mastodonian call today send the light
send the light and the golden offering at the cross we lay send the light
send the lie send the lie the blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore
send the lie the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore
let us pray that grace be everywhere about send the lie
send the lie and the quiet like spirit everywhere be found
send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore
send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore let us not grow weary in the
work of love send the line send the light let us gather jewels for a crown of love send the line
send the line send the line the blessed gospel light let it shine
let it shine forevermore
amen that's for the jason for me if you want to open stuff more in prayer
probably giving you thanks for the opportunity to come here today and hear your perfect in your
holy word we ask that you bless the music that is pleasing to your ears and in jesus name we
give you thanks amen amen back to him number 145 number 145 is well with my soul him number 145
when peace like a river attended my way number 145
when peace like a river attended my way
when sorrows like sea billows roll
whatever my heart thou hast taught me to say
to say it is well it is well
with my soul
ladies it is well
it is well with my soul
with my soul
it is well it is well with my soul
those saints should love it those trials should come
let this blessed assurance control
rise as regarded
my helplessness stayed
and has shed his own blood for my soul
it is well it is well
with my soul
with my soul it is well
it is well with my soul
my sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought
my sin
God in heart but the whole
is nailed to the cross
and I bear it no more
praise the Lord
praise the Lord of my soul
it is well it is well
with my soul with my soul
it is well it is well with my soul
and Lord praise the name
when my faith shall be signed
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll
the trump shall resound
and the Lord shall be sent
even so it is well with my soul
it is well it is well with my soul
with my soul it is well
it is well with my soul
All right, this time we'll go through our announcements together.
If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high.
We'll get to you with one.
On the inside, we have our service time.
Sunday mornings at 1030 is our preaching service.
Sunday nights at 6. Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study.
This week will be in Ezekiel, chapter number 12.
We've got the so many times listed there below,
as well as salvations and baptisms.
And then thank you for praying for the Sierra Leone missions trip.
We had 17 soul winners over there,
and over the course of those couple weeks,
they had 502 people saved.
And not only did they have 502 people saved,
but you can see the great crowd in the picture.
They also were able to preach in schools to great crowds like this
of many hundreds of people, and those aren't even counted.
When we say 502 salvations,
we're talking about actually talking to people one-on-one,
dialoguing with people, making sure that they understand.
But in addition to that,
they also literally preached to thousands of people in crowds,
and I'm sure many of them got saved as well.
So it's very exciting, great job to everybody.
In fact, let's give a big hand to everybody who went to Sierra Leone and did this.
And so we look forward to talking to the people who come back,
getting all the stories and getting the testimonies from that trip.
And then below that, we've got the church picnic.
That's all the way on November 20th,
but we just want to give you a heads-up about that.
On the back, that's this Saturday, Chandler Young's bridal shower,
so be sure to mark the calendar for that one, ladies and girls.
And then the yearbook portraits are happening.
Be sure you sign up for those and get those done before it's too late.
And then below that, we've got the chili potluck on October 31st
before our normal evening service.
So our evening service is getting pushed back from 6 to 7,
so we're going to have the dinner at 5 and the service at 7.
Now, who is planning on bringing a chili to this thing?
Put up your hand if you're planning on bringing one.
All right, great, lots of people have their hands up.
So you may want to just...
My wife was kind of bringing up this to me when we were talking about this.
I don't really know much about cooking,
so I was like, so are people going to make this in the afternoon,
you know, after church, before the evening service?
And she said that that's not really possible,
that it kind of takes a long time to do these things,
so that you'd probably have to make it on Saturday, apparently.
And she said that it's better the next day anyway,
which I agree with that.
Most foods, I think, are better as leftovers.
That's how I feel.
So anyway, the best way to bring it is in a crockpot.
That's not necessarily how you're going to cook it,
but if you cooked it on Saturday, put it in the fridge overnight,
then what you could do is just kind of reheat it in a crockpot
and then bring it in a crockpot.
That way it kind of stays warm.
Am I getting this right, Zuja? Is this accurate?
All right.
You know, I only know these things second and third hand,
and so I'm just repeating what I've heard.
So I'm not a cook.
Although I did make eggs this morning, huh?
Yeah, all right.
And then other upcoming events listed there below.
That's about it for announcements,
so let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Come lead us.
All right, we're going to sing Psalm 81.
You should find the incident in your hymnal there.
If you don't have one, please raise your hand.
Psalm 81, sing aloud unto God our strength.
Sing aloud unto God our strength.
Make a joyful voice unto the God of Jacob.
Make a song every day through the temple,
the pleasant park with the soft terrain.
Blow up the trumpet in the new blues.
Make the time appointed on our solemn feast day.
For this was a statue for Israel
and the law of the God of Jacob.
Is he your name in Joseph
for a testimony when he went out?
Through the land of Egypt
where I heard of language that I understood not,
I removed his shoulder from the burden.
His hands were delivered from the pots.
Thou caused the trouble and I delivered thee.
I answered thee the secret place of thunder.
I proved the end of the waters of Arimah.
Selah, hear, O my people,
and I will testify unto thee.
For this will thou o'erharken unto me,
there shall no strange God be.
Neither shalt thou worship any strange God.
I am the Lord thy God,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it,
while my people would not hearken to my voice.
And Israel would not appear,
so I gave them a part to their own hearts lost.
And they walked in their own counsels,
so that my people had hearkened unto me.
And Israel had walked in my way,
wished to have some dinner in their knees,
and turned my head against their adversaries.
The haters of the Lord should have submitted,
should have submitted themselves unto him,
but their time should have adored forever.
He should have fed them also,
with the finest of the wheat and with honey.
Out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Amen. Great singing. Your hymnals now.
Please turn to hymn number 30.
Number 30, Nothing But the Blood. Number 30.
Hymn number 30, What Can Wash Away My Sin?
Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.
Hymn number 30, on this first verse.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my part in this I see.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing this I plead.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can force an atone.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Not of good that I have done.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
All right, at this time we'll pass the offering plates around.
And as the plates are going around, let me just quickly say a few words
before the scripture reading about our mother-baby rooms.
So we have these mother-baby rooms in the back
with the window and the sound so that you can be in there
and still see the service.
If you have a little baby or toddler that gets a little rambunctious,
crawling around, et cetera.
So let me just explain a few things about how this works.
So we have all the babies and toddlers in the service with us here
at Faithful Word Baptist Church.
We don't want to remove them and stick them in a nursery or a junior church.
We really strongly believe that it's beneficial for the kids
to grow up in real church.
Also, in the perilous times we're living in,
we don't think that people should just turn their kids over to strangers
when they show up for church on Sunday morning.
And so, therefore, we have the kids in the service with us,
but obviously kids at a certain age find it really difficult to sit still
or to be good during the sermon when they're at that age of, like,
one, two, three years old.
Obviously, they don't have the maturity or the attention span
to sit through the service.
So the purpose of those rooms is so that you could take them out
and still, you know, hear the preaching and be there.
Now, if you have a child that's actually just really just screaming
and melting down, you may need to take them all the way outside,
just in order to not disrupt the service.
Another thing I want to say is that I think that sometimes people
can have an unrealistic expectation for their kids,
expecting a one-year-old or a two-year-old to just sit like a little soldier
and just, you know, not make a peep during the sermon,
and then they just basically give it a spanking every single time it acts up,
and then they're just constantly taking their kid out and spanking it,
taking it out and spanking it.
You know, that is asking too much at that age, you know,
and so you don't want to just train your little toddler to hate church
because it's where they get spanked five times for not sitting still or something, you know.
So, you know, obviously, if you have an older kid that's being a brat
and, you know, by all means, spank your kid.
You know, we're definitely for spanking here.
The Bible teaches us to spank our children.
I'm 100 percent for it, but it can be unreasonable sometimes
to expect a little tiny child to sit still like an adult would
for an hour-long sermon.
So be patient with your kids, but if they act up,
please do take them out for the sake of the people around you.
If they're actually, you know, throwing a fit and being a brat,
then by all means, spank them.
But, you know, I'm just saying we need to have a little balance here, okay,
and if you have to keep taking your kid out like four times, five times,
at that point, you should probably just stay out and not just go in and out like 15 times.
So we want to balance, you know, being patient with our kids,
with training our kids so that as they get older,
we expect more and more of them as they hit older ages,
and we want to also balance out, you know, having the kids in the service.
I want every two-year-old and three-year-old to hear the preaching, you know,
because I believe that they're picking up more than you think of what's being preached,
but at the same time, we want to respect the people around us.
So we want to balance all these things.
That's why we have those rooms to help facilitate that,
and if you have any questions, you can come ask me or ask my wife about how that works,
but we just want to, every once in a while, I like to kind of explain how things work
just so that we're all on the same page with the mother-baby rooms.
All right, and with that, let's go ahead and read our scripture this morning.
We're going to be reading Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation chapter number 2, you can follow along silently with brother Dan as he reads.
Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation chapter 2, the Bible reads,
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works,
or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place,
except thou repent.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolations, which I also hate.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
And unto the angel of the church and Smyrna write,
These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive.
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich,
and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
And to the angel of the church and Pergamos write,
These things saith he which hath the sharp sword of two edges.
I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seed is,
and thou beholdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith,
even in those days wherein Antipasus was my faithful martyr,
who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them
that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolations,
which thing I hate.
Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
And unto the angel of the church and Thyatira write,
These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire,
and his feet are like fine brass.
I know Thy works, and charity, and service, and faith,
and Thy patience, and Thy works, and the last to be more than the first.
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee,
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess,
to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication,
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed,
and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
except they repent of their deeds.
And I will kill her children with death,
and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reigns and the hearts.
And I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
But unto you I say, and unto the rest of Thyatira,
as many as have not this doctrine,
and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak,
I will put upon you none other burden.
But that which ye have already hold fast,
but that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end,
to him will I give power over the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron,
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers,
even as I received of my Father.
And I will give him the morning star.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this morning, Lord.
Thank you for allowing us to gather in church, Lord.
I pray that you just be with Pastor Anderson,
Lord, and fill with the Holy Spirit,
and let us to apply this sermon to our lives.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Man, the title of my sermon this morning is
A Wet Blanket on Soul Winning.
A wet blanket on soul winning.
The last thing we would ever want to do
is to throw a wet blanket on soul winning,
because of the fact that soul winning
is something that can be hard to get motivated to do sometimes.
The hardest part about soul winning for me
is always just getting out there,
just getting myself out there, getting started.
Once I'm out there and doing it and enjoying it,
it's all downhill from there.
I've been soul winning now
since I was 17 years old consistently every week,
so that's been however many years that is,
what, 23 years of soul winning or something like that.
And, you know, that's the battle is just staying motivated
and just having set time or times each week
that you go out soul winning
so that you can just be in that habit getting out there,
because it's pretty easy to come up with excuses
not to go soul winning,
like being busy or tired or lots going on right now,
and when you start getting busy and pushing it off,
pretty soon three weeks have gone by,
five weeks have gone by, two months have gone by,
and you're out of the habit,
and then you just kind of never get back into it.
But the sad thing is that there are Christians
and even preachers that would make statements
or teach doctrines that would,
whether intentionally or unintentionally,
throw a wet blanket on soul winning,
just dumb things that people say
or dumb things that people teach
that end up throwing a wet blanket on soul winning.
And one of those things is this idea
that if you're in sin, you shouldn't be soul winning.
You know, if you're a sinful person,
if you've got sin in your life,
you know, you need to fix that and then go soul winning.
Okay, and the reason that that's such a destructive doctrine
is because everybody's a sinner.
So then it can be pretty easy
for somebody who maybe just doesn't feel like soul winning
to think about the sins that they've done recently
and say, well, I'm going to take kind of a moral high road
and work on my sins instead and not go soul winning.
It's so dumb, but some people know what I'm referring to.
There was a sermon that was preached last Sunday
by this bozo preacher.
Let me give you some quotes from the sermon that he preached.
He said, write it down.
I did write it down, by the way.
Write it down.
The nastiest people are there at every soul winning time.
What a thing to say.
You know, I would say that the people
who are showing up to the soul winning times
are the people that are the most dedicated.
They're the zealous church members.
They're the on fire church members.
They're the ones who are doing a lot of work for God.
I praise the Lord for people who show up to soul winning times.
I'm not just saying, well, what, you know,
what nastiness are you hiding, trying to compensate?
They can't get along with their family,
but they're at every single soul winning event.
These are direct quotes.
Can't get along with their coworkers,
but they're at every single soul winning event.
They can't get along with Christians at the church,
but they're at every single soul winning event.
Get the junk out of your vessel before you go out soul winning.
Get the junk out of your heart and go soul winning afterward.
If your heart's not right, soul winning's not going to fix it.
Now, this is all false, my friend,
because I guarantee you that there are going to be people
who don't get along with people at work
or don't get along with people in their family
or don't get along with people in the church,
but you know what?
Hey, I'm just still glad that they're out soul winning
and at least doing something right for God,
even if they have other problems in their life.
Now, he makes this statement that if your heart's not right,
soul winning's not going to fix it.
First of all, that's just blatantly false,
according to the Word of God,
because let's look down at the Bible here in Revelation 2, verse 1.
The Bible reads,
unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand,
who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience,
and thou canst not bear them which are evil,
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not,
and hast found them liars,
and hast borne and hast patience,
and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted.
So he's mentioning a lot of good things about this church.
They've done a lot of works.
They have a lot of patience.
They have been against the false prophets and exposed the false teachers.
These are the good things.
They've been patient.
They've worked.
But he says,
Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
Now, I don't know about you,
but that clearly sounds like a heart problem to me.
If you've lost your first love,
then that means your heart isn't right,
because love resides in the heart.
And so these are people who,
they're doing stuff,
they're taking a lot of good stands,
but they've lost their first love.
So how do they get their first love back?
He says in verse number five,
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent,
and do the first works,
or else I will come unto thee quickly
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place,
except thou repent.
So the first thing I want to point out about this passage is that
the way that you get the first love back
is by doing the first works.
Doing the first works are a way to recover the first love.
Now, what are the first works?
Well, I don't see how anybody could come to any other conclusion
than that the first works are soul winning.
Anyway, you slice it.
I mean, what do you want to do with the word first?
How about we could say, well, first means the most important works.
Okay, what's the most important work that we do as Christians?
It's to preach the gospel to every creature.
It's to witness to the lost.
It's to tell people about Jesus.
What about chronologically the first works?
When Jesus recruited his workforce,
when he was assembling that first church of which he was the pastor,
when he assembled that first group of people,
and he called men like Peter and James and John,
what did he immediately say to them?
Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
So right away when he's recruiting them, that's the job.
What's the job, Jesus?
Why are we following you, Jesus?
If you follow me, I'll make you fishers of men.
Then when he's leaving them, when he's departing from this earth,
and he's leaving them with his final command,
he says, go ye therefore and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
Mark chapter 16, he says, go ye therefore into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
At the end of John, as my Father had sent me, so send I you.
And he said that the Father had sent him, for what reason?
He said, I've come to seek and to save that which was lost.
So throughout Christ's ministry, he emphasized this, he started with it,
he ended with it, it's of paramount importance,
and a lot of churches are busy doing a lot of other things besides soul winning,
but the first works, the most basic works,
the most important works are to simply tell someone about Jesus,
to simply open your mouth and boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,
to open your Bible and show someone how to be saved.
And the Bible says that the first works will help you get back to the first love.
So if your heart's not right, soul winning is not, yes, it will fix it.
Going out soul winning will make you a more loving person,
it will fix your attitude, it will change your outlook on everything.
And you know, when I go out there soul winning, it affects my heart.
You know, my eye affects my heart.
You know, you see lost people, you have compassion on them,
you see people get saved, your heart is warmed, your heart is filled.
And so this is a bad doctrine.
But secondly, here's another reason why it's such a bad doctrine.
If somebody does something wrong, don't rebuke them for the good that they're doing.
And I've seen this my whole life where someone does something wrong,
so then someone will criticize the good that they do and call them a hypocrite.
Now is that what Jesus does here?
Well look what Jesus says in verse number six.
He just finished saying that they don't have the first love.
And he even warns them in verse five,
remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works
or else I will come to thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent.
So the fact that they don't have the first love and that they're not doing the first works
is so serious that he says that if they don't get this right,
he'll remove their candlestick from out of his place.
And the candlestick, the Bible tells us in chapter one, is the church.
So he's going to remove basically his stamp of approval from this church
or they'll stop being a scriptural church or he'll cease to recognize them as a church
or they'll stop being a church.
Whatever that means when he says, I'm going to remove the candlestick if you don't fix this.
This is a very serious error, not having the first love and not having the first works.
But look what he says in the next verse.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Notice he's still praising them for the thing that they're doing right.
So first he praised them for the thing that they did right.
Then he tells them what they're doing wrong and that they must fix it.
But then he says, but you know what? I'm glad you're doing this other thing right.
So why would you chastise someone for so many?
Ah, you're doing all this bad stuff and you have the gall to go out sowing your big hypocrite?
That's nonsense.
Well, I bet you read your Bible too, don't you? Huh?
All the sin in your life.
You live in a sinful life and then you have the audacity to read your Bible.
What do you pray?
Let me guess, you pay a tithe, huh?
Go to church, yeah, soul winning all the times.
That is absurd.
It's unbiblical.
It's garbage.
Look, if somebody is doing 10 things wrong and one thing right,
at least they're doing that one thing right.
I'm not going to sit there and say, well, how dare you do that one thing right?
Why don't you just go all the way and just trash the Bible because you don't believe in any way.
You know, it's like what?
Obviously, it's good if someone's going soul winning.
The best thing for somebody to do who's a sinful person is to get out soul winning.
If a sinful person gets out soul winning, if an unloving person gets out soul winning,
if a backslidden person gets out soul winning, it can only help their walk with God.
So what kind of advice is it to say, well, clean up your life first
and then people are going to look at themselves, people with a tender heart are going to examine themselves
and constantly find sin in their lives.
You know, the people who have the tenderest hearts are going to be feeling bad the most
about different sins that they've committed, even small sins.
And then this could be a discouragement from people going out soul winning.
It's a bad doctrine.
It's a big wet blanket on soul winning when you start criticizing the soul winners
and talking about how you need to clean up your life first and don't go soul winning with a dirty cup.
God doesn't want to use a dirty cup and blah, blah, blah.
Go to John chapter 15.
John chapter number 15.
This guy did a little follow-up video where he said get things right with God and then go soul winning.
False.
Go soul winning immediately.
Later I'm going to get to the qualifications for soul winning according to the Bible.
I found a scripture that gives the qualifications for soul winning.
Well, we're going to look at that later.
Look at John chapter 15 verse 1.
It says, I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now notice, if a branch bears fruit then God will purge it so that it will bring forth more fruit.
Now what does it mean to purge?
To purge means to remove something, to purify.
The first three letters of purge are the same as the first three letters in purify because they both come from the same root words.
And so purging is a cleansing or purifying.
And in the case of the vine he says that a branch that brings forth fruit needs to be purged so that it can bring forth more fruit.
We had an apple tree when we first moved here and it was a type of apple tree that we weren't familiar with and we didn't really know much about apple trees in the first place.
And we had a hard time getting this apple tree to produce fruit or to be a healthy apple tree.
We just had all kinds of problems with it and we eventually just removed it and replaced it with something that we understood.
But it turned out, we found out later that in order for the apple tree to produce you have to prune the thing.
You have to purge the thing and so it gets too many branches, too many buds, too many things that are just a drain on the system.
And I'm not an expert on these things so this is coming from a layman or worse.
But basically you end up trimming off a bunch of branches or a bunch of buds and things so that basically all the resources can go toward the actual producers.
Something along those lines.
But the point of scripture here is that we're the branches.
Jesus said I'm the vine, you're the branches.
And if you don't abide in the vine you're not going to bring forth fruit because without me you can do nothing.
But he said if there's a branch in me that brings forth fruit then basically the father, the husband men will purge it so that it can bring forth more fruit.
So what that means is that let's say I'm a brand new Christian.
I haven't really cleaned up my life yet.
Maybe I've got a lot of sin in my life or whatever.
And then I go out and start witnessing to people and telling people about Christ right away.
Even though I have grown, not at all yet.
I haven't cleaned up my life.
I'm still a worldly guy and I'm just out there giving the gospel, witnessing, giving my friends the gospel, knocking doors, soul winning.
You know what God's going to do then is God is going to purge me so that I can bring forth more fruit.
So he's going to remove some things from my life that are dead weight.
And those of us who've been Christians a long time, we've experienced this where God will remove people from our lives that were holding us back or dragging us down.
Bad friends, bad habits, sin, bad attitudes.
And so again, soul winning according to John chapter 15 or bringing forth fruit, reproduction.
Because what is bringing forth fruit?
Reproducing, right?
The apple brings forth fruit, it brings forth apples.
The orange brings forth fruit, it brings forth oranges.
It's multiplication.
And so if we bring forth fruit, then God will purge us so that we can bring forth more fruit.
He says in verse 3, now you're clean through the word which I've spoken unto you.
Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except to divide in the vine.
No more can you except you abide in me.
I'm the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing.
So the part I want to focus on is verse 2 where it says every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.
So it's a foolish advice to say, well, get purged first and then go out and bring forth fruit.
No, go out and bring forth fruit first and then God will purge you and you'll bring forth even more fruit.
That's the biblical order.
Go to Philippians chapter 1.
Philippians chapter 1.
You say, that's not what he meant.
It doesn't matter what he meant.
This is the effect of a sermon like this.
It's a wet blanket on soul winning is what it is.
And what did he mean when he lied and slandered people in the sermon that I called him out for?
And he has no answer.
He can't answer for his actions.
Where he told bold face lies about other pastors.
So the wet blanket on soul winning.
By the way, that's why at the end of the sermon he jokingly says, well, nobody's going to go soul winning today.
Yeah, now nobody's going to go soul winning.
Yeah, probably not with that kind of a sermon.
Because who wants to be one of the nastiest people?
Because it's the nastiest people that show up to every soul winning time.
These people are in every single soul winning marathon across America.
And I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, that you, Nar?
You know, I'm thinking like, I'm thinking about these people who go to every soul winning marathon
and I'm thinking, I like these people.
I don't want to start naming names.
But you know, I'm thinking about people who travel to these soul winning marathons
and you know, they're in Sierra Leone, they're in Malawi, they're in Botswana.
You know, they're in all these places.
They just pop up everywhere.
You do a soul winning in Michigan, they're there.
L.A., they're there.
Georgia, they're there.
Hey, praise God.
Ah, so nasty.
Now look at Philippians chapter 1.
I'm going to show you how unbiblical this attitude is.
That tries to basically exclude sinners from soul winning.
Where I say, I don't care how sinful you are, if you're saved, let's go soul winning.
If you got saved five minutes ago, let's go soul winning.
You don't get along with your wife, let's go soul winning.
You don't get along with the people who work, let's go soul winning.
You're a big jerk, great.
Get out soul winning and maybe you'll quit being such a jerk when you start doing something
for other people and loving other people.
Look at Philippians chapter 1 verse 12, but I would you should understand, brethren, that
the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the Gospel
so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places.
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold
to speak the word without fear.
Now this is a very misunderstood passage, so I want you to pay very close attention
this morning so we can interpret this correctly.
The first point I want to make is who are we talking about?
Are we talking about people that are saved or not saved?
Look at verse 14.
Many of the brethren in the Lord, these people saved or what?
Waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some, some of who?
Some of the brethren in the Lord, am I right?
It's a pronoun, the antecedent is the brother in the Lord.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife and some also of goodwill.
The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to
my bonds, but the other of love knowing that I'm set for the defense of the Gospel, what
then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached
and I there and do rejoice, yea and will rejoice.
So do we see the apostle Paul saying, you know, ah, these people are out-souling me
with a bad attitude.
He's like, great.
Great.
Are some people out-souling me for the wrong reason?
Yep.
Great.
What does the Bible say?
Great.
Hey, I rejoice and you know what, I'm going to keep on rejoicing in the future as well,
because I just want the Gospel to be preached, I want people to hear the Gospel, I want people
to get saved.
Now here's how I've heard some people twist this passage or misuse it, I've heard some
people say something along the lines of, well you know, even if false religions are preaching
about Jesus, that's still great.
Is that what this is saying?
Well, they're preaching about a false Gospel, but at least they're hearing Jesus.
They're hearing something about Jesus.
That's not what this is saying.
Or, oh well, you know, Judas is scary, it's out-souling great.
That's not what this is.
Okay.
This is talking about saved people witnessing.
Brethren of the Lord are witnessing boldly for Christ.
And the apostle Paul says this is a good thing that saved Christians are boldly out there
witnessing for Christ, and he says, you know what, I realize some of these people are just
in it because maybe they just want attention, or maybe, you know, they're doing it for strife
and envy or contention, you know, they have an attitude problem or whatever, but he says,
either way, I'm glad that they're out there doing it.
Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and
will rejoice.
And so here's the thing, if somebody has a bad attitude or a bad spirit, but they go
out-soul winning, you know, obviously they should fix their attitude, obviously they
should fix their bad spirit, if somebody's living a sinful life and out-soul winning,
obviously they should get the sin out of their life, and we spend a lot of time preaching
against sin and preaching against a bad attitude, but you know what, even if they never get
that sin out of their life, and even if they never fix their attitude, going soul winning
is better than nothing.
Just like if somebody had everything messed up in their life, but they read the Bible
every morning, I'd say, well you know what, at least they're doing that.
At least that's something.
Well, they've got all these messed up things in their life, but you know what, they're
still going to church, they're still reading their Bible, they're still praying.
I'm not condoning sin.
And by the way, Brother Hiles wasn't condoning sin either for this lying preacher that slandered
him as well, okay?
He, in the sermons that he's even pointing to, rebukes sin hard if you'd actually listen
to a version that's not heavily redacted and edited.
But look, obviously we're not condoning sin, we're not giving anybody a license to sin,
but I will say this though, you know, no matter what sin you have in your life, if you have
a chance to open your mouth and tell someone about Jesus and how to be saved, do it.
Do it.
Tell people about Christ.
Get people saved.
And you know what, maybe you'll find your life just start changing, or your heart will
start changing, and God will purge you so that you can bring forth more fruit.
We don't want to exclude sinful people from soul-winning.
We don't want to exclude people with a bad attitude from soul-winning.
We don't want to tell them you have to fix that first and then go soul-winning.
No, we want to take them soul-winning and help them fix it.
But soul-winning is part of the program to help people fix their life.
Now go through John chapter 4.
John chapter number 4.
Let me show you the kind of people that God can use out soul-winning.
John chapter 4, verse 16, Jesus saith unto her,
Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
This is the woman at the well.
The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands.
And he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that sets thou truly.
Like, wow.
The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
So apparently Jesus has hit the nail on the head here.
That this woman has had five husbands and she's living with a dude that she's not married to.
Our fathers worshiped in this mountain. Notice the change the subject right away.
Okay, now again, this is a passage that people will twist.
But let's go by what the Bible actually says.
Jesus asked a very reasonable question.
He's talking to her. He's talking about the gospel.
She doesn't quite understand what he's saying at that point.
He's talking to her about the gospel.
And she says, give me that living water.
And he's talking about everlasting life.
She thinks it's some kind of, like, an everlasting gobstopper.
Like, that you basically drink this water and you don't have to keep coming to the well or something.
So he's talking about everlasting life.
So he says, go call thy husband.
You know, it makes sense because if you remember, like, when the Apostle Paul is going to give the gospel to the Philippian jailer,
it's like, you know, hey, let's get your whole household together to hear this.
So it's a pretty reasonable question, go call your husband.
But she says, well, I don't have a husband.
And Jesus, because he's the son of God, he knows these things, he says what he said there, where he brings up the fact,
well, yeah, yeah, you have had five husbands, but the guy you're married to, I guess you're right, I guess he's not your husband.
You did say truly that you don't have a husband even though you're living with him.
She changes the subject. Right?
And you know what? They never get back on that subject. They never do.
She's like, well, I got a question for you about which mountain we should be worshipping in.
She changes the subject and never come back.
But I've heard these bogus repent of your sins preachers say, well, before she could get saved, she had to deal with her sin.
She had to deal with that. Jesus was confronted.
You know, that's not what happened in the story, my friend.
It never comes up again because salvation is a free gift.
It's not earned by you cleaning up your life.
It's not earned because you put all your boyfriend's stuff in the driveway and then come back.
Okay, Jesus, now tell me how to get saved.
That's not how it works. Okay?
It's just as I am with Jesus.
You get saved just as you are, just by faith alone, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Now jump down to verse 25.
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ.
When he is come, he will tell us all things.
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Verse 28, the woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith to the man,
come see a man which told me all things that ever I did is not this, the Christ.
Then they went out of the city and came unto him.
So she doesn't go call her husband because she doesn't have one, but she goes and basically calls all the men of the city, right?
She goes to the men of the city and says, you got to hear this guy.
Come hear this man who told me all that ever I did is not this, the Christ, because he just claimed that he was Christ.
This guy says that he's the Messiah.
This guy says that he's the Christ.
He told me all things that ever I did.
Isn't this Christ?
Come hear this guy.
Let's go.
Let's hear what he has to say.
So she gets all these guys.
They come back.
You know, Jesus preaches.
They talk, et cetera.
But look what the Bible says in verse 39.
Or actually look at verse 30.
Then they went out of the city and came unto him.
So she invites these people to come to Jesus and they come.
Then in verse 39 it says, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did.
So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them and he abode there two days.
And many more believed because of his own word and said unto the woman, now we believe not because of thy saying for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world.
Now again, if we're reading carefully, we see that many of the people got saved through her word and then other people because it says in verse 41, many more believed because of his own word.
So it's not saying, well, she didn't get anybody saved.
It was only Jesus later they got saved.
No, no, no.
She got people saved.
And then over the course of two days, Jesus got other people who saved who said, well, now we believe not because of thy saying for we've heard him ourselves.
But was there a group of people that she got saved herself?
Yeah, there was.
So I think part of the reason why this story is in the Bible is to show us how God can even use people with a bad past in order to do great things for him.
But not only that, he'll even get you out soul winning before you clean up your life.
She dropped her water pot and she went straight out soul winning and I hope that she cleaned up her life.
I hope that later on, you know, she kicked that dude out of the house or got out of his house or whatever her situation was.
I hope she didn't just continue living in fornication and so on and so forth.
But you know what?
The Bible doesn't say that.
So I like to actually base what I believe on what the Bible says, not on what it doesn't say.
So if we focus on what's actually in the text, we see that Jesus Christ takes somebody who is living a sinful life.
Yes, she's got a bad past but she's got a bad present too.
She's living with the dude right now.
We focus on the bad past.
How about the present?
And yet, yet she's used by God to bring people to Christ to get people saved.
Now, I believe that this woman probably did get right with God because of the fact that if you bring forth fruit, God will purge you so that you bring forth more fruit.
So according to that formula, according to that idea, if this woman's bringing forth a bunch of fruit on day one, then you know, I'm pretty sure she probably did.
But apparently that's not essential to the story or it be in the story.
The essential thing is this woman believed on Christ without having to fix her life first.
This woman won people to Christ without having to fix her life first.
And look, again, this is not a license to sin.
And by the way, if people are living in fornication while they're going to this church, they'll be thrown out of the church.
But I will say this, if we win someone to Christ who's living in fornication, we don't just throw them out the first day because that's if somebody's called a brother, you know, somebody who's an established Christian.
You know, I've won people to Christ, baptized people, and they came to our church for many weeks as they're living in these sins of fornication or whatever.
After they've been given a chance to be here for a while, to learn, to grow, then they're going to have to make those choices and those steps.
And if they refuse to get that right, then the Bible does tell us that we can't have people coming to the church who are living in fornication.
Okay.
But here's the thing, though.
You know, it's only a short list of sins where we would throw people out of the church.
It's only the ones that are indicated in the Bible.
Okay.
And here's the thing.
If I won somebody to the Lord who I knew was living in fornication, I would still baptize them and I would still take them out soul winning while they're living in fornication.
Yes, I would.
And you know what?
If I won somebody to Christ and they had so many piercings on their face they look like they fell into a fishing tackle box, I will take them out soul winning.
Say, well, aren't you embarrassed?
No, I'm not.
I'm not embarrassed.
I don't get, you know, if I won some dude to the Lord and he's got hair all the way down his back, super long hair, and if he's willing, I'll take him out soul winning today.
In fact, you know, in fact, if you've been soul winning for ten years and you have long hair as a dude, I'll take you out soul winning today.
Any takers out there?
And you know what?
Soul winning will probably get you to get a haircut.
I believe that.
I'm not ashamed of you.
You know, why would I be ashamed to have somebody with me, you know, that's a brother in Christ that I'm discipling or trying to get to the next step of his Christian life, somebody who's a new believer or new to church or whatever.
I mean, it's great to get somebody like that out of soul winning.
I have no issue with that.
I wouldn't say, well, get a haircut first, then you can go soul winning.
You know, no, that's not how things work in the Bible.
Look at Mark chapter 5.
We're going to look at the qualifications for soul winning.
Mark chapter 5.
Mark chapter number 5, it says in verse number 15, as you're turning there, this is, and while you're turning to Mark chapter 5, I'll tell you why.
As you're turning there, this is, and while you're turning to Mark chapter 5, I'll tell you the context here.
Jesus Christ shows up and this guy is a demoniac.
He's possessed with devils.
And I mean, this guy's a maniac.
He's naked.
He's cutting himself with stones until he bleeds.
He's running around like a wild man.
They try to put this guy under arrest.
He breaks the handcuffs.
They tried to, they couldn't even bind him with chains.
He's like these drug addicts who get superhuman strength and they're ripping things apart.
And so this guy's just a complete maniac.
And this guy, Jesus casts out the devils and this guy gets saved.
And it says in verse 15, they come to Jesus, these are the people of the town, and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind.
And they were afraid.
And they that saw it told how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil and also concerning the swine.
And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
So they're telling Jesus, you need to leave, this is too weird.
And when he, Jesus, was coming to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
So this wild man, this maniac, who just got saved, he wants to go.
Like Jesus, he wants to be like the thirteenth disciple.
You know, Jesus is leaving with his disciples and this guy says, hey, I want to go too.
Take me with you.
You just, you know, got me saved and this is great.
So he prayed him that he might be with him.
Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, Jesus didn't allow him, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and have had compassion on them.
And he departed and began to publish.
Now, what does the word publish mean?
This is back before printing presses and publishing houses.
It's not the modern use of the word publish that we would think of.
Publish means to basically make public.
You know, earlier in Mark there's a guy who, who was healed and he began to blaze abroad the matter the Bible says.
You know, like it's just like spreading like wildfire, blazing it abroad.
So this guy is told, go tell your friends what the Lord has done for you.
And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis, meaning everybody in Decapolis is hearing about it.
It comes from the same root as our word public, publish.
He's just publicly proclaiming what Christ has done for him.
He's publishing it in Decapolis.
How great things Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel.
Okay, so from this passage I found the qualifications for soul winning.
Number one, be saved.
You got to be saved to go soul winning, right?
You can't save others if you haven't even been saved.
Number two, you have to be wearing clothes, right?
I mean this guy did need to put clothes on.
Don't, you don't go soul winning naked.
Alright, so number one, you got to be saved.
Number two, you got to have clothes on.
And number three, you got to be in your right mind, right?
So if you're just like a raving lunatic maniac, then I will not take you soul winning.
But if you're saved and clothed and in your right mind, we're ready to take you out soul winning.
You can come, you're welcome.
You know, I don't care what sin is in your life, you are welcome to go out soul winning, okay?
Because of the fact that soul winning is what's going to help you get purged so that you can bring forth more fruit.
Because of the fact that I'm just glad that the gospel of Christ is being preached,
no matter who's preaching it, as long as they're preaching the right gospel,
as long as the saved person is preaching the right gospel, I'm for it.
Now, I've heard this my whole life, this other kind of wet blanket on soul winning, that said this.
Well, I'd go soul winning but I don't want to be a hypocrite.
Or you people, and it's the same thing that we're talking about with this bozo preacher,
is this thing of, well, if you're going to be mean to people and then go out soul winning, you're a big hypocrite.
Or, you know, if you don't get along with your family, if you don't get along with your co-workers,
if you don't get along with people at church and you go soul winning, you're a big hypocrite.
Or, you know, if you're drinking or smoking and you go soul winning, you're a big hypocrite.
But hold on a second. Hold on a second.
And I remember literally having this conversation when I was 15 years old
with one of my friends that told me, when I was 15, one of my friends said,
well, I'm not going to witness for Christ because I don't want to be a hypocrite because I'm not living right.
And this wasn't some horrible axe murderer. It was just a teenager.
It was just a worldly teenager that had some sin in his life. He wasn't a horrible person.
But he's just like, yeah, but, you know, I've got some sin in my life and so, therefore,
I'm not going to go witnessing for Christ because I don't want to be a hypocrite.
And I remember explaining to this guy, how in the world could you possibly be a hypocrite,
no matter how sinful you are, if you go to someone and tell them, I'm a sinner.
I deserve to go to hell and the only reason I'm going to heaven is because of the blood of Jesus.
Jesus paid it all. It's through his death, burial, and resurrection that I'm saved.
And without Jesus, I'd be going straight to hell. There's none righteous, no, not one,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. How could you be a hypocrite with saying that?
Because a hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another.
A hypocrite is someone who tells you not to do the thing that they're doing.
So the only way to be a hypocrite with that message is if you don't believe in Jesus.
If you're telling people to believe in Jesus and you don't believe in Jesus, then you're a hypocrite.
But if I tell you, get saved by believing in Jesus, it's a free gift, I received it,
I want you to receive it too. Yeah, but you're a hypocrite because you live a sinful life.
It's like, well, yeah, that's why I need Jesus. That's why I got saved.
That's why I'm telling this to you because you're a sinner too.
Because we're both in the same boat without Jesus and if you believe in Christ, you'll be saved.
So look, that is the most ridiculous argument and it makes you wonder, like, are you teaching work salvation?
When you say, and looking back, I wonder because, you know, some of these kids that I grew up with as teenagers,
you kind of just assume that they're all saved because we're all Baptist, we're all Evangelical Christians,
but then later you find out that they're trusting in works or something because when I was a teenager,
I didn't really go that deep with these people on doctrine. I didn't really know the questions to ask.
And so it makes you wonder, does a person even understand the Gospel?
If they would make such a statement that you're a hypocrite going out soul winning when you have sin in your life.
And I wonder how much sin do we have to get out of our life before we're qualified to go soul winning?
Because I think as long as we just get the nudity taken care of, we should be fine.
I mean, what, you know, how am I, because here's the thing, we're all on a journey of Christian growth.
All of us, myself, you, we're all on a journey of Christian growth.
No one in this building is perfect. No one in this building has arrived.
No one in this building has kind of maxed out Christian level 99.
And there's no third digit in this game. Okay.
When you are at Christian level 99, guess what? Then you go to level 100.
Turns out there's a thousand levels. Okay.
Because none of us has arrived. The Apostle Paul flat out said in Philippians, I have not arrived.
Every single person in this room right now, if I were to say, you know, think of a sin right now that you did this week.
Or think of a sin that you did in the last 24 hours.
Or think of, you know, the only person who could not think of anything is probably the biggest holier than thou phony of all.
That's just like, well, no, I mean, I don't make mistakes. I mean, no, I've been, I've actually been perfect for the last 96 hours.
You know, people who actually know the Bible well and are very sensitive to the Holy Spirit in their life
and have what the Bible calls a tender heart, they feel bad even for the smallest thing.
You know, they do, even if they do something small, they feel bad about it.
And the people who don't have as tender of a heart, they're probably doing gnarlier stuff anyway, so it's pretty easy.
They're going to be like, yeah, I did something bad.
So the point is, all of us, if we'd be honest with ourselves, would find something wrong with ourselves.
If we'd be honest with ourselves, we'd find something wrong with ourselves.
And so, can we go soul winning? Can we witness for Christ or are we big time hypocrites?
I mean, imagine me as a pastor. I mean, how can I pastor a church if I'm not perfect?
I guess I can just never say anything. I can just never, that's absurd, okay?
God is not telling us to clean up our life first and then go soul winning second.
Clean up your life and then you can serve me, okay?
Does God want us to clean up our life? Yes.
And no one can accuse me of not preaching on sin.
I mean, go over the last several weeks of preaching. What have I been preaching over the last several weeks?
Do you even remember? I was preaching on, I mean, I'm preaching on Leviticus 19 and it's all preaching on sin.
It was all preaching on sin. It was Sunday morning preaching on sin.
Sunday night preaching on sin. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Sunday morning, like the last three weeks.
I'm not saying it's okay to sin and do these things. I want you to perfect holiness and the fear of God.
I need to be perfecting holiness and the fear of God. We all need to be getting the sin out of our life.
And also, another thing I want to say is that if you clean up your life,
you will be a better soul winner because the Bible said that a branch that brings forth fruit gets purged. Why?
So it can bring forth more fruit.
So you are going to bring forth more fruit if you get the sin out of your life. There's no question about that.
And so I am for you fixing the problems in your life, getting your heart right, fixing relationships, fixing your attitude,
getting right with God, you know, loving the brethren, loving your family, loving your spouse.
But at the end of the day, though, you can go soul winning no matter what's going on in those areas.
And I'd recommend it because it'll help you get those other areas straight.
And the last thing I'm going to do is look at someone who goes soul winning a lot and act like,
oh, there, you know, what are they hiding?
Let me tell you why certain people go soul winning a lot.
Let me tell you why there are people who go soul winning several times a week and maybe fly all over the country to go soul winning
and it's just like they're always at these events just constantly soul winning, constantly soul winning.
You want me to psychoanalyze this for you?
Let me explain to you why those people are out soul winning.
The reason that they're doing that is because they're excited about soul winning.
They're excited about it.
Isn't that terrible?
They're excited about it.
Okay, let me ask you this.
Why are there people flying all over the country to watch, you know, the, is it the Cardinals?
Is that the, is that a football team?
You know, the Arizona Cardinals.
I bet you that there are people who fly to distant cities to watch them play.
You think so?
I bet there are people that are at every game, they fly to distant cities to see those away games
and they wear the colors and they're screaming and yelling and why?
What are they hiding?
They love the Cardinals, right?
They love football.
That's what they're into.
That's what they like.
That's what they, you know, so there are people who actually have their priorities right
instead of getting excited about men in tights, you know, throwing a ball around.
They get excited about getting somebody saved.
And so it's exciting to them.
It's fun for them to go to some distant city.
I mean, why go to these away games?
It's like, okay, go to the games in Phoenix.
Why do you want to go to an away game?
Watch it on TV.
Can't you just watch the games that are here?
The reason that they want to go to the away game is because it's kind of an excuse to get on an airplane.
You know, maybe they haven't been on an airplane in a while.
It's kind of an excuse to get on an airplane.
You know, hey, I've never been to Kansas City or hey, I've never been to Seattle or hey, I've never been to Dallas.
It's just kind of an excuse, right, to just go to some city you've never been to.
It's a reason why.
Because people aren't just like, hey, let's just go to this city for no reason.
It's like, well, I was going for this game.
And then it's like a reason to go and you go out to eat, you go to the hotel, you see the sights, you watch the game.
It's just like it's something to do for people who enjoy that sort of thing.
Well, it's the same way with the soul winning.
You know, people are excited about the idea of winning people to Christ.
Or maybe they're in a dead church.
Who doesn't go soul winning?
Did you ever think about that?
Some of these people that show up at every event, it's because of the fact that they're in a dead church.
So this is like the only chance that they get to go soul winning with other people.
And get around other people who feel the same way as them and get stirred up and get motivated.
These events are great.
We need to keep doing these events.
And I love it when the familiar faces show up.
I love it when I show up at one of these events and I know half the people there already.
And it's just like, yup, he's at all the events.
And, you know, it's a blessing.
Then there are people who get all bitter and angry and, ah, yeah, he's big jerks.
Because they don't agree with your garbage.
Now all of a sudden they're bad.
And, you know, winning a bunch of people to Christ doesn't make you right with God.
But you know what's funny, though, is that in the Bible it says that the tree is known by his fruit.
Isn't that what the Bible says?
That we know the tree by his fruit?
But, you know, none of these guys believe that.
Because they want to look at the people that are producing the most fruit
that are actually winning people to Christ and doing great works for God
and seeing people saved and seeing people's lives changed.
They want to look at them and say, oh, they're bad.
They're bad.
But us do nothing, accomplish nothings who ride on other people's coattails follow us.
So then they don't believe in this doctrine of you shall know them by their fruits.
That's not talking about winning people to Christ, that's something else.
Folks, bringing forth fruit is winning people to Christ.
You know, so, you know, if somebody's out there getting a lot of people saved,
doing great things for God, you know what, that is a sign that that's a spiritual person right there.
Okay, I mean, that's a good sign about that person.
And when I see somebody out there winning souls for Christ,
and then let's say I realize, okay, this person's not perfect,
this person has some problems in their personal life,
turns out this guy's family's falling apart, this guy's job is falling apart,
you know what, I would say to that is just like, well, you know what,
it's too bad that that's happening and it's too bad that he has these issues,
but hey, at least he's out soul winning.
That's what I would say.
Hey, at least you guys are standing up to the Nicolaitans.
I mean, you know, and you'll notice that on those seven churches,
he points out something good in a lot of these churches.
You know, even as he's criticizing them, he says, well, you're doing this thing good.
Don't chastise people for the good that they're doing, okay.
Be glad about the good that they're doing.
And let me tell you something.
Maybe it's you today whose marriage is a wreck.
And I'm sorry because that's got to be horrible for you.
And I'm sorry that your marriage is messed up.
I wish that your marriage were going well.
And I hope that you're able to fix it.
And, you know, obviously if you're the problem, you know,
you need to get that right and fix that.
But you know what, though?
Let's say your marriage is just completely unsalvageable
and falling apart and your life is a mess in every area.
You know what, though?
I got good news for you.
You can still do something for God.
And even if your life on this earth ends up just being a complete failure
and complete trash and a complete mess, you know what?
I would rather get to heaven and say, okay, you know what?
I'm sorry, Lord.
I blew it big time with my life.
I made a lot of mistakes.
I messed up in a lot of areas.
I messed up in the area of my family.
I messed up in the area of my job.
You know, I did all these stupid things.
I was an idiot.
But here's five people that I won to Christ.
I mean, isn't that better than, well, I was just kind of a screw-up my whole life,
so I didn't think I was qualified to go soul-winning.
You know, I'd rather have St. Peter say to me,
you know, you were the biggest jerk in the new IFB,
but thank you for winning these 20 people to Christ.
Than some holier-than-thou who's never won anybody to Christ.
And I'm not justifying being a jerk.
I'm not condoning of being a jerk.
Of course, I think it's the enemies of the NIFB that are the biggest jerks.
But you know what?
You're going to get rewarded someday for the souls that you win to Christ.
And, you know, I'd rather at least have that going for me.
And look, I'm thankful that, you know, I have a good marriage
and that my life is on track.
I'm thankful for that.
But you know what?
If my life were totally screwed up and off track,
you know what I'd be thinking right now?
Well, hey, let's go soul winning because at least I can do something right.
At least I can do something.
You know, I mean, at least I have one thing going for me.
And you know what?
Let's just pretend for a second that these people's lying fantasy is true.
That all these people at these soul winning events are big time jerks and rotten people.
Let's just pretend that their little make believe fantasy were true for a minute.
That these people's lives are complete, you know,
then maybe this is like the only good thing that they have in their life.
Why do you want to take it away from them?
You know what I mean?
Let them have it.
And you know, what would Paul say?
Paul would say, you know, some of these guys, I question their motives.
Some of these guys are preaching Christ of envy and strife and contention.
But you know what?
Hey, thank God they're preaching the right gospel.
They're brothering the Lord.
They're getting people saved.
You know, half a loaf is better than none.
Okay.
Let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for the fact that you will save us without us having to clean up our lives first, Lord.
Thank you that we can be saved simply by putting our faith and trust in the finished work of Christ.
And that we don't have to clean up our lives first because we would all be in trouble if that were the case, Lord.
And also, Lord, we're thankful that you allow us to get into the battle right away.
You allow us to serve you right away even before we've fixed everything in our lives.
And Lord, I pray that every single person in this room this morning would actually work hard to clean up their lives and work hard at having a good marriage and be a good testimony on the job, to be kind and loving and gracious.
I pray that they would have all those good qualities, Lord, but I pray that no matter what their life is like, they would always understand the need to tell someone about Jesus.
And Lord, even if they don't go soul winning, Lord, help them to tell their friends and family and loved ones about Jesus.
But Lord, I pray that every single one of them that are under the sound of my voice this morning would even get out and knock doors with us and preach the gospel.
Because we preach not ourselves, we preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and it's in His name we pray, amen.
Amen, let's go to hymn number 377.
377, rescue the perishing, hymn number 377.
377, rescue the perishing and care for the dying, number 377.
Rest to the perishing, care for the dying.
Snatched and the pity grows thin and the grave.
Wait for the everyone's lift up the fallen.
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
Rest to the perishing, care for the dying.
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Though they are lying still, He is waiting, waiting the pregnant child to receive.
Clean with an earnest sleep, clean with a gently, He will forgive if they only believe.
Rest to the perishing, care for the dying.
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter.
Feelings by Mary that praise Him restored.
Just by the loving heart, waken by kindness.
Horns that are broken hope I pray once more.
Rest to the perishing, care for the dying.
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Rest to the perishing, duty demands it.
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide.
Back to the narrow way, patiently win them.
Tell them for one purpose, Savior has died.
Rest to the perishing, care for the dying.
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Amen. Great singing this morning. You are dismissed.
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