to preach about. And God, I just pray that you would speak to every heart that's here
and draw them closer to you and help us to be strengthened and edified, dear God, as
the saints. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Now in James chapter 3, we continue the book
of James, of course, in chapter 1, chapter 2, we saw kind of the same theme on and on.
James is a book that's a little bit negative in its tone, and James is rebuking Christians
who, yes they have faith in Jesus Christ, they're saved, but for some reason they're
not living the right kind of a Christian life, and he's talking about in chapter number 1
how they despise the poor, again in chapter 2 he brings that up, they think money is what's
important and on and on, he's criticizing them for that. But in chapter number 3, verse
number 1, the Bible says, My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive
the greater condemnation, for in many things we offend all. Now the first thing you see
there, he's talking about being a leader, you know, being a pastor, somebody who's in
charge, he says, don't think it's so great to be the person that's in charge. Be not
many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Now, he's not saying
here, and a lot of people think that a pastor or somebody who's, you know, clergy or a man
of the cloth, you know, some kind of a religious title or some kind of a pope or something,
you know, and that people sometimes think that somebody who's a pastor is on a higher
standard than the person that's in the pew. Now is that what God's saying here? No. He
says that we who, you know, get up and preach for example, we who are leaders, he says we're
going to receive a greater condemnation. Now does that mean that we live by a different
set of rules? No. It just says that there's a greater condemnation if we break the rules.
Look if you would at 1 Timothy chapter 3, flip back in your Bible a few pages and just
a few books to the left, find 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3, and you'll see here
a very familiar passage in 1 Timothy chapter 3. This is the qualifications for being a
pastor. This is what Paul is telling Timothy that he needs to look for if he's going to
ordain somebody to be a pastor, to pastor a church, to go start a church, if he's going
to send somebody out. He says this is what you need to look for. Look at verse number
1 of 1 Timothy 3. This is a true saying. If a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires
the good work. A bishop then must be blameless. A bishop then must be blameless. The husband
of one wife. You see he's laying out, these are the qualifications. The husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to
wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous,
one that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.
Now let me ask you something. When God says here that a man who's going to be a pastor,
and later on in the same chapter he talks about a deacon, and it's pretty much the same
list of qualifications, if a man has to follow these rules to be a pastor, if he says look,
the pastor should not be drinking. Does that mean that it's wrong for everybody to drink,
or just that it's wrong for a pastor to drink? Look, if it's right for one person, it's right
for everybody, and if it's wrong for one person, it's wrong for anybody. The only difference
is that if somebody gets up and preaches, if somebody's going to be a leader, somebody's
going to take on some kind of a title like a bishop or a deacon, he is going to receive
a greater condemnation when he breaks the rule. But look, it's the same rules for everybody.
When you read 1 Timothy chapter 3, you better apply these to yourself. You say, well I'm
never going to be a pastor. Maybe I've already been divorced, and I'm not going to be a pastor.
That's just not what God wants me to do. Look, you still need to read this and live by it.
You should be blameless. Say, well I'm not going to be a deacon. You should be blameless.
You should not be given the wine. You should be patient. You should not be a brawler. You
should not be covetous. You should rule your children and your own house well. Look, and
by the way, this is for everybody. It says right here in verse number 4, one that ruleth
well his own house. Notice that word ruleth, one that ruleth well his own house, having
his children in subjection with all gravity. You see, even if you're never going to be
a pastor, if you're a man and you're married and you have children, that's your church
that you're pastoring in a way. And God says, I'm going to look at the way that you pastor
that church if you ever do want to pastor a church like a congregation. He says, I'm
going to look how you pastor your family. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 3 to Adam,
after Eve had taken the fruit and sinned and then she gave it to Adam and then he sinned
when he ate the fruit, God said to Eve, he said, he shall rule over thee, to her husband.
I mean, he looked at her husband and said, he shall rule over thee. And you say, well
I don't like that. Look, that's God's chain of command. The husband rules over the wife
and children. You say, that's horrible. Look, then the Bible's horrible. Why are you in
church tonight? Why are you here listening to it? You can go leave. I mean, if you came
here because you like the Bible, right? Because you love God, because you love Jesus, then
you must love the fact that God says to a husband, rule your house. Look, you say, well,
what if your wife puts on a mini skirt tonight and just comes to church in a mini skirt?
Well, there's nothing I can do about it. No, I'm going to rule my house and say, you're
not going to wear that. And you say, what if she refuses to wear it, you know, to quit
wearing it? Well, then that's what I'll do. I'll go to her closet when she's not here
and I'll take it and burn it. And then she'll try to buy another one and I'll cut up the
credit card. But look, no, I'm going to rule my house because it's my responsibility to
make sure that my wife and my children are right. If my children don't act right, blame
me for it because it's my fault. Because I'm the one that should be ruling them and taking
care of them. And that's why God says it's so important. He says, I'm looking at dad.
He says, I'm looking at the way that you handle your children and I'm looking at the way that
you handle your wife to see if you're fit to lead people and pastor a church and be
a leader because he says, if you can't rule your house, if a man don't know how to rule
his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? He says, and so a man is supposed
to take responsibility for his children's actions. He's supposed to take responsibility
for his wife's actions, but then also the pastor, he's going to receive condemnation
also if he doesn't take responsibility for the church and making sure that the church
is right. And so that's why, now the difference is that in my house I have authority given
by God to tell my wife what to do, to tell my children what to do. Now, do I have the
right to tell you as my church member what to do? Not at all. The Bible says, obey them
that have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God. See, you're only
supposed to obey me if I preach the Bible, like what I say out of the Bible, but then
you're not really obeying me, you're obeying God. You see what I mean? And so I'm not supposed
to lord over you, but the Bible says I am supposed to lord over my wife and children
because I am an authority figure over them. Does that make sense? But as a pastor, I'm
still going to receive a condemnation, the Bible says. I'm going to receive a greater
condemnation. If I went out tonight and sinned, I'm going to receive a greater condemnation
than the guy who's not a pastor. But he's still supposed to live by the same set of
rules that I am. You see what I mean? And there's a greater condemnation when you stand
up and you start preaching, you better live to back it up or else you're a hypocrite,
you're a phony. These preachers, like this guy in Colorado Springs that got nailed for
all that filthy stuff he was doing, I don't know if you heard about it in the news, I
think I talked about it in his sermon, but he's into drugs and other wicked things I'm
not even going to mention. You say, well, boy, it's so horrible. I heard these people
on the radio saying, so horrible how they just are just destroying this guy's reputation.
I mean, they're dragging his name in the mud. Hey, he ought to have his name dragged in
the mud. He ought to have his reputation destroyed because he's standing up preaching the Bible,
taking on the name of Jesus Christ, saying, I'm a man of God. I'm ordained by God to preach
the Bible. And then here he is doing all manner of filthy, gay acts and drugs and filth. Hey,
he ought to be destroyed. He ought to be taken out like a dog and shot is what the Bible
says. But you know what? He's going to receive a greater condemnation because he's claiming
to be somebody that he's not. You see what I'm saying by that? And so whenever you take
on a position of responsibility, there's some condemnation that goes along with that. If
you take on the position of being a father, which God wants, you know, God wants you to
get married and have children, the Bible says. And so when you take on that responsibility
of being a father, you better be willing to take responsibility for your wife and take
responsibility for your children and say, I am going to leave this house. But no matter
who you are, and I strongly believe this, I think that this is one of the problems in
Christian homes today. I think that every man should teach his wife the Bible. I mean,
I don't care if he's a preacher. I don't care if he's a Bible teacher. I mean, I think every
man should teach the Bible to his wife and teach the Bible to his children. I strongly
believe that. And I don't care who you are. You say, well, I'm not a good teacher. Look,
you say, I don't know the Bible well enough to do that. Well then, shame on you. Learn
the Bible and teach your family the Bible. We need to have not just a church where the
pastor preaches the Bible, but we should have every home be a dad teaching the Bible to
his wife, teaching the Bible to his children. And mothers should be teaching the Bible to
their children. I mean, my wife was constantly teaching Solomon the Bible, teaching Isaac
the Bible, teaching John the Bible. You say, John? Yes, teaching John the Bible. He's two
years old, but he can learn a lot of Bible. You'd be surprised. Any kid at that age is
just like a sponge. Well, read them the Bible. Teach them the Bible. Fathers, mothers, take
responsibility in the home. You say, well, I'm a woman. Look, a woman should be teaching
her children the Bible. Take some responsibility. Say, well, they're not learning the Bible
at school. Look, you teach them the Bible. I don't even see a school mentioned in this
whole book, but I see a mother in Proverbs 31, the prophecy of King Lemuel, which his
mother taught him. It says in Proverbs 31, 1. You see a mother teaching her son the Bible.
And you see all throughout the Bible a father teaching his children the Bible. So don't
ever think when you read this that part of the Bible is just for pastors. Part of the
Bible is just for a bishop. Part of the Bible is just for a deacon. No, the Bible is for
you. The only difference is that the pastor is going to receive a greater condemnation
if he doesn't obey the Bible. But back to James 3, if you flip back over a few pages.
So he says in James 3, 1, he says, my brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall
receive the greater condemnation. He says, know what you're getting into if you want
to be a pastor. Know what you're getting into if you're going to be a father. Know what
you're getting into if you want to be the boss at work. You know, you see the boss pull
up in his Lexus or his BMW and you think, oh man, must be nice. Well, you might not
know the condemnation. You might not know the pressure that that man faces. And it's
easy to be the guy on the bottom rung and look at the guy who's making all the money,
the boss, and say, well, boy, he's got it made. You know, he's facing a lot more pressure,
a lot more responsibilities. And he's saying, be not many masters, knowing that we shall
receive the greater condemnation. And then verse number 2, it says, for in many things
we offend all. That's my preaching motto. In many things we offend all. I'm going to
get that put up somewhere else. I'm just kidding. I'm going to put that up like painting on
the wall. In many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a
perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body. And so he's saying, boy, if anybody
can come to a place where they never say the wrong thing, where they never say something
offensive to somebody, he says, that guy must be perfect. He's able to bridle the whole
body. What is he saying? The hardest thing to control about your body, he's saying, is
your tongue. And I preached a whole sermon on this. I'm not going to spend a whole lot
of time on this because just on Sunday night I preached the sermon about love as brethren,
if you were here for that. And I talked a lot about the things that you say and being
careful the way that you talk and everything like that. But he's saying here that that's
kind of the last thing sometimes that you have to struggle with is controlling your
mouth. That's the hardest part of your body to control is what comes out of your mouth.
Look at the next verse though. In verse 3 it says, behold, we put bits in the horses
mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships which
though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with
a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. So here's kind of a positive example
because if you're using a bit in a horses mouth to control it, to get it to go where
you want it to go, is that a good thing or a bad thing? That's a good thing, right? I
mean you're using its mouth to control the direction of the horse. He's saying also it's
kind of like your tongue. He says first of all it's difficult to control. It's the hardest
thing to control. But he says if you can control it, he says for example with a ship even though
it's a giant ship, it could be huge, several stories high, but he says it just has a tiny
little rudder in the back. And he says all you have to do is just turn this tiny little
rudder and you can control a big giant ship and make it go wherever you want it to go.
So here's a positive example of him saying using your tongue to control your entire body.
He's saying if you can get control of your tongue, you can control the whole body. What
am I talking about? Well think about how much power what comes out of your mouth has over
you. You say what? Well think about music. Think about the music that you sing. What
if you were to walk around all day at work or all day throughout life just going through
life and you're just singing the world's kind of music, you know, just the kind of music
that's on the radio. Do you think that's going to make your body react properly? I mean do
you think your body is going to serve God when that kind of music is coming out of your
mouth all day long? No way. But what if you could have coming out of your mouth God's
kind of music? Like you're just, what if you just got in the car and you're just singing
to God be the glory, great things He hath done. Boy can you imagine how your body would
be pointed in the right direction for the day? It's so important to control what comes
out of your mouth. I mean it's a lot easier to control your mouth than it is to control
your thoughts. So control your mouth. Sing the right songs. See I'm not telling you to
go out and buy a bunch of Christian CDs and put them on your headphones. The Bible says
He's put a new song in my mouth, even praise to my God. Not a new song in my Discman. He
said He's put a new song in my mouth, even praise to my God. And so when you get the
praises of God in your mouth, not just where you listen but where you come to church and
actually sing out, not just listen to everybody else sing, but you sing the songs with us
and then throughout the week you're singing the right songs. When you've got that new
song in your mouth of praise to God, God says that can alter the course of your whole
life. That can change the whole direction of your body. That can make you go in the
right direction. Even greater than that, how about this? Joshua 1.8, the Bible says this
book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day
and night. Now did He say it's not going to depart out of your eyes like you're reading
it all day? It's not going to depart out of your ears like you're just listening to it
like I listen to the Bible on tape? No. He says this book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Now meditation on the
Bible, meditation is when you think about something and ponder something and mold something
over in your mind over and over. But is meditation something that you do in your mind or is meditation
something that you do with your mouth? Because God said this book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Well what does that
all mean? Well think about this. I've used this illustration a long time ago, but think
about it. Did you know that a cow has four stomachs? Who already knew that? Raise your
hand if you knew that. Of course an Iowa boy here knows that cows have four stomachs. Cows
have four stomachs, okay? And so they eat some grass and they chew it up and swallow
it and it goes into their first stomach. But then it's not done being digested. It's not
done being processed. So it actually vomits it back up out of the first stomach back into
its mouth and it chews on it again. It chews on it a little bit longer. It's called chewing
the cud. It chews it up a little more, chews it up a little more, then it swallows it down
into the second stomach. Then after a while it regurgitates it into its mouth again and
chews it up for a while and then it goes into the third stomach and it's digested further
in the third stomach. Then after it's been digested a while in the third stomach it regurgitates
it into its mouth again. Am I right about this? Alright, good. Otherwise I've got to
change my whole sermon. So then it chews it up again and then it swallows it into the
fourth and final stomach where it's absorbed and used for energy and everything like that.
That's the picture of what meditation is. The Bible is like food. And God says not only
should you just ingest the Bible, but he says once you've ingested it, boy bring it back
up and chew on it for a while. And see the reason that God uses that illustration, that's
why God gave us that example of a cow, because he says when you meditate on the Word of God,
when you bring it back out of your memory banks and meditate it, it's something that
you do with your mouth, not something that you do in your mind. See what is he talking
about? Quoting the Bible. He's talking about memorizing the Bible, thy word have I hid
in my heart that I might not sin against thee, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh, a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringing forth good things. And
so here's what he's saying. You read the Bible, you memorize and study the Bible, then
you bring it back up into your mouth and quote the Bible verbally with your mouth. And when
you do that, he's saying this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but
thou shalt meditate therein day and night, then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and
then shalt thou have good success. And so he's saying if you can control your mouth,
you control your whole body. If you can get to the place where what's coming out of your
mouth is songs of praise to God, singing praises to God, and then you get to where
you're quoting the Bible and meditating on the Bible over and over again, just speaking
God's words. He says, boy, you could turn your whole body. You say, man, I'm having
so much trouble with a certain addiction or a certain hang up, a sin that I can't get
over, I just can't control myself. You know, we're talking about some people that are just
grossly overweight, just huge, just obese, and I've watched them just eat and eat and
eat. Do you think that they want to be that size? No. But what is it? They're having trouble
controlling themselves. You know, it's an addiction and they can't control it. And it's
sad, you know, that some people just can't control it or other people, they can't control
it and so they drink, you know, and they just can't stop drinking. Smoking is a big one.
They can't stop. They just can't control them. They say, well, I'd like to quit smoking,
you know, save five bucks a day or, you know, and save some health and whatever. They're
just like, just can't do it. Look, get control of your mouth and this will help you to get
control of the whole body. You know, quote the verses. Sing the praises of God and get
a hold of it. Look if you would at verse number two of James three. I love the terminology
that he uses here. He says, the same as a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole
body. He's saying your goal in the Christian life is get to where you can bridle your body.
I mean, get your body just completely under control. Like it says in first Corinthians
nine 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. You know, let's have a
preach to others. I myself should be a castaway. He says, you've got to get your body into
subjection. Subjection to what? To your spirit. See your spirit. When you got saved, God created
a brand new creature. Your spirit was dead in trespasses and sins. The moment you got
saved, God resurrected your spirit from the dead. He created a brand new creature in righteousness
and holiness. A new man, a perfect man, the inward man who wants to do what's right all
the time. But what do we have? We have the sinful flesh, the same flesh from before we
got saved. And so you can't change the flesh. You can't reform the flesh. It's the same
flesh as it was before you got saved. Only when you die and you're resurrected, you know,
in the rapture, that's when you're going to get the new body, the new flesh. But until
then, the only thing you can do is just bring it into subjection. I mean, just put a bridle
on it and just take hold of it and say, you are going to do what I say. You know, you
are going to be in subjection to me. It's like you just have to say, look, you will
read the Bible now. You say, I don't want to read the Bible. Read it! It's like, I want
to watch TV. No! You know, bring it into subjection. Because, look, your body, your flesh does
not want to watch, or yeah, it doesn't want to watch TV. Your body does not want to read
this Bible. It doesn't. Your flesh will never want to read the Bible. Never. But your spirit,
if you're saved, you've got a spirit inside you that says, man, I'd love to read the Bible.
But you say, I want to read the Bible, I just can't get myself to do it. You know,
I just sit down, I just have to read it, and just, oh, you know, I just, what is the DVD
or whatever. Look, you've got to just bridle your body. You've got to just take hold of
it and just say, I don't care whether you want to read the Bible or not. You must just,
I mean, just pick up the Bible and just put it in front of your face and just say, you
are going to read this Bible. And just force yourself to read it. And, you know, you'll
start out having to force yourself. Why? Because when you first get saved, and if you're not
a very mature Christian, look, the flesh is in the driver's seat, whether you'd like
to admit it or not. The flesh is in the driver's seat. And so you have to just say, I don't
want, maybe I don't want to do it because the spirit is not in control right now, so
I'm just going to try to bridle my body and just force myself to do what God wants me
to do. I remember the first several times I went out soul winning. I didn't want to
go soul winning. I was nervous. I felt embarrassed. You know, I didn't know what to do. I didn't
feel comfortable, but I just bridled my body and just said, you know what? This is something
that God's telling me to do. I'm just going to do it. And after a while in my Christian
life, as the spirit began to take control and I began to be more walking in the spirit,
then it was like, I want to go soul winning. I enjoy soul winning. I love soul winning.
But until then, you just have to bridle your body. And this is a tip how you can bridle
your body. Control what comes out of your mouth. Put the right music coming out of your
mouth. Put the right, you know, the Bible verses coming out of your mouth. Control what
you say, and then that'll help you bridle your body and force it to do what God wants
you to do. Look, everybody in this room wants to win people to Christ, right? I mean, would
you like to be where you won somebody to the Lord? I mean, even just one person in your
life, wouldn't that be great? To get to heaven and you won somebody to the Lord? Everybody
wants that. I mean, everybody in this room would love to have read the Bible through
cover to cover one time. Everybody would love that. Everybody would love that. But
the problem is doing it, but you can do it. You just have to, at first, you just have
to put a bridle on your body. I mean, wrap a leather strap around and think about what
a bridle is. You just have to, you just have to force yourself to do it. And you start
out having to force yourself, but then pretty soon, pretty soon you're going to want to
do it because you're in the spirit and you love the things of God. And so use your tongue
to control the rest of your body by making sure that you have the right kind of songs
coming out of your mouth and the right kind of, and getting Bible verses coming out of
your mouth. You say, well, I can't memorize the Bible. Look, anybody can memorize like
one verse, you know, and then, and then once you learn one, learn a second one. And then,
you know, some people have to work harder than others. Some people it's harder to read
the Bible than others. Some people struggle to read one chapter. Some people struggle
to learn one verse, but just whatever you can do, whatever abilities God has given you,
bridle yourself and force yourself to put down the TV remote, throw the TV out the window,
you know, unplug the radio and get out the Bible and read it and force yourself to do
what God wants you to do. Force yourself out soul winning this week. I don't want to. It
doesn't matter. You just said you wanted to see people saved, so you must want to. So
get out there and do it. But the next verse, if you look on here, the Bible says in verse
number five, even so the tongue is a little member, James 3-5, and boasts great things.
Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body. So the converse is
true also. Not only if you are singing the right music, saying the right things that
can help you get your whole body on track, if the wrong things are coming out of your
mouth, it says it can defile your whole body. It will destroy your whole body. So be careful.
And then the next thing it says, and seteth on fire the course of nature and it is set
on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts and of birds and of serpents and of things
in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It
is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. See, you're not going to be able to control your
tongue on your own is what he's saying. God is going to have to tame your tongue. You've
got to be saved. You've got to be born again. You've got to be walking in the Spirit. And
that's why God is going to be able to tame your tongue if you're filled with the Spirit,
speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs. That's what I'm saying
about putting the right song in your mouth, then the Holy Spirit will help you tame your
tongue and tame your whole body. Putting the Bible verses, of course the Bible says thy
word is spirit. The words that I speak unto you, Jesus said, they are spirit and they
are life. When you're speaking the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, then God will tame
your tongue and God will tame your body. Because he says, you can't do it. No man can tame
his tongue, he's saying. No man can tame the tongue. But does that mean that God can't
tame your tongue? No, God can tame your tongue, but man cannot. So he says, but the tongue
can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Therewith blessed we God,
even the Father. And therewith cursed we men which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceed the blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things are
not so to be. This reminds me of, again, alluding to the sermon that I preached recently about
love as brethren. I believe it was Sunday night before last. And in that sermon I talked
about how the Bible says, everyone, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God. And everyone that loveth him that begat, talking about Jesus Christ, loveth
him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God,
talking about other believers, when we love God and keep his commandments. And so what's
God saying here? He's saying, it's inconsistent for you to bless God, even the Father, and
then curse man which is made after the similitude of God. And so God is saying, if you don't
love your brother, then you don't love God. And he says that in 1 John 7, he says, if
a man, he says, if a man loved not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom
he hath not seen? See, if a man say, I love God and he is his brother, he's a liar, the
Bible says. And so, it's so important for you to express your love to God by expressing
your love to the people that are in this room right here. When you express your love to
another believer in Jesus Christ, when you love another believer in your heart, when
you love the people of the faithful word Baptist church in your heart, when you love one another,
God says, I feel loved. Okay, that's what he's saying here. And he's saying, don't curse
somebody in this church, he says, and then bless me, he says, no, I'm not buying it.
Because I'm going to tell you something, it says, out of the same mouth, perceived blessing
and cursing, my brethren, these things I know so to be, can a fountain send forth at the
same place, sweet water and bitter? He said, you expect me to believe that you are a right
fountain when you're putting out this sweet water toward me and bitter water toward those
around you that are believers? He says, no, I'm not buying it. Because, think about this
for a second, if you take bitter water and mix it with sweet water, what are you going
to get? Bitter water. I mean, think about it. I mean, if you took dirty water, if I
took just a glass of like brown, dirty water, and then mixed it with this old premium, you
know, $37.99 a month, you know, if I mix that in, and I mix those two together, do
you want to drink it? What if I just put a teaspoon of the dirty water, and a whole gallon
of this water? You don't want to drink it, okay? And so God's saying, look, you're putting
out fresh water, and you're putting out bitter water, and he says, I don't like the taste
in my mouth right now, because the bitter taste is kind of overpowering me. And so,
if you want to be a person who loves God supremely, that means that the things that come out of
your mouth toward other people in this room, and other believers out there, should be blessing
and not cursing. If you say something unkind to somebody that's a believer in Jesus Christ,
then that is putting a bad taste in God's mouth. So be careful what you say to people,
is what he's saying. But he says, did the founts send forth at the same place, verse
three, sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear all the berries, either
of mine figs? So can no fountain both yield salt, water, and fresh. So he's saying that
it's impossible for good and bad to come out like that, where you're claiming that you
love God, but then you're bitter and spiteful toward a fellow believer in Jesus Christ.
He says, no. He says, it's impossible, it doesn't make any sense, I don't believe it.
So you must just be bitter all the way around, is what he's saying. But this makes me think
of when I read these verses here about, can a fountain send forth at the same place, sweet
water and bitter? And he talks about a fountain yielding both salt, water, and fresh. Here's
what God's talking about that's so important. He's talking about the sources of where things
came from. He says, can a fig tree, my brethren, bear all the berries, either of mine figs?
He says, if you go to a fig tree, can you find olives on it? No. He said, if you go
to a vine, are you going to find figs on it? He says that the source of something determines
the fruit. So if something comes from a bad source, it cannot be good. It cannot be good.
Do you see what he's saying? He's saying, if something comes from something that's a
bad source, the Bible says in Job, can anyone bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not
one. That's what Job said. So you say, well, Pastor Anderson, would you read this book
after the service? I got this great Christian book for you. Now the only thing is, Pastor
Anderson, he quotes the NIV. But read this book. It's a great book. It's got, well, good
night Pastor Anderson. Just because it's the NIV, or he's saying that there's nothing good
in this book. Look, what does the Bible say? It says that a bad source is a good source.
It's going to produce bad fruit. And so if the book is based on a false Bible that's
a bad seed, that's a bad Bible, how is the pastor that wrote that book, if he's getting
it from a bad source and regurgitating it to me, how is it going to be anything good?
It can't be good. You can't bring something clean out of something that's unclean. This
is the clean James Version right here. This is a clean Bible. This is God's Bible. And
when you get something out of this Bible, it will be good. People who don't believe
the right doctrine did not get it from this Bible. The people who believe the wrong doctrine
were taught it by somebody who did not believe this Bible. Look at the book of Galatians,
where they were teaching false teaching. They were teaching that you had to do good works
to go to heaven. And Paul is saying it's only by faith. It's all by grace. It's not by works.
It's not by the law. What does he keep saying? He says, this persuasion cometh not of him
that calleth you. He says, ye did run well. Who hath hindered you? Who hath hindered you
that you should not obey the truth? Later he says, who hath bewitched you that you should
not obey the truth? Who is it? He said, no, no, no. We just read it in the Bible. No,
no, no, no. You didn't read it in the Bible. Who taught you these lies? Who taught you
the false doctrine? Who bewitched you? Who hindered you? Somebody has to teach you lies
and heresy because you don't get them from reading this Bible. You might get them from
reading the NIV or the Living Bible or one of these other Bibles that's been perverted
by man, but you're never going to get false doctrine reading the Bible. It'll never happen.
Reading the King James Bible. It's just not going to happen. And so whenever you get false
doctrine, it came from a bad fountain. It came from a bad tree. It came from a bad seed.
Think about this. This is why I don't read Christian books. You say, why not? Well, because
I'm afraid that I might get something bad. But see, when I read this, I know I'm not
going to get anything bad. And I'm a preacher, and it's so important for me to guard my mind
and make sure that I don't get false doctrine and wrong ideas and falsehoods. So I only
listen to preachers that believe this Bible is the word of God. I only listen to preachers
who win souls because he that wins souls is wise. And see, a soul winning preacher, I
can see his fruit. I can see his converts and people that he won to the Lord and production,
and I can see the fruit. But like a preacher who doesn't go soul-wetting, I don't know
what his fruit is like. I'm afraid he might be a bad tree. I don't want to just, I mean,
think about it. You're just going to bite into food and you don't know what it is. You
don't know where it came from. If you're just out in the wilderness somewhere, you just
see a fruit, berries or something going on in the bush. You can't just eat those. A lot
of them are poisonous. And so he's saying, if you can't identify the source, don't mess
with it. Because if you get the wrong source, that might be some bitter water, that might
be some salt water that you're drinking and it'll kill you. And so that's why I'm so apprehensive
to pick up any book or commentary or like notes that somebody wrote about the Bible
or a big long doctrinal book about the Bible. I just don't even mess with it. Because I'd
rather just go straight to the fountain of living water and just go to the crystal clear,
ice cold, refreshing King James Bible and just take a big gulp. And I say, everything
that I'm getting is good. Say, how do you know it's good? Well, look where it came from.
Look who taught me. It's the Holy Spirit living inside of me. Look where it came from, the
King James Bible. But see, all these weird doctrines that people have, all these strange
beliefs that people have, they got it because somebody taught it to them. Me and brother
Jason were just out sowing him before the service. We spoke to this lady and immediately
you could tell. She was very knowledgeable about what she believed. And she believed
that you could lose your salvation if you didn't live right. You know, if you don't
live right, you don't follow the Bible, you're not going to be saved anymore. And she said,
nobody can know for sure if they're going to heaven. You can't know that for sure. It's
up to God to look at your life and see if you were good enough. But she was very knowledgeable
about what she believed. But she could never show us a Bible verse or quote one single
Bible verse to support what she believed. And she kept saying, let me see your Bible,
I'll show you. I said, here, show me. I handed her my Bible and she's just like flipping
pages. I'm like, you can't find it because it's not there. She just keeps flipping pages
and flipping pages. And why was it that she couldn't show me the Bible? Because she didn't
get it from the Bible. Now she had a lot in her. She had a lot of teaching in her. But
the teaching that she had in her came from some preacher, some book, some TV evangelist.
It didn't come from the Bible. That's why she couldn't even quote one. Ask me why I'm
saved. Why I know I'm saved, I'll tell you what the Bible says. Because the Bible says
right here that I'm saved. Because it says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I shall
be saved. Because it says, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And
on and on, I can show you the Bible, how I know I'm saved. But see, her false doctrine,
her salty water, her bitter water did not come from reading the Bible. It came from
letting someone teach her who was a bad tree. And that's why it's so important to be careful
who you let teach you. Let 90% of your knowledge come from you reading this book by yourself
personally. And when I preach the Bible, that's why I try to back up everything that I preach.
While I'm preaching, I try to back it up with the Bible and say, this is what's right. Because
it says it right here. Not because this is what I believe. This is what Baptists believe.
Let me give you Baptist doctrine. No, let me give you Bible doctrine, which happens
to be Baptist doctrine in most cases, thank God. And so I'll show you what the Bible says,
because if it came from this source, it's the right stuff. It's the right teaching.
Be careful what fountain you're hooking up to throughout the week. Don't hook up to some
radio preacher. Any preacher who's on the radio in this area is not right with God.
Period. Any preacher who they allow on television is not preaching right. Period. You say, well,
let me run this one by you. He's wrong. Across the board. Look, you think they would let
me preach on television? You think I'd be allowed to preach on television anytime soon?
No. Never. Okay? And I'm not the only right preacher, but no preacher that I've ever heard
that I like to hear would ever be allowed on TV anywhere in America. Period. That's
just the truth about it. And so don't get on the table. Who controls the television?
Jesus Christ? Is he at the switchboard controlling the TVs and the commercials? No. It's the
devil himself controls that thing, and he uses it to control your mind. And so if some
preacher's on there, it's because he's bowed down to the television God who allowed him
to be on there and said, you can't say this, you can't say this, you can't say this, you
can't say this, and this is what you can't say. Read this. And that's what it is. And
so be careful of the source of your information. Spend most of your time just reading the Bible.
More than anything. You say, well, I like to listen to tapes of you preaching, Pastor
Anderson. Great, but you know what? Spend more time reading the Bible. Spend more time
listening to the Bible on tape than listening to my preaching on the CD. Okay. This is the
most important thing. This is what you need to be reading and listening to. This is number
one. The Bible is number one. Yes, it is number one. And so back to the chapter, though. James
chapter 3 says in verse number 12, can the fig tree, my brethren, bear all the berries
either of thine figs? So can no fountain both yield salt, water, and fresh. Who is a wise
man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works
with meekness of wisdom. Remember James chapter 2? He said, a man may say, show me thy faith
without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. He's saying, not only do
you show your faith by works, that's how you show other people the faith that you have
in James chapter 2. You have faith. You're saved. But he says, if you're going to show
other people your faith, you show it by your works. You show it by your actions. If I tell
you I believe that hell is a real place, and I believe that heaven is a real place,
how am I going to show you that? I'm going to show you that when I go out and try to
win people to Christ, because I really believe that people are on their way to hell. And
I really believe if I can get somebody saved, that I'm going to see them in heaven. Glory
to God. How am I going to show you that I believe that if I'm not preaching the gospel?
If I'm not living like it? You see, that's where you show it by your works. If I said
to you, I believe that these are the winning lotto numbers, God revealed this to me. Look,
if I really believe that, I'd go buy the ticket. I'd say, I'm going to buy this lotto ticket.
And I'd do it, and see me after the service. And if you have faith, you'll buy it when
I give you the numbers. But the point is, you show your faith by your works. I mean,
if you say you believe something, then do it. If you say that you believe that there's
heaven and hell, you must be interested in getting people out of hell, and getting them
on their way to heaven. You must believe that. I mean, you must do that if you believe that.
And if you say, well, I just believe heaven's so real to me. Really? Who are you bringing
with you? Who are you going to see when you get there? It must not be that real to you.
And so you say, well, it's not fair of you to say that. Well, that's all I have to go
by, because I'm just judging after the flesh, because I can only see with my eyes. And so
show me, is what God's saying. Okay, you say, well, I really do believe that. Well, show
us. Show us you believe that. I believe church is important. Okay, well, I'll see you at
all three services. And you know, that's like what it means when he's saying, show your
faith by your works. But not only that, but he says, show your knowledge by your works.
You see that? It says in verse 13, who is a wise man and a dude with knowledge among
you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. And so
how do you show your knowledge of the Bible? Is it by standing up and giving us a big dissertation
about all your Bible knowledge? Let me tell you everything I know. Let me quote to you
the entire Bible and let me quote to you chapter on end and show you my knowledge. Look, the
best way to show your knowledge is by your works. You see, if I can look at your life
and I can see a Christian who loves God, who goes out and knocks doors and wins souls.
If I see a Christian who dresses right and dresses modestly as the Bible says, I know
the Bible. Then why are you dressed like a hooker then if you know the Bible? Because
you must know where the Bible tells you to dress like a lady and to be modest. Oh, you
know the Bible, huh? Well, then you must know that God says that the area between your waist
and your knees is nakedness. And so a skirt that's above your knees is naked. You must
know that, right? Well, show me that you know it by dressing that way. You know, oh, I know
the Bible. Okay, then if you're a man then why do you have long hair? You must know 1
Corinthians 11 when God says it's a shame for a man to have long hair. You must know
that, right? See, how are you going to show me that you know that when you go down to
the barber and get a haircut? See, show your knowledge by your works. Don't go around telling
people how much you know and show us all how much you know. Look, if you walk in the door
and you're dressed right and you talk right and you control your tongue and you win souls
and you love God and you speak kindly and courteously and polite to people and you act
like a godly, righteous, loving Christian, hey, then we'll know that you must have some
knowledge. We'll know that you must have some faith. You see what I'm saying? And so God's
saying, look, knowledge is great, but knowledge without works is worthless. He says if you
have knowledge, you must put it to work for it to be of any value to anyone. If you have
knowledge, if you know the Bible, use the Bible and put it to work. That's how you can
show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. And then in verse
14 it says, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie
not against the truth. He says, bitter envying and strife, that's where you're not getting
along with others. Stripe is fighting. That's what strife means. Strivings are fighting.
And he says if you have bitter envying, that's where you wish that you had what other people
have or you wish that you could have a position that somebody else had or you think somebody
else is more important than you, you know, envious, jealousy. He says if you have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom
descended not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. Now again, we see the two
sources. There's only two sources. God says that bitter envying, strife, fighting with
people, trying to be more important than somebody else. He says this wisdom descended not from
above, but is earthly. Now do you see these commas right here? This is what's called an
appositive. This is where he restates the same thing again. Whenever you use commas
like that, this is not a list where it says this, this, and this. See how there's a period
after the word devilish? It's because we're putting three things together that are synonymous.
If you said this for example, this is what an appositive is. If you said Steven Anderson,
our pastor is preaching tonight. Our pastor is restating Steven Anderson. It's just a
further descriptive of the same thing. When you put things together with commas like that,
you're restating the same thing again. So he's saying this wisdom descended not from
above, that's one option of where things come from. They come from above. They come from
God. This wisdom descended not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. See those
are three descriptions of the same thing. The wrong wisdom, it's not from God, it's
earthly, it's sensual, and it's devilish. See, things that are earthly, another word
for earthly that means the same thing is worldly. Earthly, worldly. It has to do with this world.
It has nothing to do with God. It didn't come from God, it came from the sinful heart of
mankind. He says the things that come from the world are sensual. Everything is about
the physical senses. If it feels good, do it. That's what sensual means. Think about
this. 1 John 2.15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Listen to the next verse. For
all that is in the world, comma, again a positive phrase. He says comma, he's going to restate
all the things that are in the world, comma, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life are not of the Father, but are of the world. So he says everything
in the world is about three things. It's either about the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, or the pride of life. That's what rock music is about. The pride of life.
Think about these rap artists on the CD cover. Is that good? You like that? It's all about
pride. It's all about how cool they can look. They make themselves look real cool. They're
not smiling. They have a mean look, like a cool look on their face. You see people walking
down the street like that. Real cool, arrogant look on their face. Pride. Now turn on that
same rap music video on the cover. And then you pop it in and what do you get? The lust
of the eyes. A bunch of nudity, a bunch of women that are dressed like a sleazy and everything.
See, it's produced by the world. Go to a movie. Go to a movie produced by the world. There's
going to be the lust of the flesh, the fleshly music that you want to listen to. Your flesh
wants to listen to it. Not the music the spirit wants to listen to, but the music that the
flesh wants to listen to. The lust of the eyes, it's going to be lusting after women's
bodies. And it's going to be the pride of life. That's what the world has to offer.
It says that the wisdom that the sin is not from above is earthly, which means sensual,
because that's all the world is about. The senses gratifying your flesh. Earthly, sensual,
and then where's the real source? Devilish. You see, that's where it's really from. That's
who's really making that rap music CD. That's who's really behind the Hollywood crowd. That's
who's really behind the world's garbage. It's the devil that's behind it. So he says there's
two sources. There's God, the Father, and then there's the world. And the world is the
same as the devil, because the devil is the god of this world. The god of this world is
what the Bible calls the devil in 1 Corinthians. And so you see there's only two sources. He
says that this wisdom is not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish, for where
envy and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. Now what's the purpose of
envy and strife? Why did the devil use envy and strife? Because he says where envy and
strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. The devil's modus operandi is confusion.
All the way through the Bible you'll see this. God tries to make things crystal clear,
like black and white. Simple. It's from God or it's from the devil. Isn't that simple?
When you die, you go to heaven or you go to hell. It's simple. It's clear. But the devil
always tries to confuse you. He wants to make things confusing. That's why you drive down
the street, you've got Assemblies of God, Church of God, Church of God in Christ, Presbyterian
Church, Congregational Church, Southern Baptist Church, North American Baptist Church, Church
of Nazarene, First Church of the Deep Freeze, Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Presbyterian,
whatever. Hey, why? Because he's trying to confuse you and he wants you to just throw
up your hand and say, I give up. I don't know what church to go to. Nuts to it. I'll just
pick one. I'll just pick so-and-so community church. But why? He's trying to confuse you.
You go to the Bible bookstore? I guess they're not called Bible bookstores anymore. What
do they call them? The Christian bookstore? You go to the Christian bookstore and it's
like, which Bible do you want? We've got the ASV, the RSV, the NAS, the NIV, the HIV,
and the TLB, and the CET, and the BET, and you're just like, good night. It's confusing.
It's so funny. I love it when I'm in there and somebody asks them, which Bible should
I get? Have you ever been there and heard them say that? I've heard them ask the salesman,
which Bible should I buy? I don't know which version to buy. Well, what do you want? What
do you like? It's funny just listening to this mindless conversation. I don't know.
I mean, what do you like to do? I don't know. I say, excuse me, let me answer this. Do you
need the King James Bible? It's right here. It's $9.99. I'll ring it up for you. But the
whole thing is, it's confusing. Isn't it so simple? You say, you're causing division.
I'm not causing division. Everybody use the same Bible I'm using, okay? Then we'll all
be happy. We'll all get along. Everybody use the King James Bible. Then we'll all be
unified. It's division when there's five different Bibles. That's divisive, isn't it? Because
now you've divided the NIV crowd from the New American Standard crowd, from the King
James Bible crowd, from the New King James crowd, from the TLB crowd. You're divisive.
I'm preaching unity. I'm preaching oneness in the faith. Let's all get the Bible that
was good enough for the last 400 years, the only Bible that ever used to be even produced
in the English language until 100 years ago or so. It didn't even used to say King James
Bible. It used to say the Holy Bible. Look, this is the Bible that's unity. This is the
one that's preaching simplicity and not preaching confusion. Because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians
14, God is not the author of confusion. If something's confusing, it's not from God.
If somebody tries to explain to you something from the Bible and says, here, let me explain
to you what the Bible teaches, and you're getting confused by it, it's not of God. That's
a good acid test. If somebody tries to teach you something from the Bible and it's confusing,
can you lose your salvation? Well, you know, it's kind of like this and it's confusing.
It's not from God. Ask me if a Christian can lose their salvation. No. Eternal life. You're
saved, you'll always be saved. Isn't that simple? Nothing confusing about it. What do
you have to do to be saved? Well, you have to have this feeling in your heart where you're
kind of willing to turn from your sin, but at the same time you're receiving Jesus Christ
and at the same time you're doing this and you're sorry and you're this and that. No,
here's simple. Believe. Faith. By grace through faith. Isn't that simple? Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe. That's simple. Salvation is by faith alone. No works. But see, whenever
you try to get works involved at all, it gets confusing. How much works? How good is good
enough? How bad do I have to be to lose it? How willing do I have to be to turn from my
sin? Do I have to be so willing to turn from my sin that I'm actually going to turn from
it someday down the road? Or do I just have to kind of say I'm willing to and say, okay,
I was willing to, but I'm not going to. Isn't that confusing? What does it mean to be willing
to turn from your sin? Are you going to do it or not? Well, I'm willing to. My wife asked
me to pick up some chicken broth before the service. Honey, would you pick up the chicken
broth? I'm willing to do that for you. And this is not do it. That's stupid. If I'm willing
to do it, I'm going to do it. Are you willing to give up all your sins tonight? Be honest.
Are you willing to give up every sin that you do tonight? No, I can't say that. I can't
say I'm willing to give up every sin. Nobody can say that, because nobody is that perfect.
And so, which sins do you have to be willing to give up? See how confusing this is? I'm
confused already, just even talking about it. But, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved is very simple. Not of works, lest any man should boast. It's
not confusing at all. You want to know if something's right? If it confuses you, it's
wrong. If you hear it and say, wow, that's simple. Yeah, that makes sense. Wow, that's
clear. That's from God. That comes from God. But see, the things that are earthly, sensual,
and devilish, they're confusing. Because God is not the author of confusion. Confusion
comes from the devil. And look at the verse 17, I'm going to hurry up and close here.
The verse 17 says, but the wisdom that is from above, this is the contrast, the wisdom
that comes from God, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable.
You see the order there? Does he say the wisdom that's from above is first peaceable? I mean,
if it comes from God, it's just going to get along with everybody. It's going to be peaceable,
just make peace with everybody, peace at any cost. No, he says, the wisdom that is from
above is first pure, then peaceable. Before I'm going to be peaceable, see, this is the
first pure means King James only. Okay, that's the pure. We're going to keep the purity of
just, this is the Bible we use. We don't let all the other Bibles in. And then we'll try
and get along about it. Okay, but we're not going to say, well let's get along, you know,
let's accept these other Bibles, and we'll worry about the purity later. No, worry about
the purity right now. First pure, then peaceable. Get the order right. What's more important
to God, that you get along with people, or that you're right? Being right is more important.
Believing right is the most important thing. Doing what's right is the most important thing.
You say, well, you know, I tried to do right on the job, and I got in trouble, and my boss
became angry at me, and I lost my job. You say, well look, you're right then, you're
being first pure, then peaceable. Because you've got to keep the purity first, the peaceable
later. Now, is it right? Do you want to be peaceable? Yeah. I mean, you want to get along
with people, but the Bible says, as much as is possible, dwell at peace with all men.
He says, if you can be at peace with people without compromising what you believe, then
do it. You should be kind and nice to people, and friendly to people, and peaceable with
people, and not get into fights with people. But David said, in Psalm 120, he said, I'm
for peace, but when I speak, they're for war. He said, I speak the right things, and I want
to get along, but for some reason, every time I say anything, people start getting mad at
me, they want to fight with me. Have you ever been there? And so he's saying, I'm for peace,
but when I speak, they're for war. Why? Because purity was number one, peace was number two
with David. He kept the order right. And so the Bible says, the wisdom that is from above
is first pure, then peaceable. And then he goes on with a few more descriptions, gentle
and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without
hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
So notice a few quick things before I close in this verse here. He says, the wisdom that's
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated. Those three
kind of go together. He's saying, it's first pure, then it's peaceable, gentle, easy to
be entreated. But then notice the next phrase is an interesting phrase. He says, full of
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. So what is it that's
full of mercy and good fruits? What is it? It's the wisdom. Okay, right, because that's
what he's saying. The wisdom that's from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. So if you have wisdom that comes from
God, okay, that wisdom is going to be a fruitful wisdom. Does that make sense? When you get
wisdom from God, when you learn something, some kind of a wisdom that came from God,
something from the Bible, that's going to cause you to produce good fruit. The wisdom
that's not from God is going to hinder you from bringing forth fruit. So he's saying
that the wisdom that's from above is full of mercy and good fruits. Of course, you think
of the famous verse, Proverbs 11.30, the fruit of the righteous is the tree of life, and
he that winneth souls is wise. See, the wisdom of winning souls, because all of God's wisdom
will have a result of you being fruitful and multiplying yourself, bringing forth another
Christian after your own kind. That's what soul winning is. And so God's saying that
the wisdom that's from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, because it's hypocritical
of you to say, I know the truth, I believe the truth, but if you're not bringing forth
fruit, that's not the wisdom from God, or if it is, then you're a hypocrite. That's
what he's saying. And he says, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them
that make peace. Now, the person who makes peace is not maybe the most peaceful person
you know. See, have you ever heard of a gun called a peacemaker? Right? You say, what's
peaceful about a weapon that kills people? Well, because a lot of times, killing somebody
makes peace. Think about a war, think about World War II. I mean, the United States were
the peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers. They should be called the children of God.
Look, the peacemaker is the person who makes peace, and the best way that you're going
to make peace is by winning souls to Christ, is what he's saying. Bringing forth the fruit
of righteousness, full of mercy and good fruits, which is the fruit of righteousness which
is sown in peace, he's saying. The peacemaker, the person who makes peace, the way that you
can make peace with family members, get them saved. See, I have family members who hate
me, I can't get along with them. Get them saved, and I bet you you'll be able to get
along with them a lot better if you're both saved. If you're both born again brethren,
if you both love the Bible, you get along. And so the peacemaker is the soul winner,
is what we learned in these last three verses. The peacemaker is the one who's the soul winner,
because he's sowing the fruit of righteousness in peace. And so God is saying here, first
be pure, because that's how you're going to win the souls. First be pure, that's how you're
going to sow the fruit of righteousness in peace. That's how you're going to have peace
ultimately, is by having purity first, peace second. Grace and peace be with you. You'll
see that about 25 times throughout the New Testament. Grace, mercy, and peace. First
grace, first salvation, first the things that come from God, first purity, then we'll have
peace. So how are we going to have peace in this church? If we're all fruitful, soul winning
Christians who work, put some works to our belief, that's how we're going to have peace
in this church. That's how you're going to get along with people. That's how you're going
to control your mouth and speak kind things, is when you're a fruitful Christian who's
a soul winner. You say, what does it mean to be fruitful? It means to be a soul winner,
and we've talked about that a million times. But the only way you're going to bring forth
fruit is when you reproduce yourself. You do that by soul winning, by getting another
person saved. Make it your goal. We've got 17, 18 more days left in the year. One person
saved by the end of the year. Make that your goal. Make that your prayer. God, I want to
win somebody the Lord in 2006. And then next year, say I'm going to win two people the
Lord in 2007. Be a fruit bearer. Be a peacemaker. Be a righteous Christian that can show his
works with meekness of wisdom. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. God, thank
you so much for the Bible and thank you for this great truth that we can read in the Bible
to God. And please just help something from the message to resonate in some way.