The part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is the part that begins in verse number 28, where Jesus tells this parable.
And he says in verse 28, but what think ye? A certain man had two sons. He came to the first and said,
Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not.
But afterward he repented and went. Now what does it mean to repent?
He basically changed his mind. The master told him to go out and work in the vineyard.
He said he was not going to, but then he said, you know what, I will in fact do it.
That's repentance. And it says, and he came to the second and said, likewise.
And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father,
they say unto him first, Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you,
that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not,
but the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it,
repented not afterward that ye might believe him.
Now this morning I want to preach a sermon on this subject.
Go work today in my vineyard. Now before I get into that,
when you're reading the Bible, there's usually a primary application and a secondary application.
Usually there's the surface meaning, and then there's usually other symbolic meanings
or other type of teachings. Now let's look first at the primary meaning of this parable.
The first meaning is he's telling the Jews there that he's speaking to,
the scribes, the Pharisees. He's explaining to them how the publicans and the harlots,
who were the publicans? The IRS, the highway patrol, whatever.
The revenue collectors, that's what they were. Whatever you want to call them.
The feds. No, I'm just kidding. But anyway, the publicans,
they were despised because they were extorting money from the people,
they were taxing them, and they were kind of these bloodsuckers that people didn't like.
What's a harlot? A harlot is a woman, it's a prostitute,
a woman who sells her body for money, who's obviously equally despised by society.
And it's someone who's obviously living a very sinful life.
But what's interesting is that Jesus makes the statement that the harlot
and the publican are going to go to heaven, and that these religious scribes
and Pharisees are not going to heaven, and then he explains why.
He says when John came, and this is John the Baptist,
it says when he came preaching, the publicans and the harlots believed him.
It says in verse number 32.
He says, but John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and he believed him not.
See, salvation is based upon what you believe.
It's not about how good you are.
Because the Bible says there is none that doeth good, 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.
There's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sineth not.
We are all like an unclean thing, the Bible says,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rats.
You see, everyone's a sinner.
Everyone is coming short of the glory of God and does not deserve to go to heaven.
And so he's saying here, look, harlots and publicans believed on Jesus Christ.
Now, does it say that they stopped being a harlot?
No, in fact, he's still calling them a harlot.
That means that some of them remained a harlot,
because he's basically saying these harlots are going to heaven.
Now, I'm sure if they'd stopped being a harlot, you wouldn't have called them a harlot anymore.
You see, the Bible is clearer that repentance in regard to salvation
is basically when you don't believe and then you change over to believe them.
That's what it says in verse 32.
For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not.
But the publicans and harlots believed it.
And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe them.
You should have seen the fact that they got saved and that they believed,
and you should have re-thought that.
Who speaks Spanish in here? Put up your hand.
Does anybody speak Spanish? No.
I thought I'm in Phoenix, Arizona.
But in Spanish, the verb pensar means to think.
And it's basically the same rule.
A repent is like a rethink.
And it can mean a variety of things.
If you're doing a certain sin, you can repent of that sin.
But do you have to repent of your sins to be saved?
No, because if you did, nobody's saved,
because we're all going to continue to sin.
We're sinful people.
Salvation is by faith alone.
But if you're trusting something else to get you to heaven,
if you believe on something other than Jesus Christ,
you're going to have to repent from that false belief
and put your faith upon Christ.
That's what he's explaining.
That's the primary application.
The one son said no, but then he changed and said,
yes, I will in fact go.
That's the primary application of the parable.
But I just want to preach on that phrase
of what the Father is actually saying to his Son.
And that's this.
Go work today in my vineyard.
I believe that that is the command of God the Father
to you today as children of God.
The Bible says,
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God.
Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew in him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
but as many as received him,
to that needy power to become the sons of God.
And I'm here to tell you that if you're saved this morning,
God is saying to you,
Son, go work today in my vineyard.
Steven Anderson, go work today in my vineyard.
Matthew, go work today in my vineyard.
Brad, go work today.
John, Chris, go work today in my vineyard.
Now what does that mean?
Well, first of all, he said today.
Do it today.
Go to now you that say today or tomorrow.
We shall live and do this or that.
We'll go into such a city and buy and sell and get gain.
For as you know now, what shall be on tomorrow?
For what is your life?
It is even a vapor that appears for a little time
and then vanishes away.
For that we ought to say, if the Lord will,
we shall live and do this or that.
But now you rejoice in your boastings.
All such rejoicing is evil.
Therefore, listen to this,
to him that knoweth to do good
and doeth it not, to him it is said.
When you say, oh, I'll do it later,
I'll do it another time,
someday I'm going to go out and get people saved.
Someday I'm going to go out into the great harvest
that's white unto harvest
and preach the gospel and see people saved
and bring in the sheep.
Someday I'll do it.
And God said, that's a sin,
because you know you should do it today
and you don't know what's going to be on tomorrow.
You don't know what's going to happen a year from now
or two years from now.
You need to be in the vineyard working today
is what God is saying.
He said, son, go work today in my vineyard.
What's the vineyard?
The Bible says the vineyard is the world.
You know, if you look at other parables of Jesus.
And Jesus said, lift up your eyes.
The fields are white unto harvest.
All throughout Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa,
Gilbert, Chandler, El Mirage, wherever.
There are people who will get saved
if they would hear the gospel.
If somebody will come to them
and bring it to them and explain it to them
and preach it to them,
faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God.
How shall they hear without a preacher?
How shall they preach except they be sent?
And you came to church today,
I'm going to give this lady the message,
to be sent.
To be sent out to work.
I used to work at a job for an alarm company.
And every morning we'd show up at the shop.
And we'd walk in, we'd punch in,
we'd sit out in the meeting,
and they would hand out the assignments.
You know, they'd call our names,
we'd come up and get our assignment for the day,
they'd give us a stack of work orders
of where we were going to go.
That's what church is.
Church is you showing up at the meeting,
you're getting the assignment,
I'm preaching to you the Bible,
I'm giving you God's command.
This is your work order for today.
This is where God is sending you.
God is sending you out daily in the temple
and in every house.
They cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ,
the Bible says.
You see, I'm here to give you the work order.
I'm not the head of the church.
Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
I'm not the boss here.
The owner of the company is up in heaven, as it were.
The president of the company, the CEO,
he's up in heaven.
You say, I can't believe you compared to a business.
Well didn't Jesus say I must be about my father's business?
And so the CEO is up in heaven.
I'm just the foreman, that's all.
I'm the foreman, okay?
You're the journeyman, you know?
And then when you go out soul hunting
and you have the silent partner,
that's your apprentice, okay?
And so it's like that.
It's going out and doing it.
You say, why are you compared to work?
It is work.
Son, go work today in my vineyard.
Now let me give you some scriptures.
Revelation 22, 12.
You don't have to turn there.
Turn to Ephesians 4,
and while you're turning to Ephesians 4,
I'm going to give you some other scriptures
on this subject of work today in my vineyard.
You see, we always want to put things off.
You say, well, once I get my ducks in a row financially,
then I'm going to go out and win souls
and get people saved and serve God with my life
and bring forth fruit.
Your ducks will never be in a row financially,
especially in this economy,
especially the way things are going.
But you always think, and my whole life,
and there have been so many times
where I always felt like
I was about to turn the corner financially.
Man, I finally got things straight.
And then, you know, something bad happens,
some catastrophe happens.
I've never had my ducks in a row financially to this day.
Never.
I mean, just when you think, oh, I've got a plan,
I'm going to have it all straightened out,
I'm going to be secure, I'm going to be moving around,
it always falls apart.
But you know what?
I don't care if I die without a penny to my name,
without two nickels to rub together
with nothing in debt messed up.
I want to die having won souls to Christ in my life,
and it's not even a matter of how much money I had or didn't have.
You waste your life worrying so much about getting your finances just right
or getting your house just right
or getting it decorated just right or getting it repaired just right.
None of that even is going to matter someday.
Whatever your situation, no matter what you're going through,
no matter how bad it is,
man, stop everything and get out there and serve God no matter what.
And someday when all your problems are gone anyway
and your problems won't even matter to you anymore,
you'll be glad that that's what you spent your life doing,
working for God,
not laboring for the meat which perishes,
not laboring for gold and silver
and laying up your treasure upon earth
where moth and rust doth corrupt
and where thieves break through with steel,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt
and where the government does not break through with steel,
I mean where thieves do not break through with steel,
but where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
I don't want my heart to be in this earth.
Set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth, the Bible says.
I don't want my heart to be at Wells Fargo.
I'm not going to leave my heart at Bank of America.
I don't want my heart to be at J.P. Morgan Chase.
I don't want my heart to be at Washington Mutual.
I want my heart to be in God's house in heaven,
the temple not made with hands in heaven.
That's where I want my heart to be.
So that's where my treasure is.
And you know what my treasure is?
You know what my reward is,
my glory, my hope, my crown,
the people that I want in the Lord
that are going to be up there.
Then we'll rejoice together.
Revelation 22, 12.
And behold, I come quickly.
This is Jesus Christ.
And my reward is with me
to give every man according as he attended church.
No, that's not what it says.
Behold, I come quickly.
My reward is with me
to give every man according as he lived a clean life.
That's not what it says.
And I believe in living a clean life.
I believe in attending church.
Those are the commands of God.
But he says my reward is with me
to give every man according as his work shall be.
You see, when you get a reward from Jesus Christ,
it's going to be according to the work that you did.
You come to church, you sit, you listen to preaching, great.
You sing the songs, great.
You live a clean life, you quit this, quit that, great.
It's important.
God wants to purify you.
God wants you to be righteous and holy and separated.
But you know what?
You're only going to get a reward for the work that you did.
If that's clear in 1 Corinthians 3,
that's clear in 2 Corinthians 5,
that's clear in Revelation 22 that we just read,
you've got to do some work for God.
Imagine, back to the illustration earlier about the alarm company.
You show up to the meeting,
you get all your assignments,
and man, you're smiling, your shirt's tucked in,
you are an exact company dress code,
you sit up straight, you're listening,
you're nodding your head, you're saying,
yes sir, you're very polite,
and you go out with your work orders in your hand
and you get in the truck and just go home.
Do you think you're going to get paid at all?
No.
But then Christians, that's what they do.
They come to the meeting, right?
They get the work orders, they hear it,
they're dressed right, they look right,
and then they get their work orders
and then they go sit at home
and they're like, man, I can't wait to get all the rewards.
Rewards for what?
For sitting in an air-conditioned building in a padded chair?
Well done, now good and faithful servant.
You sat through Pastor Anderson.
Other people sat,
you got your face ripped every single week,
you sat there, you took it like, man,
you sat in there, you're like, come on, hit me.
And yet, you're not going to get a reward
because you didn't do anything for God.
That's a sobering thought.
Now thank God you're going to heaven if you believe,
even if you do no works,
because the Bible says,
But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for rises.
But I don't want to get to heaven and,
you know, okay, geez, I'm ready for my reward.
It's like, good job.
I want to get the crowns and do something with my life.
I want to have the treasures in heaven.
1 Peter 1-17,
and if you call on the Father,
you're in Ephesians 4, I'll get there in a second.
If you call on the Father,
who without respect of persons,
judges according to every man's work,
pass the time of your sojourn here in period.
He's saying God is going to judge you
according to your works, okay.
And he's going to judge your Christianity
by what work you did, okay.
Look at Ephesians 4,
and this is a discussion about church in verse 11.
He's talking about in the church,
he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.
Why did he give us the pastor?
Because I'm the pastor of the church, right?
I'm teaching the Bible.
Why am I here?
For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come in the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
that we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the slight of men and cunning craftiness
whereby they lie in wait to deceive,
but speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplied
according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part,
make it increase of the body
unto the edifying of itself in love.
So based on that passage,
is church for unsaved people or for saved people?
What is it geared toward?
The saved.
It says it's for the perfecting of the saints.
It's for the edifying of the body of Christ.
And yet today most churches are geared toward the unsaved.
I've had people come into this church
and criticize this church
because they brought somebody who was unsaved
and, oh, this unsaved person was offended
when you were preaching something against homosexuality
or you're preaching something against abortion
or you're preaching against adultery or divorce
or these things that people don't want to hear about
that are in the Bible.
And they say, oh, you offended my visitor.
I wanted them to get saved.
I wanted them to hear the Gospel.
Then go tell them the Gospel.
But this is church.
This isn't come hear the Gospel, Baptist Church.
This is preach the whole word Baptist Church.
We're not going to sit here and preach
three times a week how to get saved.
You'd be starving to death spiritually.
You're not getting fed if that's what you hear.
And I've been to church where every Sunday morning
it was the Gospel, the Gospel, the Gospel, the Gospel.
And the problem is people aren't being fed.
Have you ever heard people say,
well, I left that church because I wasn't being fed?
You ever heard that phrase before?
It's true.
A lot of people leave the church
because they're just hearing the same thing
over and over again.
There's a lot more to the Bible than just salvation.
You say, oh, but people need to keep hearing
preaching on the Gospel.
That's right.
And if you want to hear Stephen Aniston
preach the plan of salvation and preach the Gospel,
why don't you just come be my soloing partner today?
Right?
And you'll hear it several times.
You'll hear it repeatedly.
Go with anybody else that's going today
and you'll hear them give the Gospel.
If you love to hear the Gospel, I love to hear it too.
But you know what?
I'd rather hear it out there.
We took it with the lost and dying world
than to just keep preaching to Christians over.
And I remember, I've seen some people
who were newly saved go to a church like that
and they're like,
somebody needs to tell the pastor that we're all saved.
He needs to teach us something.
He needs to preach us something.
And the problem is when you start
gearing your church toward the unsaved,
well, now we've got to have music
that appeals to the unsaved,
which is basically appealing to the flesh.
That's why most churches today
have the big rock concert and everything
instead of songs with spiritual content.
It's the rock and roll.
Okay, then you have to have a message
that appeals to the unsaved.
You've got to have an atmosphere
that appeals to the unsaved.
Nope, this atmosphere appeals to the saved.
Songs that appeal to people that are already saved.
I like it.
Do you like it?
Yeah, that's all that matters.
Who cares what they think?
They don't like it.
They don't like it because they're unsaved.
And so the problem is that today,
churches have decided,
oh, bring in the unsaved and preach.
Nope, bring in the sheaves
that you've already reaped.
Go out and preach.
Every command that preaches God's law is go.
Go ye therefore into all the world.
Go out into the highways and hedges.
Go out and get people saved,
not bring them in to get them saved.
He that goeth forth and weepeth
bearing precious seed
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.
A sheaf is an already harvested product.
You go out, get your friend saved,
and then bring him to church.
And we'll get him baptized
and received from the Bible.
You see,
if you're not going out and getting people saved
and your goal is just to bring unsaved people to church,
you're missing out on the blessing
of what it is to win somebody in the Lord.
Because then I'd be the only person
ever getting anybody saved, right?
Okay, everybody, bring them to me
and I'll get them saved.
Bring them to me.
I'm going to get all the awards.
Why don't you know what it is
to have the joy of opening your Bible
and showing somebody how to be saved?
You say, well, I'm not talented like that.
It's not about talent.
It's the power of God.
It's not your strength in the flesh
but it's God's word that has the power.
You know how to get saved.
Open your Bible.
I don't care if you're stammering and stuttering.
God can use you to get people saved.
And he can use you to get people saved
and I'll never get saved.
You know, there are people who don't like me.
No, seriously.
I mean, there are people who don't like me.
And the thing is,
but they might like you.
No, I mean, I'm not kidding, guys.
There are people who don't like me.
Don't question that.
Okay, and here's the thing.
But they might like you.
Even though you and I believe the same doctrine,
they might just like your personality a little better.
Right?
My personality, not so much.
Well, then you might be able to get that person saved.
You know, they wouldn't listen to me.
But then, believe it or not,
there are people who would like me that don't like you.
I can give you their names out of this service.
But anyway, I'm just kidding.
There are people who would like me who wouldn't like you
and that's why we're all different.
God created us all uniquely.
That's why it says here in Ephesians 4,
if you look down, it says in verse 16,
from whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplied.
So everybody in the church has a different personality,
different talents, different abilities,
and we all work together
to get a variety of types of people saved.
Okay?
Because we're all different
and we can reach different people.
Okay?
And so we have a church here that's set up
to preach to the saved.
You know, somebody used to express to me the other day,
they're like, hey, you're preaching to the saved.
You know, and I'm thinking like,
well, that's what I do every week.
You know?
Or you've heard the expression,
you're preaching to the choir.
You know?
We don't have a choir.
We never will.
But anyway, I don't like choirs personally.
You say, why do you like choirs?
It doesn't have to do with something.
I just don't like choirs
because I don't like to go to church to be a spectator
or I want to go to church to be a participant.
That's why the Bible says,
in the midst of the congregation,
in the midst of the church,
will I sing praise unto thee.
You know, and today it's like people come in,
they pull down their movie theater style seat
and sit down and they watch the show.
Whereas I want to come to a church
where I'm doing the same.
Right?
I mean, I remember when I was not the pastor
and I used to sit in the pew,
the most boring thing in the world
used to be to listen to the special music.
Hey, man.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
You're just like, oh, man,
why does this get me over?
But whereas pulling out the songbook
and singing the hymns,
I always enjoy that.
I mean, I loved it.
You know, I participated.
But we live in like a spectator society.
We ought to be a participant.
We ought to come to church
and God wants to hear you praise God,
not some talent.
Oh, little Susie is going to show us all her talent.
You know?
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
You know, it'd be better to hear,
I don't care what you sound like.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
God created you.
God gave you your voice.
He wants to hear you sing.
It has nothing to do with the sermon.
But basically, what does it say in verse 13?
Verse 12 says it's all about the work of the ministry.
Church is about work.
You have a pastor so he can teach you how to work.
You have a teacher who gets you to work.
But then he also says this in verse 13,
till we all come in the unity of faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Now flip over to James chapter 1
toward the end of the New Testament.
Flip over to James
because you see there's kind of two aspects
mentioned there about church.
One of them is that you're coming to church
to be equipped for the work of the ministry.
Kind of like I would show up at that shop
at the alarm company
and that's where I would pick up my work truck.
That's where I would pick up my drills,
my drill bits, my wire, all the different parts.
They would supply me all the parts I needed.
They'd give me all the tools.
They'd give me the address at the job site.
They'd put everything in my hands
necessary to do the work.
The tools, the equipment, everything.
But when you come to church,
you're getting the tools,
you're getting the equipment,
you're getting the knowledge to go out and do it.
So there's really two major things there in Ephesians 4.
Number one is the preparation for the work
is what you're getting.
And number two, you're getting the knowledge of Christ.
Those are the two things you're getting.
Send out to work and you're getting knowledge.
Those are the two main things in Ephesians 4.
Well, look at James 1.
It says in verse 22,
But be ye doers of the word
and not hearers only,
deceiving your own self.
Now, this is spoken to Christians.
Pretty much every chapter in the book of James
starts with my brethren.
He's basically talking to those who don't know
and he's basically talking to those that are safe.
And he says,
Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.
For if any, be a hearer of the word and not a doer.
He is like unto a man,
beholding his natural face in a glass,
for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way,
and straightway forgetth what manner of man he was.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty
and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer,
watch this next phrase,
but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed as be.
So, basically, what he's giving an illustration here,
a man beholding his face in a glass,
that's basically a mirror.
So, let's say I walk up
and I stand in front of the mirror
and I'm just checking to make sure that,
you know, my tie is right,
you know, my belt is right,
my coat is right,
and I'm just looking to make sure, you know,
nothing weird is going on,
that I look decent.
Okay.
Well, let's say I looked in that mirror
and he's saying,
I straightway forgot whatever image I saw in the mirror.
Like, I look at the mirror
and I see, oh, you know,
my shirt's, you know, hanging out.
I look in the mirror and I'm like,
oh, whoops, that's a problem.
You know, I just walk away
and just totally forget,
what was it that I was supposed to fix?
Oh, did my tie need to be tightened up?
You know, do you understand what I'm saying?
He's saying, you look in the mirror
and you forget what you just saw.
You immediately forget what manner of man you were.
Now, stop and think about this.
Because this is actually a very profound statement.
I think a lot of people miss this.
He's saying here that if I open the Bible,
because he's saying,
I'm a hearer of the word and not a doer.
He said, I'm looking into the perfect law of living here.
Let's say I read the Bible, okay,
but then I don't do the work.
I would forget what I've read.
That's what the Bible says.
You understand that?
He's saying, if I am a hearer of the word
but I'm not a doer,
I don't do what I read.
He's saying, I'm basically going to forget,
because it says in verse number 25,
but whoso look at them to the perfect law of liberty
and continue it therein.
He being not a forgetful hearer,
what's the opposite of a forgetful hearer?
A doer of the word.
So you're one of two people this morning.
You're either a doer of the word
or you're a forgetful hearer.
That's why people can come to church
week after week after week after week
and not get it.
Because they're never doing the work.
Even if they're saved.
They just, they're not,
they keep forgetting what they read
because they're not doing the work.
You see, if I were to go lock myself up somewhere
like these monks do in a monastery
and I were to seclude myself
and man, I'm just going to get alone
and just read the Bible,
study it, memorize it.
I'm going to uncover the deep truths of the Bible.
You see, I would not be able to learn the Bible like that
because in order to learn the Bible,
I've got to read it and I've got to do it.
I've got to hear it and I've got to do it.
That's what's wrong with so many of these
universities and cemeteries, I mean, seminaries,
where, you know, you go there
and this professor who's not winning souls,
he's not doing any work for God,
he's not getting anybody saved,
he's going to expound the Bible to you.
He can't.
You say, well, he knows the Bible.
He can't because he's not doing the work.
And in order to really know and understand the Bible,
you've got to do the work.
I mean, the people who go out and get people saved,
the people who are out knocking on doors,
preaching the Gospel, talking to their friends
and co-workers and loved ones all the time
about salvation,
you never have to straighten them out
on their salvation doctrine.
I mean, they're always like straight down the line with it
because they're doing the work.
But then these other people go sit in some seminary,
you know, for years and years and years
and they come out saying,
oh, I think God just decides who goes to heaven and hell
and it's just totally random, you know.
Where do you get that from not doing the work,
from sitting around in a cloister somewhere
instead of being out doing the work?
God wanted us to be in the world.
He said, I'm not taking them out of the world.
He said, I'm leaving them in the world,
I'm just going to keep them from the evil.
You see, we are to be in the world but not of the world.
And so to take yourself out of the world,
let's go, we're going to make our own commune somewhere
and whatever and be totally separated from the ungodly world.
No, we need to be out in this ungodly world
preaching the Gospel to every creature.
That's when you're going to know the Bible.
That's what it says in James 1.
Flip back just a few pages to Hebrews
and you'll see the same concept in Hebrews chapter 5.
Hebrews chapter number 5 says in verse number 11,
of whom we have many things to say
and hard to be uttered seeing your dole here in verse 12.
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the oracles of God,
and have become such as have need of milk,
and not of strong meat.
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful
in the word of righteousness, for he is obeyed.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of deep study and meditation
have their senses exercised.
Is that what it says?
It says even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
So you cannot receive the strong meat of the word
unless you're using the word.
Unless you're a doer of the word.
You can't use the strong meat.
You can't eat the strong meat.
You can't handle the strong meat.
And people come to church
and we preach to them the strong meat of the Bible
and it goes over their head.
They don't get it.
They don't understand it.
They don't comprehend it.
It's because they don't do any work for God.
They're just sitting there listening to it.
Some Christians are spiritually obese.
Think about it.
What is physical obesity?
It's too much intake and not enough output.
Right?
Because it's a scientific equation.
You know, there's fuel going in
and then there's energy being expended.
And today, many Christians,
if we could look at them spiritually,
would be 500 pounds.
Because man, they know the Bible.
You know, they've heard it all.
They've learned it all.
And they're just constantly just...
You know?
But when it comes to putting out the energy,
exercising what they've learned,
using what they've learned,
they're not doing it.
It's not healthy, right?
What's healthy is when you're consuming calories,
a nutritious diet from God's Word, okay?
Then you're going out and exercising and using it, right?
That's going to help you absorb the calories,
build the muscle that you need,
build the tissues that you need
and all these different things.
You see, you cannot know the Bible
unless you're a doer of the work.
So what good is going to church
if you're not going to do the work?
It's going over your head anyway.
It's going in one ear and out the other.
Two years later,
you'll have forgotten all these things
unless you do the work.
Now here's what I've noticed
about Faithful Word Baptist Church
in our short three and a half years of existence.
I have noticed that the people who do the work,
who get out there with us
and knock the doors and want to work
and want to get somebody saved,
they don't want to just sit and soak and sour, okay?
The people who do the work
are the ones who end up staying in church.
It's true.
I mean, you know, Amanda's here.
She's been here since the second week.
She right away got into the work, you know?
Other people who go back to that first year,
they were people who did the work.
They were people who preached the Gospel.
They're the ones who have stayed in church.
And I've noticed that people
usually either get involved in doing the work eventually
or eventually we don't see them anymore.
Eventually they quit the church.
Even people who like the church
and enjoy the preaching and love it.
You know, eventually they fall out of church
because it's not healthy to just take.
And plus, you're getting so much food at this church.
You can't handle the food you're getting
unless you're doing the work.
Like other churches,
they have you on like a starvation ration.
Okay.
There are churches, yeah.
They give you like one verse,
one verse for the Bible,
and it's like blah, blah, blah.
Somebody needs to show them the verse
that says preach the word.
Preach the word, like Bible verses.
So they got you on like a starvation ration.
I mean, you come in
and you're like starving to death.
You're emaciated.
And you're just like,
ah, feed me something.
You know, they give you, you know,
Jesus' web job.
You know, rejoice evermore.
You know, is there anything else for me?
So they got you on like a starvation ration,
so you'll probably go to that church
for the rest of your life
and not do any work.
Right?
You don't even have the energy to do any work.
You're not getting any calories at that church.
But at this church,
it's like, you need to eat more.
You need to eat more.
You know, I'm full.
Here, let's turn somewhere else.
I got more for you, you know.
And you're getting a lot more.
And you're getting a lot of food at this church.
If you come Sunday morning, Sunday night,
Wednesday night,
that's like a 6,000 calorie a day diet.
You know what I mean?
And so that's why people can't handle
coming to this church
unless they're doing the work.
Because they, you know,
they're going to get spiritually obese
from too many calories.
They can't handle it.
If you're going to come
and get this kind of preaching,
how about this?
A Bible verse,
unto whom much is given,
of them shall much be required.
And if you're getting a lot of spiritual meat
from the Bible,
you've got to go burn off those calories.
You've got to balance
the exercise and the diet.
Both need to balance.
Look, if you would,
you're in Hebrews.
Let's flip over to Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews 13, verse number 20.
No, I'm already full.
Okay, let's close the service.
But Hebrews 13, 20.
Now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work
to do his will.
Did you hear that?
Make you perfect in every good work
to do his will.
Working in you
that which is well pleasing in his sight
through Jesus Christ
through me glory
forever and ever, amen.
You don't have to turn over to Hebrews 6, 10.
For God is not unrighteous
to forget your work.
Your work and labor of love
which ye have showed toward his name
and that ye have ministered to the saints
and do minister.
You don't have to turn to any of these.
Titus 3, 1.
Put them in mind
to be subject to principalities and powers
to obey magistrates
to be ready to every good work.
2 Timothy 4, 5.
Watch out in all things.
Endure afflictions.
Do the work of an evangelist.
What's an evangelist?
Evangelist, somebody who preaches the gospel.
In German, Latin, Evangelium,
it basically just means the gospel.
It means you're preaching the gospel.
We think of an evangelist as a guy
who drives around a motor home
and his whole family plays guitars
and they get up and sing.
You know what I'm talking about?
We think that's an evangelist.
An evangelist is somebody who goes out soloing
and going out and preaching the gospel.
And he's saying here,
do the work of an evangelist
and saying to the pastor.
And he says,
Do the work of an evangelist.
Make full proof of thy ministry.
2 Timothy 2, 21.
If a man therefore purge himself from these.
He's talking about purging yourself
from bad influences, sin, wicked things,
wicked people.
He says,
If a man therefore purge himself from these,
he shall be a vessel unto honor,
sanctified and meet for the master's use
and prepared unto every good work.
That's why you clean up your life.
That's why you throw your television out
in the garbage can.
That's why you get rid of all the dirty magazines
and you get rid of the liquor and the cigarettes
and the drugs.
You say, Why?
Why do I get rid of it?
Is it just a bunch of deuce and goats?
No, you get rid of it
so that you can be a meat vessel
for the master's use
so you can be prepared for every good work.
God doesn't want to use a filthy vessel.
God doesn't want to pour the oil of his Holy Spirit
into a dirty, filthy vessel.
He wants you to be a clean vessel
for him to use.
Not a clean vessel so you can put it on the shelf
and admire how wonderful you are,
how wonderful it is.
Oh, wow, it looks great.
Jesus in the same chapter that we just read,
Matthew 21, walked up to a fig tree
that looked good on the outside.
From far away, he was going there
to get some figs off that tree
because it looked good.
But once he got closer to that tree,
he saw that there were no figs on the tree.
Even though it looked good,
even though the leaves looked good,
even though from far away
it seemed like there would be figs on it,
and it was the time of figs,
he got there, there were no figs on it.
And he cursed the fig tree,
and the fig tree withered up and withered away.
Because God's not interested in a decorative tree.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and he that winneth souls is wise.
He shall be like a tree, Psalm 1,
planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit in this season.
His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
but like the chaff is the wind right of the way.
And many people in church,
the wind will just blow them away.
Tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,
and the slight of men with their cunning craftiness
whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
But if you are doing the work,
if you're bringing forth the fruit,
you're going to be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
for as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
See how consistent the Bible is on this?
If you don't do the work,
you're just tossed around.
You're hopping from church to church.
If you don't do the work,
you're not going to be planted,
you're not going to be ruined.
If you're going to be the first one
to quit the church when persecution and tribulation
arises because of the work,
by and by, you're offended
because you have no root in yourself.
Matthew 13, Luke chapter 8.
And so it says in 1 Timothy 5, 10
that women should be well reported of for good works.
I love what he says in Philippians chapter 4.
You don't have to turn there,
but he says,
I beseech the odious and beseech the centipede
of the two women in the church
that they be of the same mind of the Lord,
and I entreat the also true yokefellow,
Help those women which labored with me in the Gospel.
Did you hear that?
Paul said,
Help those women which labored with me in the Gospel.
He didn't say,
Help those women which cleaned the building.
Help those women which cooked the potluck.
Help those women which handled the nursery.
No.
He said,
Help those women which labored with me in the Gospel.
You see, in Acts chapter 2,
one man didn't preach and get 3,000 people saved,
even though I've heard that in church my whole life.
It's not true.
Read the story.
There are 120 people there preaching the Gospel
in all different languages.
One man can't preach over 17 languages at the same time.
Peter was preaching to the man of Judea.
The others that were with him
were preaching in various languages
to devout men from all over the world,
from every nation under heaven.
And Peter got up and said,
This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel
when he said,
Your young man and your young maiden shall...
Turn there. Sorry. Turn there.
I've got to show you this.
I'm quoting it wrong for some reason.
Look at Acts chapter 2.
I want you to see this anyway
because this is such a key point here.
See, the work of getting people saved
and preaching the Gospel is not just for men.
It's for men and women.
It's not just for the young.
It's for the young and old.
Now, are we going to have a woman
come preach by the pulpit in church?
No.
The Bible says that women should keep silent in the church.
It's not permitted unto them to speak,
but be in silence.
For Adam's first form, all that.
I set not a woman to teach,
nor do you serve authority over the man,
but be in silence.
When it comes time for the teaching
and preaching of God's Word,
women are to be silent and listen.
If they have a question,
let them ask their husband at home.
That's what the Bible says.
Okay.
But you know what?
Going out and giving people the Gospel
is every woman's job.
See, in the church,
when we're all joined together,
God has ordained men to teach and preach,
men to lead.
But you know what?
That doesn't mean that women
are just chopped liver.
Because you see,
the greatest person in this church
is not the pastor.
It's not the preacher.
That's not the greatest person in this church.
The greatest person in this church
is the person who does the most soul in him.
Period.
It's true.
Because see,
God's not a respecter of persons.
God doesn't look and say,
oh, but you're the pastor,
so you're the top guy.
You have the position.
You got the title.
You're the boss.
No. Wrong.
It's the person who brings forth the fruit.
That's the greatest.
And you see,
the person or the persons in our church
may not be the people that you think
are necessarily the greatest,
but you know what?
In Christ,
there's neither male nor female,
neither bond nor pretty.
And so a person could be poor or rich.
A person could be male or female
and still get the rewards in heaven.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say you have a man
pastoring a church,
preaching the Word,
but he doesn't give anybody's faith.
He's not a soul-runner.
He doesn't even do the Word.
He's all talk.
But let's say you have a woman
in his church
who's out getting people saved.
Who do you think
should get the greater rewards?
The woman who did the Word.
You understand what I'm saying?
Now, look,
what's the greatest job
you could do
in faith-forward Baptist church?
Is it vacuuming the carpet?
No.
Is it washing down the commode?
No.
Is it cleaning the front windows?
No.
Is it even preaching the sermon
to the saved by the pulpit?
I don't believe so.
I think the greatest work
that I do
is when I go out
and get somebody saved.
That's my number.
That's my favorite.
You say,
what's your favorite sermon?
The one that I preach
at people's door
when I'm giving them the gospel
and getting them saved?
And so women
in many churches
might feel left out.
Like,
oh, I can't be involved.
You know,
I can't preach.
I can't teach a class.
Look,
you can do the greatest thing
there is.
There's nothing greater
than getting somebody saved.
And that's what
God wants you to do.
And so women
are not left out.
But in a church
that has no soul in it,
they're,
oh well,
you know,
wipe down the bathroom.
No.
Cook food for our public.
No.
Women have real
spiritual work to do
in this church.
Go on and say,
let me prove it
to you scripturally.
It says in verse 14,
but Peter,
standing up with the 11,
lifted up his voice
and said to them,
you men of Judea
and all you that dwell
at Jerusalem,
be this known of you
and hearken to my words.
These are not drunken
as ye suppose,
seeing as but
the third hour of the day.
But this is that
which was spoken
by the prophet Joel.
And it shall come to pass
in the last days.
Sayeth God,
I will pour out of my spirit
upon all flesh
and your sons
and your daughters
shall prophesy
and your young men
shall see visions
and your old men
shall dream dreams.
Peter is saying
that this
is a fulfillment
of that prophecy.
Which means
that in Acts chapter 2
there were both men
and women
preaching the gospel
to these people
out on the streets
of Jerusalem.
They weren't in church.
They were out
talking to people
giving them the gospel.
He reiterates it again.
He says,
and my servants,
verse 18,
and on my servants
and on my handmaidens
will I pour out
in those days
of my spirit
and they shall prophesy.
So being filled
with the Holy Ghost,
being filled
with the Holy Spirit
is not just for men.
It's for men and women.
Getting people saved
preaching the gospel
is for men and women.
And so the work
of the ministry,
he says,
son, go work today
in my vineyard.
But you know what, ladies?
He wants you to go work
in his vineyard as well.
He wants you
to preach the gospel
to other preachers.
He wants you
to be like Euodius
and Syntyche
and these other women
in the church of Philippi
that labored with him
in the gospel.
That went out
and preached people
the gospel.
You say,
do you believe
in women preachers?
Yes, I do.
In church?
No.
Joyce Meyer?
One on one,
out at the door
in the highways and hedges?
Praise God, I do.
Yes, I do believe
in women preachers.
2 Thessalonians 2
Verse 16,
you don't have to turn there.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God,
even our Father,
which have loved us
and have given us
everlasting consolation
and good hope
through grace,
comfort your hearts
and establish you
in every good
word and work.
Get the word and the work.
Those are the two elements
of the Christian life.
The word and the work.
If you have just the word,
you don't have it.
If you have just the work,
you don't have it.
Get the word and the work.
Colossians 1, 10,
that you might walk
worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing,
being fruitful
in every good work
and increasing
in the knowledge of God.
You need a balance
in your life.
Don't be all work,
work, work
and no Bible reading
and study.
You need the word
and the work.
You need to increase
in knowledge
and then you need
to go out and do the work.
1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 3, verse 13.
Every man's work
shall be made manifest
for the day shall declare
because it shall be
revealed by fire
and the fire shall try
every man's work
of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide
which he has built their arm,
he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work
shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss,
but he himself shall be saved,
yet so is by fire.
So God's going to take
all the work
that you did in your life
and he's going to try it
and whatever goes
through the fire,
whatever is eternal
lasting value, gold, silver
and precious stones,
you'll get a reward.
But any of the works
that are burned up,
that's the wood, hay
and stubble,
he says you'll suffer loss.
You're going to lose
that reward,
but you yourself
will still be saved,
praise God,
yet so is by fire.
And so here's the thing.
Wood, hay and stubble
are not sin.
Is there anything sinful
about wood?
Hay?
Stubble?
There's nothing bad
about it, right?
But see,
the wood, hay and stubble
of your life
is all the work you do
that will not last
for eternity.
Building a business.
Right?
It's great to build
a business.
Go out, work hard,
make money,
but is that going
to matter for all eternity?
Something that you have
to do,
but is it going
to last for eternity?
That's wood, hay and stubble.
That's the wood.
You like to play sports.
Nothing wrong
with playing sports,
but it's not gold,
silver, precious stones.
Wood, hay and stubble
are all the work
you do that will not
last for eternity.
That's wood, hay and stubble.
It's not sinful.
There's nothing wrong with it.
But is it going
to last for all eternity?
Are we thousands of years
going to be like,
thank God
for that basketball game?
Thank God,
you know,
we won in that baseball game.
You know,
it's not going to matter.
And that's what he's saying
when your work
is going to be tried
by fire
of what sort it is.
And then I'll just
close with one thing.
Titus 2.6.
Young men likewise
exhort to be
sober-minded
in all things
showing thyself
a pattern
of good works.
In doctrine showing
un-corruptness,
gravity,
sincerity.
A pattern of good works.
Our life should be
a pattern of good works
for other people
to follow.
He said,
in all things
showing thyself
a pattern of good works.
It shouldn't be
go out and get people
saved.
It should be
let's go get people
saved.
Come with me,
as Jehu said,
and see my zeal
for the Lord.
Or as Jesus Christ
is saying,
come with me
and see my zeal
for the Lord.
Or as Jesus Christ
is saying,
follow me
and I will make you
fishers of men.
Not,
go be a fisher of men.
I believe it says
in Matthew chapter
11 verse 1,
and it came to pass
when Jesus
made an end
of commanding
his 12 disciples
he went forth
to teach and to preach
in their cities.
So in chapter 10
he sent them out.
And then in
chapter 11 verse 1
he went out
and did it himself.
Jesus did.
That's the kind
of leader
that he was.
The Bible says,
Jesus began
both to do
and teach
until the day
in which he was
taken up.
After that
he took the Holy Ghost
and gave his commandments
and the apostles
and he had chosen.
You see,
it's to do
and to teach.
Teach the word,
read the word,
learn the word,
say the word,
but do.
Be a doer of the word.
Be a doer of the work.
And your life
should be a pattern
of good works.
Other people should be
able to follow you
out solely.
Look at you
and say,
a lot of people
in church today,
and I'm a righteous
in church,
I wanted to serve God,
but I didn't know how.
I literally sat in church
and was like,
is there something
I can do for God?
And you go to the pastor
and you say,
look, I want to do
some work for God.
I want to serve God.
I want to do something
for God.
Oh, okay,
vacuum the carpet.
Oh, paint the building.
Oh, mow the lawn.
Is that all it's about?
Mowing the lawn,
building,
polishing a sign.
But you have to just go,
give me work to do.
I need work.
I walked up to my youth
pastor when I was a teenager
in a liberal church.
I walked up to him
and I said,
hey, I want to get
people saved.
Can you take me out
and show me how
to get people saved?
I was serious.
I just wanted
to get people saved.
He's like,
oh, well,
oh, we're going to
visit people
from these visitor cards
who've come to church
and we're going to
follow up with them.
And I said,
that's not what
I'm talking about.
Oh, well,
I'll get back to you.
You know,
I never got back,
obviously never got back.
You know,
that goes without saying.
But thank God
when I was 17 years old
I started going to a church
that took me out
and took me door to door
and I was a silent partner.
I was the apprentice
and they showed me
how to get somebody saved
and I went and did,
they didn't tell me
how to do it.
They showed me
how to do it.
They said,
follow me,
I'll make you
a soul winner.
And they sent me out
for two, three hours
and we went out
and got people saved
and, man,
that's when I became
a soul winner.
And ever since then,
every week pretty much
of my life.
There were a few times
when I was in Germany
and different places
where I went a few weeks
because I was at these
dead as a doornail churches
and I was having trouble
with the language at first
and, you know,
there was no soul winning.
But pretty much
between then and now
I've pretty much
been out soul winning.
Every week
I've given the gospel
to people
for the last 11 years.
I'm a soul winner.
And if I have to choose
right now between
being a pastor
or a soul winner,
I choose being a soul winner.
I'm fine right now.
If I could only be
one or the other.
You are having
the greatest position
when you're out winning souls.
Male or female,
young or old.
That's my argument.
Word of prayer.
Father, please help us
not to be like the son
that said to dad,
I will not
when dad said,
go to work today
in my vineyard.
Help us not to say
I will not
but help us to answer
I go, sir.
Yes, sir.
I'll go.
And father,
help us not to put it off
and say someday
or sometime
I'll get into that.
No, we need to
we need to be out
doing the work dear God.
Please just fill us
with your spirit,
dear God,
and guide us,
direct us,
and help us
to preach your word
with power
and see people saved,
dear God.
We love you.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.