Music
Alrighty, good afternoon everyone, welcome to church, can I get you to grab your hymnals
and turn to hymn number 116, hymn number 116, He Leadeth Me, number 116 and when you found
it can I get you to stand please.
Music
He leadeth me, O blessed thought, O words with heavenly comfort froth,
what e'er I do, where e'er I be, still this God's hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me,
His faith of color I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.
Sometimes mid scenes of deepest squirm, sometimes meridians flowers bloom,
by waters still a troubled sea, still this His hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me,
His faith of color I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.
Lord I would clasp thy hand in mine, your ever-murder, your reply,
content whatever what I say, since this my God that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me,
His faith of color I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.
Since when my child's daughter is done, when my life is moving,
I will not be, since God's hand is gone, He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me,
His faith of color I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.
Pastor Kevin is going to preach soon that he will help us to hear that he will be changed more
in the image of Jesus and will love you more. In his beautiful name we pray. Amen.
Amen, you may be seated. Okay, can I get you to turn now to hymn number 260.
Hymn number 260, He is Able to Deliver Thee. Hymn number 260.
It is the grandest thing, true of the ages, but it is the grandest thing for us all.
It is the grandest thing that the world has found, for He is able to deliver thee.
He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee.
The blessing of Christ was the hymn for Christ the Christ.
He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee.
He is able to deliver thee. The blessing of Christ was the hymn for Christ the Christ.
He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee.
The blessing of Christ was the hymn for Christ the Christ.
He is able to deliver thee.
Alrighty, final hymn before the Bible reading. Can I get you to turn to hymn number 1?
Hymn number 1, Jesus I my cross have taken. Hymn number 1.
Hymn number 1, Jesus I my cross have taken.
Alrighty, good singing. Time for the Bible reading. Can I get to turn to Titus chapter 2?
Titus chapter 2 and Brother David is coming up for the Bible reading.
Titus chapter 2.
But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as become of holiness,
not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things.
That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands.
That the word of God be not blasphemed.
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing uncorruptedness, gravity, sincerity.
Sound speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed.
Having no evil thing to say of you.
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please them well in all things, not answering again.
Not purloining but showing all good fidelity.
That they may adorn the doctrine of God our saviour in all things.
For the grace of God that it bringeth salvation have appeared to all men.
Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.
Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ.
Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.
These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority that no man despise you.
Dear God thank you for the second service. A lift up past to Kevin that you would fill him with your Holy Spirit and power.
Help us Lord to have a ready ear and a heart that's ready to receive your word this afternoon. In Jesus name, Amen.
Amen.
Okay, so Titus is an epistle. It's a pastoral epistle.
You got 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy in the book of Titus. These epistles are written by the Apostle Paul to pastors.
And I think I've shared many times to you guys that these are the books that I personally read most often.
Like when I just want to sit down and just refresh my mind, I read these books because that's my job.
That's my position and I want to make sure I'm not forgetting things that are listed there.
I mean they're very meaty books when you really break it down.
And it gives a lot of direction instruction to pastors how to teach their church.
And so as I was reading through 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus once again.
It just dawned on me just this another great truth that we learn here.
In Titus chapter 2 verse number 1 it says, but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.
So this is about the pastors going behind the pulpit, preaching to their church.
That they are to teach things that become sound doctrine.
The title for the sermon this afternoon is, Be Sound. Be Sound.
My job as a pastor is to make you more sound.
What does that mean? Is it like a noise? Are we to be more noisy? Like a greater sound?
I mean hopefully our singing and praising increases in volume, increases in sound.
But that's not what this is teaching. In fact if we keep going there.
What is the purpose of sound doctrine? What is the purpose?
Verse number 2, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith.
That's the whole idea of sound. In charity, in patience.
And then we're going to keep going on but the point of this is that as we teach sound doctrine.
That we teach people to be sound.
Okay what does it mean to be sound? To be sound means to be free from error.
Free from error, free from fault.
That's what it means when you read the Bible as sound doctrine or sound in faith, sound in mind.
It's speaking about being without error, being without fault.
The same thought has to do with being solid or firm.
The purpose of coming to church is that you become more solid, more firm.
That you get rid of the error, that you get rid of the faults.
That's the whole purpose of sound doctrine.
So what is sound doctrine then?
Well the word doctrine means teaching.
We come to church to hear the teaching of the Bible.
But we want it to be sound teaching.
Teaching that is without error, teaching that is without fault.
Teaching that is solid, teaching that is firm.
In fact brother we were talking last week and you're excited to be in our church.
And you said look it's so good to be in a church that teaches sound doctrine.
I hope that's a testimony that we can have in this church.
It's not just coming from the pastor, it's coming from the other men that teach here.
That we're hearing sound doctrine.
And again we want doctrine that's correct.
But we don't want just sound doctrine for the sake of sound doctrine.
Like we don't want to just get the right teaching so we can turn around to others and say well we have the right teaching.
You've got the wrong teaching.
Your teaching is not sound. We're sound.
That's not what it's about.
It's not just about having the information.
Again look at verse number two.
That the aged men be all of these things.
The purpose of sound doctrine is that you change.
That you get better yourselves.
That you improve in your life.
That you improve in your Christian walk.
That you improve in every aspect of your life.
That is the purpose of sound doctrine.
You see it's always about the doing isn't it?
We don't want to be just hearers only but doers of the word.
It's great when you hear sound doctrine.
Hopefully you learn something but the goal is that you do something about it.
That you change.
That the aged men, if you're a little bit older, if you've got senior years.
You know you don't consider yourself one of the youth anymore.
Then that's for you.
But if we continue there it says in verse number three.
The aged women likewise.
So aged women if you consider yourself to be a little senior.
You need sound doctrine as well.
You need to continue to grow. You need to continue to change.
You know sometimes those that are a little bit more senior.
They say well this is just how I am.
I'm stuck in my ways past. I'm not going to change all that much.
Yeah look you're probably not going to change all that much in comparison to a young child.
But you still need to hear sound doctrine.
So you can continue to improve.
That you continue to be more sound in your life.
It said there, I'll just read it quickly.
The aged women likewise that they be in behaviour as become of holiness.
Not false accusers.
Ladies because as you get older.
You know this can be something that happens in your life.
You become a false accuser.
Not given to much wine. Teachers of good things.
Why is that so important that the ladies.
Have this you know this development as they hear sound doctrine.
Because it says in verse number four.
That they that's the ladies may teach the young women.
To be sober.
So this is for the if you're not aged.
Girls this is for you.
They may teach young women to be sober.
To love their husbands.
To love their children.
To be discreet.
Chased.
Keepers at home.
Good.
Obedient to their own husbands.
That the word of God be not blasphemed.
Say pastor you always preach about the ladies.
Alright verse number six.
Young men likewise.
Young men you too.
Alright this is for you.
You need sound doctrine as well.
You need to change.
You need to develop.
You need to grow.
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
In all things showing thyself.
A pattern of good works.
In doctrine showing uncorruptness.
Gravity.
Sincerity.
Look at verse number eight.
Sound speech.
This word sound comes up again and again.
In the pastoral epistles.
And it finally dawned on me.
Like I mean obviously I've seen it before.
But it finally dawned on me.
Alright the only place.
That we can be sound.
The only place that actually helps us to get sound.
In all areas of life is church.
That's why these are pastoral epistles.
It's like pastor.
Like it finally clicked.
I mean you say you should have clicked.
Yeah but it just kind of clicked on me finally.
Like oh it's my job.
You know to make sure that people.
Are without error without fault.
Like it falls on me.
If our church is just full of weakness.
And corruption and nonsense.
Like it kind of actually becomes my responsibility.
To some extent.
I mean obviously I can't control.
Your own personal lives.
Okay but like if my preacher is making no impact in your life.
Like no positive impact.
I need to look at myself a little bit then.
Look I'm not saying that like.
Like I'm talking about in general.
I can't control every single person's life.
Like if someone in our church just goes into weakness.
And you know whatever hates the Lord.
Like ah that's pastor.
But obviously if our whole church is going that way.
You know we need to be looking at the leadership.
And going hey you know.
Pastor you're not preaching sound doctrine.
Okay you're not actually helping us develop and grow.
And so it just kind of dawned on me.
It just clicked on me.
Just you know the last few days.
Oh man this is my job.
And so as I said the title for the sermon.
This afternoon is Be Sound.
I want you to be sound.
Help me out a little bit with my sermons.
Hopefully you can take something on board.
And make a change.
Because that's my job.
Alright if I'm not doing it.
Then I'm not fulfilling my job.
Sounding doctrine.
We often think about the word sound.
We do think about doctrine don't we.
That's the main thing.
I think as I said our church is commonly known.
As a church that preaches sound doctrine.
People that come into our church.
They want that sound doctrine.
So let's just get a few other thoughts about this idea of sound doctrine.
If you can move away from Titus and turn to 1 Timothy.
Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 9.
1 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 9.
The Bible reads.
Knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous man.
But for the lawless and disobedient.
For the ungodly and for sinners.
For unholy and profane.
For murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers for manslayers.
For whoremongers.
For them that defile themselves with mankind.
For menstealers.
For liars.
I mean we've got a big list of sins right here right.
For liars.
I mean if you're like I'm not a murderer.
Well here we go.
For liars that's you.
That's you automatically alright.
For perjured persons.
Or if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.
So one of the first things we learn and I've got several points okay.
The first point that I have for you is that we need to be sound in doctrine.
We need to be a church that preaches against sins.
Okay.
We can't just be a positive only.
Just a reinforcing kind of church.
Oh you're just doing just fine brother.
We need to be challenged.
Alright.
I mean between services someone said to me.
When are you going to stop preaching about me or something like that.
Oh I'm glad I'm preaching about you then.
Okay I'm not targeting anybody.
Specifically I never even had that intention right.
But praise God if it hits you somewhere.
Praise God if it slaps your face somewhere.
You know that's the whole reason for sound doctrine.
If you want to be in a church that preaches from sound doctrine.
Then you need to also accept the other part of it.
That you're going to get offended sometimes at the preaching.
Okay and what did we learn this morning.
That if the king is against you.
You know don't run away.
Like if you get offended a little bit by the church.
By the preaching of the church.
That's not reason to run away from church.
That's not reason to go find another church.
In fact that's what God wants for you.
To get a little offended.
To get a little bit uncomfortable.
So you can make some changes.
So you can make some improvements.
Praise God.
I mean I'm not in the business of just tearing down a Christian.
And making someone just feel worthless and hopeless.
That's not my intention.
I do want the old man to feel a little offended.
I do want the old man to get a little bit uncomfortable.
So the new man can shine through.
So you can say you know what.
Yeah the old man who cares about that old man.
I mean I'm supposed to crucify that guy all the time.
I'm supposed to put that old man to death.
You know I mean I'm meant to kill that old man every single day.
So who cares if my pastor offends the old man.
I'm trying to kill the thing.
And that's the right response.
I got some sound doctrine.
Alright the old man's a little offended.
Let's let the new man shine through.
Because the new man enjoys the sound doctrine.
Alright.
The new man is sinless.
The new man wants you to be walking without sin.
And so we need to hear preaching against sin.
We need to hear some negative preaching from time to time.
You know as a pastor I'm trying to be as balanced as I can.
I'm trying to hit as many things as I can.
I love preaching verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
Because then I can be at least as balanced as the Bible on certain things.
Instead of just chasing my personal interests.
You know chapter by chapter, verse by verse is helpful.
Because then you're just doing things as often as God does it.
Can you go to 2 Timothy now.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 1.
2 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 13.
As I said a lot of the verses that we're looking at are going to be in Titus and Timothy.
But I do have some other passages.
2 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 13.
It says,
Hold fast the form of sound words.
Now these sound words is basically the same as sound doctrine.
Okay.
Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Alright.
So Timothy has been instructed.
Listen.
Teach the sound words that you've learnt from me.
These are things we've learnt from the Holy Ghost.
Again what else have we learnt?
We learnt that it's so important that church preaches from the Bible.
That we open God's word because these are the words the Holy Ghost moved men to write.
These are the words of the Holy Ghost's teacher.
So listen brethren.
If I'm teaching the Bible and you can definitely see that I'm teaching the Bible.
Okay.
And you get offended.
Don't get angry at me.
I'm supposed to be just a messenger.
Okay.
Timothy is just a messenger of what Paul was being moved by the Holy Ghost to write and to say.
Alright.
Listen.
Look.
If I offend you because I've done you wrong.
I've sinned against you.
Okay.
Bring that up to me.
Bring that matter up to me.
Talk to me about it.
I just want to sort things out.
I want to get along with you.
I want to love you.
I want to motivate you.
And I'm more than willing to say sorry.
I'm more than willing to apologise.
If I've done you wrong as a sin.
But if I'm just preaching God's word.
Don't get mad at the messenger.
It's the words of the Holy Ghost.
Okay.
So again, if it slaps your face.
If it steps on your toes a little bit.
It's because the Holy Ghost knows you need it.
I don't know you need it.
I have no idea.
Or sometimes I know.
But generally speaking, you know, I'm not writing sermons.
I'm not thinking of sermons because of one person at church.
It's not how I am.
Okay.
And if you feel like that sermon was about me.
It was the Holy Ghost that made it about you.
Okay.
So take it.
Receive it.
And be thankful that God loves you enough to slap you around once in a while.
So you can receive some sound doctrine.
Second Timothy chapter four please.
Second Timothy chapter four verse number two.
It says preach the word.
So you can see how, you know, I told you these are pastoral epistles.
Okay.
Pastors being encouraged.
Pastors preach the word.
Again, why is this in the Bible?
Always ask yourself the question, why is it in the Bible?
Why are pastors being commended to preach the word?
Because pastors don't preach the word.
Because pastors start preaching their wisdom.
Because pastors start picking up secular books and they start preaching those secular books.
That's a lot of churches these days.
So preach the word.
Preach the word.
Preach God's word.
Preach the Bible.
Be instant, in season, out of season.
Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
You know, reprove, rebuke.
This is, again, it's going to offend you.
It's going to make you feel uncomfortable.
All right.
And again, I'm not there calling you out individually.
And I don't always know when it's touching your heart.
I don't know.
I don't know if right now you're in touch with the Holy Spirit and you're just receiving the word.
I have no idea.
Or if you're just completely rebellious right now.
You're just stubborn right now and you're like, I don't care.
I just can't wait for this day to finish.
I can't wait to get home.
I have no idea.
But I hope that you just receive, when you hear God's word,
that you take a moment and say, God, my pastor loves me enough to preach the word.
I want to try to give attention.
Even if I'm rebellious right now.
Even if I'd rather be anywhere else but church right now.
Lord, can you just help open my heart, open my mind so I can receive your word.
It's your word, God.
It's your powerful word that's trying to change me to have an effect in my life
so I can be a better Christian, I can be a better child of God.
We keep going there.
It says, verse number three,
For the time will come, and I tell you that time has already come,
for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
They will not endure.
They can't deal with it.
They can't put up with it.
Why is it that so many pastor friends of mine that have YouTube channels,
their channels have been taken down?
Because people cannot endure sound doctrine.
They can't put up.
It's not just, all right, that's what they believe.
Just leave it on YouTube for those that are interested.
They can't even endure it.
It's like, no, we've just got to get rid of this stuff.
Let's call it hate speech and get rid of those channels.
Say, why haven't they got to read your channel, Pastor Kevin?
I don't know.
I have no idea.
I have some thoughts around it, but I'm not sure exactly.
All right, but listen, we should be people that endure sound doctrine,
meaning that we can deal with it.
We're not, I can't believe it.
I'm out of church.
I can't believe we said that.
Don't endure sound doctrine.
It's good for you.
God is working in your hearts.
Again, if you get a little offended, upset, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.
God then wants you to do something about what you've heard.
Because then what else?
If you don't endure sound doctrine, it says,
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears,
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.
You know, I've preached a little bit about this morning about the importance of truth.
Please don't turn your hearts to fables.
And I preached this before.
Look, are fables in of themselves sinful and wrong?
No.
That's why we like a good story from time to time.
But you have to actually recognise that's a fable.
That's not a true story.
But when it comes to God's word, that is truth.
You need to be able to separate, differentiate between fables and truth.
But listen, if you can't endure sound doctrine,
I just can't put up with Pastor Kevin's preaching.
When I'm old enough, I'm going to go and find my own church that's scratching my itching ears.
Well, you know what's going to happen?
You're going to start believing fables as truth.
And then you'll be that foolish person that we read about,
that we learnt about in the first sermon this morning.
So sound doctrine, we need to be sound.
And I'll just read one more passage because you've turned away from Titus.
Titus chapter 1 verse number 9 says,
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,
that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince the gainsayers.
Convince the gainsayers.
Alright, listen, if we have a church with sound doctrine,
if that's what you believe,
then you need to be able to take that sound doctrine and convince the gainsayers.
What's a gainsayer?
It's like the word against.
The word against has gain, against, against sayings.
People that are against what you're saying.
People that are against the word of God.
By sound doctrine, you need to develop,
and the pastor definitely has to develop,
the ability to teach people to go from fable to truth by sound doctrine.
Okay, so again, what are some of the reasons for sound doctrine?
Just so we are with sound doctrine?
We believe in, you know, we're more correct in the next church?
No.
To change your lives and then you by that sound doctrine
can go and help people that are struggling from not believing the truth.
People that are against the words of God.
So you can come along that person, convince them, instruct them in God's word.
This is why it's so important that we as individuals
don't just believe things because Pastor Kevin said so,
or Pastor whoever said so,
we believe it because we've gone back to God's word.
We've seen it for ourselves and we've locked it in.
You know, we've had some critical thinking.
You know, we've assessed other passages of the Bible.
Yes, this is truth.
And then, with that time that you spent in God's word,
you can go to those people that are maybe against you for holding that position
and you can lovingly show them, especially if they're believers, hopefully,
you know, they should believe the word of God,
you can show them the truth of God's word.
So sound doctrine is important, absolutely.
And when we think about being sound, we often think about sound doctrine.
But it's more than that. It's more than that.
Can you please turn to, let's turn to Proverbs 14.
Let's turn to Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14 verse 30.
So point number one is sound in doctrine.
The other point I'll get through a lot quicker.
Okay.
Go to Proverbs 14 verse 30.
The Bible says in Proverbs 14 verse 30,
A sound heart is the life of the flesh.
The next point that I have for you Brethren is that you need to be sound in heart.
You need to be sound in heart.
Now, when it comes to this proverb, it's talking about the physical heart here,
but then it's got a spiritual, sorry, it's got a deeper meaning to this.
Because it says the sound heart is the life of the flesh.
Obviously, if your heart works, if your heart's beating,
it's pumping blood around your body, it's giving you life.
Okay. That heart is without fault, it's without any problems, it's working, it's giving you life. Amen.
But, if your heart is broken, alright, you've got different, you've got murmurs in your heart,
you've got issues, it's going to affect your life.
If you have a heart attack, you might even lose your life, right.
When the heart fails, life can also fail.
But a sound heart is the life of the flesh.
Then it says, but envy, so notice it's not just referring to a physical heart here,
it's also the emotions that we feel.
But envy, the rottenness of the bones.
And so Brevin, the second point that I need, that I'm preaching about this afternoon is,
that we need to be sound in heart.
We've got to be in control of our emotions.
You know, things like envy, we need to get that out of our lives.
Okay, just like a bad heart's going to stop you from living,
envy is going to have a very similar effect, not necessarily on the physical body,
but definitely on your emotional and mental side of things.
The purpose of sound doctrine is that you can also be sound in heart, okay.
That you're not someone that just blows off your lid every time you get upset.
You control your emotions.
You say, but it's worth getting angry about.
Praise God if it's worth getting angry about.
But you've got to have some self-control.
You've got to be temperate.
You know, there are people that I've met in my life that are overly excited.
Something good happens, it's like, woohoo!
You know, super excited.
One thing I've learnt about those people,
look, I'm glad to be, I like being happy, I like being excited.
But sometimes when people are just like overly excited,
like that's a bit weird, they're also overly sad when things don't go well.
Why is that?
You see, we all experience happiness and sadness.
We all have good days and bad days.
It's like some of us have learnt self-control.
Yeah, we know how to get excited, but you know,
we're not going to just go crazy in excitement.
We're happy on the inside, we're happy things have happened
and we can have a smile on our face.
But also we've learnt that when we get upset,
we also have some boundaries around that.
You know, we don't get overly emotional.
You know, we don't just get too upset when we break friendships
and we break up relationships and we cause all kinds of issues.
We've got to learn control, we've got to be sound in hearts.
Envy, we saw envy there as one of the issues.
You know, we should not be looking at others
and thinking about others in life and,
oh, they've got it better, they've got that better, they've done more.
You know what, envy is such a horrible sin.
It just eats you up, it's the rottenness of your bones.
It's going to destroy you on the inside.
Listen, at church, we're brothers and sisters in the Lord,
if someone has done well in life, God has blessed them some way,
don't be envious.
What do you do? Rejoice.
Be sound in hearts.
You know what, yeah, my brother deserves that.
My sister, she deserves that.
God's blessed them, I wasn't blessed that way,
they've been blessed that way, praise God for them.
You know what, that's going to give you soundness in heart,
stability, being firm, being grounded.
Another passage that I'm going to read to you,
just very quickly, Psalm 119 verse 80 says,
let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed.
The psalmist says to God, I want my heart to be sound,
but sound in your statutes, Lord.
The statutes, it's just the Bible, okay,
the statutes refer to like standards, where God stands.
Lord, I want my heart to stand where you stand, God.
Listen, you want to sound heart,
you need to go to God's word and line up with God.
Line up with how God feels about everything.
And I've taught this before, right,
what God hates, you learn to hate.
What God loves, you learn to love.
What God prioritizes, you learn to prioritize.
As people say, major on the majors and minor on the minors.
Whatever God minors on, you minor on.
Whatever God majors on, you major on.
Okay, you need to line up your heart with God's heart,
be sound in heart.
Once again, King David, a man after God's own heart.
What does that mean?
David said, I want my heart to be sound.
And the only way I know that is if my heart lines up
with the statutes of God, with God's standards.
So we need to be sound in doctrine,
we need to be sound in hearts.
Can you please turn back to Titus, Titus chapter two.
Titus chapter two, verse number seven.
And I guess this one goes along with the previous one.
But you know what your heart is like.
The Bible says in Matthew 12, 34,
for out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh.
So we need to not just be sound in heart,
but we need to be sound in speech, sound in speech.
But listen, you can't be sound in speech
if you're not sound in heart.
If your heart is out of control,
so is your speech going to be out of control.
But the next thing, the third point,
is that we need to be sound in speech.
Titus chapter two, verse number seven.
It says in all things,
showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine,
showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
look at this, sound speech that cannot be condemned,
that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed,
having no evil thing to say of you.
Again, this is just one of the qualifications
of being a pastor, one of the attributes of a pastor,
to be sound in speech.
But just because we're reading about it
in the Pastoral Epistles doesn't mean
that if you're not a pastor,
you shouldn't be sound in speech.
Of course you should be sound in speech.
Like all of the things that God speaks about a pastor being
should be just the goal of everyday Christian.
All right?
It's just that the man that has a desire
to be a pastor one day should have reached that level
and then take that next step to take authority within the church.
But the next point I have, brethren,
is that we need to be sound in speech.
But as I said to you,
you cannot be sound in speech if you're not sound in heart first
because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
And I'm not going to label this point
because I feel like I kind of just did it this morning once again.
But what we speak about must be true.
How we speak to people that we think are foolish
or believe in a lie must be gracious.
That's how we can be sound in speech.
So people don't turn around and have something evil, as I said there,
that he that is of the contrary part
may be ashamed to have no evil thing to say about you.
Because there will always be people that say evil about you.
There will always be people that accuse you.
But when people come up to you based on that accusation,
when they see that you're not sound in speech,
they're going to be like,
I don't believe the accusation that's been made.
I don't think what you just said is true.
When I started this church,
I had a reputation before I started this church
with certain people, with certain pastors.
Some pastors did not want to talk to me.
They had this impression,
oh, it's one of those new IFB churches.
And you're like this.
And you're just hateful.
And I want nothing to do with you.
Without knowing me.
Accusations, evil things said about me.
But again, I'm sure everyone has had evil things said about them.
But then what?
You reach out, you talk to people.
You have sound speech.
You speak wisdom, you speak truth,
you speak with grace.
And what happens to the same people that thought that about you?
They say, hold on, that's not quite right.
Those accusations aren't true.
Hey, this guy seems like a genuine nice Christian man.
Why should I not fellowship with this person?
Why should I not talk to this person?
Maybe I just believe the lie.
Maybe I believe the false accusation.
Yep, sure enough, that's what happens.
Sound speech is powerful.
It's powerful.
It really highlights your reputation.
A good report.
Generally speaking, Christian brothers,
they want to fellowship with Christian brothers.
Generally speaking.
Christian sisters, generally speaking,
want to fellowship with Christian ladies.
But you want to improve on your relationships,
especially amongst believers.
Just be sound in speech.
Be mindful about how you speak to people.
Season it with grace.
Speak truth.
If you need to speak a hard truth,
again, fine, but do it with grace.
Like I said, season your speech.
It's fine.
And again, when you get behind this pulpit,
you preach how God wants you to preach.
You stamp your foot.
You make your voice rise up like a trumpet if you have to.
That's what preaching is.
But when it comes to your interaction with people,
sound speech, gracious speech,
be kind toward people.
Show them that you love them by how you speak to them.
Can you please turn to Titus chapter 1.
Titus chapter 1, verse number 13.
The Bible says,
Next point that we have, brethren, is
you need to be sound in the faith.
Faith is belief.
You need to be sound in your beliefs.
You need to be sound where you stand
in God's Word.
Alright?
Be sound in what you believe.
Look at this, verse number 14.
Not given heed, don't listen
to Jewish fables.
Look, I say, don't listen to
Aussie fables.
Don't listen to Chilean fables.
Don't listen to
Filipino fables.
Alright? Don't listen to any fables.
Especially the Jewish fables.
They're listed here.
Not given heed to Jewish fables
and commandments of men
that turn from the truth.
That turn from the truth.
Is there anything wrong with commandments of men?
No.
Like I preached a couple of weeks ago.
Is there anything wrong with traditions in of themselves?
No.
But if they turn you away from the truth,
or they're there to replace the truth,
you need to not give heed to these things.
What you believe.
Okay? Now first of all,
our very first faith is upon
our Lord Jesus Christ.
His death, burial, and resurrection.
You be sound in that. Start there.
Be sound in that.
Okay? And you know,
listen, if you say sound again, what does that mean?
Without error, okay, it means being firm
and stable, stabilized.
If you say sound in faith,
when it comes to your faith on Christ
for salvation, then you'll never waver.
You'll never doubt.
I promise you, if you doubt salvation sometimes,
you can get to a point where you never doubt.
You just need to be sound in faith.
Remind yourself that salvation is not based
on your performance.
That did it for me.
As soon as I heard a preacher say that to me, it just clicked.
It's not that I didn't know that,
it's just sometimes you just need to hear it in certain ways.
Okay? Of course.
Of course salvation's got nothing to do with me.
It's all got to do with Christ.
And if Christ has done it all,
you know, it doesn't matter.
Even if I went and did something wicked,
when it comes to salvation,
it doesn't matter.
Because it's not based on what I've done.
It's based on what Jesus has done.
And my trust in that.
Start there.
If you haven't started there, start right there.
And understand that Christ has done
everything necessary for you to be saved.
Be sound in faith.
And if you say to me, pastor, I don't think I've ever believed that.
Then you're not saved.
You need to get saved if you don't believe that.
That Jesus Christ has done everything necessary
by his death, burial, resurrection that he got saved.
Start there. Be sound in faith.
But then we go from faith to faith.
We grow, we walk in faith.
Okay? You need to have the confidence,
the soundness to say, every time I go to God in prayer,
he's going to hear me because I'm a child of God.
And if I go without wavering, he's going to hear me.
And if I go seeking his will in my life,
he's going to hear me.
Even if I say something a little bit foolish,
I've got the Holy Spirit who's going to take my prayer,
fix it up before it reaches the ears of the Father.
You know?
You need to be sound, stable, firm,
that when we go to prayer to God, God's hearing it.
Right? When we pray at church,
it's not just that's our tradition.
We just have to say a few words so we feel kind of righteous.
We're speaking to God.
You know, if you pray at church,
it's different than just praying yourself.
You're praying on behalf of the whole church.
Keep that in mind when you're praying.
Okay, you're praying on behalf of the whole church.
You know, you're going to God the Father on behalf of the whole church.
That should bring a little fear though, shouldn't it?
You know, make you a little bit sober, you know?
But yeah, we need to be sound in the faith.
Let's keep going there in verse number, I read verse number 14.
Verse number 15.
It says, unto the pure, all things are pure,
but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure.
But even their mind and conscience is defiled.
So it's kind of differentiating.
Someone that is sound in faith and someone that is unbelieving,
okay, nothing's pure for an unbeliever.
Their mind and conscience is defiled.
You know, we're trying to do the opposite.
We want to make sure our mind and conscience is not defiled.
We want it to be sound, okay?
Where we believe, why we believe.
Why do we read from the King James Bible?
You know?
Because we believe it is a perfect translation of God's word into English.
Without error.
That should be another point.
Sound in your Bible translation.
But we're already fine there, okay?
But yeah, sound in faith.
Verse number 16.
They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him,
being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate.
You know when someone is not sound in faith,
you can have someone in church.
Now I don't think this is our church at all.
I hope.
You know, but you can have someone that looks like a Christian.
They say the right things.
A literal Judas Iscariot.
Okay?
But is a complete reprobate.
Is a complete unbeliever.
You know?
They're not sound in faith.
Okay?
And, inwardly, their conscience is defiled.
Inwardly, their mind is defiled.
This is why you can't base someone's salvation on their outward performance.
Because Judas Iscariot, for three years, put on a really good performance.
None of the other disciples thought that he was unsaved.
Or the betrayer.
I mean, think about that.
Like, if you looked at Judas Iscariot,
if Judas Iscariot was in most churches,
ah, he's definitely saved.
And look, here's the thing, because the disciples thought that.
Yeah, okay, if you're basing salvation on someone's performance,
you're going to be really mixed up.
Based on their faith.
Their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Being sound in faith, okay?
Sound in faith is the next point that I have for you.
But listen, again, we go from faith to faith
as we continue to learn, as we continue to grow,
as we continue to increase in faith.
You stay rooted and sound and unmovable
in that faith that you have with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Please believe that God answers prayers.
He answers prayers.
Just because He said no to you a hundred times
doesn't mean He hasn't answered it.
He answered it with no.
He answered it with no, okay?
And that means it's good for you that the answer was no.
Because God wants the best for you.
Be sound in faith.
Alright, 2 Timothy chapter 1, please.
2 Timothy chapter 1, verse number 7.
The Bible says,
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear,
but of power and of love,
and of a sound mind.
The next point that I have for you, Brevin,
is that you need to be sound in mind.
Sound in mind.
Now look, there's a lot of people that I talk to
that have mental struggles.
Alright?
A lot of people.
Like, it kind of blows me away how many there are.
You know?
I guess this is, you know, when it comes to recent
medical, what's the word I'm looking for?
Medical discoveries, I guess, over the years.
You know, mental issues have become more and more,
like there's a greater awareness of these things.
You know?
And I do believe that if something is measurable,
especially, you know, a certain,
you know, certain devices pick up, you know,
imbalances in the brain, you know, chemical imbalances
or hormonal imbalances and things like that,
I can understand how mentally someone can struggle in life.
Okay?
But I want you to remember this.
Even though this physical body can suffer sometimes,
God has given us a sound mind.
If you're a believer, God has given you a sound mind.
He's not giving you the spirit of fear, okay?
But a spirit of power and of love and a sound mind.
Again, you say,
but I'm kind of messed up in my head, Pastor.
Yeah, but don't forget, and I'll just cover that.
You've got the new man, okay?
The new man never sins.
In the new man, your heart will never be corrupted.
In the new man, your mind can think clearly.
It's not limited by the physical brain that you have.
I'll give you an example of this.
One of my very early pastors,
forget his name right now, okay?
It was a Baptist union church,
but he preached from the King James Bible.
He preached the gospel as clear as day.
When my mum gave me the gospel at four years old
and I trusted Christ,
my mum took me to the pastor and said,
Pastor, can you check with him that he's saved?
This is my old pastor.
Probably my very first pastor I remember, okay?
He was an elderly man and he suffered a stroke.
Mentally, he lost his memory.
He remembered his wife.
His wife had passed away already,
but he remembered his wife.
He could not remember any of his kids.
Think about that.
How long do you live with your children?
He can't remember any of them.
Complete strangers.
Completely forgot big portions of his life, okay?
And then after the stroke,
I think he went into a nursing home
for the last few weeks of his life, okay?
And guess what he was doing
for the last few weeks of his life?
Preaching the gospel.
Preaching the gospel, okay?
Preaching the gospel to other people
there in the nursing home.
Telling them how to be saved.
Telling them about Jesus.
Listen, his mind was gone.
He couldn't remember great parts of his life.
And yet somehow you tell me,
how can this man go out there
and preach the gospel?
How?
When everyone says he's mentally, he's done for?
You know, they've given him a limited time
to live after the stroke, right?
Mentally, he's not all there.
But see, God had given him the spirit
of a sound mind.
A sound mind.
If you've got mental issues,
to apply the new man,
put off the old man,
it's the same teaching.
Listen, this body's corrupt.
Body's corrupt.
This body gets old.
My knee's never gonna get repaired now,
I realise that,
no matter what I do, okay?
Maybe I'm gonna lose a bit more weight,
I don't know, all right?
This body's deteriorating.
Your mind is deteriorating.
You're gonna get sicknesses,
you're gonna get problems, okay?
But instead of being cast down,
they go, you know what?
My God's given me a new man.
That new man has a clean heart.
That new man has a sound mind.
That new man does not fear man,
but he fears God.
That's how you have a sound mind.
Okay?
Put off the old man, all right?
And look, how do I do that, pastor?
Just, I don't know.
I don't have this one answer thing for you, okay?
You just go to God and say,
God, you promised me a sound mind.
Lord, help me put on the new man.
Please fix my mind.
Help me to think with clarity.
Help me to chase your will.
Help me to do it your way, Lord,
even if my mind does not understand it.
Even if I can't process it in my head,
I'm just gonna do what you told me anyway, Lord.
If I just, look, I don't even need to think about it, Lord,
because you've told me your word.
This is the right thing to do.
And I'm just gonna do what the right thing to do is,
even if it doesn't make sense in my brain,
because I'm mentally disturbed or whatever it is.
I'm just gonna put on the new man.
I'm gonna have that sound mind that you've given me, Lord.
Help me put it on.
That's what you do.
I can't tell you how to do it.
I can't just say, this is how you do it.
Wake up, bang, bang, bang.
You go to God.
God's the one.
Okay?
He's given you that new man.
It's in you already.
It's there.
You just need to make access to it.
And you'll find your life will change dramatically.
Okay?
You'll fear the Lord.
Can you please turn to Proverbs chapter two?
Turn to Proverbs chapter two.
And of course, if you've got a sound mind,
then naturally, what's gonna flow out of that?
Well, Proverbs chapter two verse number six.
Proverbs chapter two verse number six says,
for the Lord giveth wisdom.
Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.
For the righteous, he is a buckler to them
that walk uprightly.
All right?
So sound in wisdom is the next thing that we need to do.
Yeah, sound in mind?
Guess what's gonna happen naturally
when you sound in mind?
You're gonna be sound in wisdom.
God's wisdom.
All right?
Who does he give the wisdom to though?
Well, it says there, verse number seven.
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.
You say, well, I'm righteous because I'm saved.
Well, hold on.
Finish the sentence.
He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
Yeah, being saved is great.
You have access to God's wisdom, amen.
You've got the Holy Spirit.
But you wanna increase in wisdom.
You wanna be more sound in wisdom.
Then you need to walk uprightly.
You need to overcome the sins in your life.
You need to have some victory.
You need to read your Bible more.
You need to go soul winning.
You need to be in the house of God.
You need to be prayerful.
I mean, you need to walk after God's ways.
If you love me, keep my commandments,
says Jesus Christ.
And God promises you, if you walk uprightly,
he'll give you the wisdom.
All right?
So I know we're going through Ecclesiastes,
and we're talking about wisdom.
What's the secret?
Just be righteous.
Do what God says.
Do it God's way.
Walk in the new man, and you'll increase in wisdom.
God's laid it up for us.
We must be sound in wisdom.
All right?
You're in Proverbs.
Please go to Proverbs chapter three.
Proverbs chapter three, verse number 21.
It says,
Let not them depart from thine eyes.
Keep sound wisdom and discretion.
Keep it.
So what you get, the sound wisdom you receive,
keep it.
Okay?
Keep it.
Again, look at verse number 21.
My son, let not them depart from thine eyes.
Brethren, you need to sustain God's word.
You know what?
We're almost five years in the church.
Two more weeks.
Five years.
Let's take all the wisdom you've gained for those five years.
You know what?
If you say in the next two years,
I'm not going to pick up my Bible anymore.
I'm not going to go to church anymore.
You know what?
I've learnt it all.
I get it all.
Fine.
I'm done.
If you don't keep it at your eyes,
if you cause it to depart from your eyes,
you're not going to keep the sound wisdom.
You're going to lose it.
If you don't use it, you lose it.
That's why we want to be doers of God's word.
By doing it, we keep it.
By meditating on the words that we read, we keep it.
I encourage you guys to read your Bibles.
It's good.
I think you should get through your Bible once a year,
the whole Bible from cover to cover once a year.
I think it's a good target.
But don't just read for reading's sake.
Meditate on the words.
I make this mistake all the time.
I'm reading through the Bible.
I got through the chapter.
I just kind of think, what did I just read?
I mean, I saw a whole bunch of words,
but I just didn't absorb it at that point.
You know, when I prepare a sermon, it's a bit different
because I'm sitting there, and what am I doing?
I'm meditating.
I'm actually thinking about those words.
I think, how do I communicate this to my church?
Or, that sentence is a bit weird.
What does it actually mean?
Let me just go back and read back other verses again.
Maybe I need to read the previous chapter again
so I can understand what this part is.
That's the process I'm going through
when I'm preparing a sermon.
I'm spending a lot more time meditating, just stopping.
You know, what is that saying?
I'm not just trying to get through the chapter.
It's like, what is that word saying?
What does that mean?
What does that sentence mean?
You know, when you spend time in meditation of God's word,
and I'm talking some, you know, eastern religion meditation,
I'm just saying, like, stopping, reading the words,
and then thinking, what does God mean by this?
Okay, that's what God means.
How does that apply to me?
How can I use this in my life?
That's what it means to meditate,
to stop and think about the words that you're saying.
Don't let it depart from your eyes,
because you will forget the wisdom that God has given you.
You know, many of you have been here
from the beginning of this church almost five years.
It's a great investment, five years of investment.
I've invested a great time in this church as well.
I don't want to lose it all.
I don't want it to be all for nothing.
I don't want my children to just go into the world
and hate the Lord.
Well, they're not going to hate the Lord
because they're saved, but...
Well, if you don't keep His commandments,
you don't love Him the way you should, okay?
But we must stay in God's Word.
We must stay in church.
You know, what's it really costing you?
What's church really costing you, you know?
It's a couple of hours, right, on Sunday,
an hour on Wednesday if you can make it.
Really, I mean, God's given you 24 hours,
seven days a week, you know?
You don't even need that heavy type of investment
to be in God's house.
Pick up your Bible, 15 minutes a day.
You read the Bible 15 minutes a day,
you'll get through the whole Bible cover to cover
by the end of the year.
God's not asking you for a lot of your time.
You guys know full well you spend more time on Facebook,
on YouTube, on social media,
and that's not giving you the wisdom of God, okay?
So let's make sure we're also sound in wisdom.
Sorry, Brevin, where did I ask you to turn?
Where are you at? Which chapter?
Oh, sorry.
Oh, sorry, Proverbs chapter three, verse 21.
I didn't finish that.
So keep sound wisdom in discretion, verse number 21.
Verse number 22.
You want to make the best decisions in your life,
you know, we're always making decisions, aren't we?
We're always deciding should we do this,
or should we be doing that?
You know, you're making the best decisions,
the safest decisions in your life,
the most prosperous decisions.
You need to stay in God's word.
Take his wisdom.
Apply it.
Do it.
Be sound in wisdom.
Go to Proverbs chapter eight.
Proverbs chapter eight.
And I'm glad I'm near the end now,
because my voice is over.
Proverbs chapter eight, verse number 13.
That water helped.
Proverbs chapter eight, verse number 13.
It says,
Verse number 14.
Look at this.
We need sound wisdom if we want to reign,
if we want to decree justice.
Fathers, you reign.
You've got your own kingdom.
It's your family.
All right?
You reign.
You know, a lot of people have authority,
but you need to understand,
with that authority comes that responsibility,
and you need the sound wisdom to be effective.
You need God's wisdom to be effective.
All right?
If you want to, as a prince, decree justice,
you want to be just in the way you do things.
You want to pass the best judgment.
You need God's wisdom.
Do it God's way.
You know, husbands and wives,
when you don't see eye to eye with each other,
with number one, wives submit to your husbands.
Number one.
Okay?
But there's nothing wrong with voicing your opinion.
You know, letting your husbands know what you think,
you might have a better opinion.
You might have a better decision to make.
You know what?
When you guys can't see eye to eye on something,
you know what you should decide to do?
Let's go to God's word.
Let's go and get some sound wisdom here.
Honey, maybe you're right.
Maybe my decision, look, I'm the husband.
I'm going to have to make the final decision
at the end of the day.
Maybe you're right.
I'm not sure.
Let's go to God's word.
Let's seek sound wisdom,
because I want to pass good judgment.
I want to, as it's said there,
I want to be like a king that reigns with sound wisdom.
We need it, men.
We really need it.
You know, men, we've been created to have authority.
You know, there's something that satisfies
the need of a man to have authority.
You know, again, God has made the man
to rule over his wife.
You know, I guess part of being a pastor,
I wanted some extra authority, I guess.
You know, but it's not something wrong
or sinful or wicked.
It's just something that drives men.
You know, that's why we're driven to be productive,
is because we want to achieve,
we want to, you know, gain something.
But again, all of that achievement,
you know, should not just be for vanity
and not just for the boasting of the person that you are,
but rather it's to implement the wisdom
that you've achieved from the Bible,
that you've achieved from God's word.
Sound wisdom.
All right, brethren, in conclusion,
the title of the sermon was Be Sound.
All right, we understand sound doctrine.
We talk about that a lot, okay?
But the sound doctrine is to improve your life,
is to make changes, to make you more like Christ.
So yes, we do need to be sound in doctrine.
But the results of that are so we can be sound in heart,
sound in speech, sound in the faith,
sound in mind, and sound in wisdom.
Okay, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you
for your word, Lord.
Thank you for, Lord, this responsibility
that you've put upon my shoulders, Lord,
to teach sound doctrine.
Lord, I thank you.
It's such an honour, again, to just speak your word, Lord,
and I always have great fear, Lord,
but I thank you for giving me the ability, Lord,
to love my church, and Lord,
I certainly do love every man, woman, and child here.
Lord, I do want us to grow in wisdom.
I want us to grow in love toward you.
Lord, I want this to be a great church.
Lord, it's just a church without a spot,
a church without a wrinkle.
Lord, a church that would be a chaste virgin for you.
Lord, I can't wait for you to return,
that we can present the things that we've done.
Lord, the fellowship, the works that we've done as a church,
and Lord, I just pray you continue to refine us,
help us to be sound, Lord, in doctrine,
and that we would be able to then improve
in all these areas of our life.
Lord, if there's anything that someone's strung with, Lord,
in these areas of life, Lord, I pray you bless them
and help them to make those changes necessary,
and Lord, help us to always walk in that new man.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right, Caleb.
All righty. Final hymn for today.
Can I get you to turn to hymn number 82?
Hymn number 82, When He Cometh.
Hymn number 82.