This morning, I'm going to be talking about things that we should never say out so long.
And don't get me wrong, I've definitely said a couple of these things on here that we should
never say so that we can all definitely improve, including myself. But I just compiled a list of
things that I've heard as well have said that later I realized, hey, I should probably never
say that or that wasn't a good idea for so and so to say that. And it's just something for us
to all keep in mind. Obviously, we should be careful what we say when we're out talking to
people. We don't want to give bad impressions. We don't want to be nice to people. We want to
be sincere with people, you know. So hold your place there in Matthew 28.
But before I read that scripture, the first thing that I want to mention that we should never say
is when you're first talking to someone and you introduce yourself and you introduce the church
and you say, hey, we're from Verity Baptist Church. I'm just inviting you out to church or
however you say it. And then you ask them, hey, do you go to church anywhere?
And they say X church, X, Y, and Z church. And obviously, it's, you know, it's not a good church.
I've heard time and time again, and I've probably said it myself, I'm sure,
they'll say, you know, the solider will immediately respond and say, okay, cool,
you know. But the truth of the matter is, is if they're like, oh, yeah, I'm Catholic, and you're
like, oh, cool, okay, cool. Yeah, we should not be saying that. It's not cool, you know. Obviously,
don't tell them, oh, no, that's not cool. But don't say it's cool either. We don't want to
give them a wrong impression that we think what they're doing is cool. But the second thing I
want to kind of go over that's kind of connected to that is I've heard many people say, and I've
said it before as well, well, you know, we're not really trying to take you away from your church.
But, you know, more importantly than that, and then they'll go into the important question that
we need to ask them about salvation. And yes, more important than that, yes, salvation is more
important than that. But no, it is not true that we are not trying to take them from the church,
because the truth of the matter is, is that is one of our goals. If you look at Matthew 28,
Matthew 28, verse 19 through 20, it says, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And obviously, that's the main
thing, you know, preaching the gospel to them. But notice this, it says, teaching them to deserve all
things whatsoever I have commanded you. So obviously, our first goal is to preach the
gospel to them and get them baptized. But obviously, we need to teach them to, you know,
to obey all the commandments. And one of those commandments is to go to a good church. So when
they obviously are not going to a good church, you know, it's not true for us to tell them we're not
trying to take them away from their church, because ultimately, we want to do that. We want to get them
saved, get them into a good church, which nine times out of 10 is away from their church.
So that's another thing we should not say is, hey, we're not trying to take you away from the church.
You could just say, hey, you know, more important than church or anything, are you 100% sure you're
going to heaven? Say it like that. You don't have to say, we're not trying to take you away from
their church. Another thing that I've heard said that when people are on their first point of the
gospel presentation, and obviously, this person I heard said this didn't mean it literally,
but he said it literally. So but obviously, it was still incorrect what he was saying.
When he was going over the first point of salvation, he was saying to the person,
he was saying, everyone right here, the Bible says everyone is going to hell.
Obviously, that person didn't believe that, but he was saying it like that. So obviously,
we need to be careful with how we're saying thanks. Obviously, everyone's not going to hell.
We need to say rather, hey, everyone deserves to go to hell. Everyone is condemned to that,
but it's not true that everyone is going to hell. So we definitely need to be careful on that point.
Now, this last one I want to kind of go over is not necessarily, well, this is not the last one,
second to last one. This one I'm not really dogmatic on, but I'll give you my opinion on it,
just in my view of this and why I think we shouldn't word the main question we asked them
in the beginning this way. But in my opinion, I think that when we ask them the main question
about salvation and trying to see whether or not they're saved, I think that we should not use
words that in some way lead them to the answer. And so when we ask them about salvation, I don't
think that we should say it like this. I don't think that we should say, what are you trusting
or believing in to get you to heaven? I personally think that that kind of helps people say the right
thing sometimes, because I've heard time and time again, people will answer, yes, it's believing in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you say, hey, what do you believe in? And they'll say Jesus. But that
doesn't mean they're saved. This doesn't at all mean they're saved. I think it'd be better to ask
rather, hey, what do you think you have to do to go to heaven? Or what gives you that assurance
that you're going to heaven? That way, it's just totally up to them to answer that question.
Because if you say believe, then they're going to answer it like that. What am I believing in?
Why am I believing in Jesus? Because I've heard people say believe in Jesus. And then this next
sentence, they'll be like, yeah, you got to turn away from your sins. You can't just do anything
you want. You got to be willing to serve God and surrender Him. So I think, in my opinion,
like I said, I'm not trying to be super dogmatic on this one. But in my opinion, I think we should
say, hey, what gives you that assurance that you're going to heaven? Or what do you think
you have to do to go to heaven? That way you get at least a closer, potentially closer, correct
answer to what actually comes out of their heart, if that makes sense. But lastly, this is the last
thing that I want to kind of cover. When you pray with them, when you pray with them, and right
after you pray with them, don't necessarily immediately tell them, hey, you're saved,
but rather just kind of say, and again, I'm not perfect, things I've had to work on in the past
as well. But what I personally will try to do is as soon as I'm done praying, say, hey,
you meant that, right? And that's just an extra check, just an extra check on top of the many
other checks that we have as homeowners, just to see, you know, hey, are they being sincere with
me? Are they being sincere? Are they being honest? Did they actually mean that prayer from
their heart? And that's just something we can say, hey, you meant that right, before we're just
immediately saying, hey, you know, now that you're saved, let's talk about baptism. So I hope that
will maybe help us consider what we're saying, try to be a little better, try not to slip up.
Obviously, we're all going to slip up, of course, like I'm slipping up right up here. But so let's
all try to watch what we're saying and maybe never say some of these things again. But let's pray real
quick. Lord, thank you for this opportunity we have to go out and win souls. I pray that you
would just help us to be careful with how we're saying things and what we're saying. And keep us
in the right spirit, fill us with your spirit, Lord, and help us to be bold and not afraid to
talk to people. And keep us safe. In Jesus' name, amen.