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Second John this morning, second John, the Bible reads. The elder unto the elect lady and her children whom I love in the truth, not I only, but also all they that have known the truth, for the truth's sake which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, that as ye have heard from the beginning ye should walk in it. For many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed, for he that biddeth in God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen. I pray to the Lord God, I thank you for your word, and thank you for this opportunity to hear preached. Let's ask that you be our other pastor now. Please strengthen him, and fill him with your Holy Spirit, and in due's name we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in 2 John this morning, look down at your Bibles at verse number 8. It says, look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. And the title of my sermon this morning is passive income, making passive income. Now contrary to what you might be thinking that I'm referring to, I'm not talking about monetary gain, I'm actually referring to making spiritual passive income. And what is passive income? How would we define that phrase? Well passive income essentially is essentially revenue that requires negligible effort to acquire. So in other words, you put up all the work up front to create some sort of system, and this system essentially operates as a welled old machine after a certain time, after a certain period. And then you don't really have to put in the effort anymore, it just kind of works on its own, and just makes you money, right? And you think of different examples of this, people who own properties for example, that would be considered passive income. Individuals who have certain products that they sell online, whether it's on Amazon, it's on Etsy or something like that, they make a product and it just kind of sells on its own and it makes them kind of extra cash on the side. Well I'm going to talk about the spiritual passive income that you can make, because at the end of the day, you know, according to the Bible, serving God obviously has its blessings, it's obviously very good for us, and it essentially blesses not only our lives but the lives of those around us, but we actually receive a reward when we serve God. And obviously we don't know what the amount is, how much silver and gold and precious stones we're going to receive, but we know that God is a good boss, and because he's a good boss, he's not only going to give us according to our labors, but according to the Bible, he will give us exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think. And so even though he hasn't told us exactly the amount of what we're going to receive in this lifetime, we know that we're going to get something for our labors here on this earth. Now there are various ways that God incentivizes us to serve him, you know, one being that we fear God, and sometimes people are motivated by the fear of God to serve him and to be faithful to him. And you know, some people don't like that, to have quarrels with that, oh we shouldn't be afraid of God, but you know what, people like that don't really understand how judgmental God can be, amen? And the fact that God, if he wanted to, could destroy our lives, and you know what, that is motivating to help us to stay right with God, because we don't want to suffer the chastisement of the Lord, we don't want God's hand of wrath to come upon us, and therefore we're just going to go ahead and stay put serving God, amen? Another way that God incentivizes us is by essentially just, you know, for us, or by him explaining to us or expressing to us the consequences of our actions. So it's not necessarily referring to the chastisement of the Lord, sometimes it's just the consequences of our actions. But I think the greatest way that God incentivizes us and motivates us to serve him is by offering us a reward, right? And I think that's a great way, because it kind of helps us to stay on track, knowing full well that at the end of our lives we shall receive a reward. The Bible tells us not to be weary and well-doing for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not. So God is constantly putting that carrot out there to kind of help us to stay motivated when times get tough, when we get discouraged, when we grow tiresome and weary of serving God, he encourages us to keep at it, because we are going to reap in due season. Now go with me if you would to Luke chapter 12, we'll come back to 2 John in just a bit, we'll come back to 2 John, go to Luke chapter 12. Now obviously when we look at the Christian life there are different ways that we earn spiritual income, so to speak, on a weekly basis. And I'm talking about those things that we do that for sure guarantee us a reward. And I think the most obvious one would be soul winning, okay? That is the most tangible way that you can see that you are being rewarded for your efforts here on this earth. There's various ways that you can serve God, and sometimes you don't know if that will produce some sort of reward in the long run, but we know for a fact that when you win someone to Christ it's like, that's my glory, that's my reward right there, I'm going to be rewarded. In fact, I can tangibly see because this person got saved that this is a sure reward for me later on in the future. So that's one of those things that's not passive income, that's what you do on a weekly basis. I want to encourage you, if you have not gone soul winning, participate in soul winning. Start working for the Lord, start serving God, you don't have to go for a crazy amount of time or hours, sometimes it's only just a few, maybe just one hour a week, start off with just one hour a week, then maybe two, three, bump it up. It really depends on how much you want to get paid, really, at the end of the day. And obviously, I don't want to portray this as, well we're only serving God because we want to get paid, obviously we do it because we love the Lord, the Bible says that the love of Christ constrains us, but folks, the concept of rewards is in the Bible for a reason. And so God wants us to view it as such in times when we don't want to serve God. Maybe we're tired, maybe we're weary, we've got to be reminded, oh there's a reward that I'm receiving for the labor that I'm putting in. And so soul winning is a great example of that, but there's other areas that Christians can make income passively that a lot of Christians, let me just say this, are just kind of forgoing. They just think, well soul winning is the only thing, it's the most important thing, but it's not the only thing. There's other ways that you can make spiritual passive income and it does not require a whole lot of effort to do. It just requires for you to just put in a little bit of effort in the beginning and put systems in and then you'll be rich in the long run, okay, spiritually speaking. Now let me also say this is that there are no get rich quick schemes in God's economy. It's not like, well, you know, this is a really easy way for me to get rich spiritually or for me to be blessed of God. Obviously, many of these require you being faithful, you being consistent, you knowing what the word of God says about these things. Now let me read you a couple verses before we get into Luke chapter 12 and let me make a couple comments regarding monetary wealth because sometimes people get confused about this and there are two extremes to this. You know, I've been in churches where the extreme is given where like, just like all money's bad or something, you know, and just like, oh, you know, making money is really bad and you should not be wealthy and you should just try to strive to live this ascetic life and no fun and no play makes you a good boy type of a philosophy. And I'm completely against that, I've heard that for years on end by preachers that just are constantly coming down on people for just being wealthy. Not a whole lot of Christians are wealthy but those who are, you know, if they work hard for it and they've received it honestly, there's nothing wrong with it. What God is against is covetousness, right? And the Bible tells us that they that will be rich will fall into temptation and a snare to many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil. And it tells us which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So obviously there's a danger in making so much money that you actually forsake the ways of the Lord. You know, you make so much money that you get out of church. Make so much money that you're not even reading your Bible anymore. Make so much money that you actually stop serving God. At that point, it's become a subject of covetousness and greed and God is definitely against that. So money should have its place in the life of a believer and it requires character and spiritual integrity to really know the difference and to balance both, right? You know, the Bible tells us if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, you know, where Jesus Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, it says set your affections on things above, not on the things of this earth. So you shouldn't set your affections on your 401k or, you know, your savings and on your weekly paycheck, monthly paycheck, on your possessions. Set your affections on the eternal and use money, use possessions to make you more money up there, right? More riches in the eternal. We should esteem the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the temptations of Egypt, the sins of Egypt, the things that this world has to offer. We should esteem the riches of Christ far greater than that. And you know, at the end of the day, God tells us that if we're not faithful in that which is little, he's not going to commit unto us the true riches, which is what we're looking for. The true riches is that which does not fade away. Look at chapter 12 of Luke and verse 15, it says, And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto them, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. So this sermon that I preached in this morning is to admonish and encourage you to be rich toward God. If you're financially wealthy, amen, but you know what, let's go ahead and be spiritually wealthy far more than physically wealthy or monetarily wealthy here on this earth. Be rich toward God. The Bible tells us in Luke, look at verse 32 if you would, Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have and give alms, provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth for where your treasure is, there where your heart be also. So again, he's just referring to the fact that, you know, the greatest investment that a Christian can make is in the eternal, because at the end of the day, no one can steal that from you. It's not going to rot away, it's not going to fade away, it's not going to lose its value, it's going to last forever. So the wise thing to do is to live your lives here in such a way that you have something to look forward to when you go to heaven. And obviously I'm speaking to Christians here, those who are saved, if you're saved you're going to heaven, and you know, praise God for that, but you know what, if we can expect something there when we get there, so much the better, right? So let's talk about passive Christian income. Number one, and these are really practical, and you might be doing some of these, but you might not. Or you might not even see the value in doing these things at the beginning. The first one is this, sow Bible seeds wherever you go. We're talking about passive income. Sowing Bible seeds wherever you go. You say, what are you talking about? Sowing verses wherever you go. You know, when we go out there and preach the gospel, sometimes people, Christians, soul winners, they get discouraged because they don't get anybody saved, right? But what they don't realize is that there's actually a lot of power that comes in when you actually sow a seed in the heart of the recipient, even if they don't get saved right then and there. You say, well how do I know that? Well turn with me if you would to John, go to John chapter four if you would, John chapter four. I'm going to read to you from Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse number six. It says in the morning, sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. You know, God is constantly encouraging people to keep sowing seeds, right? And sometimes Christians, especially in a church like this where sowing is a big deal, it's just like, well we didn't get anybody saved, you know? And it's just like, okay, but did you get some passive income at least? Did you at least sow some seeds? Because here's the thing folks, the tangible soul, the tangible person that we went to Christ is very much important folks, but you know what, a wise thing to do is to recognize that even if you don't get anybody saved and you sow some seeds, that person might get saved later on in the future and you might not even know it, okay? That person might get saved, they might get into church, become a sower of themselves, I mean they might even become a missionary or an evangelist or even a pastor and you actually get a percentage off of that even though you don't know. You know what that's called? Passive income. You start making riches spiritually speaking because you sowed a little seed that didn't require a whole lot of effort, it just required for you to say, well let me just leave you with this one verse to think about, okay? You say, I don't know, but that seems a little much, you know, I just kind of successful if I just actually get people saved. Well, you know what, you can't make people get saved though. So what are you going to do, inflate the numbers, you know, lie and just say, oh yeah, we got this many. So you can have a reward when you come here by everyone going, ooh and ah? You know, just be honest about the numbers, be honest about the souls that you're winning and if you don't get anybody saved, say, you know what, I didn't get anybody saved but I made some passive income today because I sowed a lot of seeds. You know, well how do I know that those seeds are going to germinate and something's actually going to happen in the heart of that person though? Because the Bible tells us it will. Let me read to you from Isaiah 55 verse 10, verse 11, excuse me, it says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it, the Bible says. So do we believe the Bible or not, right? If the Bible is saying here that when the word of God goes forth, regardless of the recipient, it's going to do something. Now obviously if you're sowing NIV verses and ESV verses and you know, you might as well be sowing Legos into the ground and fake seeds or whatever, it's not going to do anything. But if you're sowing the word of God into the heart of a recipient, whether you think they're receptive or not, you know, our faith is not in the person, our faith is in the word of God. And so don't lightly esteem the power of just being able to sow a seed in a person's heart even if they don't get saved. And you know what, I would even take it as far as this, you know, sow seeds everywhere. You know, instead of posting your favorite podcast, why don't you go ahead and post some verses on social media instead, right? Post some verses, post verses in comment sections, on your stories, on your Instagram, on your Facebook, on your TikTok, you just never know what the word of God will do. Now obviously you're not going to make, you know, as much revenue as you would through actually preaching the gospel to someone. But you know what? Our main source of income spiritually is not our main source of income. Our main source of income is the sowing times. Our main source of income is on Sundays when we go out sowing. It's throughout the week when we go out and preach the gospel, right? But if we want to be wise and actually incur more resources spiritually and get rich spiritually, you know, it's important for us to sow seeds anywhere we go and not minimize and mitigate the power and the authority that God's word can have in someone's heart when you sow seeds, okay? Look at John chapter 4 verse 35, it says, Say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages. Now what is a person that reaps? When you think of, you know, a vineyard, a field, you know, someone has to collect that fruit, right? So when you're actually out there, for example, the missionaries that went to Mexico yesterday, there was 11 soul owners that went there and they reaped 21 salvations, okay? So these are the reapers. They're coming and they're reaping this fruit, you understand? Now I hate to break it to these soul owners, though, but there's someone out there who's going to get a percentage off of what was reaped yesterday that they probably don't know. You say, why? Because someone else probably sowed a seed in that person's heart. Any person you went to Christ, just know this, beyond a shadow of a doubt, they had some sort of seed sown in them weeks before, years before, months before. Someone told them about the gospel prior to that, you understand? It says, he that reapeth receiveth wages, so obviously the soul owner gets paid, and gathereth fruit unto it life eternal, that both he that, listen to this, soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth, I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor, other men labored, the Bible says, and ye are entered into their labors. So before you get all high and mighty and you're like, oh man, I would get so many people saved every single week, well, the people you're getting saved, you're actually entering into someone else's labor, because you know what? Someone else has been praying for them. Someone else has been sowing seeds. There's a mother out there who's been praying for their son to get saved. There's a mother out there who's been sending Bible verses to her son, sending gospel presentations to their family members, and you're just so happy to have the privilege to actually reap that fruit. Now given, you will get paid for that, however, you know, there's a percentage that goes to the person that put in the word to pray, to sow those seeds as well. And so, don't minimize the importance of sowing Bible verses, okay? Now obviously when you're at a door and you're witnessing to someone or you're trying to witness to someone, obviously we would want to leave a verse so that it would heighten their interest and then maybe we could proceed with the gospel, right? But sometimes that's not the case. Sometimes they're just like, all right, thanks, you know, and then you go on to the next door. But never see that as a wasted opportunity. Never view that as labor that's in vain, because at the end of the day, the word of God has power. And every single one of you who are saved have someone sow seeds of scripture, of Bible concepts, of spiritual things into your heart prior to you getting saved. I mean, I can think of various times in my life that people sow seeds in my heart, thoughts of the word of God or of Jesus Christ being the Messiah or of the gospel. And you know, I didn't quite understand it, but then someone came when I was 21 and reaped my soul, so to speak. But you know what? The people in years past also got a percentage off of my salvation because of the fact that they actually worked at sowing those seeds. I mean, I think of the fact that, you know, years, and I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, you know, my sister had this boyfriend who took us all out to eat one time because he really liked my sister, so he took us all out to eat. And he gave us all King James Bibles. You know, afterwards he's just like, here's a King James Bible for all of you. And you know, he claimed to be a Christian, which looking back, he was probably a Baptist. I mean, who just gives out King James Bibles? You know what I mean? Like, that's so rare. Sometimes it's just rare for Christians to just use a King James Bible, let alone have a stack of them at their house. I mean, it sounds like a Baptist, right? But he gave us all King James Bibles, and I remember I kept that Bible for years. And that was the Bible that I would try to read over and over again because I always wanted to read through the Bible, but I wasn't saved, so the Bible wasn't really interesting to me. I just felt like I needed to read it. I couldn't even get past Genesis 4 or something like that. It was just like so hard to read through. But you know what? I guarantee you, if that guy was saved, he's getting a percentage off of my salvation because he was actually the first one to introduce me to the incorruptible seed, which is the Word of God. I mean, aside from the fact that he gave me the Word of God, he didn't just give me any Word of God, he gave me the King James. Powerful, right? And so, here's a great way to earn passive income spiritually is give Bible anywhere you go. And it would require for you to actually know some Bible. You know, it would require for you, you don't always have to have your New Testament with you, by the way. New Testament's a great tool. It's a great sword. But you know what? Boom, right here. Right here. This is where it should be. I mean, think about the fact that you should be able to just give the Gospel at the drop of a hat. And if you can't give the Gospel at the drop of a hat, can you drop some verses at the drop of a hat? Can you, you know, or if someone just hands you any Bible, does it have to be your Bible with the tabs on it? Or can it just be any Bible? You understand what I'm saying? And so it's important for us to know the Word of God because of the fact that we're constantly sowing seeds. You know, if you're on social media, someone's going into your DMs asking you about the Bible, sow some seeds, sow seeds on Facebook, you know, instead of talking about the most common fear-mongering narrative out there, why don't you talk about God and the Bible and salvation? Why don't you drop through John 3.16 every once in a while, you might provoke someone's thoughts about salvation and somewhere along down the road, they might get saved. And you know, you'll get a percentage off of that, okay? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse number 6, I have planted Apollo's water, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plantseth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. So obviously it's far more laborious to win the person to Christ than to sow the seed, right? Does that mean we shouldn't sow seeds? No. It just helps us to realize that sowing the seed is not our primary form of spiritual income, but we want to participate and make sure that we're making money, so to speak, on the side, you understand, spiritually speaking. This is for we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building, the Bible says. Go with me if you would to 2 Timothy chapter number 2. Now again, the problem lies sometimes with this passive income, that sometimes people make it their primary form of income, and then they're not making anything, you know? They believe in lifestyle evangelism, they're like, oh I preach the gospel by just putting verses on my stories, that's how I serve God, that's not enough. You're not going to get anybody saved like that. You need to open your mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel. And sometimes people make this their primary form of income, where they're just only sowing Bible seeds, or how about this, they only hand out tracts, they only hand out Bibles, they only do that, and at the end of the day, they're probably not going to get a whole lot of people saved, they might earn a percentage off of the seed that's sown in the person who does get saved in the future, but you know what, it's not going to be a whole lot, that's why we don't depend on passive income to be spiritually rich, we depend on the weekly, week to week, day to day sowing that we do to make spiritual income, and the passive income is something that we do on the side, you understand? So never make your passive income your primary income, and we're talking spiritually, don't take the illustration too far, if you're making some good money passively or whatever, you know, and you can quit your day job or whatever, that's another story, but this is just a spiritual illustration, we're making a parallel here, to explain the fact that there's ways that we can make spiritual riches aside from the primary responsibilities that we do. So another way of having passive income, spiritually speaking, well how about this, discipling those whom you went to Christ. Discipleship is actually really important, okay? First of all, it's commanded of God, you know, because the Bible tells us to teach them all things whatsoever I've commanded you, so that means God wants us to impart knowledge of the word of God, to teach others how to live like a Christian, and help them to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, right? But here's the thing folks, let's just be honest, that's good passive income. Look at 2 Timothy 2 verse 1, thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also, the Bible says. Now a great example of this in my personal life, in my opinion, is my father-in-law, who 10 years ago, yes 10 years ago, he had an AVM rupture in his brain, some people could liken unto an aneurysm, but it's a little worse than an aneurysm, it's like something that you're just born with, can't really do anything about, it can rupture at any time, and in fact most people who have an AVM in their brain don't live past their 20s or even 30s, he made it all the way up until, I mean he's 60 now, but it ruptured I think it was in mid or late 50s, and he survived, I mean only 1% of those who have an AVM actually survived, but he survived, and you know he was a pastor of two churches, and so he was not only a pastor of two churches, he trained multiple missionaries who have ministries on the field right now, very large ministries, he's won a ton of people to Christ, he's trained pastors and leaders, he's invested in multiple people, well for the last 10 years he has not been able to serve God at all, because he's completely 100% incapacitated and he can never preach again, and in fact he can never even preach the gospel again, he can't even walk, so he's like literally bedridden, he can hold a conversation for maybe a couple minutes and then he's just exhausted and he can't continue after that, but you know compared to what he was capable of doing you know 11 years ago, it's very minimal okay, he can't share spiritual truths, he can't even read the Bible, he can pray obviously but he can't read the Bible, he can't walk, he can't preach the gospel, he can't teach the Word of God, these are things that he did for decades and now he could no longer do them, so you know is it over for him, is it just like well you know he's never gonna win a soul to Christ ever again and so now it's over with, he can't earn any spiritual rewards and riches, no wrong, in fact I think, I personally believe he's making just a whole lot of passive income right now, because he created his ministries and trained so many people who are winning other people to Christ and not just that but they're discipling other people, they're teaching people in the ways of righteousness, you know what he's getting a percentage off of that, why he's laying there, you know talk about negligible effort, I mean he's just like not doing anything but you know what he's still making and in fact I guarantee you as I'm preaching this right now you know there's the rewards going that are being put in his spiritual bank account in heaven because I'm honoring him and I'm accrediting him for a lot of my training as a Christian and even as a pastor, that's a great example of someone who you know even though they had evil take place to them, they put in a lot of work up front in the previous years, they started churches, won people to Christ, sent out missionaries, supported missionaries, just gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the work of the Lord himself, not just this church, just himself from his own account, hundreds of thousands of dollars to the work of God, oh I guarantee you he's making a lot of passive income and in fact I would even say that his passive income obviously now is his primary source of income spiritually speaking because he can't do anything, so let me ask you this, what would happen if you're just taking off the scene in the same way, have you trained enough people to make you spiritual passive income, what if you're just completely 100% incapacitated tomorrow, could you say like oh man you know it's okay because I want so many people to Christ and I invested quality time in these individuals to train them how to soul win or I'm good to go even if I could just can never get up and preach the gospel ever again, there's people that I've trained that are gonna be earning me some passive income spiritually speaking rewards, I mean that's a crazy thought to think right and it's kind of a wake-up call for us as Christians to not only win people to Christ but you know you need to start thinking about listen to me you need to start thinking about actually investing in the lives of others and teaching them how to be Christians, teaching them how to win people to Christ, teaching them to be like you, look at the Bible says go to go back to 2nd John if you would, 2nd John and look at verse number 8 again says look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought but that we receive a full reward so John is telling the recipient here like continue in doctrine continue living and believing like a Christian and it almost sounds selfish right but I mean he's being honest he's like so that we receive our full reward okay so lest you think what I'm saying today is just like oh just you talk about people like passive income as well John that literally said make sure we don't lose those things which we have wrought I want a full reward on you kind of thing that's what he said John the Beloved said that like hey I want I want to make sure I get everything that's coming to me because of what I did in your life so it's obviously a biblical concept and you know what is he talking about specifically well look at verse number 9 whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son so in its most literal sense he's actually talking about apostasy he's basically saying like you better make sure you know what you believe and that you believe right about salvation and about the doctrines of Christ you don't transgress those things because if you're not really saved and I'm not gonna get a full reward because you don't think about it you know someone who wins someone to Christ they get paid spiritually speaking by putting in the labor but they also get paid if the person is actually saved too you know because the Bible says you know like the Apostle Paul said ye are my crown and my glory understand so you not only get rewarded and recompense for the labor that you put in but you actually get rewarded for the actual person if they get saved so that means if that person is not saved and they apostasize or whatever then you don't get a full reward you only get half of that does that make sense to everyone you what's the half the labor do you put in and so that's why it's important for us listen to me to be thorough in our gospel presentation you know in our church it's important that when when new people come to our church we check on their salvation you know some people don't like that some people have problems with that and most of the time it's people who think that they're saved but they're not you know they come to our church and it's just like are you 100% sure you die today you go to heaven is all right I'm a soul winner like I'm a Baptist and it was just like okay so where you gonna go when you die then you know cuz that's not good enough for us I mean obviously it might put us in the ballpark of yeah maybe this person saved but you know let's hear the confession of the mouth let's see what they believe right and so you know we have systems even in our church whereby we keep track of like everyone's salvation we keep track of that not only their salvation folks but even their baptisms you know we know some of you in here aren't baptized we know you know we know who's been baptized we know who hasn't been baptized we know who's gone soul winning we know who hasn't gone soul winning you know we try to keep as much track as possible you're like oh that's just a little too much no we're just trying to make sure we get a full reward and we're being stewards of the mysteries of God we're trying to disciple people here and make sure that people reach their full potential in the Lord by becoming a soul winner by serving the Lord and obviously we're not the church that's just gonna constantly hound you if you don't want to get baptized you don't want to serve the Lord it's just like okay you know you want to make oh you don't want to make money okay that's that's cool all right you know we're just letting you know there's a job offer here just letting you know that you know I'm just trying to help you make some money okay you know you want to make some money and we're talking about spiritually okay don't take me out of context enemies of the Lord and like you know start implying that I'm talking about real money or something you know but you know that's basically what we're doing you know when people encourage you to go out soul winning they're basically just just listen to it this way you want to go make some money you're like oh man I'm so busy I just you know people always ask me if I'm going soul winning or not well really what they're asking you is like hey do you want to get rich want to go make some money right now it's just an hour's worth of work put in an hour's worth of work and if you get like two people save it's like cha-ching you get paid you want to go get paid I mean think about a job that just offers you a lot of money just to work for one hour and the great thing about serving God is that technically listen to this and I'm getting ahead of myself but technically you're just always on the clock you're just always on the clock see if you were like oh I work from home well I worked everywhere because as a Christian I'm just constantly laboring so God's constantly keeping track of everything that I'm doing he's not micromanaging me he just keeping track of all the things that I do as unto him so whatever it is that you do as unto the Lord it's just like it gets put to your account it's like oh he was kind to that brother he blessed that sister he did this okay put that to their account passive income right there but the point that I'm making is that when it comes to winning people to Christ let's put a considerable amount of effort and praying for that person and helping them to reach spiritual maturity first of all because we love them and because God commands us to do so we want to exhort the brethren but also if you can just train people you increase the potential that you for you to basically become spiritually rich to earn more spiritual income passively because if you can train someone to win someone to Christ and they are self-sufficient self-governing they're out there making money for you there's people in our church who have won other people to Christ who are in church winning people to Christ and they're serving God and the people who won them to Christ are just kind of you know they're just getting all this passive income I could point some out right now you know but I don't want to make anybody proud I'll do it right now if you get proud that's your fault okay well you know I think of Miss Kelly okay and you know the point that I'm gonna make with her is actually my last point I'm referring to parents but you know Miss Kelly basically put in all kinds of effort to get Gio into church okay I mean to get him saved and I don't know who got you saved okay there you go you know she got him saved she drug him to church you know Gio was into drugs because she drug him to church amen she drug him to church drug him to soul winning, drug him to serve the Lord to the activities and you know what it may have seemed in the beginning where Kelly just felt like it was like a lost cause because Gio didn't want to be here like those of you who are new here you're like oh man Gio is such a great man of God and he's so on fire he wouldn't like that before Gio's a brat, total brat, a zoomer, straight zoomer and he like he would come and then he would he would just leave and just be in the car waiting for his mom but his mom just like put in the work put in the labor to not just win him to Christ she got him saved but also to create an appetite within him for the things of God right and now she doesn't have to worry about anything because now he's like self-sufficient as a Christian the dude's married crazy he got married in the Lord he's you know soul winning consistently he comes to church he's serving God on his own and now he's went into people to Christ who are currently in our church right now as well winning other people to Christ so guess what Kelly's making a good percentage off of that she's like you know what she has to do nothing she just has to sit there she's got all these money makers look you know making money spiritually speaking because of the considerable amount of effort that she put in in the beginning that's how passive income works you got to put in the work in the very beginning and then after a while it starts operating like a well-oiled machine understand we're just kind of working on its own so you know she's not dragging him to church anymore she's not making him go sowning anymore she's not making him read his Bible or live the Christian life he's doing it on his own and she's getting a spiritual percentage off of that because of the fact that she labored for that you understand what I'm saying and so you know we could look at you and say that Kelly you're gonna receive a full reward for that because you know he's not only serving God but he's actually teaching others how to serve God as well which is a major thing okay it's big the Bible says you know the the Apostle Paul addressing the Philippians he tells them holding forth the word of life verse 16 that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I've not run in vain neither labored in vain he's he's telling those Philippians he's like I want you to be holding forth the word of life so that at the end of my life I know that I haven't labored in vain you know what what greater joy for us as Christians than to see someone we want to Christ or help raise the spiritual maturity reading the Bible obeying the Bible learning the Bible teaching the Bible to others understand we don't want to labor in vain and you know what there is gonna be times where people fall away not apostatized but they just get out of church they backslide and you know it's a sad thing and it's unfortunate but as Christians we should be focusing on those who have stuck around okay and so that's a great form of passive income I hope that you would take that into consideration as a Christian you know oh that's so much work though I'm already winning people to Christ yeah but you don't understand that you can actually do more if you actually begin to disciple those who you've actually went to Christ you bring them to church get them baptized start teaching them the Bible by meal you spend time with them start teaching them the ways of the Lord it pays off in the long run okay and so that's important go to Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 if you would and then we're gonna go to Matthew chapter 25 Galatians 6 and then Matthew 25 we're talking about Christian passive income great way to do this how this is not a primary source it's just something we do on the side it's just as important and God's commanded it and it produces results we sow Bible seeds everywhere we go go out sowing it's a dead area make sure you try to sow some seeds though I don't know if that's gonna make a difference fine let me sow the seeds I'll take the percentage because I know the Bible will do something in a person's heart I know for a fact that it will do something in a person's heart okay and I'm not gonna only depend on that to win people to Christ it's just passive income okay you know secondly disciple those you win to Christ and maybe by the way it doesn't have to be someone that you win to Christ it might be someone who someone else won to Christ and then you're just investing in that person that's the same thing you know the Apostle Paul didn't win Timothy to Christ but the Apostle Paul essentially was like a spiritual father to Timothy and you know I'm sure God accredited Paul to a lot of Timothy's spiritual growth even though he wasn't the one who actually won him to Christ you understand and so you know if you take this principle look for someone in our church someone who you can work with someone who you can invest in you know you team leaders I mean you have a great chance to earn a lot of spiritual passive income by investing in people in your church and and never have this attitude that you just arrived either you know if you produce one mature person don't be like right I'm good to go no just keep doing it look for some if you're not currently investing in someone's life you better be looking for someone to invest in okay don't be lazy number three here's a good way to make spiritual passive income it's really easy and it does require effort in the beginning but then after a while it just kind of takes care of itself and listen to this walking in the spirit because when you walk in the spirit you just begin to serve one another right begin to love one another serve one another and this is what I mean by you're always on the clock as a Christian so every time you're in the spirit you are receiving some form of spiritual income because the the spirit produces fruit in your life and so if you're walking in the spirit you're not in the flesh you're gonna be fulfilling God's will and that's when God is keeping track of the things that you're doing it's very simple look at Galatians 6 verse 7 it says be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption so you know if you're a carnal Christian you're gonna receive the consequences of being a carnal Christian you know if you're just a fleshly carnal Christian you're not gonna go to hell because you can't lose your salvation but you know what you're gonna probably pay for you for your actions though because there's nothing good that can come out of walking in the flesh being a fleshly carnal person however but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not and here's the practical here's the practicality of that command as we have therefore opportunity let us do good until all men especially those who are of the household of faith the Bible says so who does walking in the spirit directly affect the household of faith more often than not that's why it's important that when you come to church don't be carnal you know you're fighting with your spouse or you're fighting with your kids or you're just mad about something leave your flesh at the door and get right with God in your vehicle when you get here and say Lord forgive me for just being a carnal Christian helping to walk in the spirit to not fulfill the lust of the flesh because I need to get paid you come in here you're walking in the spirit you're being a blessing to others you're giving an encouraging word you're serving your brothers I mean you're on the clock you know people are like oh this is your job this is what you're doing you're on the clock yeah but technically we're all on the clock right now all of us are on the clock all the time because when you're in the spirit when you're walking in the spirit you're automatically getting paid spiritually speaking for what you do go to Matthew 25 if you would Matthew 25 and look at verse 34 of Matthew chapter 25 Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34 says then shall the king say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was in hunger and he gave me meat I was thirsty and he gave me drink I was a stranger you took me in naked and he clothed me I was sick and he visited me I was in prison and he came unto me then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink when saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee and the king shall answer and say unto them verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me so what does that mean any kind of service that you do for your brothers and sisters in Christ just mark it down you're doing it for the boss too and there's things that you've done that you've done out of the goodness of your heart because you love the brethren and you have no idea that God took that personally he took that personally I'm talking about like good things you know you're serving your brother and you're just like oh I'm doing it because I love this person and I care for this individual you know God views that as oh you're doing it for me then because if you're doing it for the least of these my brethren you've done it unto me and there's gonna be a list of things in heaven you're gonna be like wow I didn't know I was making passive income this way I was just kind of enjoying my brethren's company being a blessing to them helping them I didn't even think about the spiritual reward and then Jesus is gonna say in as much as you've done it to the least of these my brethren you've done it unto me that's important my friends to take walking in the Spirit and serving God serious amen when you come to church it's a it's a sea of opportunity to do good into others hey Orchestra you guys are getting paid while you're up here you may not think so and you're like oh you know it's just such a hard thing to do and you know it's just all these logistics anytime you blow into that instrument and you do that thing with the string and make all those wonderful sounds I mean just just translate those musical notes into notes that's what they do because if you're doing it as unto the Lord you get paid that's passive income you know so when you come here it's not like oh we got practice and stuff no it's just like cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching you're just understand what I'm saying it's an opportunity to serve but it's actually an opportunity for you to make passive income because you're doing it as unto the Lord okay this is why Paul the Apostle says do all things without murmurings and disputings you understand because at the end of the day it's not like it's not like you're doing the service and then God's like hey I don't pay for that you know that's not you can do that you know if you want if you want to be nice or whatever but I don't know of course he does because we're doing it as unto Christ because if someone in the service is blessed because of the music if they're blessed because of the singing they're blessed because if you're playing if it's blessing the brethren in as much as you have done it until one of the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me you have to realize how God views these things you understand you know Jesus Christ isn't physically here on this earth for us to be able to serve him to bless him so we do it vicariously through others that's how God views it okay the Bible says in Colossians chapter 3 verse 23 and whatsoever you do do it heartily ask to the Lord and not into men the Bible says knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ the Bible tells us so it tells us when you serve God do it heartily do with the good attitude do passionately do with the with the with the you know give a service with the smile amen why because it's always a pleasure to serve Christ yeah but it's not a pleasure to serve others sometimes yeah it's true that's why he tells us this it kind of reminds like okay but it's it's to me though okay so it kind of it kind of makes it makes the pill go down a little easier makes that makes the food go down a little easier once you realize you know maybe I'm serving someone who's ungrateful right I'm helping someone who is not showing gratitude you're not saying thank you they're not reciprocating that love they're not reciprocating that service it's okay you'll be recompense in the resurrection and God's taking note of it he sees what you do and he's gonna keep track of every single kind action that you do to the brethren whether you get a thank you or not and look I'm for gratitude I think we should say thank you when someone does something kind unto us right we should express gratitude and not take things for granted okay and just have this spirit of expectation from people well this is what you're supposed to do I think we should thank people for what they do but not everyone's gonna thank you not everyone's gonna say hey I appreciate you not everyone's gonna say hey great job sometimes that's not gonna happen but at the end of the day you know God will praise you okay and he recognizes the work that you do and look when I say that you're always on the clock I mean always on the clock it's true because even the smallest of gestures are viewed by God and rewarded by God the Bible says in mark 941 for whatsoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name because he belonged to Christ better they say to you he shall not lose his reward so if you're like in church and you're just looking for someone to give a cup of cold water to that's like smart hey do you need some water do you need a water why because according to the Bible even if you do that because you belong to Christ God is saying you will not lose your reward you will get paid for that that's powerful a cup of cold water just imagine what a Red Bull will do I'm just kidding Adams getting paid that's why I thought he loved us but it's just he's doing it as unto the Lord because Adam just brings these cases and cases of just sometimes I wonder if he's even a Christian maybe he just works for Red Bull he just infiltrated our church to get us all addicted to Red Bull or something because I'm not joking he doesn't just bring like a couple I mean he brings cases of Red Bull and so you know that that's his passive income go to Matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 talk about Christian passive income hey believe it or not coming to church is a is a form of passive income as well so how so I thought we just sit here and just listen well I'm not saying it's your primary form of income your primary form is actually if you do what the what the preaching says right if you actually obey the Word of God then that's like your primary form of income right there but you do get a percentage believe it or not of just sitting there and being in agreement with the preaching because it says in Matthew 10 verse 40 he that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me he that receiveth the Prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophets reward he that receiveth the righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward so what does it mean to receive someone in this particular context it's to be in agreement with the Prophet because he's referring to the fact that these men are going out to preach the Word of God and not just the gospel but just preach the kingdom of God the things pertaining to the kingdom of God and if someone receives them they accept those teachings they allow themselves to adhere to the message of the Prophet according to the Bible here they receive a prophets reward now how do we put that in today's terms well you got up in the morning to get ready to come here to listen to the Prophet to listen to the prophets message and if you're in agreement with the message this morning you get a percentage off of that that's like the easiest thing to do it's like the easiest income to make you can be like the laziest Christian who just doesn't want to obey anything you don't want to go sowing but if you want to make a little bit of income spiritually you literally just have to come to church and just sit down amen which means I agree I believe and you get a little cut off of that because you've received a prophet in the name of a prophet and therefore you shall receive a prophets reward I mean there's no easier way to make spiritual income you have to be just the most spiritually lazy slothful just sluggardly Christian that exists to just not even do that one little thing because it's super easy and at the end of the day like I'm the one putting in most of the work throughout the hour all you have to do is just listen and agree yeah see she's nodding she just got paid she's just like yep and every time you know I preach there's ladies are just like there's like just just if you can listen is just chick-ching chick-ching because they're in agreement with the Prophet they're receiving the Prophet they're coming to the Prophet the pastor to hear the Word of God and you know what at the end of the day this is a form of seeking the Lord too and you know the Bible tells us that without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him well part of coming to church on a week in week out basis is seeking Lord because part of seeking the Lord is actually coming to church the house of God the pillar and ground of truth and so you get rewarded for that now again this is not your primary form of income which a lot of Christians think it is people out there like oh I serve God I go to church but that's not necessarily a primary form of serving God now is it okay we're talking to people who are already making some form of just a weekly income spiritually they're soul winning they're obeying the Word of God they're living the Christian life here's a little something extra that you can do or you're already doing I'm just letting you know you're getting a percentage off of it and that's the fact that you're coming to church and listening to what to the Word of God okay that is a form of spiritual income just to encourage you to keep being faithful to church and by the way the more you come to church the more that percentage increases so if you are a sunny morning glory hey coming Sunday night you increase your percentage hey you come Thursday you're increasing your percentage all right go to James chapter 1 if you were James chapter 1 let me give you two more points and I'm done talk about Christian passive income what's a way that you can make spiritual income in a general sense where you're not really doing a whole lot to earn rewards in heaven it's just these secondary things that you can do well here's one how about just enduring temptation that's a way you can earn spiritual income now think about this okay think about it and I don't know if passive income is the best way to describe this maybe a better way to describe it would be overtime okay now I remember when I had a secular job overtime was just the best because overtime was time and a half and as a as a as a very young man at the time I can just run my body ragged just doing a bunch of extra overtime because I had the time I had the energy and it was the pay was good the incentive of getting paid time and a half was just like awesome right anybody know what I'm talking about they still do time and a half okay so what is what is like overtime and time and a half well it's like when you it's basically getting paid more for what you're already doing just for a longer period of time beyond what is typically required of you so you're working an eight-hour shift if you go beyond the eight hours doing the same exact thing that you've been doing for the last eight hours you get paid overtime which is time and a half it's like double and it doesn't require doing extra things it just requires for you to do the same thing for a longer period of time in other words you're not clocking out even though you're tired you're weary you want to go home you tired of seeing the same faces just doing the same exact activity understand but this time you actually get paid twice as much you just got to do it for a little longer now you know over time typically lasts maybe a few hours okay it's typically not as long as your actual shift understand so it doesn't last forever you guys get what I'm getting where I'm getting at here okay well that's how trials and temptations work so a trial and a temptation the reason it could be considered passive income is because you're not really doing anything other than what you're already doing you just have to do it tired right so if you're already serving God you're coming to church you're winning souls to Christ you're already in that that regimen of serving the Lord and you go through a temptation don't clock out because you actually get time and a half if you can just endure for those couple of hours quote unquote understand what I'm saying look at James chapter 1 in verse 12 it says blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him the Bible says so there's actually a reward that you receive for not quitting it's like that time and a half it's that OT so folks if you're serving God and you go through a tough time just keep serving God what are you gonna do backslide for what what are you gonna do go out into the world and just be more depressed and more discouraged and get worldly and now you have God's wrath on you why not just stick around for a couple more hours of overtime even though you're a little tired you're a little weary you're a little discouraged and why don't you just keep serving God because you're gonna get paid time and a half anyways and it's not like you have to do anything extra it's not like you have to do anything other than what you're already doing this is the great thing about spiritual overtime you're literally doing the same exact thing just with a little bit of tears you might have a bad attitude every once in a while okay maybe you're just really tired you're really discouraged but you know what keep sowing keep preaching the gospel keeping a blessing to people and you're like yeah but I'm so tired I've been working this entire shift and it's just like now I got this to deal with well that's why he's offering you time and a half because obviously it's not the easiest thing to do but he's kind of trying to incentivize you to say if you if you quit you're not gonna get this crown of life you know what too many Christians are doing so well spiritually they're just they have all kinds of spiritual momentum they're serving God a trial comes and they just get out of church they just stop coming Sunday nights they stop coming Thursdays and after a while they just start stop coming Sundays as well mornings and it's just they take a break and it's just like man you could have earned so much overtime and you know I remember doing overtime when I worked a secular job after a while you just it just kind of like that the feeling of tiredness goes away you get like your second wind understand what I'm saying I mean I remember one time I used to work at a restaurant called the elephant bar I don't even think it exists anymore but it was the elephant bar and I was a busser and this is when I was a teenager and I remember like I I was responsible for opening at six o'clock and my shift ended like around two thirty three o'clock and then you know my friend called and said hey I need you to cover for me for my night shift and I was and it wasn't over time it was just like another shift but I was thinking to myself well you know part of being a busser is you're in this passive income called tips and so I was like I'll take it so his shift started at four and I think it ended like at ten or eleven and then once I finished at ten or eleven then I mean it I wasn't safe so you know forgive me for this but you know that the bar was just like hey if you help us close you know what I mean like we'll give you tips and and you'll earn some extra cash and typically the bar wouldn't close fully like shut down until like three o'clock in the morning and so I was just like oh man I'm so tired though cuz that I've been there since six and I've been on my feet not sitting down and then like nine-thirty ten o'clock came around and then eleven is just like oh I caught my second wind I'm like I'm like not tired anymore and then I helped the bar close just cleaning the mats and watering them down putting dishes away and by the time three o'clock came around you know I had enough time to go home and sleep for two hours cuz I had to open up again at six but you know what the check was really nice the following week though and you know what the cash is the cash was stacked up and so the next week I wasn't just like man I wish I just didn't do all that I'm thankful I did because I had a lot of money and typically in those the beginning stages of the elephant bar was just like you get like $100 a shift of tips it was just like really good but after a while I just started to decline but folks if that's how it is imagine how much God rewards you for just enduring the temptations of this life and here's the thing over time doesn't it doesn't last forever you know what your temptation doesn't last forever either maybe for a couple months might be for a couple years but just hang in there you're getting paid and you know what the worst thing that can happen to you is you go home to be with the Lord and you realize yeah I could have made so much more if I would have just stuck it out I was already serving God I was already reading people to Christ I was already like doing that which God called me to do as a Christian I should have just stuck it out and now I get nothing you know and so enduring temptation is a great way of making passive income just stick it out and you know what be thankful that you're in a church where there's a lot of Christians that can exhort you to stick it out you know if you're in a really small church where there's like 10 people or something it might be harder but you know what in a sea of a church where there's just a lot of people a lot of members you have a lot of friends to encourage you just stick it out and the things concerning you have an end my friend and you may you may not see light at the end of the tunnel the shift is just like keeps dragging on and on you're just like I don't see an end to this but there is an end there's always an end to trials even if you don't see it lastly and I'm done is here's a great way of making passive income and that is by raising godly children it's actually one of the best ways of making passive spiritual income is raising your kids to serve God I mean think about it that is the highest form of discipleship in this world okay he said why is that because they live with you so you just literally just training them day in day out to serve God and Lord willing when they grow up you know if we train them in the ways of the Lord they won't depart from it and hopefully they'll be mighty arrows in the hand of God that will go go a lot further than yourself okay and so what's the sermon this morning it's simply a creative way to encourage you to keep serving God and think of creative ways of serving God as well don't neglect your primary source of spiritual income which is soul winning obeying the word of the Lord but also don't neglect just the little things you can do to be rich toward God as well amen let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and thank you Lord for rewarding us and promising us that recompense and we're thankful that we not only get rewarded in the temporal life that we're living here but Lord you've also promised an eternal reward as well and I pray that this sermon would have exhorted someone to step it up and to not quit Lord and also to just keep in mind different areas that they can serve you in or even to just have the mentality that anything that they do they're doing it as unto you and not unto men and I pray that you bless this as we go on our way Lord we love you we thank you pray these things in Jesus name amen