turn to him number store this is Bob thank you for these hymns to sing thank
you for this church that you bless the remainder of this service this time and
give us ears to hear the message a blazers Jesus name I pray for our next
him if you would turn in your him knows to him number 127 tis so sweet to trust
in Jesus him number 127 him number 127 we'll go ahead and start there right on
the first to go through some announcements if you need a bulletin
please raise your hand I sure will bring you one on the front is our Bible memory
passage of the week we're in verse number 7 this week of Galatians chapter
1 keep working hard on the Bible memorization passage there service times
are on the left on the inside there Sunday mornings at 1030 Sunday evenings
at 4 30 p.m. and our Wednesday evening Bible study through 1st Samuel and we're
getting towards the end of that book there soul winning times are listed all
those meet here at the church building and our nursing home ministry schedules
below that next week is Brother Cameron Hall preaching we do have our year to
date statistics for soul winning just make sure if you have any salvations to
report those numbers there please be in prayer for Miss Whitney Reed for her
pregnancy also March 9th coming up in a couple weeks we're gonna have another
men's preaching night and there will be a sign-up sheet for that soon and just
like last time we're gonna have a potluck afterwards so please bring a
dish or dessert or both to share for that March 15th is the baby shower from
Mrs. Whitney Reed and there's some information on the back of the bulletin
if you want to know more about that April 19th is a soul winning marathon on
Easter weekend that's gonna be on a Saturday May 16th through the 18th is
the King James Conference in Vancouver Washington May 31st Durant Oklahoma soul
winning marathon with steadfast Baptist Church June 28th Tinker Air Force Base
air show August 27th through 31st fire breathing Baptist Fellowship and October
6 through the 11th is our Bahamas missions trip so just some reminders
about those events coming up also on the bottom there is a QR code if you'd like
to give online or you could always do so by check as well and on the back
very importantly please do not forget to pray for the members here that have
prayer requests it's one of the great things about actually coming to church
is knowing people that could be there for you and pray for you and depend on
you so make sure you pray for each other there if you have any new requests do
email that to the church be happy to add that for you that's gonna be it for
announcements this evening we'll go ahead and go to our third song all right
for our third song if you would turn in your hymnals to him number 139 you know
whom I have believed him number 139 go ahead and start there right on the first
I know not why God's one tree as the offering plates are being passed around
verbs chapter number 22 being prox 22 the Bible reads a good name is rather to be
chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold the
rich and poor meet together the Lord is the maker of them all a prudent man for
seeth the evil and hideth himself but the simple pass on and are punished by
humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life thorns and
snares are in the way of the forward he that doeth he that doth keep his soul
shall be far from them trying up a child in the way he should go and when he is
old he will not depart from it the rich ruleeth over the poor and the borrower
is servant to the lender he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity and the rod
of his anger shall fail he that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed for he
giveth of his bread to the poor cast out the scorner and contention shall go out
yea strife and reproach shall cease he that loveth pureness of heart for the
grace of his lips the king shall be his friend the eyes of the Lord preserve
knowledge and he overthroweth the words of the transgressors the slothful man
saith there is a lion without I shall be slain in the streets the mouth of strange
women is a deep pit he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein foolishness
is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far
from him he that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches and he that giveth
to the rich shall surely come to want bow down line ear and hear the words of
the wise and apply that heart unto my knowledge for it is a pleasant thing if
thou keep them within thee they shall withal be fitted in thy lips that thy
trust may be in the Lord I have made known to thee this day even to thee have
not I written to thee excellent things and counsels and knowledge that I might
make thee know the certainty of the words of truth that thou mightest answer
the words of truth to them that sinned unto thee Rob not the poor because he is
poor neither oppressed the afflicted in the gate for the Lord will plead their
cause and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them make no friendship with an
angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not go lest thou learn his ways
and get a snare to thy soul be not thou one of them that strike hands or of them
that are sureties for debts if thou has nothing to pay why should he take away
thy bed from under thee remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have
set see is thou a man diligent in his business he shall stand before Kings he
shall not stand before me and a man let's bow our heads for word of prayer
father in heaven we thank you for keeping us all safe out soul winning we
love you first one the Bible says a good name is rather to be chosen than
great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold so the Bible here
is saying that to have a good name which is talking about your reputation have a
good reputation is more valuable and more important even than having a lot of
money right and even if you have money problems but you're a good person and
you've taken care of other people and you've invested in other people if you
have a good name then people could have your back when you have needs and they
could help you in that area but also it's just very important to have a good
name more importantly than just the benefits you could reap from that is the
fact that all of us who are here who are saved are ambassadors of Jesus Christ so
that's why it's very important to have a good name have a good reputation
because we are representing Jesus and so the title my sermon this evening is how
to have a good name how to have a good name now turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 10
Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and while you're turning there I'm gonna read for you
Deuteronomy 28 37 the Bible says and thou shalt become an astonishment a
proverb and a byword among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee see the
opposite of having a good name or the opposite of having a good reputation is
someone who becomes a byword right where your name is associated with some sort
of negative character trait or you know sometimes we could think of this in
other ways too but think of some names or some titles that are kind of have
become a byword how about Jew right hey don't be a Jew man tip the waitress
don't be a Jew because that kind of has become a byword for someone who's
stingy or cheap or think about this Judas don't be a Judas right saying be
faithful be loyal don't be someone that stabs someone in the back what about
Napoleon if I say that someone has a Napoleon complex what do I mean by that
someone shout it out come on man what yeah you're it's like you're being
arrogant you're you're what's that God complex yeah that could kind of fit for
Napoleon Pharaoh right that's someone that's really prideful or a Scrooge
someone that doesn't like Christmas right a Scrooge what about Romeo he's a
romantic someone is someone is a Romeo okay Saul we've been studying first
Samuel if someone's a Saul right someone who's very arrogant someone who's super
backslidden right but look at Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 1 the Bible
says dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking
savor so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor
here's the truth about your reputation about building a good name for yourself
is that it's very hard to do takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of diligence
and faithfulness but it's very easy to destroy you can destroy your reputation
very quickly you know businesses can do this you know businesses could have a
reputation and you know at risk of being unalive I'm gonna say a company name
here Boeing Boeing in times past has had a great reputation for just being a
great airplane company and it's like you can't beat a Boeing now Boeing is
starting to ruin their reputation through you know the whistleblowers that
have been exposing their safety standards being compromised and all
sorts of different safety issues that Boeing's have been having you know Boeing
has kind of you know ruined their reputation a little bit and it's very
easy to do it doesn't take much I mean when you start having airplanes falling
out of the sky you're gonna start you know losing your reputation and it's the
same thing for anyone you know you could be someone who's spent your life being
diligent doing what's right building a name for yourself having a good
reputation but you could ruin that in an instant just like how to make this sort
of ointment of the apothecary I'm sure that took a lot of time and effort and
energy and skill I don't know how to make that but you know all it takes is
just a couple dead flies in that thing to ruin it and it's like you you had
this great ointment that was gonna be used for something and now it's ruined
because of those flies and that is what could happen to us that's what could
happen to any of us and again it's not just that I want you to build a good
name just for your own pride or for your own self it's the fact that we are
representatives of Christ and for that reason we should care about our
reputation so how to build a good name how to have a good name go to Titus
chapter 2 Titus chapter 2 we're looking what the Bible teaches on this and
number one to have a good name you must be a serious person you must be a
serious person when I think of people who have good reputations men that I
respect men that I look up to it's men that are serious serious about life
serious about serving God serious about their job and their family just serious
in general and look at Titus to it says this but speak now the things which
become sound doctrine young men likewise exhort to be notice sober minded in all
things showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine showing
uncrumpness gravity sincerity so twice in this list the idea of being serious
comes up being sober minded and being grave both have to do with someone
being very serious and I think it's interesting that this list here is
directed towards young men because the truth is you know you start building
your reputation in your youth that goes for men and women the Bible talks about
how even a child is known by his doings whether his work be right and whether
it be pure so even in your youth you know what rather than just wasting your
youth and just playing games and being silly you should learn to become a
person that is serious where life is not some big joke where everything's not some
sort of game yes there's fun and games in life we want to enjoy life but you
know what life should be taken seriously and one way you could do this is by
learning to fear the Lord go to Proverbs chapter number 9 fearing the Lord and you
know this kind of ties in with this morning sermon that you know if you want
your kids to grow up and be serious and be sober and be great you've got to
teach them to fear God and you know discipline is a big aspect of that we
talked about that this morning but notice what it says in Proverbs 9 verse 10 the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is
understanding for by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life
shall be in priest you know many people today are not sober about life many
people today are not even sober or grave or serious minded about their own
salvation and at the end of the day why is it that someone's not serious about
these things what's the root cause the root cause is that they don't fear God
you know someone who gets saved is someone who fears God right they find
out about the terror of the Lord they find out about the terror of hell and
they say hey I want to get saved what must I do to get saved that's someone
that at least has some part of them in life that wants to be serious there's
some serious things in this life and even beyond salvation why is it that
some people are just living carelessly not taking life seriously not thinking
about the future not thinking about things that are spiritual it comes down
to not fearing the Lord good Proverbs chapter 8 flip the page there Proverbs
chapter 8 you say how do I fear the Lord well here's one way verse 13 the fear of
the Lord is to hate evil pride and arrogance and the evil way and the
foward mouth do I hate if you want to be someone that has a reputation of being a
serious person you need to fear God and you know how you do that you do that by
hating evil you want to know why so many churches and why Christianity just in
general to the world's perspective or to some false religions perspective they
view Christianity as a religion that has ruined its reputation they view
Christianity as a weak religion and it's because many churches just don't hate
evil many preachers don't call out the evil of our world and people are going
to church and they're never hearing about serious topics you know church in
these new evangelical style churches it's not very serious it's all just you
know appealing to your flesh appealing to you know the big donors of the city
or whatever you know you wouldn't really hear a lot of sermons where they're
hating evil but that is what the Bible says actually fearing God is fearing God
is hating evil so if you want to be a serious person you need to hate evil go
to Psalm 34 Psalm 34 we need to learn to be serious people Psalm 34 11 says come
you children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord you know
what a serious person does someone who's sober someone who's grave is they open
up the Bible and read it every day because the Bible here saying I will
teach you the fear of the Lord how is it that someone gets the fear of God it's
from reading the Bible you know that's what the king was instructed to do is to
read there in all the days of his life so that he would fear God and so that
his heart would not be lifted up above his brethren and I'm here to tell you
that reading the Bible has a big effect on who you are and don't ever take this
for granted don't ever look over this don't ever think like you could arrive
to a certain point of your life where you could just throttle back on reading
the Bible you could just stop reading the Bible cover to cover every year no
you need to be someone who's serious and sober about the Word of God and read
therein every single day and you know there's tons of reasons for this but
even like we talked about this morning we don't realize how susceptible we are
to false doctrine to worldly ideology to people's opinions when we're not reading
the scripture you know because everyone likes to think that they're such a
free thinker and they're such a leader there's such a visionary but it's just
it's not true because people who don't read the Bible all think the same way
they all think the same worldly way and you know what your mind is not special we
need it our minds to be renewed with the Word of God go to 1st Corinthians chapter
13 1st Corinthians chapter 13 you know I think about someone being sober I think
about them fearing God I think about them reading the Word of God I think
about them putting away childish things putting away childish things in life 1st
Corinthians 13 verse 11 says when I was a child I spake as a child I understood as
a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things
you know what children care about they only care about having fun they only
care about enjoyment they only care about pleasing themselves and pleasing
their flesh but someone who is sober is not just thinking about the here and now
you know because if you just wanted to live your life max pleasure just maximum
pleasure of what you want to do you probably would not get a lot done for
God you probably would not get a lot done in your job because whatever your
favorite hobby is that's what you would just be sticking to but you know when you
become a man when you become someone who's sober and who's serious and by
the way this is not related to age someone could be very young and very
mature someone could be a 60 year old playing video games every night you know
that is it's not about age it's about maturity it's out putting away childish
things go to Proverbs chapter 29 Proverbs chapter number 29 and look
people when they bring up this verse they almost always bring up video games
and I don't believe that video games are inherently sinful but you know what I do
believe that you should not live to play video games like that should not be your
your thing in life what you care about what you wake up to do what really gets
you going in life is that you could just play video games that's not a sober
person that's not a serious person right a serious person is thinking about the
spiritual as their primary mission in life Proverbs 29 verse 18 says where
there is no vision the people perish but he that keep it the law happy is he you
know a serious person has a vision for their life you know we talked about on
Wednesday how is it that someone becomes wise how is it that someone finds
themselves serving God for decades doing great works for God it's never by
accident it's through desire a man having separated himself right and so
how does someone get a big vision accomplished how does someone do a great
work for God how does someone get to the end of their life and they've won
hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of people to Christ let me tell
you where that came from it came from a vision when they were young it came from
someone who decided I'm not just gonna wake up every day and play video games
and just kind of coast through life and see what happens in life it came from a
person who said I have a plan I have a goal I have a vision you know the most
important vision you should have is a spiritual one you know you should have a
big vision in your life to get lots of people saved to be a blessing to your
church to reach people for the kingdom of God and not just think small but think
big you know I had someone telling me recently that they wanted to in several
years be an evangelist and maybe go to another country hey praise God have a
big vision have a big dream I think that's great when people are thinking way
out into the future like that I can honestly say that when I got saved in
2013 I was already thinking about wanting to be a pastor and that vision
happened over a decade ago and you know you got to be thinking big into the
future not just kind of coasting through your life good Ephesians chapter number
5 Ephesians chapter number 5 also when I think about just being serious being
sober the obvious that comes to mind is don't be a person that's just joking
around all the time someone that just can't take anything seriously someone
who's just always has to have a sarcastic comment that gets old really
fast that's not someone who is sober look at Ephesians chapter 5 verse 3 but
fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named
among you has become its Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor
jesting that's talking about joking around which are not convenient but
rather giving of thanks you know there's like a disease in our culture now where
everything is a joke everything is funny everything has to be made into a meme or
some sort of video and look I love memes I love laughs there's a time and a place
to laugh I'm not saying you know never have fun or anything like that but you
ought to be able to switch that off and on you know you ought to be able to turn
on work mode you ought to be able to turn on church mode you ought to be able
to sit through a church service without scrolling memes on Instagram or
something like if you're doing that you have a serious addiction you have a
problem you need help call some sort of 1-800 phone number like you need to get
help okay not everything is just don't be addicted to this kind of stuff go to
Genesis chapter 19 and I remember when I first started going to a new IFB church
back when it was Verity Baptist Church Vancouver in 2017 I remember going
through pastor Jimenez's spiritual leadership program I remember he said
like hey if you want to be a pastor someday why don't you start dressing
like a pastor and acting like a pastor right now and I was like wow that's
that's a pretty interesting thought you know because you always think about oh I
want to do these things someday someday way down the road but he was saying like
wherever you are right now start acting like that now and you know that's that's
a good idea that's a good idea in your workplace if you want to progress you
know if you want to be the boss someday how does the boss dress right now how
does he talk to people how does he address people how does he carry
himself you know is he always joking around is he always being you know a
dork maybe he is maybe you work in that field and he is like that but a lot of
times your boss is serious a lot of times your boss means business here's a
saved person who was not taken seriously lot let's read verse 14 it says and lot
went out and spake unto his sons-in-law which married his daughters and said up
get you out of this place for the Lord will destroy this city notice this but
he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law you know here's the problem
if you're a person that just everything is a joke everything's funny is that one
time that you want to be serious that one time you want to be taken seriously
everyone thinks you're a big joke everyone can't take you seriously and
here's Lot he's been living a really wicked life and is a time where he's
like trying to be serious hey God's gonna destroy this city you guys need to
listen to me and they're like oh Lot's just joking around again oh Lot's
just you know he's as one that mocked Lot's just playing around again but yet
he was serious but he wasn't taken seriously because he wasn't living his
life in a sober way go to Job 29 Job is kind of the opposite of Lot where he
was a man that was taken seriously he was a man that demanded respect and you
know I just don't imagine Job being the type of guy that's just constantly being
sarcastic and constantly joking around he was a serious person why do I think
that look at Job 29 verse 8 Job said this and he's talking about the things
that he misses before he experienced you know the horrible tragedies in his life
verse 8 says the young men saw me and hid themselves the aged arose and stood
up the princes refrained talking and laid their hand on their mouth so
everyone that Job encountered respected him very highly whether it was the young
people they're running away they're just scared of him right the aged even the
old people they stand up you know standing up before someone is a sign of
respect and usually that's what you would do to the aged but Job was such a
respected person he was such a righteous person that the aged stood up before him
you know I think that's kind of an interesting picture of Jesus Christ how
he died as a very young man but yet young old doesn't matter we're all gonna
give Jesus Christ the respect and honor that he deserves because of his
righteousness and even Prince's government officials they would frame
talking you know they wouldn't interrupt Job if Job spoke they were
gonna listen verse 10 the nobles held their peace and their tongue cleaved to
the roof of their mouth when the ear heard me then it blessed me and when I
saw me it gave witness to me you know have you ever been around someone in
your life whether a church or just your personal life where if they're a part of
a conversation if they say something everyone's wanting to listen to this guy
right because they're just a person that has a reputation of wisdom and honor and
and they've built that reputation by being a serious person. Notice what it says in verse 12,
"Because I delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help him,
the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart
to sing for joy. I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and the cause
which I knew not. I searched out and I break the jaws of the wicked and pluck the spoil out of
his teeth. Sounds like Job was a serious person. Job was a person that feared God. Job was a person
that hated evil. He esteemed the word of God and because of that he had this great reputation about
him. And here's why we should desire this as Christians is because of this thing called
soul winning. It's because of this thing that we have called the gospel of Jesus Christ that we want
people to listen to, right? We want to make sure that people are hearing the gospel and getting a
chance to get saved. And when you have a good reputation, when you're someone who's wise and
honorable and someone that's sober, not just joking around all the time, you know, it makes
someone want to listen to you. It makes someone realize you're serious. You know, this is why I
think it's good to dress professionally when you go out soul winning because we're there with a
serious message. We're there with a joyous message, but it's a serious one, right? Because if you miss
this free gift, if you don't take this free gift, you're going to spend eternity in hell. You know,
so I would recommend being someone who's sober, out soul winning, not joking around too much,
dressing nice, being an ambassador of Christ because we want people to listen to the gospel.
Go back to Titus chapter two, Titus chapter number two, and you can keep your place there
throughout the sermon because this list that it gives us, it's kind of explaining how this young
man here could have a good reputation. Number two, have a pattern of good works. Number two,
have a pattern of good works. Let's read again verse one, it says, "But speak thou the things
which become sound doctrine. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded." Notice this, "In all
things showing thyself a pattern of good works." Right? So the Bible's saying young man, you want
to grow up and be someone that's respected, have a good reputation. You need to have a pattern,
a consistency about you in all things. Right? You don't want to be one person at work where maybe,
you know, at work you don't really give it all you got. You're not really working hard.
You're not doing your job as a Christian. You're not being a good testimony. But then at church,
you put on a show. Right? At church, you're on time, you're working, you're helping,
you're volunteering. You want to have a pattern of good works in all things. In your home life,
in your work life, in your church life, all things. Go to Proverbs 22, Proverbs chapter number 22.
Proverbs 22 verse 29, Bible says, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand
before kings. He shall not stand before mean men." And this word diligent, I think is kind of picking
up this idea of having a pattern of good works. The word diligent means constant in effort to
accomplish something, attentive and persistent in doing anything, right? So you don't want to just,
well sometimes he works really hard, you know, on some projects he's reliable and he works really
hard, but then other times he doesn't, other times he doesn't care, other times he's unreliable. No,
you want to be a person who's constantly putting in as much effort as you can, right? You know,
don't be one of these people, this drives me nuts, one of these people that just calls in sick all
the time even when you're not sick. You know, that's not being a person who's diligent, that's not
being someone who's just have a reputation of always having a pattern of good works. Look,
call sick when you're sick, call sick when you really, you know, you got doctor's appointments,
you got stuff going on like that, but you don't want to be this person that's perceived by your
boss as unreliable, you know, because that's not going to lead to promotion, but a man who's diligent
in his business, he shall stand before kings. When you have a good reputation, you have a higher
chance of being promoted in the workplace, but you get to decide how to build that reputation.
Go to Proverbs 20, Proverbs 20. I mentioned this verse earlier, but it's worth looking at.
Proverbs 20 verse 11 says, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure
and whether it be right." Do not wait until later in life to start learning how to work hard.
You know, us as parents, we need to help our children with this, that even kids can develop
a reputation for themselves. And, you know, I'll call out my friend, brother Jason West,
and steadfast, his young boy. I think about how he's got to be like 10 or 11 years old,
but like that kid has a reputation, even though he's a child. Some of you even in this room know
who I'm talking about right now, because he's just such a respectful young man, and he holds the door
open for everyone. And anytime he sees anyone have a need, he's ready to carry something,
he's ready to assist, he's ready to be a blessing, he's a young child. That kid is going places.
That kid is not going to stand before mean men because he's diligent in his business even as a
child. So we don't want to just write off children and be like, "Oh, they'll figure that out when
they're 18. They'll figure out how to work hard once they have to provide for a wife and kids."
No, let's not wait then. Let's teach them now at whatever age they're at to learn to work hard,
to put their nose down and get a task done without whining or dragging their feet or making excuses,
but actually being diligent. A child that learns that, I mean, they have the golden ticket in life.
They are going to be successful, doesn't matter what career they pick, doesn't matter what skill
they get, because it's the character that they have that's going to cause them to be successful.
Go to Genesis chapter 30, Genesis chapter number 30. You know, when I think of a man who was like
this, who was diligent in his business, who was someone who had a pattern of good works,
I think of Jacob. Because when Jacob quit his job, something really interesting happened. Genesis
30 verse 25, "And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban,
Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, into my own country. Give me my wives and my
children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go, for thou knowest my service, which I have done
thee." So we know that of course Jacob was working for Laban. He had worked for him for years and
years. He wants to do his own thing now. Verse 27 says, "And Laban said unto him, I pray thee,
if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry." So he tries to quit and he's saying, "Stay. This is what
I want you to do. Don't quit your job. Stay. For I have learned by experience that the Lord hath
blessed me for thy sake." What a great testimony that when you try to quit your job, your boss is
like, "Please don't quit. Please stay." There's plenty of people who quit their job and their boss
is thinking, "Thank God because I couldn't go through all the HR hoops and I didn't have enough
evidence and I couldn't get everything done." But sometimes people quit and they're just like, "Oh,
thank you, Lord." Other times someone quits, he's like, "Terry, stay." Notice what he says in verse
28. He said, "Appoint me thy wages and I will give it." How would you like your boss to say,
"Hey, name your price. You want a raise? Just name your price. Tell me your wages. I'm going to give
it to you. I want you to stay." He said unto him, "Thou knowest how I have served thee and how thy
cattle was with me, and notice the result of Jacob's work. For it was little which thou hadst before I
came, and it is now increased unto a multitude. And the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming,
and now when shall I provide for my own house also?" Jacob produced results for his boss.
And when you actually produce results, when you actually get things done,
you are going to build a good reputation at work. Because your boss does not necessarily,
maybe sometimes, but your boss does not necessarily care about what church you go to,
and all your views, and whether or not your pastor has ever been on the news.
Most of the time, your boss cares about are you making the company money? Are you harming the
company's reputation? Are you helping it? Are you giving good customer service? Or are you hurting
people? Are you not giving good customer service? Those are the bottom lines that your boss cares
about. And Jacob's saying, "Look, I had little before I, or you had little before I came. Now
you have much." And you know, this is also how you become very valuable in the kingdom of God.
And how if you want God to promote you, you want God to bless you, well, hey, how much profit are
you bringing to the kingdom of God? Is there little people that you're getting saved in your
life or are you getting lots of people saved? And look, a position or a title has nothing to do with
how effective you could be as a sole winner. You could be a grandma and have tons and tons of people
saved every year. You could be a child and get tons and tons of people saved. And you could be like
Jacob where it's like hey we started with little but at the end of the year there was much people
saved and you could be an effective worker for God. Go to Titus 2, Titus chapter 2. You know it's
fine if people think like yeah you know this guy has some extreme views but man is he a great worker.
You know that that's fine if people have that reputation of you but you don't want to have a
reputation of being lazy. You don't want to have a reputation of being someone who's stealing time
from the company or just stealing money or products from the company or lying to your customers or
being someone that just doesn't show up when they said that they're going to be there. You know
first Peter 4 14 you can say there I'll read for you it says if you be reproached for the name of
christ happy are you right hey rejoice if you're persecuted for the name of christ I know people
who have lost their jobs because of sermons that they preached you know what it's not because
they're a bad worker it's because they're a great christian hey happy are those people blessed are
those people for the spirit of glory and of god resteth upon you on their part he is evil spoken
of but on your part he is glorified but let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an
evildoer or as a busy body in other men's matters so it's like hey it's okay if you're suffering as
long as you're suffering for being righteous not suffering for being a jerk for being a bad worker
you know i saw this post one time on facebook where this guy got up and he said hey please pray for me
please pray that i get a better job you know my boss gave me a work review today a negative work
review and i ripped it up in his face and threw it all over his office and quit can you please pray
that god will bless me with another job it's like no you idiot what's wrong with you you're supposed
to submit yourselves to your boss you're supposed to be respectful to your authority not sit there
and rip up some paper in his face and throw it over his office you really think god wants to bless
you with a better job when you're a terrible employee at the company that you're at i'm not
going to pray that prayer for you i'm going to tell you to learn how to work hard that's what you need
you need someone to tell you to respect your boss and obey your boss and do your job well that's
what you need you don't need god to give you another job because you're just gonna do the same
thing there being a terrible worker okay that's a bad testimony for jesus christ how to build a good
name number three have good doctrine have good doctrine titus 2 verse 1 says but speak thou the
things which become sound doctrine young men likewise exhort to be sober minded in all things
showing thyself a pattern of good works notice in doctrine showing uncorruptness gravity sin
serity you know we live in a time where especially just the mainstream style of church is really
de-emphasizing doctrine and you know i think it's causing the reputation of christianity to be a
little tainted where it's like we as christians we should be constantly fighting for doctrine
for beliefs of the bible but sometimes people have this weird mentality about christianity where
it's like well i love jesus i love god but i'm just not that into doctrine you know i don't want to
sit here and argue about doctrine let me tell you something doctrine is how you know god doctrine is
how you have a relationship with god is knowing what the bible says knowing the word of god is
how you know jesus because jesus is the word of god you know so we don't have this idea of like
de-emphasizing doctrine de-emphasizing the scripture if anything the bible teaches the
opposite go to matthew chapter 7 matthew 7 and you know even in other churches like we're talking
about there's this there's this idea of preachers not preaching doctrine but getting up and just
preaching their opinion you know that is going to hurt someone's reputation as a man of god who's
been instructed specifically to preach the word and you're getting up and you're just constantly
preaching your opinion over and over and over again you know that's annoying to listen to that
rubs me the wrong way i'm sure it rubs people in the pews the wrong way when pastors just get up
and preach their opinion constantly especially when they don't tell you it's their opinion
especially when they sit there and act like their opinion is doctrine where they're just
dogmatic about it no let's actually fight for doctrine and leave our opinions at the door you
know out soul winning today there was this woman who was like a holiness pentecostal holy ruler
and she was just she would not let me get a word in about the gospel she's telling me you got
her a pen of your sins you can't just live however you want and i finally she slowed down i finally
said well here's the truth ma'am is that your opinion and my opinion does not matter at all
but can i just show you from the bible what jesus christ said about eternal security and she just
freaked out it yelled at me and then she went in the door she went inside and slammed the door
and me and brother alex heard her go just like some demon possessed what am i telling the truth
yeah just some demon possessed woman but it's like look i care about doctrine why i love jesus i
want to know what he said i don't care what my opinion is i don't care what your opinion is
what matters is the truth is what jesus said and guess what that's what jesus also said about
himself look at matthew seven verse 24 therefore whosoever heareth these notice sayings of mine
and do it them i will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rain
descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for his
founded upon a rock who are you going to listen today to who are you going to build your life upon
today is it going to be your own ideas your own worldly philosophy the psychology books educators
you know whatever all the different sources that are out there or is it going to be the sayings
of jesus christ that's a decision you have to make and i know what i'm going to choose it's going to
be the word of god why because when the rain comes when the storm comes you know your worldly
philosophy is not going to stand against the storms of this life you know your your marriage
is not going to stand your child rearing is not going to stand this church's vision is not going
to stand if we're doing things based on our own wisdom and own opinion we have to get anchored
into the rock and make sure that we're fighting for doctrine and that is how you're going to have a
good name not someone that's known as oh that guy preaches false doctrine oh that guy preaches
damnable heresy talk about ruining your reputation really fast as a man of god it's preaching heresy
we need to make sure that we are anchored to the rock verse 26 and everyone that hear these sayings
of mine and do with them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand
you know so when you hear the words of god and you decide i'm not going to listen to that i'm
not going to do what the bible says i'm going to trust in my own heart i'm going to do what i think
is right i'm going to do what i heard from this woman pastor this book or whatever source it is
that doesn't match the bible that's like building a house on sand you don't have to know much about
construction to know that's a really bad idea that's going to be a really unsure foundation
you need the sure foundation verse 27 and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds
blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it that is the story of
any institution any person who's not based on good doctrine from the word of god is failure
go to first timothy chapter number four first timothy chapter number four having good doctrine
is so important first timothy 412 says let no man despise thy youth but be thou an example of the
believers in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity till i come give
attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine right so the young pastor here is being told look
don't let anyone despise your youth but you need to give attendance to you need to pay attention to
and give yourself holy to doctrine and you know how you get doctrine you get it from reading
the word of god you know it's great to listen to sermons i think if you listen to sermons that's
totally fine that's great there's a lot of great pastors you can go listen to and i'm 100 for that
but i'm telling you if you're doing that but you're not reading the bible you are not going to
understand doctrine on the level of someone who actually reads the bible you can learn things you
can learn facts but it's kind of a danger that is kind of new to our society with the internet and
youtube and stuff like this is that you could open up the rumble app or the youtube app and you could
just start watching sermons and you can start downloading so much information into your brain
really quickly and you you could even fool yourself to think like wow i really know a lot wow
you know i'm really growing super fast but if you're not actually reading the bible and
cementing these doctrines into your heart and making them your own beliefs not just something
that you repeat because i've noticed sometimes you know people when they're actually when they
actually have to explain a doctrine it's just repeating exact quotes from someone because they
often don't actually understand it themselves you know i'm sure it's like this maybe in other
professions maybe like the legal profession too or maybe people don't actually understand the law
but they kind of just repeat things that they've heard separation of church and state separation
of church of state is like they don't even know what they're talking about when they say things
like that you know it's the same thing spiritually oftentimes where people think that they know the
bible but let me tell you something if you've never read the bible cover to cover you don't
know anything okay and if you've read it cover to cover once you're just barely getting started
and what's funny is i've read the bible cover to cover over 20 times and i was like when i became
a pastor i was just like man i don't even know if 20 is enough maybe i should do like 30 because
the more and more times you read the bible the more you realize that there's a ton left to learn
there's a ton of doctrines that you don't fully have your mind wrapped around and that's still
the case with me today and that's why i need to give attendance to doctrine to reading the word
of god go to if you would titus number two titus number two number four when it comes to building
a good name having a good reputation this one's very important number four be sincere be a real
person be sincere titus two verse one notice what it says again but speak thou the things which
become sound doctrine young men likewise exhort to be sober minded in all things showing thyself a
pattern of good works in doctrine showing uncrumpness gravity sincerity man there's nothing
one of my biggest pet peeves one of just something that hits the hot button for me
is when i find out that someone is untrustworthy you know the same thing at work like if i find out
that someone at work made a mistake but they're honest with me no problem we all make mistakes
or even in church life stuff like that but the moment i find out that someone's lying to my face
or someone is acting like i'm so great and then i'm your friend and i like you and you know i'm
so happy you move here whatever the situation is and then i find out that behind my back they're
talking crap that just hits my hot button i just don't like people that are insincere and i'm and
here's the thing if you don't like someone if you're not someone's biggest fan you don't
necessarily have to go to that person's face and tell them i hate you you're terrible okay
but at the same time you also shouldn't flatter and lie you know you could just say nothing you
know you don't have to go out of your way to be a jerk to someone and you also shouldn't go out of
your way to lie and just make all these things way over the top i had someone tell me one time
in church they said like that was the best sermon i've ever heard on this topic and then they were
gone a week later and it's just like wow you know why would you quit on someone that just preached
the best sermon ever on that topic right and of course i did not preach the best sermon ever on
that topic that's the point it's flattery it's insincere and you want to ruin your reputation
very quickly is start lying start being a flatterer start being insincere man that is hard
to come back from that is hard to rebuild your reputation for because most people can tolerate
mistakes you know lapses of judgment even just straight up sins but when it comes to just being
completely dishonest and completely duplicitous and being a fake and being a phony that's something
that's hard to overlook you know that you have no trust anymore go to romans chapter number 12
romans chapter number 12 and look it's okay be sincere i want people to be in the church that
they like i want people to be under the pastor that they like if that's not me it's someone else
praise the lord there's no problem with that but the point is just be sincere go to a church where
you could sincerely back the pastor go to church where you can sincerely can sincerely get on board
with the program of the church romans 12 nine says let love be without dissimulation right that's
being fake abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good so there is a love out there
that is feigned or faked or simulated and the bible's telling us don't be that way don't let
your love be with this simulation and one of the ways that people do that it says hey make sure you
abhor that which is evil kind of going back to the point about being serious and fearing god abhorring
that which is evil cleaving to that which is good you know when people when you start seeing people
love evil love railers love liars hang out with super wicked people that are known slanderers and
liars i could tell you that they don't love that their love is simulated right to have real love we
have to abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good go to proverbs 27 proverbs chapter
number 27 proverbs 27 verse 5 the bible says open rebuke is better than secret love faithful are the
wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful look it's better to even rebuke your
friend or say something that could possibly hurt their feelings but you're being honest and upfront
and sincere with that person than to be someone who has secret love or even worse going behind
people's back and slandering them and talking crap about them you know we want to be people that are
open and honest with each other where we have the ability to communicate freely and not have like a
fear culture where we can't talk to each other we can't ever correct each other or anything like
that open rebuke is better than secret love psalm 15 go to psalm chapter number 15 i love this psalm
and we sing it often here psalm 15 notice what it says in verse one lord who shall abide in thy
tabernacle and i always kind of like to think of this psalm as like who is it that's going to
stick with church who is it that's going to stick with serving god in their life who shall dwell in
thy holy hill he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart
he that backbiteeth not with his tongue nor do it evil to his neighbor nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor in whose eyes a vile person is contempt but he honoreth them that fear the lord
he that sweareth to his own herd and changeth not so notice it lists all these things that a type of
person will need to do or not do to be one that abides in the house of god that abides in the
tabernacle of the lord talks about people that don't backbite with their tongue you know that is a
common sin that we just need to have the maturity to just grow out of that childish pedantic activity
of going behind people's back and talking crap about them you know the word the bible says the
words of a tail bearer are as wounds right you know we hear that phrase sticks and stones may break
my bones but words can never hurt me and i understand the sentiment behind that of being
tough and being thick skinned but the bible literally says that the words of a tail bearer
are as wounds how are they as wounds how are they like wounds well because they hurt that's why
like a wound hurts you the words of a tail bearer hurts you and you know it's annoying it's
frustrating when people just go behind your back and usually when they're going behind their back
you know what they're doing they're lying about you they're railing about you they're making up
stories about you you know i've seen a lot of that the last couple months and it just it's annoying
it's frustrating it's not spiritual behavior it's not the way that christians should be acting and
it's not the way that someone should be acting if they want to have a good reputation right that's
going to ruin your reputation if someone knows oh this person will talk crap about you you can't
trust this person you can't have this person too close to your life because they will go talk crap
about you behind your back you know you are hurting yourself when you're a tail bearer
you're hurting other people and you're hurting yourself you're hurting your own reputation uh
let's see go to uh titus chapter 2 titus chapter number 2 last one we'll talk about this evening of
how to have a good name is have sound speech have sound speech titus 2 verse 1 the bible says but
speak thou the things which become sound doctrine young men likewise exhort to be sober minded in
all things showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine showing uncorruptness gravity
sincerity sound speech here's why that cannot be condemned that he that is of the contrary part
may be ashamed having no evil thing to say of you you know men of god and christians are going to
have enemies are going to have haters are going to have gainsayers that want to speak against and
criticize you and so that's why it's so important to fear god have good doctrine have all these
things that we're talking about and additionally having sound speech so that he that is of the
contrary part has no evil thing to say of you you know i want my you know hater youtube comments
to be full of people lying and railing about me rather than leveling things that are actually
true against me like hey here here's this minute marker where pastor aus preached false doctrine
like i would be ashamed of that i would have to correct that issue and i'd have to change
but you know if someone is leaving stupid hater comments where they're lying about me
i could say well hey at least it's a lie yeah yeah they're lying about me yeah that hurts yeah
that sucks but at least it's not true at least they don't have anything to say against the sermon
or if they do have something to say it's like yeah i read the comment but you're still wrong
and i'm right because i have the bible on my side you know that's why you need to have
sound speech and this isn't just for the pastor this is for all of god's people need to have sound
speech that cannot be condemned how can what are some ways we could have sound speech go to proverbs
chapter 15 proverbs chapter number 15 proverbs 15 verse 4 notice what it says it says a wholesome
tongue is a tree of life but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit you know kind of reminds
me of the verse that talks about how the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that
wineth souls is wise someone that has sound speech or someone that has a wholesome tongue
you know what they are they're a soul winner that is having sound speech the most sound speech you
could possibly ever have is when you're speaking the gospel of jesus christ that is a way to have
a good reputation is being someone that preaches the gospel you know i want to encourage everyone
in this church and i will always encourage this and if you are tired of hearing about soul winning
you will never stop hearing about it i want to encourage everyone in this church to become a
soul winner and look even if you're just a silent partner folks i'm not i'm not expecting everyone
to just be a talker right away without training or anything like that i don't even care if you
remain a silent partner for the rest of your life i just want you to go soul winning i want you to
help us in our efforts i want you to be a part of earning spiritual rewards and doing something for
god and the more silent partners we have i can't tell you how many saturdays when we're pairing up
three soul winners together because we don't have that extra fourth person whereas if we just had
one more silent partner we would literally double our efforts and you know what doubling our efforts
means it means doubling salvations it means doubling the amount of people going to heaven
when they die by you showing up and just standing there at the door with someone i'm not asking a
lot i'm not asking everyone to know how to preach the gospel super effectively without doing it
without getting training and learning but everyone can be a silent partner everyone can do that and
that is something that jesus christ expects of you i'm not i'm not saying this is my rule this is me
jesus said go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature that was jesus's
commandment that is why our church exists is to fulfill the great commission to reach people to
bring them in baptize them and teach them all things that christ commanded and you know what
we need to make sure that we as christians have sound speech how do we do that we do that by
preaching the gospel primarily that's the most sound speech you could possibly have here's some
other verses on that aphesians chapter 4 we're almost done this evening aphesians chapter number
four if you'll turn there aphesians chapter number four says in verse 29 let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may
minister grace unto the hearers you know what's edifying is the word of god you know what's edifying
is truth you know it's not sound speech you know what can be condemned is preaching lies preaching
false doctrine see a lot of times people look at this verse and they'll say oh this means that you
can't say hell or damn or piss or bastard even though those are all bible words that i just said
no i didn't just cuss those are bible words guess what cussing doesn't exist in the bible this is a
man-made construct that does not exist and people will be like oh yeah you know corrupt communication
that's talking about cussing you know i'm way more concerned about someone preaching false doctrine
than i am if someone's ever said a bad word in their life and i would rather listen to a pastor
that said a bad word but is edifying his congregation by preaching the truth
preaching hard against sin than the nicest sweetest most kind little liar from behind the pulpit
little slanderer from behind the pulpit the guy i'm just so great you know let's go back to our
pastor just be as wonderful and as holy as me and just never say a potty word yeah as your preaching
sucks yeah as you're preaching false doctrine yeah as you're saying oh slander can sometimes be true
you retard i don't want to listen to that that's not edifying that's corrupt communication oh you
said damn and piss and bastard and hell those are bible words oh you said the word faggot you know i
never want our church to be so nice and shiny and wonderful that if i ever said the word faggot from
behind the pulpit that all of a sudden the whole church gets up and leaves you know i want to keep
a little bit of a rugged spirit to our church i want to keep a little bit of hardness to our church
and hey i hope that god blesses our church and we grow and i hope someday we have a nice building
but you know what the preaching should never change the preaching should never be corrupt
by getting soft or starting and teaching lies no i want to keep the same culture where no matter
how big we are or how small we are i can get up here and say all the words of god and edify the
congregation with the truth regardless if it's something that's popular or not in our society
corrupt communication is lying railing preaching false doctrine blaspheming talking about things
that are sinful making a mock of sin these are this is corrupt communication but you know what
every word of god is pure and you're never going to convince me that a bible word is a bad word
and by the way when peter denied christ and he was cursing and swearing he wasn't saying four
letter words he wasn't saying like i bleep and don't believe in bleep and jesus that's not what
he was saying he was saying like may god curse me may god strike me dead if i know him i swear
that i don't know him that's what cursing and swearing means okay i've heard this priest and
it just it's drives me nuts that's not what peter was doing okay james chapter number one james
chapter number one have a good reputation and you know what way beyond just having a good reputation
who am i primarily concerned with having a good reputation with is god right so if i preach
something that's true that's biblical that's edifying and the world gets upset and they say
it's mean they say it's hateful but god approves it then good reputation right if spirit-filled
christians approve it good reputations if the world hates you for the words of jesus christ
good reputation but if the world hates you for being a liar bad reputation the world hates you
for being a thief bad adulterer bad railer bad right but if the world hates you for preaching
the words of jesus christ i could live with that all day long i'm fine with that james 1 verse 19
wherefore my beloved brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for the
wrath of god i'm sorry the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of god if any man among you seem
to be religious and bridleeth not his tongue but deceiveeth his own heart this man's religion is
vain when it comes to having sound speech sometimes we need to control that by just saying nothing at
all or be people who are slow to speak slow to wrath oftentimes in our life when we say things
that are not sound speech the things in our life that we look back on and we say i regret saying
that it was often when we were quick to respond not really sitting and thinking things through
just blowing off at the mouth you know if you want to have sound speech be someone that doesn't just
blow off your mouth be someone that you could sit and consider and think and ponder before
responding that'll help you have a better reputation when it comes to the things that you say because
we all think dumb things right if we're honest with each other you know we have foolish thoughts
that's a sin but it's reality we have foolish thoughts we may think things sometimes that you're
like i'm glad that my boss doesn't hear what i'm thinking right now and lord forgive me i gotta
change my heart but don't be the person that actually says those things right make sure that
you're thinking and pondering things and being filled with the spirit so you don't say things
that are not sound speech we'll close in proverbs 22 if you'll turn there one more time proverbs
chapter number 22 proverbs 22 verse 1 the bible says a good name is rather to be chosen than great
riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold we should value our testimony as christians
we should value the reputation that we hold as christians not so that the world could think we're
cool and so that everyone can like us but so that we can be honoring to god that's why we should
worry about our reputation because oftentimes god's reputation is tied in with our reputation
i mean if you go soul winning how many times have you heard i don't go to church because
this bad pastor this bad church had this bad experience and god's name sometimes is being
dragged through the mud through our actions and our reputation we have to realize that we carry
a very important title as ambassadors of jesus christ and we need to safeguard and build our
reputation as christians how are we going to do that number one be serious number two have a pattern
of good works number three have good doctrine number four be sincere number five have sound
speech let's have a word of prayer lord we do thank you for the word of god and all the instruction
therein i pray that all of us would take very seriously the fact that we are ambassadors of
jesus christ that you've entrusted us with the great commission and i pray that we would work on
building a good reputation by applying these things to our lives not for our own glory lord
but so that we can give you the honor and glory that you deserve we love you in jesus name we pray
amen sing one last song to conclude the service if you would take your hymnals at this time
and turn to hymn number 140 we have an anchor sing it nice and loud him number 140
we'll go ahead and start there right on the first will your anchor hold in the storms of life when
the clouds unfold their wings of strife when the strong tides lift and the cable strain
will your anchor drift or free may we anchor the soul dead fast and sure while billows roll
fast into the rock which can deep in the saviour's love storm withstand
or just well secured by the saviour's hand though the dead short into this evening with