Avoid Foolish Questions

Sermon Transcript

First of all I would just like to thank Pastor Stucky for the opportunity to preach here. It was such a blessing to have him with us last week and to see such great hospitality from the brethren at Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne. So I would like to thank everyone for that.

We had our scripture reading in Titus chapter 3, and I think this type of sermon is important to preach because we as saved believers sometimes like to give people the benefit of the doubt when they are asking us questions. We think maybe they are sincere, maybe they are actually asking from the right place. But I think it is really important that we hearken to God's word when the Bible says we are to avoid foolish questions. We often think people have good intentions and we think they are just sincerely trying to find out what the truth is. And that is why we actually have to be able to understand where they are coming from and what their intentions are, so we actually know how to behave ourselves.

We often get dragged into unwanted contentions, things that we just find ourselves going down as a rabbit trail. And sometimes people will even say, hey, that was just bait and you took the bait. A lot of people are actually going to try to bait us into getting into their contentions. So I want us to avoid foolish questions today and see what the Bible is teaching on this.

There are three points today. Maintain the good. Do not waste your time. And be fruitful.

Point 1: Maintain the Good

Before we can actually avoid foolish questions, there is something we have to do first. We have to maintain the good. Point number one is maintain the good.

Titus 3:8: "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men."

So maintain the good, but avoid foolish questions. We are looking at maintaining the good — maintaining marriage by sticking to marriage. When you get married, you maintain it till death do you part. That is how you maintain good things. These are things that we are to affirm constantly. Paul is writing to Titus telling him — keep speaking about these things, keep putting believers in remembrance that they are to maintain the good and continually do good things.

Have you believed on God? The Bible says be careful — meaning be diligent, be something that you are actually thinking about. Maintaining good works in your life means to care about it. Giving diligent heed to something means you are caring about it and thinking about it. That is why we are to keep soul-winning every week. We ought to keep reading our Bible daily. That is maintaining the good. Keep getting sin out of your life every day. Keep walking in that new man. Why? Because the Bible says here at the end of verse 8, these things are good and profitable unto men.

Why are we even doing good things? When people say what is the point of doing good things if you are already saved, why not just live however you like — the Bible says these things are good and profitable unto men. We actually care about other people in our lives, we care about the unsaved. And when we maintain the good, we are actually a blessing to those unsaved people. People that are saved from hell actually profit because of our good works. Someone said to me, I really like how you and your wife are constantly going out soul-winning week by week — it is an encouragement. So by me maintaining my good works, that is good and profitable unto men, good and profitable even to my brothers in Christ. It is profitable to the unsaved and to the saved.

Our works are not about maintaining our salvation, because salvation is not of works. But these good works are actually for men. We see in the Bible that if we continue maintaining these things, they are good and profitable unto men.

Ecclesiastes 7:8: "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." You know Saul in the Bible — King Saul. He started off really well. He was humble in his own eyes. But the Bible says he fell away from that. He stopped being humble in his own eyes. When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? What happened? He did not maintain the good. He was not able to endure in the good things he was doing. He did not maintain his humility. And what happened? He stopped being profitable unto man. He actually started being an evil unto man. He started persecuting his brethren, started hating his brethren. And there is no real middle ground where people just coast out of the Christian life neutrally. You actually start walking in the old man. You actually start being full of envy, full of contentions. You start not avoiding foolish questions. You stop caring about what the Bible says. Why? Because you have not maintained those good works.

We also see Solomon in the Bible. Instead of maintaining his love for his first wife, he started having many wives. He started caring about other women. And because of that, the Bible says those other women drew his heart away from God. He was not able to maintain that marriage where the Bible actually says it is till death do you part — one man, one woman. Maintain the marriage. And learn from the failures of others. There are horrible statistics in the world about divorce — people that just cannot maintain. You probably see marriages that look so happy. They put all the pictures on Instagram. They look so happy, and then in like one year it is over. They just were not able to maintain that marriage.

Sometimes people start so well and you think these guys have such a great outlook on life, but then what happens? They do not maintain the good. The Bible says the patient person recognises that this is a marathon, not a sprint. The proud in spirit thinks okay I have got this, I am achieving something right now. But the patient in spirit is better. What does it mean to be patient? It is like when you are running a marathon — you are not just sprinting full force. You are pacing yourself. You are realising hey, I need to do this to the end of my life. I need to be consistent. I need to maintain good things.

There are a lot of people that get newly saved and start reading their Bible, trying to read it four times through in a year, and start judging everyone else. But they are not maintaining — they are going all out and then burning out. Not realising it is a marathon. Find something you can do. If you can get through the Bible at least once in a year, that is 15 minutes a day. Just get through it once in a year. If obviously you can get through it more, that is great. It is just about maintaining what you can do and actually keeping at it. It is going to be much worse if you just get out of the fight like Saul did than if you just maintained throughout your whole life. End well. The Bible says better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.

Go to Ephesians chapter 6:10.

The proud in spirit just wants to be recognised right now. They want everyone to see them now. But the longevity — like Pastor said last week, Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne is going to be around for years to come. This is something that is going to continue doing great works for the Lord. And something I want the church members of Soulwinning Baptist Church to realise is hey, we are going to start this, but in 5 years, 10 years, we are going to be bringing forth fruit in old age. The Bible says you can actually bring forth fruit in old age.

There was a woman that passed away in the Philippines. Pastor told me about her. She was the mother of a brother in the church in Manila. She got saved at 70 years old. And from 70 to 76, she was on fire as a soul winner — an old woman just preaching the gospel, getting people saved in her community. She ended up passing away at the age of 76. But she redeemed the time. She realised I have to redeem this time. I think they were from a Catholic family. She redeemed those six years of her life. And you might think, oh, I am 70 years old, what can I do with my life? But she was able to redeem that time. She was able to serve God with her life. She was able to bring forth fruit even in her old age. And that is something that is an encouragement for me. It does not have to be something you only do when you are young and passionate. You can do it even in your old age.

Ephesians 6:10–18: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

The Bible says we have to put on the armour of God so we can stand with standing. And it is a wrestling match. A wrestling match takes time. If you remember Jacob in the Bible — from the night to the dawning of the day he was wrestling. It is not something that just happens all at once. It is about maintaining something over time. And in a wrestle, unlike an arm wrestle which can be over really quickly, you are putting sustained effort in. We see Jacob wrestling with God. He was maintaining. The Bible says here for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Wrestling is something you are going to have to strive at.

Verse 13: "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Put every effort forward to maintain, to stand in your posture. We need to do whatever it takes to stand. Verse 14: "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." How can we maintain the good works in our life? By putting on God's armour.

Verse 15: "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." It is about even having your feet ready to go and preach the gospel. Being prepared to preach the gospel is part of that armour that is going to help you withstand and stand in that evil day. If we are called Soulwinning Baptist Church, I would love to know that everybody is ready to be preaching the gospel. Those that are now in that season where they are silent partners, they are taking heed, they are listening, they are trying to take notes, they are trying to learn so they can also have their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Why? Because it is part of the armour. It is going to help you stand.

Do you guys know the story of Troy? When Achilles was shot in the foot — just some weakness, some armour lacking on the foot — it actually hindered him from standing. Because of that he was not able to fight. In the same way, if we are not ready and do not have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, we are not going to be able to maintain and stand. That is why it says do all that you can to stand, making it a priority. And if you are not able to preach the gospel confidently, I want to encourage you that you could be coming out soul-winning more and actually learning how to do it and be able to help out. Even being a silent partner is incredibly important. I know that Pastor Shel's wife was a silent partner for a year straight before she actually got the confidence to talk. So there is no shame in being a silent partner. I am just really grateful that you are out there learning so that one day you will be able to lead people to Christ as well.

Verse 16: "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." The shield of faith is what absorbs those attacks from the devil. People are going to attack us. Our faith is going to get tested in this life. Like Pastor said, Jesus straight away went into the wilderness being tempted of the devil after his baptism. You make that decision for God, you get baptised, and then straight away — why am I getting persecuted, why are all these attacks happening?

1 Peter 4:12–16: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; 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 busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."

Sometimes you go through a trial in your life and think, what is happening? The Bible says think it not strange. Do not even think that this is odd. The Bible says rejoice, as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings. Your feelings and emotions are not going to be rejoicing and being happy. But the Bible says if you are reproached for the name of Christ, you ought to be happy, you ought to be rejoicing. For the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. What an awesome promise — when people condemn you and attack you for believing things in the word of God, God's spirit rests on you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

And do not think something strange is happening to you when you go through various persecutions. Is your suffering because you have done evil? Is your suffering because you have been busy in other people's matters? No. If your suffering is just because of the name of Christ, be happy about it. Do not be ashamed. Actually glorify God on this behalf.

Back in Ephesians 6 verse 17: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Rejoice that your name is written in the book of life. Remember when the disciples said the demons are subject unto us — Jesus said rejoice that your name is written in the book of life. That is something to be happy about. You have to be joyful that your name is written in that book of life and nothing is going to blot it out because you have received eternal life. Taking that helmet of salvation — that rejoicing, that joy that we have salvation and eternal life — is part of that armour that is going to help us stand. And the sword of the Spirit is the word of God.

Titus 1:9: "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." Sound doctrine means things that are correct in the Bible. You are able to rightly divide the word of truth. It is sound. It is correct. It is right. By being able to understand the Bible through sound doctrine, you are able to exhort people, and you are able to convince the gainsayers — people that are going to have honest questions, people that actually come to you with a genuine intention wanting to hear the word of God. You are able to convince them through the Bible, through sound doctrine. We preach the Bible here, and those that are opposed to it, we are hoping that they are going to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Romans 8:31–32: "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" God is for us. God has given us salvation. We have so many promises in God's word. These are things we should be claiming and caring about. That is part even of sound doctrine — realising hey, God has given us all these great promises and we are meant to take God's word throughout our life. Even when persecution comes, we have to just realise God's word is going to strengthen us. I have heard a lot of pastors say when I am going through a really dark valley, I start reading Psalm 1, and by the time I am planning on getting to Psalm 10 I am already feeling better. I am already encouraged. When you go through a dark time, just pick up the book of Psalms and start reading it and you will see your mood change. It needs to be part of our daily life — the word of God maintained throughout our day.

Remember that the children of Israel were told to maintain this. Deuteronomy 6:6–9: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." So we see him giving diligence — making a life about it. Something that you are just constantly exhorting your children about and convincing your children about from the Bible. He wants us to maintain God's word. It is something we are meant to be thinking about and caring about. And we need to be reminded of these things.

Deuteronomy 11:18: "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." God wants us to lay up his words in our hearts. He is affirming this truth again. Keep showing them, keep teaching them the Bible. We need to be reminded of these things continually throughout our lives.

And we are lastly meant to maintain our prayer life. Prayer is so important. We see Jesus himself understanding its importance where he went to get alone and pray to the Father for God to give him strength.

Ephesians 6:18: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." We are meant to maintain not only the good things of Bible reading and getting sin out of our life, but also meant to be maintaining our prayer life. Make a habit of your prayer life. If it is something that is slipping in your life, just try to make it a habit. If it is something you only do when you remind yourself to do it, you are most likely going to miss out on it. But if it becomes a habit — as soon as I get out of bed I am going to be praying, as soon as I go to sleep I am going to spend time with the Lord — make it a habit in your life. It is going to help you maintain that good work of praying. It tells us to persevere with supplications for all saints. We are meant to be praying for one another.

Daniel maintained his prayer life. He made it a habit where he was praying three times a day — something he did not even care about when his life was in danger. The decree said you cannot pray. He said I am willing to die for my prayer life. So you see it is really important. It helped Daniel maintain his walk with the Lord and it shows how important it was to him. We see supplications and prayers for all saints. Who more than the people we know in our church and in our immediate family? The Bible says to do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith. How great is it to be able to pray for our brethren. How great is it to be able to pray for the prayer requests in our WhatsApp group. There are people going through persecution, people asking for prayer. Please make time to pray for them. We are meant to be caring for our brethren. Please pray for brother Kyle and Sister Florina who are going through persecution right now, and the various people in our church family who are facing various trials. That is you knowing hey, I should pray for that person. I should care about that person.

Point 2: Do Not Waste Your Time

Point number two is do not waste your time. It is about avoiding foolish questions because they are just a time waste.

Titus 3:9: "But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain." He says even foolish questions are unprofitable and vain — it is vanity. We have to not waste our time even debating people. People love debates and that format. I just do not like it because in a debate you are going to see that they want you to respond straight away. It is pretty much who is more witty and who can answer something quicker. They say hey, that guy won the debate — not necessarily. He was probably just a little bit brighter in that moment, but you just do not have the time in a debate to answer properly. And the Bible does not even want us to be debating. The Bible says reprobates are full of debate — they just love debating all the time. They want to debate you for every reason. The Bible does not want us to be debating, especially when it comes to foolish questions.

We should be avoiding foolish questions, avoiding genealogies and contentions. And you have to ask yourself — do you avoid contentions or do you just jump straight into them? If you are with your spouse and you see that there is something that might cause a bit of strain between you two, are you avoiding that contention or are you jumping straight into it? The Bible says the contentions of a wife are like a continual dripping. Contentions are incredibly annoying, and the Bible just says we are to avoid them because they are unprofitable and vain. You do not have to answer every single foolish question that is put to you.

Verse 10: "A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject." We have here a strict guideline in the Bible that tells us how far we need to push with people before we stop talking to them about a subject. Some people read this and treat it as though it says the 10th and 20th admonition. The Bible does not say that. It says first and second. It is actually giving a strict number for when you should already start to avoid talking to that person. You tried once. You went through it. You try the second time. That person is still not convinced and is still trying to bring their arguments. Just drop it. You do not have to continue talking to that person.

Some people are genuine and some are not. If the person is genuine and is just saying look, I do not understand what you mean — can you explain that to me better? — that person is not falling under this category of heretic. But if the person is saying but what about this verse, what about this verse — they are clearly just trying to find anything, they are showing they are a heretic. They are actually striving with you. That is a person you should just avoid. You would understand a person is a heretic when they are preaching heretical things, bringing heresy to you. Like when you go and talk to a Muslim at the door or at the park, and you see that they are just waiting for you to stop talking so they can bring you their heresy — that person is a heretic. He is just waiting for his turn so he can proselytise you. That is how you know that person is not genuine. That person does not care. He is just listening to you so he can have his time to talk.

I tell people when they have given me that time — look, you did not approach me. I came to talk to you. I am not interested in what you have to say. And as soon as I see first and second admonition, I am out of there. Have a good day. I am done.

Verse 11: "Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." This person is subverted — meaning they are trying to undermine the authority of the word of God. God said something and they are saying no, no, no, trying to undermine it. Just leave that person alone. He is condemned of himself.

Are people going to ask you foolish questions? Absolutely — because he says to avoid them. It is going to be something you are asked a lot. And I am not sure if people even thought hey, I should actually be avoiding these questions. You probably thought look, maybe I should answer this because I know the truth. But the person could just be trying to bait you. It was just silly when I saw people getting tempted to take bait from someone and then they just mock you. They laugh at you. They say oh, you fell for that bait. The Bible tells us to avoid foolish questions.

From the very start of the Bible we see this with Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3 there was a foolish question put to Eve and she did not avoid it. Straight away the Bible shows us there is a foolish question that Eve falls for — something that should have been avoided.

Genesis 3:1: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Why did he not just ask, can you not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He did not phrase the question like that. The way he phrased that question was — can you not eat of every tree? It was just a foolish question. It was a trying question. And in verse 2, the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. She is really sincere. She is just answering honestly — we can do this, but of that one tree in the midst of the garden we are not allowed to eat.

Her response helps me understand that she actually knew what the devil meant by that question. He started with that foolish baiting question — are you even allowed to eat from the trees? And she just took the bait. She is thinking hey, this serpent seems sincere. But when a serpent is talking to you, it is not sincere. He knew that she was not allowed to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But it was just a trying question, just to enter into conversation. Have you ever seen someone ask you a foolish question just to drag you into a conversation? Just to lure you in? That was the same with the devil — just wanting to lure her in so he could deceive her through his subtlety.

Verse 4–6: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." She did not avoid a foolish question and she ended up being beguiled. That could be something that happens in your life — even a foolish question is something that leads you down a bad path. You are not avoiding that trying question and it leads you into contentions and strivings, into something you should not be going down.

2 Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." A lot of people are going to try to beguile people from the simplicity of Christ. They are going to come with questions and all these things to try and trick you. They are going to come with things that are really hard to understand. They will twist scripture to their own destruction like they do the other scriptures. They are not going to show you the clear Bible verses from John. They are going to go into Hebrews, into the difficult passages, to try and beguile you and deceive you.

Proverbs 23:9: "Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." Has this ever happened to you — when you start sharing something with someone, you are sincere, you are trying to get through to them, and they just despise the wisdom of your words? You think why did I even bother, why did I even waste my time bringing this up? Because they are just despising everything you are saying. The Bible commands us to speak not in the ears of a fool. It is pretty much saying just shut up when you are talking to a fool.

Proverbs 26:4: "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." If you answer that foolish question, you just look like a fool yourself. We need to learn from God's word that it is okay to be silent in certain matters. And it is not a cowardly thing. They are trying to bait you and they say hey, you do not have the guts to respond to me, come on answer my question. The Bible says you are able to be silent.

The greatest example of this is Jesus Christ himself. In 1 John 2:6 the Bible tells us: "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." We are commanded to walk as Jesus walked in our lives. And let us look at a conversation Jesus had with someone just trying to ask foolish questions and try him.

In life I believe there are two options. You can either tell someone the truth or you can stay silent. You should never be lying for any reason, but you do not have to answer. You are not forced to answer somebody.

Luke 23:6–11: "When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing." Herod was glad to see Jesus. Does that mean he cares about Jesus Christ? The Bible says he just wanted to see a miracle. He just wanted to see a magic trick. And then he questioned with him with many words, but Jesus answered him nothing.

How hard is it to see that Jesus is able to just answer nothing? You could say oh, you are a coward, Jesus is a coward, he cannot talk for himself. But Jesus just answered nothing. You are not a coward if you stay silent to a foolish question. You are actually obeying God's word. You do not have to get into every single challenge that people challenge you with — what about this, what about this. You are able to stay silent. And we see Jesus Christ choosing to stay silent.

People who are not genuine — like Herod, people that just are glad to see you and want to trick you — should get nothing from us. The same guy that was like hey I just have some questions, I just want to see something — that same guy ended up sending his men of war and mocking Jesus Christ, arraying him in a gorgeous robe, mocking his deity. That person was not sincere in his questions at all. And Jesus knew it was the best thing to avoid those foolish questions of Herod. In the same way we are able to avoid foolish questions. We do not have to answer every single question. It does not mean you are a coward. It does not mean you are afraid. It just means you are caring and walking as Jesus walked.

He gets sent to Pilate, and you have probably heard the Miranda rights where it says you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before questioning. And if you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Even the government recognises this — you have the right to remain silent. You do not have to talk. You do not have to incriminate yourself. You do not have to give them every single piece of information. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to avoid foolish questions.

We see Jesus being taken before the authorities and there were times when he said nothing. We see David taking the same approach.

Psalm 39:1: "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me." David said I will take heed. I will keep my mouth with a bridle — like a horse with a bridle, pretty much shutting your mouth while the wicked is before me. I am not going to talk. I am not going to open my mouth. In other words, put your hand over your mouth — you do not have to answer every single foolish question that people have. God has given us the ability to not speak if we choose not to.

This is the command after the first and second admonition. The Bible says reject. You could be spending so much time just constantly answering foolish questions. You are able to just reject that person after the first and second admonition. You can just stay silent after that. The Bible says we are to maintain the good — do not waste your time — meaning avoid foolish questions, avoid contentions.

Point 3: Fruitfulness

And lastly, point number three — fruitfulness.

Titus 3:12–14: "When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful."

Here we see Paul charging Titus to be hospitable and fruitful. These are things to maintain and things to avoid. And what is the byproduct of you doing the right thing? You are going to be fruitful in the Christian life. Paul is caring about believers and charging Titus to care for those working for Christ. They are not just travelling to sightsee, not just going to take nice Instagram photos. They are actually serving God. Take care that nothing be wanting unto them. And I just want to thank all those that worked hard for Pastor Stucky's visit. He was actually labouring for Jesus Christ. He was very gracious to come here and be a blessing to our church. And I am really grateful that we were able to show him that hospitality. Pastor said he is looking forward to visiting again and actually feels much closer to the church than he did the first time. It was just a really pleasant experience for him.

We ought to be caring for soul winners. We ought to be thinking about people like brother Kyle who is an incredible soul winner. People that are going through struggles — we are meant to be caring about them so that nothing is wanting. They are labouring for Jesus Christ. We should be praying for them and encouraging them. Please continue praying for Sister Florina — she is a soul winner as well and has gone through a lot of persecution with her family. And the brethren that have recently been baptised are going to be going through a lot of persecutions. I am expecting that to happen. I am sure they are going through various trials in their life and it is something we should be continuing to pray for them, that we can show that brotherly love one toward another.

Verse 14: "And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful." We need to learn to maintain the good so we are not going to be unfruitful. And it takes time. What is the result of our fruitfulness? Let us look at 2 Peter chapter 1.

This is a passage that work-salvation people like to throw at us and say see, you can actually lose your salvation. Let me explain what this portion of the Bible is about.

2 Peter 1:1–4: "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

He writes to believers that have obtained like precious faith. After we are saved, after we are saved — that is just the beginning. Believing on the Lord is just the beginning of your Christian life. He gives us a list of things after that we should be focusing on.

Verse 5–7: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." So this is the first thing — faith. And it says to add to your faith. We are called not just to have that faith but also to add to it. And the Bible says these things are going to help us be fruitful.

I am really grateful for Sister Rochelle who blessed us with food, and I could see that brotherly kindness. She came and prepared all these lovely sandwiches when we went soul-winning at Lysterfield, just showing that brotherly kindness and affection. I really appreciate it.

Verse 8: "For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Saying if you have these things you are going to be fruitful. You are not going to be barren. These things are going to help us to be fruitful.

These verses are not about what you need to do to get to heaven. Because in verse 9, you are going to see people take what was just said out of context. The Bible says you are going to be fruitful, not going to be barren — meaning the Bible is saying maintain good works, for these are good and profitable unto men. They actually help other people.

Verse 9: "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." There is actually a really harsh rebuke here to people that are just happy to stay in their faith without adding anything to it. They are like those who say to someone go and be clothed, go and be fed, but give that person nothing that they need. There is the rebuke in James chapter 2 for people that are just happy being saved and think I do not need to add anything to it. And there is a harsh rebuke here as well for people that do not add to their faith. It says they have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins. They are just not being mindful and not being appreciative of God.

Verse 10–11: "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

What does it actually mean? You do not have to add to your faith to be saved. If you do not add to your faith, you are not going to be fruitful. But the Bible also says if you do not add to your faith, you are not going to have a grand entrance into heaven. It is not saying you are going to lose your salvation. I have heard this preached — if you do not have these qualities after your faith you are going to hell. The Bible just says hey, that person has just forgotten. They are not realising they are meant to maintain good works because these works are profitable unto other people and are going to help them be fruitful in the Christian life.

The Bible says here an abundant entrance shall be ministered unto you into the everlasting kingdom of God. You know that thief on the cross that believed on Jesus Christ — do you think he had an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God? Do you think when he came everyone was like hey, it is the thief on the cross, what a great man, what a great servant of God? No. But what about the Apostle Paul? Can you imagine after he ran that race — there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. You know there is that abundant entrance that he would have had. Once you add to your faith, once you do the right thing, there is going to be a moment where Jesus says well done, my good and faithful servant. You are going to have that entrance. You are going to have Jesus being happy about what you have done. You have been faithful in little, now I am going to put you over much. You are going to have that abundant entrance into the kingdom of God.

Once you add to your faith, once you actually care about being fruitful, there are also going to be those heavenly rewards that await you — that abundant entrance into heaven, bringing forth much fruit. The Bible says in this is my Father glorified, that you bring forth much fruit. And as brother Brighton preached, bringing forth fruit is actually people — souls won to the Lord. That is what God wants us to do, to bring forth much fruit, and he is glorified in that.

Titus 3:8. We read this at the beginning and we are nearly done. People are going to use these passages to try to say hey, you know, you could go to hell if you do not add to your faith. The Bible just says if you do not add to your faith, you are forgetting that you were purged from your old sins. You are just not being mindful and not being appreciative of God. And also you are not going to have that abundant entrance into the kingdom of God.

"This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." Good works are not to get into heaven. The Bible says that salvation is not of works. But the Bible says these things are going to profit other people. We should be walking in these things. Ephesians 2:10 — God has prepared that we should do these things. We should be doing works after salvation.

So today I want to remind us all to avoid foolish questions, to maintain the good, and also to be fruitful in our Christian life — to add to our faith. We are to maintain good works and to be fruitful. I just hope that God is going to help us in that. I pray that this church is going to be a church that maintains the good lasting into its old age. People that are going to be bringing forth fruit in old age. People that are going to be avoiding foolish questions and baiting questions. And also people that are fruitful and actually add to their faith.

Father God, thank you so much for your scripture and I just thank you Lord that you have given us all these instructions that we could follow. I just pray that this church will be blessed and that you would bless us Lord as we also go out soul-winning later on and bless our fellowship as well. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.