July 2026
Sermon Transcript
First of all I would just like to thank Pastor Stucky for another opportunity to preach today. The title of my sermon is The Importance of One.
Something that we often get criticised for is that we do not have enough people. We get asked, where is everyone? If this was true, where are the multitudes of people that are coming to listen to you or that are believing this? And unfortunately, there are a lot of people saying that exact thing while actively trying to sway people and forbid them from hearing us. It is a little funny that somebody is criticising whilst putting a rod in your spokes, as it were.
But I want to speak about the importance of one. Why? Because a lot of people think there are very few people that believe this. But the Lord Jesus Christ says that many are going to be saying the wrong things about salvation. The Bible says strive to enter, for many are called — many are going to want to enter, but few are going to be able. Even the disciples asked, are there few that be saved? And Jesus agreed — yes, it is going to be few people. So it is funny that people try to marginalise us by saying there are so few people coming to your church, when in fact that actually correlates with what scripture says.
That is why we are going to be looking at the importance of one. We always have this attitude that there are not enough people to make a difference in this world. People think there is strength in numbers. But before you have those numbers, it has got to start with one person. Before you have a team, before you have a multitude of people, first it starts with one. One person plus one person makes up that team. That is where it starts. It starts with one.
Our scripture reading was in Luke 15, and we always have this attitude that there are not enough people to make a dent in this world. But before you have those numbers, you have got to start with one person.
Point 1: The Importance of One
If every person had this mindset — well, I am just one person, what difference am I going to make, I am not going to come to church today — what would happen? There would be nobody at church. People would be saying, well, where are all the people that have believed? Where are all the people you are going out and preaching the gospel to? I have not seen them come to church.
Unfortunately, people do have this mindset. They think the church can do without them. And that is also an integrity problem. There is a fear of God problem. People are not keeping to their word. People are saying things willy-nilly. And that is why Psalm 15 speaks about the man who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. If you said you were going to preach at the men's preaching service, do not be a person that makes a vow and does not keep his word. You could be letting other people down.
The importance of one — you cannot have two without one. You cannot even have three without one. You can see throughout the Bible that God actually cares about even one person.
Luke 15:1–7: "Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."
We see that even one person that comes to salvation — one person, one sinner that repents — is such a great joy. It shows the value of one person to the Lord Jesus Christ. We went out soul-winning recently and did not get anyone saved, and there is that lack of joy because you were not able to rejoice over a salvation. It does not matter who gets that salvation — you are always joyful. But when you were not able to reach anyone with the gospel, it does sometimes leave you with that feeling after soul-winning. But you see that even one person that repents, one person that comes to a saving knowledge of the truth, there is joy in heaven. Who knows who that person will be in the future? Who knows if they will be some great evangelist, some great pastor? The seed could be sown in good ground, and that person could bring forth 30, some 60, some 100 fold. That Christian could be reproducing other Christians and could actually bring a lot of people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is the power of one person being saved.
Think about the Apostle Paul. What was one person able to achieve in this life? Huge things. You might have a favourite preacher — that person is just one person, and look at what they have been able to achieve. What about a multitude of people that are like-minded? What can they achieve?
I also want to show something about this verse that proves it does not require repenting of your sins as part of the gospel. There was a pastor at my old church who said those 99 just persons represent the self-righteous — people who think they do not need repentance. But notice what the Bible says — 99 just persons which need no repentance. Why would someone not need to repent? This is a clear identification that repentance here does not mean turning from sins. It is just saying that you have to change your mind. Once you have changed your mind about the Lord Jesus Christ, once you have come to a knowledge of the truth, you do not need to continually be saved over and over and over again. It is already happened. You are a just person in the eyes of God. You do not need that repentance anymore. If this was talking about repenting of your sins, every saved person would need to repent of their sins after salvation — every saved person would need to clean up their life after salvation. But it says 99 just persons which need no repentance. Every child of God does not need to change his mind about the Lord Jesus Christ anymore. Every person that is justified in the eyes of God — it is done. It is a done deal. It is already settled. And that is just a great picture there that once you are saved, you are always saved. Of course you do need to turn from your sins after salvation and it is a good thing to do, but it shows here that you do not have to continually repent. And the Bible is clear that once you are saved, you are always saved.
Verse 8: "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." What is the repentance there? It is not turning from sins. It is the repentance where they have changed their mind. They have trusted on the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And there is joy — the angels are rejoicing in heaven over one sinner. The importance of one.
Let us look at 2 Samuel 23:8. We need to be mindful that even one person can make a huge difference. Can one person make a huge impact?
"These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time." You see a man here who was able to do great exploits, great things for God. One person was able to slay 800 people. We hear of great mission works and people that are reaching a lot of people for the Lord. It is not just a hundred — I have heard of people reaching up to 200 people with the gospel of Jesus Christ in one year. And you see here you have that picture of David's mighty men, the top echelon of people that are in the army of God, just doing great things for God. Eight hundred people he slew at one time.
Can you imagine having Adino on your team? Can you imagine him being part of Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne? That is the importance of one person and what you can achieve as a child of God. You can do great things for the Lord.
We see this as an example of what can be done when you are full of the Spirit of God. Obviously this is a supernatural thing — this is something you cannot just physically do in your carnal flesh. The same way, there is no chance you can get up to over 100 salvations without being filled with the Spirit of God.
Acts 6:5: "And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." And then verse 8: "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." There is the importance of one person. One person that is full of the Holy Ghost can do great things among the people. If somebody decides, I am going to pursue after the Lord, I am going to serve God with my life, I am going to care about the things of God — they are going to be able to achieve great things and be a great asset to Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne. It is the importance of one person.
And we see the importance of Paul in his life — one person able to do such great exploits. He wrote most of the New Testament. Just one person able to do great things for the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul had to hear Stephen's sermon. If it were not for Stephen being martyred, we might not have had Paul. The Bible says if something does not fall in the ground and die it cannot produce fruit. We see Stephen dying and it laid his garments at the feet of Paul. Then Paul ends up seeing the Lord Jesus Christ, ends up going to Ananias as the Lord Jesus Christ told him to, ends up calling upon the Lord, washing away his sins. And we see that great journey of the Apostle Paul — one man, one person, able to do such great things for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Numbers are going to have a great impact. The more people we have, the better it can be. But even one person can have an immense impact. That is why even one sinner — do not despise that. There is just one person there. There are just a few people there. People are always going to despise small numbers. They like the great multitudes. How many people are at your church? How many people are going to your church? I do not see that many people going there. You guys just think only you are going to be saved and none of us are going to heaven. I told a person who said that to me — no, every person that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. If there are people in your church that have put their trust 100% on the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be saved. But unfortunately the Bible says few are going to be saved. So do not expect to have this great multitude of people.
Even in the time of Jesus Christ, he came unto his own and his own received him not. The great multitudes were not flocking to follow him — many of them just came because they wanted the food. And when we go out soul-winning, door after door is not interested, no thank you. And even the people that actually have a bit of a fear of God — people you might liken to Cornelius in the Bible — even then when you try to reach out to them they always want to speak against what you are saying. You are just trying to elevate the Lord Jesus Christ. You are just trying to say this is the only way to heaven. You want to just tell them it is not by your works — believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and then you can do the works, then you can produce the works. But do not do it before as a way to somehow please God and be pleasing unto him. Because the Bible says it is only by our faith that we are going to be saved, lest any man should boast. God does not want us to get to heaven and say, well God, did I not do all these great things? There is going to be no boasting in heaven. The Bible says that no flesh should glory in his presence.
Unfortunately the people that actually do believe this and actually have the proof and can prove it from the Bible get marginalised — you guys are so few, so few people. But obviously the sermon today is the importance of one. Even one person is important to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Point 2: The Power of Two
What happens if you add another person to that one person? The power of two.
Deuteronomy 32:30: "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?" God actually works with even small numbers. God does not need a multitude. In Gideon's case he told a lot of people to leave and was able to do great exploits with 300 people. And there are people that are going to leave. Sometimes I am going to preach something from the pulpit and people are going to get offended and want to leave. Even with Jesus Christ they said this is a hard saying, who can receive it, and they wanted to leave. They could not handle it. That is why it is important when you come to church to bring your Bible and be able to follow along. So when I am actually preaching from the word of God you are not going to just be saying, well, is that really in the Bible? Be a Berean in this church. You can just bring your Bible, open your Bible, and see that this is what the word of God is saying.
Jesus had 70 people who just did not want to follow him anymore. They said this is too tough. Jesus is not running after numbers. Even in Gideon's case he did not mind about the numbers. God can save by many or by few. It does not matter the numbers. So do not let it discourage you. Look at what the Bible says here in Deuteronomy 32:30 — one person is able to put a thousand to flight. This just shows that it is a supernatural thing. When you are filled with the Spirit of God, God does not care about numbers. But look what it says about two people — two people can put ten thousand to flight. They are able to maximise their efforts, able to do greater things just by adding that one extra person. There is power in one, but the power of two can be even greater.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12: "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." It is just so sad when someone is down and there is not that other person to pick them up. That is why marriage is such a great institution — because sometimes the husband is strong, sometimes the wife is stronger, and they can just encourage each other, pick each other up, help each other out spiritually. I really hope that we have strong families in Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne.
Verse 11: "Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." If one prevails, you can maybe take down one, but two you could not. So when we go soul-winning we like to go two by two. Jesus sent them out two by two. Why? Because it just protects you as well. It is easy for people to bring false accusations if you are just alone. If you are with another person, that person can help you. Even though if you fall, that person can pick you up. That person can help you at the door. That person can help you from false accusations. That is why we send people the same way Jesus sent them out — two by two. That is the best case scenario and it just shows the importance of one. You might think, I am not going to go soul-winning today, but you might just be that person that ends up making it an odd number and then we cannot partner everyone up. I am more than happy to go out alone. But if you make it that day, you could be just that person that even makes those numbers even.
Two is better than one. Matthew 18:19: "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." What a great promise. And it is saying you do need two people doing this to get that answer in prayer.
That is why marriage is so impactful. Satan is going to be fighting against your marriage so that the husband and wife are fighting against each other instead of fighting for the common cause of the spiritual life. God has given you a husband or wife to be your helpmate — somebody to help you, to encourage you. You do not want to go to work and have someone constantly against you. You want to be on the same team working together. The same way in marriage you want to be on the same team, going in the same direction. When you are yoked together you are going in one direction. You want to be equally yoked — and that is even in attitude and vision. Get on the same page with your spouse. It is going to bless you. Satan is going to fight against this, so just expect it. Do not be surprised when you see hindrances and Satan attacking your family.
Bitterness is something that men especially need to deal with. As soon as you are bitter against your wife it is just showing why is it even saying in the Bible that we are going to be bitter against our wives? Because our wives are not going to be perfect. No woman is perfect. We are not perfect. The Bible says do not be bitter against them. Be forgiving. Do not hold grudges. Be a person that is forgiving, be a person that is loving. That is what God has called husbands to do.
Colossians 3:19: "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." What is the point if two is better than one and then you are being a bitter person against that one person that is right there? You are able to pray together, able to grow together. You have just hindered yourself. Your prayers are getting hindered because you have got a problem with bitterness. Do not be bitter. If you ever find yourself tempted — and it is going to be a temptation, that is why it is in the Bible — the temptation is going to come because you will probably have expectations that are not met. You are going to have things you are hoping will happen. When that feeling comes inside your heart, that is when you need to fight against it and put it away.
Ephesians 4:31–32: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Obviously this is for wives as well — if you are bitter towards your husband for any reason, it is just not a wise thing. There is power of two, importance of two, and bitterness is just something that is going to hurt your family.
He is saying you have been forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ. You have done an immeasurable amount of sins. Do you remember the parable in the Bible about the person that had such a debt he could never pay? If we could actually really know how much we have sinned before the Lord Jesus Christ, I think it would shock all of us. The amount of times we have broken even the least of the commandments, sin after sin after sin. And the grace of God is sufficient to cover that. Where sin aboundeth, grace did much more abound. God is able to cover all those sins. And that is why we have that eternal security. So God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. How much have we wronged God? And the Bible is saying — be tenderhearted, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. You have been forgiven so much. Just forgive your spouse. Do not be bitter against your spouse.
I believe this is something that is going to hinder your family. It is going to hurt your family. And as a man, just do not ever be guilty of this. It is more the men, I believe, that could be guilty of this. Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them.
2 Corinthians 2:10: "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." Unforgiveness and bitterness are devices of the devil. He is going to come against us with them. And when that feeling comes saying you are justified to feel this — like Johnny said last week, we are not going based on our emotions. We do not just go by how we feel. We have to look at what the Bible says. The Bible says do not be bitter. And that is what I need to be feeling in my heart — I have got to put my feelings aside and come back to what the Bible says.
1 Peter 3:7: "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." It is saying if you have the wrong attitude towards your spouse, if you do not dwell with them according to knowledge and you are not honouring the wife — the Bible says for those vessels that are weaker, those members that are weaker, we bestow more honour. You are meant to be more understanding, more gracious with them, and realise that even though you have those expectations of yourself, you cannot put them upon your wife. And you know what? You need to be understanding. Maybe they are not going to meet all your expectations. But that is when you need to be tenderhearted, forgiving, and loving each other. Bitterness destroys that unity. Unforgiveness destroys unity — in churches as well. People that are bitter against someone in the church who wronged them, it is going to destroy unity. The Bible is just saying be forgiving, be understanding.
We need to be mindful that the Bible calls the wife a weaker vessel. It does not mean she is inferior to the man. It just means you cannot have the same expectations for her that you have for yourself. We need to be strong as men and not be bitter. No person is perfect. We are not perfect. We have been forgiven much. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven you — for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. I have got a lot in my life that I know I am working on and trying to improve. And these are not necessarily grievous sins. Not all sin is equal. There are sins that would stop you from being able to come to the local church. I was talking to brother Jonathan recently and I said if anybody in the church is a social drinker, they are not welcome in our church. If there is somebody that is socially drinking, I am glad that they are not here, because if I find out about it they are not welcome in this church until they get right with God. There are different sins of different magnitudes. You could be struggling with the thought of foolishness, with pride, with laziness, with bitterness — God does not like those things and says get that right. Those things mean you could still come to the local church and still be part of it. But the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5 if you are guilty of the sins mentioned there, you are not welcome in the local church. There is nothing that is hidden that shall not be made manifest, and it is going to come to light. So people think all sin is equal — it is not true.
And people say, well, is it not true that even all liars are going to be in the lake of fire? Why are you making such a big deal about somebody's sins? Well, it does not matter if that fornicator continues in his fornication — if he has believed on the Lord he is still going to heaven. It does not matter if that drunkard continues in his drunkenness — if he is saved he is still going to heaven because he has been justified, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. But that person is not welcome in the New Testament church according to the Bible. That person needs to get right to be able to be part of the New Testament church. To be saved it is without works, but to be in the church you cannot be guilty of those grievous sins.
Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." People say, why do we not have the numbers, why are Baptist churches so small? I remember the church that many of us came out of — they were not running over a hundred, and yet they would say why are so few people there? People do not understand that Baptist churches have many independent church plants. We are not just meeting up in big buildings to have a multitude of people. We are actually trying to be a blessing and a light to each area, reaching the people in that area. And I am hoping in the future there are going to be churches even in the west of Melbourne. Churches in Berwick, churches in different parts of Melbourne that are going to be able to oversee their area and be a blessing to it. There might only be ten there, fifteen there, maybe only three, four, five people. But look what the Bible says — for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Why do we not believe this? Why do we not believe it is not about the numbers? Jesus is saying just two or three gathered in his name, and he is going to be there. This verse is telling us that if only two or three people come to church, are we going to just cancel church? We went on our first event from 34 people, and then our second event had about three people — four, including my little one. And when I opened in prayer I said, Lord, you said where two or three are gathered in your name, you are there in the midst. God was there. And I am really grateful that our attendances have been pretty consistent and over 30. I am just grateful that God has brought people to church to be a blessing to us. But even if two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, God is there in the midst.
Do not let people put you down for having a small church. We have got the numbers, we have got the nice building, we have got it all — but they do not have the word of God. They do not have the power of God. They do not have the truth unfortunately. They have fancy buildings but they lack the truth and God's power. I remember when I was younger someone said to me, where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus he is there, and I asked when I was about three years old, but what happens if you are just alone? Is Jesus not going to be there anymore? I kind of did not understand the concept. But a lot of people do have this idea of what it means when you get together with the brethren. And even in a church setting, Jesus is present. Jesus is the head of the church. It is Jesus's church. He is the one that said he is going to build the church.
If we end up running 60 or a hundred in the future, it is Jesus Christ who did that. Why? Because we are the ones preaching the word of God, we are preaching Jesus Christ from the pulpit. We are going to be probably pushing people away through the Bible because it is offensive, but people are going to be coming in that actually want to hear the word of God. So I hope that God will increase us so we can do an even greater work for God.
Hebrews 10:25: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." It is an encouragement to assemble together in a congregation, to be together, to hear the word of God — and it is commanded. It is actually a sin when you do not come to church. Verse 26 says: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." What is the sin that is mentioned there? It is not assembling together. It says if we sin wilfully — so it is a wilful sin not to be in church. And a lot of people just think, well, I do not really need that, I am okay. But all those people we are getting saved at the door — they are just wilfully sitting there because they are not coming to church.
Verse 28: "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people." Do you know what the context of this is? People are not assembling together. Can you imagine — that kind of warning just because you are not assembling. All these verses saying hey, you are not doing the right thing, you are not understanding what the Bible says about gathering together. God says vengeance is mine, I will recompense. It did not seem like such an extreme sin, but that is wilful sin when you do not congregate together. You do not want this recompensation. God is going to avenge these people.
Verse 31: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." And Proverbs 11:31 says: "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: how much more the wicked and the sinner?" You might say, well, this is not a very loving part of the sermon, it sounds a bit harsh. But actually what I am telling you is a loving thing to do. Leviticus 19:17: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." If I see people that are committing sin, I want to tell them about that in a loving way. If I see somebody that is being bitter towards his wife, I want to tell him about that. If I see somebody that is forsaking the assembling — just not wanting to be part of the group going out soul-winning — the loving thing for me is to speak to them and say hey, you need to be doing this. Unfortunately sometimes people do not hearken to what is being said. And it is pretty shameful when I see people that probably have a vehicle and are maybe an hour away and do not even come to church, do not come to any of the soul-winning times — and then there are people that are coming from two and a half hours away, three hours commute. My wife was commuting over two hours to get to church in the Philippines. It is just shameful when I see people making excuses and forsaking the assembling of themselves together, thinking they do not need to be part of it. The loving thing for me to do is to tell you that you should be.
You know, there were pastors that actually started their church with two people. Even Pastor Anderson started with a small group and now he is running over a hundred. Even two people — the importance of two — you can start with a small number and then God can increase you, God can help the church grow.
Zechariah 4:10: "For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice." Because we are a new church, because we are newly established, people might despise us for various reasons. But when I see those same churches that started off small and God has blessed and increased them, it gives me hope that God is able to increase Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne. Do not despise the day of small things. Do not despise that small beginning where we are just meeting in a hall in different places every week. It is not super established, it is not super perfect. But do not despise humble beginnings. People started off small and God was able to bring many people into the fold.
When Jesus went out preaching the gospel and getting his disciples, he did not just speak to a multitude and get them all to follow him. He started with two people — the two brothers. It is like, people said, now he only has 12 following him. Oh, it is such a small group. Now he has 70. Well, it was growing. But then 70 of them end up leaving. It is like, now they are back to very few people. Must mean God is not there. Well, if I am trying to impress people from the pulpit and preach things that please people and tickle ears, that might bring more people in. But I do not want people that are just going to be lulled to sleep in the Christian life. I want people to actually get things out of their life. I want people to be blessed. The Bible says that Christ was sent to bless us, to turn us away from our iniquities. It is actually a blessing when we turn away from iniquity. And that is why when I preach, I want to bless you and help you get sin out of your life. And I am preaching to myself as much as everyone else because I need this as much as anyone.
So we see the early church grew — from Peter and Andrew, to 12, to 70, then 120 in the upper room. There was actually growth there, multiplied by the help of the Holy Spirit, until 3,000 were added in the day of Pentecost. We should not despise the work of God. And in the end times it says there will be a multitude that no man can number. There are going to be a lot of people saved in the end. But unfortunately whilst we are alive there is not a great multitude on this earth that are saved. Could you say that even 10% of the world is saved? You could not say that. Unfortunately there is so much deception. Many false prophets have gone out into the world and there are false prophets even among people that call themselves believers. They are ravening wolves, false prophets. You have your clear false prophet — the imam, the Buddhist monk, the priest. But then you have Christians that ought to be studying their Bible, ought to believe the word of God — and they are the ones preaching the wrong gospel. They are the ones preaching another gospel, another Jesus. It is horrible. So many people going to hell every day. And then the people who call themselves Christians, hold their Bibles, and seem so pious and so righteous — they are wrong on the simplest thing, the gospel. It is horrible.
Acts 20:28: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." This is a great verse to use with people that want to doubt the deity of Jesus Christ. It says God purchased the church with his own blood. The blood is the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God. And it shows that Jesus loved the church. Jesus is the head of the church. It is God's church, his church. And Ephesians 5:25: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Every time the word of God is preached, that is Jesus trying to remove some blemish, some spot. He is trying to purify his church, trying to help us, because he loves us. So when you see somebody that is actually caring about you and bringing a Bible verse to show you something that is not positive in your life — do not look at that and say I do not think that is very loving. That just shows they actually love you and care about you and are trying to wash you with the water of the word.
The word of God is preached at church. Jesus is the word of God. That is what we are using. And I hope that all husbands and all people are using the Bible when they want to bring change to somebody's life. When we go out the door soul-winning and we are trying to change somebody's belief, we are not going with our words or our fancy intellect. We are just showing them the Bible. If you want something to change in somebody's life that you love, just try to bring the Bible to them and show them what it says.
Ephesians 4:11: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." God actually gave us people at the church to help us grow. In the same way God gave wives their husbands — the Bible says if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. It is just implying that husbands need to be at a state where they are able to answer questions. If you do not know how to answer a question your wife has, just tell her, darling, I am going to get back to you on that. And do your best to always be there to help your wife grow spiritually.
So God has given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. God has given us men that can actually help us grow spiritually — like brother Brighton here. And it is for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, so we can go out and be better equipped when we go out preaching the gospel, the ministry of reconciliation. When we preach the gospel to people we can be better equipped. And God has given us these people to help us.
Revelation 7:9: "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." That is who we are going to be pointing to. That is the one who saved us. It is salvation belonging unto him. He is the one that paid it all. He is the one that did all the work. He is the one that lived the perfect life that we could never live. He is the one that got spat upon, beaten, mocked. He is the one that had to fulfil all the law. The Bible says he was tempted in all things as unto us, but yet without sin. That is why he had to get tempted in all things — then he gets tried and they found he had no blemish at all, he was perfect. Like the lamb in the Old Testament that had to be checked for any blemish — he had no blemish. Even Pilate said I find no fault in this man. He gets put to death, he gets crucified. And while he is crucified he is saying, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Then the Bible says in Acts 2:31 that his soul was not left in hell. He went to hell for us. After that, three days later he rose again from the dead. And that is the gospel. That is what Jesus Christ did for us. And that is what the Bible says — salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. He is the one that saves us and we are magnifying him. I do not want to know anything else but Christ and him crucified. That is what we are pointing to.
So I really do not care how people are trying to bring things up online — what about repentance, brother? These people call us brother. I am not your brother. You are on your way to hell. You are just fighting against the clear gospel, the clear doctrines of the Bible, salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord. I am not your brother.
Point 3: The Power of Three
We saw the power of one, we saw the power of two — now we are going to see the power of three. Even three people can have a great influence. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Let us look at 2 Samuel 23:8. David had these mighty men. We see David's mighty men doing great exploits in the Bible. But then among those mighty men there were the three mightiest — the top echelon of David's mighty men. They are all mighty men of valour, but then there are those three.
"These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time." We already read this — that is the power of one. "And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: he arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil."
Even when we go soul-winning it is like you are just cleaving to the sword of God. The Bible says that God's word is sharper than any two-edged sword. We are going out with the Bible. Just cleave to the Bible, cleave to those things. Do not rely on your own understanding — in all thy ways acknowledge him. When you are going out preaching the gospel you are acknowledging the Bible. You are elevating what the Bible says to those people. And he says his hand clave to the sword, and the Lord wrought a great victory that day.
Verse 11: "And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines: but he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory." Do you see that? Even though they were few people, it is the Lord bringing the victory. God giveth us the victory. Praise be to God which always giveth us the victory.
These three men are considered the first three. And it says there are other obviously honourable mentions in the Bible, but these people were the ones that actually went and got water for David. Verse 14: "And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men."
These three that were the mightiest were actually doing great exploits. They were going out and doing things in jeopardy of their lives. They could lose their lives. They were just ready to lay down their lives. Whosoever loveth his life shall lose it. There are a lot of people that really love their lives, and they are going to lose it. But whosoever hateth his life shall find it. If you make your life about yourself and about preserving your own life, you are going to be a very miserable person. But if you seek the Lord Jesus Christ, if you care about the things of God and you lose your life, you are going to find it. You are going to find so much joy, so much happiness, so much fulfilment. I look around and I just see people that do not have a vision. They do not have a purpose. They are just trying to follow whatever their heart tells them to do. Follow your heart — they just do not have purpose. But the Bible tells us what we ought to be doing, what we should be doing. And you see these great men of God, the three mightiest — just going and risking their lives.
Now it says in verse 18: "And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three." Now I was wrong about the three that got the water being the mighty three — it is going to mention the mighty three here separately. It says they attained not to the first three. These people getting the water were doing incredible exploits, but they were outside of the greatest three. Then it mentions Abishai lifting up his spear against 300 and slaying them, and having the name among the three. These three people were doing great things and can you imagine what the first three were able to accomplish?
Verse 20: "And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: and he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men. He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard."
So you see that David had these mighty men. And even though they were not part of that very top echelon, look at the works they were doing. If you can imagine what the first three were able to accomplish, it just goes to show that there were mighty men in the Bible — people that actually lived their one life on this earth, were doing great exploits, actually cared about the things of God. And why are these things in the Bible? It says all scripture is given for our learning, and these things were written for our admonition. They are there to help us see the courage that these men of God had. There were 37 people in total among David's mighty men. We see the three being the first three at the very top, then the three that are doing the act of getting the water, then Benaiah who is more honourable than the 30 but did not make it to the list of the first three. I wanted to help you understand this because it can be a little challenging at first. Why are some of them more honourable but not part of the first three? It can be a little difficult to understand. But we see the power of three — three people together being able to do great exploits for the Lord.
We also see the significance of Peter, John, and Paul in the New Testament ministry. Peter and John were like the people that were really close to Jesus Christ, and then you see Paul. These are the great people in the Bible that actually did great things for God. And if you believe that Matthias replaced Judas in Acts chapter 1 — though some people think it was Paul — either way, we see Paul doing great things in the Christian life. And you see that Peter, John, and Paul were the apostles that panned out the best.
So I want us to be people that strive to pan out in the Christian life. Strive to live your one life on this earth with purpose. Just look at David's mighty men — you can see that they had that desire to be honourable, to be a person that is greatly used of God. I remember back in my old church, the pastor told me to stand at the front because it looks good on the camera. He said stand at the front of the church so people watching the live stream see there are a lot of people, because there were very few people during their midweek services. Just stand at the front so we can show people we have people.
I really do not care what people think about our small numbers. I do not want to fool people or do some kind of CGI to make it look like we have more people. I do not care about the numbers because you see there is even importance of one. One person can do great works. Two people can do great works. And a threefold cord is not easily broken.
Like I said, I do not care if we do not get a huge amount of people. I just want people that actually love the Lord. David had 37 mighty men — three people that risked their lives for him, one guy slaying 800, another slaying 300, another doing great exploits. All these men doing great things. And I have a sermon in the future I would like to preach about David's mighty men that will help explain it even further.
But remember — it all starts with one person. It starts with you realising I am going to try to be at church. And I am really grateful for the consistency I am seeing with Soulwinning Baptist Church. People are actually making it a goal in their life — I am going to make sure I am in the house of God. I know a lot of us have been sick and there has been a lot of illness during this time of year. But I really do appreciate people coming to church. And I want everyone to understand — just one person in the eyes of God, God is happy. But where two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus is there in the midst. Amen.
Dear Father God, thank you so much for this great word that you have given us, for us to understand that there is great power in one and great power in two and three. We should not despise small beginnings and small things. I just pray for everyone here in Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne, that you would bless us and bless us as we go out soul-winning. And bless Pastor Stucky as he visits us next week. Help us with all the preparation and all that we are doing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.