S2 Episode 34 | Growing Together

S2 Episode 34 | Growing Together,
In this episode Pastor Leon discusses righteous rebuke, and ministry with each other. Please Like, share and subscribe!

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Hello and welcome to the Unqualified Podcast with Leon Wilson. That's me. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for liking, sharing, subscribing, commenting, all those things that you have done in the past. I appreciate all of those who have uh especially shared the podcast and and got our um this ministry out there and and all of that. It is because of people like you. It's because the fact that that y'all keep pushing the word of the Lord forward then and being good stewards over all this that um that we're able to do what we need to do. And uh it it seems like that would be a no-brainer in some cases, um, that we could, you know, that we would want to support each other, but and that's kind of you know, one of the things I want to talk about today is um you know locking arms in ministry and and and things like that, because we're we don't see a whole lot of it. And uh I've had some conversations with other pastors and and preachers and and people in different types of ministries. And um, in fact, we've you know, I've interviewed several of them on this show and um in the in the podcast in the past, and um, and we'll get them back out here and and everything, and uh one of which is you know my uh my dear friend Gracie the other day on Willing Without Limits, Willing Without Limits, and um and brother Richie Scruggs from Wrestling with Christ and um you know several others who um who have represented different different ministries and and said, hey, you know, let's lock arms, let's do something together, and let's use whatever platforms we can use in order to push the the gospel forward. And uh today I preached in uh 2 Timothy chapter 4, where Paul is exhorting and challenging and and uh pushing um Timothy in order to um go forward and and to preach instant and in season and out of season. And we we use that a lot. And um a preacher friend of mine, he said, Men, you know, a lot of preachers don't preach out of 2 Timothy chapter 4. Um they get caught up in you know in a legalistic side of the first letter to Timothy, but they don't want to talk about 2 Timothy, where um, you know, the itching ears and and stuff like that. And and that is the epitome of of the day that we live in. There are a lot of folks today who don't want to hear good sound doctrine. They they don't want to hear tough preaching, they don't want to hear where they miss the mark, they want to hear um what makes them sound good, and and they veer away from good sound doctrine and go to uh churches where no one steps on their feet, where it's all goody two shoes and stuff like that. And let me tell you something. We live in a time where we are soft, um, and we we veer away from you know good rebuke, which we need. We need uh we need to be reproved, we need to be rebuked, and we need to be um exhorted. And and that those are the three points in 2 Timothy chapter 4 that um that Paul says to Timothy, hey, you know, you need to be instant in season out season out of season, and you need to um use that, uh use those those tools and through long suffering um you know, share that gospel and share the the doctrine and sound doctrine. And and I I think that uh and I'll just read it. I I'll tell you what, we'll just read it. Let me let me open this Bible right here and we'll just read it. That way you can see what I'm talking about, and um, and I can quote the actual scripture to you and um and and then roll from air. It says, I charge thee therefore before God and the uh and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebu rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. What does that mean? I'm glad you asked. Um reproving is uh it is challenging and and saying something is wrong. Rebuking is a um a strong way of redirecting someone and to the right thing, and then exhorting is using love and coming alongside them to help them go in the right direction. And if you do all three of those things, call call sin and say it's wrong, how it's wrong, you got to describe it and then exhort them and move them in the right direction. Um you can't go wrong. You're doing it out of love. The problem is the church today in it today's day and age will call somebody else's sin out and leave their sin on the table because their sin ain't as bad as yours. You know, it's kind of like the person who's using a filthy mouth telling you how you're living your life. You know, Jesus would say it like this: get the two by four out of your eye, and then you can talk to them about the splinter in their eye. You know, we we don't we don't go into that. Um, and preachers don't preach on a whole lot of uh lately a whole lot of sin. Um, but the truth is the truth, and wrong is wrong and right is right, and we have to call it call it how we see it. But you do it out of love. Um there's not a lot of love in churches anymore. There's a whole lot of, you know, we'll smile, we'll shake hands, we'll come in, we'll eat, and and all that kind of stuff. But you know, when it comes to sharing love, you know, you don't really see genuine love because genuine love sometimes looks like, hey, I know you're doing, you know, I let me tell you how it looks. It looks like wrong this. It sounds like you don't sound like a saved person, you don't look like a saved person because you're not being a very good example of Jesus. Let's fix that together. And because I love you, I don't want anybody to mistake you for someone who's not saved. And um, you know, then and there's a whole lot of different ways you can get to that, but you know, we don't want to beat people over the head with the Bible, but we do want them to understand that there is a way that you project Jesus on this world, and that's what we're all about. The Bible says you shall know them by their fruits, and and and we got to give off good fruit. And someone knows when they see something that is rotten that it ain't that it ain't of God, it ain't edible, it ain't something that should attract somebody. You should be attracting people to Jesus because they need to see hope in you. They need to see the fact that if you can change, if the Lord can save somebody like you, like me, then he can save anybody. And if he can save me, he can save anybody. If he can use me, he can use you, he can use anybody. But how do you know that if you're not sharing that? How does somebody know they're wrong if you never point out the fact that it's wrong? And if we don't do it, who will? And the problem is you have a weak backbone church who doesn't get off their hands and and tell people that wrong is wrong and right is right. Which is why, uh it particularly here in America, but Europe, I'm looking at you too. You know, the people don't see the Christian nation that it used to be. Partially because the church has gotten so lazy, so fat, and so ugly, so nasty, so hateful that we look just like everybody else, only like some kind of social club. You just and I mean I I would say you dress up and go someplace, but folks don't even dress up anymore. They bring their leftovers to Jesus and give the world the best they got. I heard today that the churches won't be full until the stadiums are empty. But as long as there's a full stadium, the churches will be empty. And that should break our hearts. I think what disgusts me about us church folk is that we're pitiful excuses for the image of Jesus Christ. And if we don't change that, who will? Who's he gonna send? If he can't send us, who's he gonna send? And the Bible says for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap uh um to themselves teachers having itching ears, saying they're they've got some they've got some wants, and they want preachers that are gonna scratch them once. I need to be this is them. I'm not saying me, I'm saying them. There are people who want to be told they're doing good, so they're gonna go, they're gonna church hop until they find a preacher that tells them they're doing good. They don't want to be told where they're missing the mark. Oh no. God forbid somebody tell you you're wrong. The problem with today's day and age is when you tell somebody they're wrong, and or when you tell, here's the thing. If I'm coming at you, I'm coming after the action, not the person. I'm not trying to get you, I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to stop that action because that action is bad. I you you tell a kid, hey, you are bad, you are bad, you are bad, sooner or later they're gonna start wearing the title, they're bad. But if you tell those kids, hey, that is bad, we don't do that. That is bad. They understand you're not talking about them. They're not bad, they're good. That action is bad, and only you know, only thing they want to do is what's good. So, you know, that's where they want to go toward. So you you would you hate the action, don't hate the person. And um we're not doing that. In fact, we ignore the actions lately, and it can't be that way because we ought not be that way. That Bible says something totally different than that. So if you're not, if they won't endure sound doctrine, then what are they doing? They're finding somebody who's gonna teach them a bad doctrine. And gotta help that church, gotta help that preacher that don't preach on sin. But but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry. Proof of the ministry, prove your ministry. My question to all of you out there is in this world, in this life that we live, whatever ministry you're in, and you are in a ministry, make no mistake. Do people even know that you're saved? Do they have any clue that who they're talking to is a child of God? Because if they don't, shame on us. Shame on us. The Greek word for exhort. Let me look this up. I I had it today and it it fascinated me. And I w I want to share that with you if I can find it. But the Greek word for exhort was was beautiful, and um I have it on my iPad. See if it's shared in my notes here. Yeah. So it it comes from the Greek word perikale, and perikaleo, which is basically meaning to call alongside, which means pull pull right here next to you, to urge, to encourage, to appeal or plead with someone, to admonish or strongly advise, it also means to comfort, which means uh and here's the the thing is it's actually related to the word peracolitos, which is the word used for the comforter or helper in reference to the Holy Ghost in John John 14. And so the underlying um idea behind what Paul's saying to Timothy is pull people along to uh up with you, help them, pull them to you, encourage them, and advocate closely so that you can then when you reprove and when you rebuke, you're exhorting them and it makes it even the much more significant in that ministry side of things. So, hey, what I'm seeing isn't of God. And I, you know, here's what is of God. Let me let me pull you here next to me and help get you in the right direction. Let me help you go in the right direction. If we're doing that, it if we're doing it from a place of love, then we are doing it biblically. If we are doing it in alignment with this Bible, then we're doing it in a biblical fashion. And we're putting God right in the middle of this conversation. And if you're putting the Lord in the middle of the conversation, then how can you go wrong? You can't. And if it falls apart, it's not because you're doing it the wrong way, it's because they don't want to endure sound doctrine. And if they don't want to endure sound doctrine, then that ain't on you. That ain't on me. That's on them. And so I encourage you today, find number one, find you a preacher that is going to preach sound doctrine. If you go to church and you never get your toes stepped on, if your heart is never convicted based off of how you're living your life, if you are never encouraged to get better, to do that to do better, to be better, and to be a light unto others to lead them to Christ, then you're going to a dead church or you're listening to a preacher that is not preaching the gospel. It's one or the other. Because there's no way any of us should ever go to church and not feel challenged, encouraged, and um and convicted. There's there's no reason. Like there, there is absolutely no way. When I study this Bible, it convicts the fire out of me. And guess what? I want it to do that. There, I never want a day when I pick up this Bible and I read it and I don't get something out of it. That day, uh, if that day comes, then I know I've gotten lukewarm and I'm I need to get squared away because I'm obviously not doing the right thing. And so I'd I would encourage you, find you at church that's going to preach that Bible. And for those of you who say, I don't go to church, I don't believe in that, blah, blah, blah. Um, it's an organized religion, all this other, I hear that a lot. Uh, I don't believe in organized religion. Well, you're wrong. You're wrong. I love you, but you're wrong. That Bible says, forsake not the assembly of yourselves, and even the more as we see the day approaching. So you shouldn't be uh forsaking getting together. In fact, Paul said it a lot: like, I can't wait to come unto you and I want you to come unto me. We need to get together because we need refreshed. And how are you going to get refreshed? How can iron sharpen iron if we never get around each other? You need church. You do. So find you a church that preaches the Bible, preaches from the Bible, and not just some kind of TED talk or um presentation or something like that. That ain't church, honey. That is not church. That's that's a that ain't preaching. It ain't sound preaching for sure. If they're just telling you, if they never open that Bible, they're wrong. That's just that. There's that you need to be read from the Bible and you need it explained to you. And uh, and I'm a big fan of expository preaching. I preach expositorily, that means they're directly from that Bible. Uh very few notes and stuff like that twice a week. And uh, not that I'm better than anybody else. It's just I need it and I know that my congregation needs it. And uh, you know, I might do a three-point sermon on some Saturdays or Sundays, I mean, but like today, you know, I had some notes, there was a couple points, but it was all from the Bible. It was there was not any anything like, you know, whatever. I'm about to read my Bible for my service tonight. It's coming straight from the Bible. And if your preacher ain't preaching from the Bible, if they're just downloading a um something reading it from the internet, then you ain't going to a church. You're going to a money laundering scheme, and you need to get out of it and you need to get some Bible. If you're not growing, find you a church and plug into a church that's preaching from the Bible. The Bible. The Bible. So I'm just saying, listen, I love you, God loves you. This has been the Unqualified Podcast with Leon Wilson.