www.scatteredchristians.org
Another Sermon for the Starving Bible Believing Christians All Over the World Wide Web
2006 - Touchet Baptist Church, Touchet, Washington - Pastor Mike Paulson - 2006
Expounding the way of God more perfectly - Acts 18:26 - with the Scriptures Rightly Divided - II Timothy 2:15
Fruit Pickin'
Part I
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Romans 2:4

Basic Premise of this subject:  Truthful fruit picking today is NOT soul winning,
but changing your walk to please God!
I encourage you to listen to the audio sermon to hear the emphasis and 'reminders' that you will miss in only reading the notes.

These are general statements based on our years of preaching Paul and rightly dividing the entire Book -
not just picking and choosing verses in order to make them sound Baptist!

REMEMBER:  I am not lessening the importance of being saved - I am not lessening the need for our friends and family to be saved. I am saying there is too much of an emphasis on 'soul winning' today in our KJB churches.

Soul Winning is easier than BEING a real Christian!
Like women who say it is 'easier' to work a career than to be a mother and wife at home, or for men to stay home and be Mr. Mom while his wife goes to work, soul winning is the 'easy way out' for a Christian who is not willing to 'change' their lives since they trusted the Lord.

It is easier to tell someone they are going to Hell than it is to show them what it is to live a risen life.

There is far more to being a Christian than just 'going to heaven' but that is all Christians today know.  They want to go to heaven when they die, but until then, they want to do what they want to do - oh, with God's blessings, of course.
We tend to just tell folks that they are a sinner because of what they do - when in reality, they are sinner because of what ADAM did.

Romans 12:1,2 is a lot harder than just yelling at a person that they are going to hell!

A person doesn't have to be much of a Christian to 'win souls.'  Just know a few key verses and let em have it!  In fact, unsaved folks are not interested in the Christian life today (neither are Christians, for that matter...) and so preachers and pastors give in to the ecumenical push of lowering standards to 'reach the lost.'

"Great" soul winners all claim Matthew 28:19,20  and Mark 16:15-20 but a rightly divided look at those verses would show that they do NOT show the commission that we are to claim.  If they were, then we would also be preaching sings that are to follow them after they are saved.  Read ALL of Mark 16:15-20 and Matthew 28:19,20.  Teaching what Jesus taught in the Gospels is NOT our teachings today.  We are to teach & preach what Christ told Paul to teach and preach and Christ did NOT tell Paul to preach and teach the Beatitudes, etc.
Being a soul winner only - and not telling your 'new Christian' about growing up with Paul is like having a baby but never feeding them or taking care of them, something, by the way, that is happening more and more today.  So it is no wonder that Christians don't see the need of bringing up their new soul in the nurture and admonition of the Lord - they don't do it for their own children, either..
There are the Scriptures that warn of false testimonies, imitation Christians, false salvations as we near the Tribulation.  Are folks today being led into false salvations by 'asking Jesus into their heart.' reading a Chick Tract and following their 'plan,' making emotion pleas of forgiveness at the altar, etc.?
Soul winners prideful?
Self-proclaimed soul winners are 'warriors' for the faith, as they say.  They are considered 'great' only by the number of souls that they say are saved.

Proverbs 11:30 says that he that winneth souls is wise.  Does that mean that he who doesn't win souls is a fool?
After all, they are wise because they 'win souls' - who cares that their family is falling apart, they are divorcing, their kids are rotten, etc. Or even if their little kids are obedient little creatures so they don't get spanked, when they become teens, they are rebelling and when they become young folks, they LEAVE their church, they QUIT the Bible - or if they maintain a Christianity, they go to the new lower standards, NOT KJB churches.

Present a False Witness
Lower your standards, hang around the worldly crowd, listen to their music, live a permissive life style, play their game to "win them to Christ!"  However, if that is your plan, then you are presenting a false witness - you are deceptive and deceiving.  That is not the Christ that Paul preaches!  You are setting your friends up for the ways of the antichrist!

Where is Paul and ALL the books from Romans to Philemon in their follow-up?
How many end up in church?
How many end up with changed lives?
Are they just 'saved' and keep on "keepin on" with things still pretty much the same?

True Witness
Proverbs 14:25 does say that a true witness winneth souls, but it also says a deceitful witness speaketh lies - and it seems that more and more 'soul winners' are not telling the lost folks the truth about salvation.  Asking Jesus into ones' heart - asking for forgiveness - etc. is not true Salvation.  Going to the gospels does not present a true witness today.

Street preaching and the big showy pizzazz on going to hell often goes against the ways of II Timothy 2:24-26.
Soul winners do not present all that involves Romans 2:4 to the lost.  You find ALL that in Paul's epistles - not in the Gospels!

God's judgment is all that they know to preach - because that is all their own pastors are preaching to the Christians.  Soul winners do not KNOW PAUL!

Even Paul's salvation verses, when used by today's soul winners, are mistakenly done in a threatening 'or else' manner of invitation.  Did you know the "invitation" has a 'history?'  That in itself shows that it is not the biblical approach.  An 'invitation' is usually just an emotional music-based plea of religion.
Meat - in fact, Paul's teachings are the 'meat' we are to chew on - and grow up with!  Ephesians 4:14; I Corinthians 13:11.
Soul winners just teach folks how to be soul winners - just like parents today who have children just teach their children how to have children!
Convincing from the preaching!
You don't need an invitation to come up with I Corinthians 14:24,25!  The preaching of the truth ought to do that!  We shouldn't need music to 'draw the net.'

Discipleship 'Classes'
Tribulation War Games Today
Preaching and reaching for souls as the main emphasis will take place again in the Tribulation.  Romans 2:4 is the approach from Paul.
See the following verses to see the Tribulational emphasis towards the soul.
Hebrews 13:17
James 1:21
James 5:20
I Peter 1:9
I Peter 1:22
I Peter 2:25
I Peter 3:20
I Peter 4:19
II Peter 2:14

Righteousness in the OT
Ezekiel 14:14,20 - on their own righteousness

Faith in the OT
Habakkuk 2:4 - based on their faith

Purposes of Christ
Follow Christ as He walks the walk!
Gospels - lead to repentance - the walk must be walked - their lives must change in order to follow Jesus!
Matthew 9:13
Mark 2:17
Luke 5:32
Paul says Christ came to save sinners!
Follow Paul as Christ imputed the walk He walked!
I Timothy 1:15
He makes us righteous by HIS walk - we receive it by our faith and then we receive HIS faith!
Romans 5:19
Romans 2:4
Acts 15:24 - not words, but our life as a Christian is the emphasis we should be having!
This particular purpose of Christ is only for at the end of  the Tribulation!
I John 3:8

Don't get me wrong - souls do need to be saved today,
but to make a purpose of the church today - that goes against the rightly divided Scriptures!
See Ephesians 4:11-16+
To be continued...
More on the actual fruit to be picked in Part II!