BLESSED QUIETNESS JOURNAL

The following is a sermon outline by Pastor Mike Paulson of Touchet, Washington

This discussion will offend the Baptist Heritage boys who try to claim John the Baptist and the Great Commission as private property of the Baptist Bride and all Fundamental Baptists. It will also offend many pastors of all churches which exalt the Gospel and refuse to feed the sheep.

This sermon is also online in MP3 format at the link below. Other sermons in this context, pressing us to teach the Epistles more, are also at the site.

Why is this heresy of preaching the Gospel instead of feeding
sheep taking over Bible believing pulpits?
The answer, in the words of every wrestling promoter:
"A butt every 18 inches...."
Why do I say "heresy"?
Answer: Paul told the Ephesian elders, as the Apostolic Age
was nearing its end, "Feed the flock of God...."

Most of you preachers do NOT feed sheep, you fleece sheep, and you try to fill the pews with goats and get them saved. When you preach to sheep, you blast them for not going door to door and pushing the numbers up. You drive them with threats if they don't "win souls."

Church history, and the Pauline era, make it VERY clear that this was NOT how the early church used their fellowship times. One pastors told me, "Anyone can teach, but you have to be called to preach." What did he mean? He lied, for teaching is one of the gifts given the Church along with preaching. So, "anyone" cannot teach. It is just as dependent on the Holy Ghost as preaching. Furthermore; this pastor gave away his hand. He does not really believe that feeding sheep is the top priority. His week proves it. He spends very little time feeding sheep. He keeps a goat herd instead so he can push the numbers up.

Lest someone see this as a Grace Movement flight from the Gospel, it is very evident that Paul told Timothy not to neglect the work of an evangelist, and that Paul himself gave the Gospel. He did so on Mars Hill, and the church fathers write of Paul's daily forays into the market place of Ephesus to witness. But, the work of an evangelist today is done by traveling evangelists who witness in pulpits for the offering money. You seldom hear of traveling evangelists who witness in the market place. In fact, many of them do no witnessing outside of church houses. Paul was NOT a hired gun who ran around his world getting paid to hype the saints into a frenzy of soul winning.

Steve Van Nattan-- Editor

We are to learn and study Jesus Christ from Paul, NOT from Peter, James, John or even Jesus from the Gospels.  Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles - so we are told to follow Paul - in fact, we will be judged by Paul's Gospel.  Jesus tells the Holy Spirit what we need to be told and then that is told to us through that King James Bible - and even more specifically, from Paul's writings.

I.  It produces a dead Christianity!

• no joy from the people in our churches - 'especially' the younger folks!
• guilt about not winning enough souls!
• short sermons that are always about getting saved, being saved and leading someone to Christ!
• emphasis on building buildings, etc. to get folks to come to church!
• people follow the preacher man; people come because of the man, church, programs, etc.!
• NO BOOK - they may carry and use the King James but they don't turn the people to it nor do the people know how to understand it!
• the lack of rightly dividing increases the folks unto more ungodliness, even if their action appears to be doing right, they are doing right wrong!

• they preach 'increase' in numbers - even though these are the days of apostasy today!
• we are in the Laodicean hour of temptation, NOT the Philadelphian.  Preaching about the great preachers of the past just put folks on a guilt trip today!
• they are actually preaching a false peace - something the antichrist is very good at!

• Movies; Music; appearance; testimonies; lack of modesty, etc.
• people in these churches are abusing the strings that are attached to our liberty

• always preaching at the people about their lack of winning souls because the church isn't full, etc!

• they are accused of not loving their church if they don't bring new folks in!
• the church is their final authority!
• they are more concerned about the pillar instead of the truth!

• even if they are a King James Bible church, it isn't an issue; they don't talk about it much, etc.!
• they have no way of understanding the TO and FOR in their Bible, because they do not get rightly dividing!
• they don't always have to 'turn to... in the Scriptures" - they just listen to the man tell them about salvation!
• their pastor takes their Bible away from them by confusing their source verses from the Gospels to produce their sermon truth about soul winning, thus folks have no idea how to read their bibles and how to discern the different dispensational applications.
• they have no fullness of understanding let alone the riches from it!

• either through music, flattery, vain words, fair speeches, cunning craftiness, enticing words of man's wisdom, great swelling words and especially having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
• they lead folks who are past feeling unto lasciviousness, etc.!
• this is not about the preachers themselves, it is about the message and words they preach!

A.  Trust the Lord for increase!  Expect increase - believe - have faith for the increase!
    What a thing - this is Pentecostal preaching mentality in our Bible Believing churches now.  In other words, if there is little or no increase in their church attendance, souls won, visitors, money given for building programs, etc  etc, etc. then it must be because the folks have little faith.  What a guilt trip is put on folks!!!!

B.  Bless us with souls!
    What does that mean?  We are winning souls for us?  for our rewards?  for our church size, etc.?  Souls are won to Him, not to us.

C.  Be a willing and waiting vessel!
    Right, so if you are not winning or bringing anybody, it must be YOUR fault!

D.  It's all about Surrender! Give yourself to God!
    More guilt!

E.  Great and marvelous things will happen!
    Like what?  Buildings, increase in numbers, happier kids, etc.?

F.  Do you love the church?
    Of course, but not more than the Lord - not more than the King James Bible - not more than a RIGHTLY DIVIDED Bible - not more than all that Paul wants us to be fed - not more than the truth!

G.  We will stand before God!
    No - our WORKS will stand before God!  Just more and more guilt for not being a great soul winner!

H.  Serve God as His Servant!
    Sure, but also strive to not only live FOR God, but to live WITH Him!  We are more than servants - we can be His friends, too - and will eventually be His bride soon.

I.  Get them to come to Christ!
    Of course, but do we have to be told this week after week, Sunday after Sunday?  What about all that Paul wants us to be fed as he tells us in Ephesians 4:11-16!

J.  Look to God for guidance!
    Sure - through Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit in that King James Bible right down to Paul and all that is TO us! Then we can also consider all that is FOR us - not just some guilt producing pastor asking you to pray about 'giving' money or yourself without your own understanding of God's will for your life through growth in and by the Scriptures.  Our inner feelings are not from God.  This is the sensual crowd as warned about in Jude.

K.  If God can't trust you IN all, then God can't trust you AT all!
    Man, I am getting sick of this guilt stuff.  What does that mean?  If God is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all...  This is the same thing - in other words, if you are saved, then you will do these things that I preach.  If not in all, then you are not at all! etc.  Such junk!

L.  Don't turn in your Scriptures to... but the Bible says...
    What a thing - that is why we bring our Bibles to church - to be SHOWN the scriptures.  Don't worry about the time it takes... these folks need to learn how to be able handle their Bible WITHOUT the preacher always telling them where to look or not!

M.  You are a chosen people - live like it.
    We are NOT the chosen people. I Peter 2:9-11 is about and TO the Jews, not us.  Romans 11:25 warns us about thinking we are the chosen ones - we are very conceited if we think this salvation, etc. is all about us.  It isn't!

N.  Quoting the great old preachers!
    But those guys were from an era that God blessed with open doors, etc.  The credit is to go to God, NOT to the preachers  Those preachers had some poor doctrine and knew little about rightly dividing it seems.  They preached hard, but the increase was all because of God at that time - NOT TODAY.  You could take those messages from those preachers and preach them today and you won't get the same results at all!  It wasn't the sawdust and tent that made that era work - it was God.  He wouldn't even let their poor doctrine, etc. shut the door.  God blessed His words, not the personal greatness of the preachers!  In fact, they had little if any education - many could not even read that well.

O.  Confess your sins - don't lose your fellowship with God!
    What?  That is ONLY found in I John 1:7-9 which is NOT to us today.  We are already forgiven.  That is for Tribulation, etc.  There is nowhere where we read where God cancels out fellowship with us.  Any lack of fellowship is us turning our backs on Him - not Him on us!  What a guilt thing - what a rotten thing to preach to your people!  I John 1:7-9, etc say NOTHING about fellowship! We can grieve and quench the Spirit, but God never stops the fellowship nor does He ever not forgive us.  Our sins are gone - they are washed away - they are not even imputed.

P.  Doing God's commission as stated in Matthew 28:19,20, Mark 16:15-18 and Acts 2:41-47.
    Ok, if that is true, then why are not Fundamentalists and other pastors teaching the Apostles doctrine, why are they not speaking in tongues or grabbing deadly serpents, where are the Baptist healers?

We need to feed the church with Paul's gospel - from Romans to Philemon.  The local church does have a purpose - see Ephesians 4:11-16.  Bringing in the 'lost' and shoving out the 'saved' is not God's design for the local church!

I believe it is killing our Bible Believing churches all across America and replacing the Book with rock, "gospel" and hillbilly music - but alas, that is another sermon!

MORE SERMONS ON THIS TOPIC
AND RELATED SUBJECTS BY MIKE PAULSON

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LETTER FROM A READER:

I’m reading the article on preaching the Great Commission.

You can stir up another hornet’s nest by making the statement that there are NO lost people in the church. The “church” is made up of those born again believers who’ve trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ and have been placed in the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. The local church is a group of believers that gather to worship, pray for and serve one another, etc.

Now, there may be some lost folks in the place where the church meets. Especially the way that church is done today (forgive me – it is crass to say it that way, but that’s the way its often regarded). If that’s the case, could you spend some time up front acknowledging this fact, and spend a little time preaching to those lost souls in a way that will allow the Holy Spirit to bring the conviction of sin, righteousness (of which they have none), and judgment to come, urge them to repent towards God and trust in Jesus while there’s hope – and then go on and feed the flock with the teaching of the books and doctrines of God’s word? At least you wouldn’t be blurring the distinction between those that are alive in Christ, and those that are dead in trespasses and sins. Also, the lost would either get saved, join the flock rejoicing, and get fed, or get fed-up and get out. Let me know your thoughts.

Steve Van Nattan responds:
Friend, you stated the problem and the solution. Sometimes I have nothing better to say than the writer of the letter. This is such a time.