Remaining in Sound Doctrine to Win Souls

Introduction

In this sermon delivered at Impact Centre Chretien in Montreal, Pastor Jean Serge BEDA picks up the torch handed to him the previous week by apostle Yvan Castanou. The title of the message: Remaining in the Sound Doctrine of Christ to Be a Productive Savior of Souls. Two texts carry the message: Ezekiel 3:1-11 and 17-21, then Mark 11:12-14.

The pastor starts from a twofold conviction. The growth of the Church is not only numerical, it is also spiritual. And that growth requires a solid foundation in the Word. At a time when pseudo-knowledge (gnosticism, trendy doctrines) is trying to capture believers' attention, he reminds us that no other book can replace the Bible as the basis for faith.

The thread of the message is simple: God tells Ezekiel, "Eat this book and go speak." You too must eat before you speak, and you must speak because God expects fruit, with no excuse.

Outline of the Message

1. Eat the Book Before Going to Speak

• Context of Ezekiel: a priest turned prophet, deported to Babylon in the second wave under Nebuchadnezzar, roughly in his fifth year of exile.
• The Hebrew verb akal, translated "eat," means to devour: God is asking for a total assimilation of his Word.
• The priority for a new convert: take the Bible, read it, start with the New Testament, know Jesus through the text and not only through movies or sermons heard secondhand.
• The pastor insists: "the first good habit to build is to take the Bible and read it."

2. Do Not Build Your Faith on Anything Other Than the Bible

• Spiritual experiences (visions, words of knowledge, prophecies) are good, but they cannot be the foundation of Christian faith. A prophecy fulfilled ten years ago is in the past; the Word remains.
• Psalm 138:2: "you have exalted your word above all your name." God himself has willingly bound himself by his Word.
• The pastor's personal testimony: as a young student, he was about to write a letter of membership to an esoteric group after reading a book that presented Jesus as "the greatest master of all time." A friend showed him the threat slipped in further along in the book: "if you are not initiated, stop here." The letter was never sent.
• Faced with certain teachings (polygamy justified by passages pulled out of context, extraterrestrial doctrines, etc.), a Christian who has not eaten the book is defenseless. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).

3. Go and Speak: To Every Category of Souls

• God does not send us only to the pagans. He also sends us to backsliders, those who have abandoned the faith, the lost, the apostates.
• That brother or sister you no longer see at church? That person developing a strange doctrine? You must go after them.
• Some are living through nighttime oppression and give up because they are not grounded. God sends us to them as well.
• The condition for going: being yourself filled with true knowledge, otherwise you display blatant ignorance in front of better prepared opponents.

4. God Expects Results: The Lesson of the Fig Tree

• Mark 11:12-14: Jesus, being hungry, approaches a fig tree out of season, finds only leaves, and curses it. "May no one ever eat fruit from you again."
• Christ is the author of the seasons; if he comes looking for fruit, no season is a valid excuse before him.
• No excuse holds up: time, resources, sleep, illness, being single, a difficult marriage, children. The fruit required is simply having eaten and having gone to speak.
• An echo of Bishop Dag Heward-Mills's seminar at Lighthouse Chapel: William Booth's vision, the keys to multiplication, the challenge of one soul won for Christ per month per believer.
• The pastor asks the question: when Jesus returns, where is your fruit?

Key Takeaways

• "Eat this book and go speak": ministry begins with assimilating the Word, not with action.
• The Word of God is exalted above his name (Psalm 138:2); nothing can replace it as the foundation of faith.
• Spiritual experiences are not the foundation; they are added on top of a biblical foundation already in place.
• The mandate of evangelism covers pagans, but also backsliders, the lost, and apostates.
• God expects fruit with no excuse; the cursed fig tree reminds us that he is not satisfied with leaves.

Personal Application

1. What place does daily Bible reading actually hold in your week?
2. Have you built your faith on spiritual experiences (visions, prophecies, chills) rather than on the written Word?
3. Since the last seminar or evangelism message you heard, how many souls have you tried to win, or did you only say "amen"?
4. Is there a backsliding brother or sister around you that you have stopped going after?
5. What book, doctrine, or recent voice have you let into your faith without confronting it with the Bible?

Verses Cited

• Ezekiel 3:1-11
• Ezekiel 3:17-21
• Mark 11:12-14
• Psalm 138:2
• Luke 6:45
• Isaiah 53:3-5
• 2 Samuel 7:10

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "eating the book" mean in Ezekiel 3?

The Hebrew verb akal used here means to devour. God asks Ezekiel to assimilate the Word before carrying it to the people. For you, that means becoming deeply familiar with the Bible (reading it, meditating on it, letting it fill your insides), before claiming to speak about God to others.

Should we only evangelize non-believers?

No. Pastor BEDA points to four categories: pagans, backsliders, those who have abandoned the faith, and the lost or apostates. The brother or sister you no longer see at church is part of your mandate, just as much as the person who has never heard the gospel.

Why does Jesus curse a fig tree that was not in season?

Because Christ is the author of the seasons and is not subject to them. The scene in Mark 11:12-14 illustrates that God expects fruit without circumstances being an acceptable excuse. The fruit he asks of you is simply having eaten his Word and having gone to speak of him.