I pray that we would learn something this morning that would draw us closer to you and
that would bring us more into obedience, Father, and to love you more.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now this is a great chapter.
There's a lot of feeling, a lot of emotion in this chapter.
This is the Apostle Paul.
He's just about ready to make his final ascent into Jerusalem where he's going to try one
last time to preach the Gospel to his people, the Jews.
He's going to stand up and preach to all the Jews in the Hebrew language.
They're going to reject him for the last time.
He's going to be arrested.
Sergius Lysias is going to intervene there and take him and have him arrested.
They're going to put him on a ship and take him out.
He goes off and his final destination is going to be to end up in Rome where he's in jail
for two years and then finally he's beheaded.
Paul knows that his fate is sealed.
He knows that he's leaving here.
This is his last trip to Asia Minor where he's preached, where he's seen the great revivals.
He knows he's going one last time to his own people where he's going to preach the Gospel
one last time before he's put in jail for the last time and eventually killed.
And he knows God has revealed to him that that's what's going to happen.
Now there's a lot of pathos here because he's saying goodbye to some dear friends, people
that he won to the Lord, a church that he started.
For three years he'd been at this church that he had started and got it off the ground.
He'd won these people to the Lord and he's warning them about something.
But I notice a common theme in this chapter where God is basically exalting the local
church in this chapter.
I want to point out to you several things and the title of the sermon this morning is
The Importance of Church.
Now before I get into the message I'd like to explain to you what church is because a
lot of people have a false idea about a church.
Sometimes people will drive down the road and they'll say, oh, look at that church.
Or they'll say, for example, yes, our church, we just built a new church.
And a lot of people actually think that the building is the church.
The building is not the church.
A lot of people think that an organization, a worldwide organization, they'll call that
a church.
They'll say the Roman Catholic Church or they'll say, you know, the United Methodist Church.
And they'll think that it's some kind of a denomination and they'll call it a church.
That's not what the church is.
It's not a building.
It's not a denomination.
What does the Bible say that a church is?
Well, in the book of Psalms, chapter 66, the Bible says, I will declare thy name unto my
brethren in the midst of the congregation.
I will sing praise unto thee.
Now a congregation is where people get together.
That's what congregation is.
If you see birds congregating, it means that they're just getting together.
It means they're assembled together.
And so in the Old Testament, God calls it the congregation.
He says in the congregation, I will sing praise to thee.
Then in the book of Hebrews chapter two, verse 17, God quotes the exact same verse, but he
doesn't use the word congregation in the New Testament.
He says I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church will I sing praise
unto thee.
Now if God is quoting himself where he said congregation and now he's using the word church,
well we can ascertain from this that the congregation is the church.
The church is the people.
Church is this right here, this assembly of people.
It's not this house.
It's not some kind of an organization.
It is this group of believers that's all assembled together right here.
This is the church.
But why is, what is so important about church?
Well I'm going to show you several things that God says about church and this is going
to be a little more like a Wednesday night maybe going through verses in the book of
Acts chapter 20 and then we're going to go to another passage.
But look if you would at verse number 17.
This is the first thing I want you to see about church and remember this passage is
about church.
Look at Acts 20-17.
And from Miletus he sent two Ephesus and called the elders of the church.
So Paul, he gets together with the pastor of this church that he started, then the men
that were the key players of this church, the elders, the older men in the church who
were the leaders and he gets together with them and here's what he says to them.
And remember Paul was not the pastor.
Paul never passed into any church.
It says right here, when they were come to him, this is verse 18, he said unto them you
know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at
all seasons.
Now he, who is he with?
He's talking to the elders of the church, he's talking to the pastor of the church and
he says listen sir, you know how that from the first day I hit town, I've been with you
at all seasons.
Now the word you is plural of course because the, it would say the if it was singular.
He's saying I've been with the church at all seasons.
What's he saying?
I never miss church.
That's what he's saying.
Now, if it was so important to Paul to be there at all seasons, it ought to be important
to us.
What does he mean all seasons?
Well he's talking about rain or shine.
He's talking about hail or high water.
He's talking about when the sun's out or when it's pouring rain or when there's three feet
of snow.
He says I was there at all seasons.
What's he talking about?
He's talking about when the finances were bad he was there and when the finances were
good he was there.
He said I was there at all seasons, I was at church.
Why?
Because church was important to the apostle Paul and he said look, I don't have to tell
you because you saw me I was always there.
I was there Sunday morning, I was there Sunday night, and I was there Wednesday night at
all seasons.
Well, what about when your boss called you and told you he had to work on Sunday?
No, I just said I was there at all seasons.
Now Paul worked a full-time job.
He said it right here.
In the passage that we were just looking at, it says right here, he says that these hands
ministered unto my necessity and unto those that were with me.
I'm not sure what verse that's in but that's what it says.
What he's saying is I worked a job, he said I was busy, I worked a job, I went soul-winning,
this is apostle Paul, worked full-time, went soul-winning, he says I even provided for
some of my friends financially so that they could come here and preach with me.
He said I ministered to their necessity and yet I happened to make it to the church at
all seasons.
Consistency is so vital in the Christian life.
Consistently reading your Bible every day.
Consistently being in church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, consistently
praying.
It's so easy to be sort of a Roman candle Christian.
You know you do some kind of a gung ho, like I've known people who barely go to church
at all and they barely, they never tithe and then they'll come in and they'll throw down
like $25,000.
They'll throw down $100,000 and they'll get their big name, they'll get their name above
a door or something of some auditorium that's named after them because they threw down money.
But if you really look at it, the simple Christian who just says I may not be a millionaire,
I may not be anything fantastic, I may not be the greatest soul winner in the world,
I may not be the greatest preacher in the world, I may not be the greatest Bible scholar
in the world, but if they're just consistent and just threw in their little tithe every
week, just their 10%, it would be greater than the big grandiose one time throwing.
You know, if you just read your Bible for 15 minutes a day, you could read the whole
Bible in one year, cover to cover.
But what's the key?
Consistency.
You say 15 minutes, that's nothing.
But if you miss a day and then you miss a day and you miss a day, it's not gonna work.
The key to everything in the Christian life is consistency.
And that's why Paul is saying here, I was there at all seasons.
But look onto the next point, so the first point is, number one, be at church at all
seasons.
And I want to say of course that there are providential hindrances, like for example
the Jennings, of course, have been struggling with health problems, and I want to say that
I'm very glad to see the Jennings back with us today.
And some of you may not know the Jennings, but they were actually with us on our second
Sunday.
That's what it was.
You guys came on my second service.
And so that was a blessing.
It was actually the same service that Amanda came for the first time.
And so, boy, I'm thrilled to see you guys back here today, and I understand that you've
been going through a lot of health problems and everything, and so I appreciate you making
it here anyway.
That was a blessing.
That's exactly what I'm preaching about.
But look at this verse right here in verse number 19.
So first of all, we saw that Paul said, I was at church at all seasons.
I don't care what was going on in my life.
I don't care if I was up all night the night before.
I don't care what was going on.
I was there.
And look at this.
Look at verse number 19.
It says, well, what was he doing there?
It says, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations
which befell me by the lying weight of the Jews.
He says, not only was I there at church at all seasons, I just found a way to get there,
but number two, he said I was there serving the Lord.
I wasn't just filling up a chair.
I wasn't just warming the chair.
He said I was there serving the Lord.
Church number one is somewhere to be at all seasons, but church number two is a place
to serve God.
You say, well, how did he serve God?
Well, let's read on and find out.
It says in verse number 20, and now I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house.
So what was he doing?
Number one, he was preaching and teaching in the local church to God's people, and number
two, he was going from house to house preaching God's word, preaching the gospel.
That's the service that Paul was involved in.
You see, we're in the Lord's army, all of us, the Bible says, and this is the battalion,
if you will.
This is our battle unit.
Now there are many great churches, there are other great churches in Phoenix, and there
are many great churches across this nation, and God has a specific plan for this church.
This isn't just somewhere we get together, this is our battle unit.
This is where God gives us our orders of the fight that we need to fight for the Lord and
against the devil, and God has assembled us together for a reason in this unit, this military
unit to fight the battles that he has for us.
Now let me ask you something, in the military, what happens if just a few people aren't there?
I mean what happens if you've got it all planned out and you've got these people over here
and you've got these snipers over here and you've got these guys over here for some kind
of an ambush or whatever, I don't know that much about the military, but what happens
if just a few people are not in their place?
I mean good night, the whole thing could fall apart because it's been so intricately
planned that if one person is not in their place, that's going to be the weakest link
in the chain that causes the army to lose the battle.
And so God is telling us that we're in church to serve, we need to be there, we need to
be in our place, and we need to be ready to serve.
How?
Door to door soul winning is a great way.
How?
Preaching the word of God.
How?
Those that are younger, the word of God, helping them learn their verses and so forth.
But continue on with me if you would in Acts chapter 20, it says, testifying both to the
Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
My next point that I want to say about church, number one, it's all seasons, be there.
Number two, be there to serve God.
Get involved, get in the excitement, get involved somehow.
Bring somebody to church, bring a visitor, win somebody to Christ, show up for soul winning,
do something that's exciting, get involved, both feet, head first, get involved.
But look at this, he says, I testify both to the Jews and to the Greeks.
Point number three is that church is for everybody.
Number one, it's for all seasons.
Number two, it's a place to serve and to get involved.
But number three, it's for everybody.
It's for the Jews and for the Greeks.
You know, I don't believe in this thing of segregation in the church.
Now, you know, the Bible says, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.
And there's neither Jew nor Greek for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call
upon him, the Bible says.
And so he said, it's for everybody.
I didn't just only go, you know, to the white man.
I didn't just only go to the black man.
He says, I went to everybody.
And you know, people have race problems, you know, you hear about in the news or different
strife between races.
You know what the answer to the race problem is?
Jesus Christ is the answer because I can sit in church with the white man and the black
man in church, in the things of God, and there's unity through the local church.
You see, the reason that the races of this world hate each other is because they don't
have that common bond of Jesus Christ in the house of God.
Church is for everybody.
It's for the rich man and it's for the poor man.
We're not going to be some kind of church where we don't want to accept the poor people.
You know, people who aren't dressed right, we're going to kind of lock the door and not
let them in or something or kind of discourage them from being here the next time.
No, we want everybody in this church.
This church is welcome to anybody, rich, poor, black, white, young, old.
It's for everybody.
Now, what is the local church?
I said it's an assembly of people, but not only is it an assembly of people, the Bible
calls it the general assembly.
This is found in Hebrews chapter 12.
It calls it the general assembly and church of the first born.
Now the general assembly, what does that mean general?
It means it's general because everybody's there.
I mean, when I was in Bible college, you know, we would go to chapel services in Bible college
and you know, the preacher would preach and we had a big crowd of people.
Was that church in chapel?
No, that was not church.
Why?
Because it was not a general assembly.
It was only the college students that were there.
It was not a local church.
It was only the college students that were there.
Now, is there anything wrong with that?
No, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but I'm saying don't let that be
a substitute for church.
You know, most churches have Sunday schools.
I'm not against Sunday school at all, but Sunday school is not church.
I mean, because why?
Because Sunday school is broken down into age groups or it's broken down into common
interests and so forth and so you get together and hear the word of God taught, but that
is not church.
Church is where everybody gets together.
The whole assembly is there.
All the people are there.
It started in the book of Exodus with the children of Israel.
The Bible calls it the church in the wilderness.
Moses was the pastor and everybody was there.
He was there at the congregation.
Men, women, children, young, old, everybody.
Church is for everybody to get together and assemble and fellowship.
Now how often does church happen?
Well here, church happens Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.
Now is Tuesday night soul winning church?
No.
Is Saturday morning soul winning church?
No.
It's not church because not everybody's there.
Not everybody's congregated.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night is the church services.
Now does God command you to be at Tuesday night soul winning at 6.30?
No.
Does God command you to be at Saturday morning soul winning at 10 o'clock?
No.
Does God command you to go soul winning?
Yeah, he does.
But he doesn't give you a specific time or place per se, he just says I want you to win
people to Christ.
If anything, the day is today.
He says now is the day of salvation.
But does God command you to be at the assembly of the believers?
Yes.
Does God command you to be at church?
Yes, he does.
We have church here three times a week.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.
There's a distinction between church and Sunday school.
There's a distinction between church and Bible college.
There's a distinction between church and soul winning.
If I have to sacrifice one, the last thing that will be sacrificed is church.
The last thing in the world.
Why?
Well, we're going to find out a little more as we go on.
Look at verse number, let me see here, I'm sorry.
Let's look at verse number, I'm sorry I lost my place, give me one second to find my outline
here.
Okay, I'm sorry.
Verse number 26.
Go down to verse number 26.
So number one, we saw that, first of all, church is for all seasons.
All the time.
Be there.
Number two, we saw that church is for everybody.
It's for every single person.
Number three, it's a place where all of us serve God and all of us get involved.
Number four, church is a place for all the counsel of God.
Now look at this verse right here.
Number 26 it says, wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood
of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
So notice the four alls.
We got all the time I'm there, all the people are welcome, we invite everybody, all the
people are serving God and getting involved and working, not just leaving it to a few
people to win souls and bring people to church.
And number four, it's a place where all the counsel of God is preached.
Now I'm a strong believer in personal Bible reading and I think that I would venture to
say that you should be learning 95% of what you learn from your personal Bible reading
that you learn.
That would just be a figure that I throw out there.
95% of it should come from the Holy Spirit teaching you as you read the Bible.
But there's something about being in church where God can speak to you in a special way
that he only speaks to the church.
Think about this, in Revelation 2 and 3 there's a quote that's repeated seven times.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So apparently God's Spirit is saying something to churches.
Now what's the church?
That's the assembly.
That's when everybody's together, God's Spirit speaks.
That's what the Bible says.
Now how does he speak?
Well case in point, Revelation 2 and 3, that's the word of God.
He gives about six verses of the word of God and says he that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So God will speak to the church through the word of God.
So reading your Bible is number one.
But there's certain things where when you come to church, God can speak to your heart
in a special way.
Boy I remember so many times that I would bring a visitor to church when I was a teenager
and I remember I worked at Round Table Pizza.
Great pizza place.
I just got, I've been going to California every week and so I've been getting to eat
at Round Table and I love it.
I had forgotten how good Round Table Pizza is and I went and just got a big pepperoni
pizza last time I was there.
Man it was good.
But anyway, am I making you hungry right now?
And so Round Table Pizza, I worked there and I always had, for some reason there went a
phase where I had either like Friday or Saturday nights off.
You know one of these real coveted nights to have off and I had that day off that everybody
wanted.
For some reason, I forget why, but I went through this phase.
Well I would use that to bargain with people.
And people would always be in a frantic mess, you know these teenagers in high school, and
they'd be like, oh man I've got to be off this Friday because they had to go to some
party or they wanted to go out with their friends or they had to go to the prom or whatever
and they forgot about it, whatever it was.
On Friday or Saturday they just had to have this day off and they're like, oh what am
I going to do?
And the boss is like, no way, that's our big night, it's Friday, Saturday night.
And I'd say, well hey, I've got Friday night off.
And I'd say, you come to church with me on Sunday and I'll work your shift on Friday
night, Saturday night.
And so many times I was able, I think I was able to do that about ten times literally,
where I was able to swap shifts with somebody and then bring them to church.
And I remember, I would do that sometimes and the people would not come to church after
I did it.
And I just remember, there was a perfect example, I gave the gospel to this one guy, I mean
I went through it with him and I was trying to win him to the Lord and he just got hung
up on a couple things and just was not willing to accept Christ as Savior.
And he was supposed to come with me this coming Sunday morning and so I was praying that the
pastor would just preach exactly what this guy needed and boy, that he would just preach
a message that could get through to this guy so that I could get him saved, you know, that
we could get him saved.
And so he backed out at the last minute, you know, something happened, something happened
with his car or whatever the excuse was and he just did not show up.
And I remember, I got to church, I sat down in church and the message was just exactly
what I had prayed that it would be.
I mean, it was weird, exactly what I had talked to my friend about, exactly what we had talked
about, exactly what he was hung up about, I mean the pastor just nailed it all, but
he was not there.
So I just thought that was amazing that even though obviously God knew that he was not
going to be there, I mean God knows everything, right?
And God knew that this guy was going to lay him out and not come to church, but somehow
still God said, well hey, I provided the right message for him, I did what you asked me to
do, Steve, I provided the perfect sermon for your friend, but he was not there to hear
it.
What am I trying to say?
We all have needs in our lives, don't we?
Aren't there things that we need to hear, aren't there things that we need from the
Word of God, aren't there things that God has to say to us, that God's Spirit wants
to say to us?
If you don't come to church, God may lay something on my heart to preach, and it might
have just been exactly what you needed, but you're not there to hear it, you're going
to miss it.
Can you imagine the thing that could have changed your life?
The thing that could have revolutionized your life, the thing that could have changed the
lives of your children, for example, the thing that could have, maybe it could have been
the service where your kids got saved, where the Gospel just hit home with them, but you
weren't there.
And so that's why it's so vital to be there, because if you want to get all the counsel
of God, you need to go through the whole program of, yes, reading your Bible, and that's
99% of it, but also coming to church just to get that one thing that the Holy Spirit
is going to speak to your heart in the church, in the assembly.
God speaks to my heart in the church.
Obviously I study and prepare these sermons and study all this out and learn it, but while
I'm preaching the sermon, God will speak to my heart and I'll learn things while I'm
preaching the sermon that I never even thought about.
And it's amazing to me, I'll think, boy, I studied this and studied this and I didn't
see it until I was preaching it in the church.
There's just something about being in church where God meets with us.
Remember Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I also
in the midst of them.
But the other thing we can see about all the counsel, because remember we've got all seasons,
all the people, or the people that we're supposed to be inviting, everybody, not just
rich people, not just people that we like, but everybody.
Number three, all the people are supposed to be getting involved and serving God.
And number four, all the counsel of God is supposed to be preached.
You better go to a church where all the counsel of God is preached.
Don't go to some church where the pastor gets up and gives some little feel good devotion,
pats you on the back, tickles your ear a little bit.
Go to a church where the whole counsel of God is preached.
I'm talking about a pastor that's not afraid to preach on sin.
And I'm not talking about this kind of preaching.
Don't sin.
That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about a pastor that names the sin.
Anybody can get up and say, don't sin, don't do wrong, only do right.
And by the way, that's boring preaching, by the way, listening to unspecific preaching.
But it takes somebody who says, I am committed to preaching the whole counsel of God to get
up and say, hey, listen, what you watch on television is wrong.
Listen to me.
Rock music is wrong.
Listen to me.
Alcohol is wrong.
Cigarettes are wrong.
Listen to me.
Taking drugs is wrong.
You know, that takes a little more to say that, to start naming off the TV shows that
are out of hell.
And that's what we need, the whole counsel of God.
I want to know everything that this book says, because this book says a lot about sin.
I was just reading my Bible yesterday, just in my personal Bible reading.
And I was reading 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
The whole chapter is just talking about fornication, how wicked as hell it is for people to live
together that are not married.
And I'm reading through it.
And I just thought, good night, God's just going on and on about this.
And I'm going to preach it.
If God has a whole chapter about it, I'm going to preach it until I'm blue in the face.
Because I'm going to declare unto you, as Paul did, the whole counsel of God.
If it's in this book, I'm going to preach it.
You know, I've been to some churches where the pastor, it seemed like hell was not even
in his vocabulary.
It seemed like he'd never even heard the word hell before.
I went to a church for two years one time, and I was just a kid.
And I said to my parents, I said, why does the pastor never say hell when I read my Bible
and I think 90% of the chapters of the New Testament use the word hell?
And he has never used the word hell one time?
Because he was a wimp and a pansy and he was scared to preach all the counsel of God.
That's why?
Because he just cares about money.
And that's why Paul, as soon as he says, I declared to you the whole counsel of God,
he says, I'm not coveting any man silver.
He says, I don't want your money.
I don't care.
I'm going to preach to you what God wants me to preach.
That's the two sides of the coin, the guy who wants money and the guy who will declare
all the counsel of God.
Those are the two choices that you have as a church to go to.
And so we see all the counsel of God needs to be preached.
But what happens, what happens if you miss church?
What are you missing?
You say, come on, you know, I miss church.
What am I missing?
Well, let me show you what you're missing.
Keep your finger, if you would, in Acts chapter 20 and turn to John 21.
I'm sorry, John 20.
John 20 verse 19.
Keep your finger in Acts 20 and we're going to look at John 20.
So we're going from Acts 20 to John 20.
And verse number 19 of John 20, the Bible says,
Then the same day and evening being the first day of the week.
So what day is this?
Sunday, right?
Sunday night church.
Amen.
All right.
Sunday night, the first day of the week at even,
when the doors were shut, where the disciples were, look at the next word, assembled.
It sounds like church.
For fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them,
Peace be unto you.
And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.
Then said Jesus to them again,
Peace be unto you.
As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
Whosoever sends ye, remit.
They are remitted unto him.
And whosoever sends ye, retain.
They are retained.
Now watch this.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
Now do you think that Thomas knew that Jesus was going to come on that particular church service?
He didn't know. He had no clue.
Because he just thought, it's Sunday night, I'm going to miss Sunday night.
But here's the thing.
They've been having church for several weeks or for a week now.
I think that, I believe, I want to say that this is exactly one week.
In fact, I know it is.
This is a week after Jesus rose from the dead.
So here they are having church and Thomas decided to lay out a church for whatever reason.
I'm sure he had a good reason.
I'm sure he had a good reason, but for some reason he wasn't there.
Let's look at what he missed.
Number one, he missed the fellowship with Jesus Christ.
I mean, Jesus Christ showed up.
Boy, have you ever been in a church service and you just felt like God showed up in that service?
I mean, you felt like God spoke in that service in a great way.
You don't know when that service is going to be.
You don't know when that great service is going to be.
And Thomas decided to dismiss one service and what happened?
He missed fellowshipping face to face with Jesus Christ.
Number two, he missed the peace of God.
Look what he said.
Jesus said, peace be unto you.
Jesus is offering him peace, but Thomas didn't have any peace because he wasn't there.
Number three, he missed the Great Commission.
He missed his marching orders where Jesus said, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you.
He missed the calling and purpose for his life.
He didn't even know what he was doing.
I mean, he'd been following Jesus for three and a half years.
Jesus dies, is buried, rose from the dead.
He's out floating around somewhere where Jesus Christ is saying, this is the purpose.
God sent me to die for you on the cross and now I'm sending you to win people to Christ, to win the world to Christ.
Thomas didn't even know what the point of it all was.
The disciples said, oh well, now we know what to do.
Now we know why this has happened.
It's so that we can preach the gospel to people.
Thomas didn't know that because he wasn't there.
He didn't hear it preached from Jesus Christ in the service.
Look at number four, he missed the power of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus breathed on them and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost.
He missed having the power of God on his life.
He missed the fullness of the Holy Spirit because he wasn't there when Jesus Christ breathed on them and said, receive ye the Holy.
How would you like to have Jesus Christ breathe on you and say, receive ye the Holy Ghost?
Talk about the power.
Talk about the power of God on your life where you've got the Holy Ghost fulfilling you, controlling you, and you've got to be there.
You've got to be in church on the first day of the week, at the evening, the Bible says here.
What else did you miss when you don't go to church?
Well, again, you missed the power again because look at this.
In verse number 23, he says, whosoever sins ye remit.
They are remitted unto them and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.
He says, when you miss church, you're affecting other people because Jesus here is giving them power.
Why?
So that they can preach the gospel and get people saved.
He breathes on them so they can receive the Holy Ghost and he's telling them, you have the power to determine whether people go to heaven or hell if you go preach to them and get them saved.
But if Thomas wasn't there to get that power, Thomas wasn't there to get these marching orders.
Thomas wasn't there to have the purpose in his life.
And lastly, I want to show you that when you miss church, here's what else you miss.
Look at what Thomas says when he comes after when he was gone.
Look at verse number 25.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, this is when he shows up after having missed this great service and everybody wants to tell them about how great of a service it was.
Oh man, you missed it.
The other disciples therefore said unto them, we've seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Because you see, you just had to be there.
Somebody can tell you about it afterward and it's just not the same, is it?
You've got to be there for that service.
You've got to be there when Jesus Christ shows up.
And notice his attitude, an attitude of a total lack of faith, saying I have to see it or else I will not believe.
You say, well, we're going to have soul winning. We're getting all these people saved.
I don't believe it.
Well, you know, you can get your loved ones saved.
I mean, you can open your Bible and show them how to be saved.
I don't believe it.
I don't think it's really going to happen.
Man, this church is going to grow.
It's going to be exciting.
We're going to make something happen.
I don't believe that.
Maybe you've been missing church if you don't believe that.
Because that's where the attitude comes from that says I will not believe.
I mean, that stubborn attitude that Thomas said.
Well, I have to see it and I won't believe.
Well, Thomas, you didn't see it because you weren't there.
You wouldn't have seen it if you would have been there.
Show up at church and you'll see it, Thomas.
Let me read this verse for you.
1 Timothy 3.15.
But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
God says here that the church is the house of God.
This is God's house.
What a joy to be invited to God's house.
God invites us thrice weekly to be at his house.
You say, well, this is your house.
No, this is God's house because of the people that are assembled here.
The born again baptized believers that are assembled here make this God's house.
Flip back if you would to Acts chapter 20 if you're still there.
Acts chapter 20.
And again, this is maybe more like a Wednesday night Bible study where we go verse by verse
and show you things from the Bible.
But look at chapter 20 and look at verse number 28.
Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock
over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers
to feed the church of God, watch this, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Now, who is the he referring to there?
Who knows?
Kids, do you know what an antecedent is?
An antecedent is when you have a pronoun like he
and then it's referring to another word before that.
Okay, let's see if we can find out what that he is referring to.
Let's go backward.
Which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Okay, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.
It looks like it's talking about God.
God is the he.
Because before that you've got the Holy Ghost,
before that you've got God again,
and before that you've got the Lord Jesus.
So it looks, obviously it's not talking about something six verses previous.
So he's saying feed the flock of God,
feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood.
God himself purchased the local church.
He pulled out his wallet and said,
I'm going to buy a local assembly of believers to serve me,
to sing praises to me in the congregation,
and to win people to Christ.
I'm going to buy it and I'm not going to use money.
I'm going to take my own blood and shed it on the cross
to pay for this entity, the local church.
Wow.
That's a pretty big price tag on the local church.
That's a pretty huge price tag to say it's as valuable as the blood of Almighty God.
Wow.
Church is important, all right.
It was bought by God's own blood.
Look at the same chapter,
and I'm going to have you move backward in the chapter now.
And I want you to look at the beginning of Acts,
chapter 20 and verse number 7.
We're going to look at a man named Eutychus.
This is another church service.
This is another Sunday night service being mentioned in the Bible.
And this is on Acts 20, verse number 7.
We're going to learn about a man named Eutychus.
And upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together,
see how they're assembling again on the first day of the week?
We see this common thread throughout the Bible.
Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow,
and continued his speech until midnight.
Man, that's a long service, huh?
They get together at about 6 o'clock, it appears,
because it says, you know, it was the evening.
And it's on the first day of the week,
and Paul preaches until midnight.
And then look at this.
And there were many lights in the upper chamber
where they were gathered together.
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus.
Kids, what was his name?
Eutychus.
Eutychus, all right.
And being fallen into a deep sleep.
So what was Eutychus doing in church?
Falling into deep sleep.
He's sleeping in church, okay.
Now, why?
Because Paul just kept on preaching all night long,
it seemed like, until midnight.
And it says Eutychus being fallen into a deep sleep,
and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep.
So he was going like this.
Okay, it says he sunk down with sleep
and fell down from the third loft.
So he was up on the third floor here in this house,
and he was sitting in a window,
it says at the beginning of verse 9.
So here he is sitting in the window on the third story.
That probably wasn't a very smart place to be sitting,
in a window on the third story.
And then he starts falling asleep.
And what happens?
It says he fell down from the third loft
and was taken up dead, okay.
So here he is, he's listening to the preaching,
he's sitting in the window,
and he falls asleep in the service,
and he falls out the window three flights down.
Wham!
Okay, but look.
Then it says, and Paul went down.
So Paul runs down, couldn't believe it,
and fell on him, embracing him, said,
trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him.
And he's saying, don't worry, he's still alive,
because they thought he was dead.
When he was there for come up again,
and had broken bread and eaten,
and talked a long while, even till break of day,
so he departed.
So here's this guy, he's sitting in the window,
the third floor, he falls out the window.
Wham!
Everybody thought, he's dead.
Paul ran over and checked him and he said,
he's all right.
And he just kept on preaching.
And the Bible says he preached the whole rest of the night.
Now, what can we learn from this story about Eutychus?
Well, number one, don't be a Eutychus,
because Eutychus was half in and half out.
You notice that?
He wasn't all the way in.
He didn't get all the way in the building for the service.
He just said, you know what?
I think I'm going to sit in the window,
because maybe I want to kind of see
what's going on out in the world.
Maybe I'm going to look down the street
and see what's going on down at the bar down the street.
Maybe I'm going to look down and see what's going on
down at that movie theater down the street,
where maybe I want to look down the street
at that party that's going on.
You know, I still want to be in church.
Hey, I came to church.
I love God.
But, you know, I'm still just maybe
got one foot in the world.
And I want to see a little bit what's going on,
what the world has to offer.
And maybe I'm just kind of deciding
whether I want to be in here in church
or whether I want to be out there doing what they're doing.
Look, if you do that, number one,
you're living a pretty boring Christian life,
you're probably going to fall asleep.
He was bored.
I mean, think about it.
Do you think if Paul the apostle was preaching right now
in this service, do you think he'd be falling asleep?
He'd be on the edge of your seat.
I mean, he's like one of the greatest men that ever lived.
And he's up there preaching a one-time service.
He's leaving the next day to go from Troas to Ephesus.
You're going to be on the edge of your seat.
But for the guy who's half in and half out,
he's half in the world, he's half in the things of God,
the things of God are very boring to that type of crowd,
that is half in and half out.
He gets so bored that he passes out and falls asleep,
and then he ends up getting hurt.
And notice, he didn't fall in the window,
he fell out the window.
Because what happens is whenever you're trying to be half in and half out,
half in church and half in the world,
which way do you fall?
You never fall in.
You always fall into the world.
Okay?
You never fall.
You know, I've been half in and half out for the last 20 years,
and all of a sudden, boom, I was just all the way in, man.
All of a sudden, I just started going soul winning
and reading my Bible every day and getting excited
and bringing people down the aisle, bringing people to church,
seeing people baptized and getting excited.
And no, it doesn't happen that way.
The people who are half in, half out, they always end up falling out.
They never fall in.
And so don't be a eudicist, kids.
Don't try and be half in, half out.
Well, you know, I like church, but I also like the world.
I also like the party life.
But, you know, I like to go to church on Sunday.
You know, I still drink a little bit, you know,
and today, you know, it's just moderation and whatever.
But look, no.
You've got to decide right now,
I'm going to be all the way out or I'm going to get all the way in.
And I'm going to be there all the time.
I'm going to serve God all the time.
I'm going to do everything all the time.
Now, look, it would have been a lot safer for eudicists
if we would have just decided to be out,
if we would have just walked out the front door and said,
you know what, I'm going to go be an idiot for my whole life.
I'm going to go live like a drunken, stupid moron.
I'm going to go get married three different times
and I'm going to go out and make a fool of myself
and, you know, dress like a gang banger
and walk around like I'm cool and everything.
If he would have done that, he would have been a lot better off
because he wouldn't have fallen out of window three stories.
But when you try to have it both ways,
when you try to butter both sides of your bread,
you're going to end up getting hurt.
Get in all the way.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night,
soul winning, Bible reading, prayer, everything.
Get the whole package.
You say, I tried Christianity, it just doesn't seem to work for me.
That's because you've got to jump in all the way, man.
I don't want some kind of a little trial size of Christianity,
like the one that comes in the mail of Tide or something,
you know, Tide detergent,
and it's not even enough for a full load.
It's a little trial package.
No, man, I want to go to Sam's Club and get a whole crate of it.
I want to get the economy size of Christianity.
I want to jump in and say,
this is enough to last me for my whole life
because I'm not trying, Tide.
I'm going to be die hard using Tide to wash my clothes until I die.
Amen.
My mom used Tide to wash my clothes
and my wife uses Tide to wash my clothes right now.
You go in my closet right now, you're not going to find Clorox.
You won't find Biz.
No, it's Tide.
Kidding, of course.
But that's the way we are with Christianity.
So I tried praying, it just didn't work.
You can't try praying.
You live a life of prayer.
You pray without ceasing.
You pray until something happens.
You don't try church.
You just go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night,
and then at the end of your life when you die,
then you decide whether it was worth it to do it or not.
But you don't try it.
You've got to just jump in.
Don't sit by the window.
I can get as far away from that stupid window as I can.
I don't want to see what's going on in the world.
I want to be inside, no window, right there,
looking at the man of God, Paul, preaching,
getting everything I can from it, saying,
I'm here to stay all seasons, all the time.
I'm going to get involved in everything, all the work, everything.
I am here for life.
Church is important.
Let's not ever minimize the local church.
We're living in a day when the local church is being minimized,
where it's all about these big parachurch ministries,
promise keepers, focus on the family,
the television preacher, the radio preacher.
Let me ask you something.
Is you sitting in front of the TV, is that an assembly of people?
Is you listening to the radio an assembly of people?
No.
An assembly of people is when you're together with God's people physically
in the assembly of the church.
Yes, there are providential hindrances.
There are times when you become ill and you're not able to come to church.
Of course, God's the one that allowed you to become ill,
so God understands that.
If you're ill to come to church,
you don't want to bring all your sickness and so forth, of course.
But if you're not providentially hindered,
if there's any way in the world that you can get to church,
and I'm not telling you, you know, you have to be in church,
I'm the pastor and I'm telling you you have to be in church,
I'm saying you don't want to miss it.
It's in your best interest to say I will get to church,
I'll do what I can.
If my car broke down and I was trying to go to church,
I'd call the taxi cab because I just will not,
and I'm not saying, I'm saying because I don't want to miss it,
not because I feel like God's going to kill me or something if I don't do it,
but I just want to be in church
because I don't want to miss the time when Jesus Christ shows up.
I don't want to miss the time when Jesus Christ breathes and says,
receive the Holy Ghost.
I want to be there.
I want to be where the action is.
I want to be there at all seasons, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
God, thank you so much for buying this great institution with your own blood,
the local church, and Father,
and Father,