Alright, good morning everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find
our seats. As you find your seat, grab a songbook, turn to song number 409. Song number 409,
the fight is on, and let's all stand together for this first song if you are able. Song
number 409, all together nice and strong on that first verse. The fight is on, the trumpet
sound is ringing out, the cry to arms is heard of far and near. The Lord of hosts is marching
on to victory, the triumph of the Christ will soon appear. The fight is on, oh Christian
soldier, and face to face is turn away. The carver cleaning and father streaming, the
writing common page to pay. The fight is on, but be not fear me, be strong and if it's my
hope pass. He's coming for us, he's panoramas, we'll sing the winter song at last. We'll find
his honor, round your soles, he'll bring the truth to all our leads, and him too we'll be sure.
The blood of God, the armor God has given you, and him his strength, whoever will endure.
The fight is on, oh Christian soldier, and face to face is turn away. The carver cleaning and father
streaming, the writing common page to pay. The fight is on, but be not fear me, be strong and
if it's my hope pass. He's coming for us, he's panoramas, we'll sing the winter song at last.
We'll find his lead, God will serve to bring to me, though abroad his fancy eastern sky.
His glorious name, in every land shall honor me, the Lord will break, the dawn of peace is thine.
The fight is on, oh Christian soldier, and face to face is turn away. The carver cleaning and father
streaming, the writing common page to pay. The fight is on, but be not fear me, be strong and
it is my hope pass. If God before us is panoramas, we'll sing the winter song at last.
Amen.
Amen, wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us this day, this time that we
have to come to your house and hear the preaching of your word, and we ask that you please just
bless our service this morning, bless every aspect of it. Please bless the singing that it would be
pleasing to your ears, Lord, and that it would also prepare our hearts for the message, and
fill past me here with your spirit as he preaches unto us. Give him boldness and give us your spirit
in the congregation as well, Lord, that we may leave here different than when we came in. In Jesus'
name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Please turn your song books to song number 397.
Song number 397, just a few pages over in your song book. Little is much when God is in it.
All together, nice and strong on that first verse.
In the harvest field now ripen,
there's a word for all to do. Hark, the voice of God is calling, to the harp is calling you.
Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus'
name. Does the place you fall to labor seem so small and little known? It is great if God is in it, and he'll not forget his own.
Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name.
Far you play, aside from service, body warm from toilet air. You can still be in the battle, in the sacred place of prayer.
Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name.
When the conflict here is ended,
he will say to all the faithful, welcome home, my child, the God.
Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name.
All right, great singing. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Just a few announcements here before
we sing our next song, which will be 121 if you want to get that ready in your songbooks.
Like a River, Glorious. If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand. One of
the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there. Of course, we welcome you
to come back to our Sunday night service at 5 p.m. for some more preaching. And then we have our
Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. We are currently going through the book of Isaiah. We'll
be in Chapter 46 this coming Thursday, so hope to see you then. You see the soul winning times and
teams there in the middle, the list of expecting mothers if you can keep them in prayer, and then
the stats for salvations and baptisms for the month of January there at the bottom left-hand
corner. On the right-hand side is the upcoming church events. We're continuing our soul
winning training today after the a.m. service, and so you don't have to reserve your spot. If you're
already here, you were here last week, we encourage you to come back. And so we'll be filling up this
front section here. We'll give out lessons, and it'll take about 15 minutes or so. So I want to
welcome you to come to that. Sharpen your sword for soul winning, and so looking forward to that. And
then also along with that, or actually right before that should I say, is the kids Valentine
exchange. So it's going to be a little chaotic after the service. Kids are going to be running
to give Valentines to their friends, so just just be patient with that and let them have their fun.
And then we also have a homeschool field trip coming up on Tuesday, February 18th. That'll be
at Billy B's at 11 a.m. You have the address there, and of course the expenses are paid for.
And if you have any questions you'd like to participate in that, you can talk to my wife Sarah
for more details. And then lastly, we have the TJ missions coming up once again on Saturday,
February 22nd. Of course, as usual, we're meeting at the building at 9 15 a.m. Please make sure you
bring your passport, and if you have any questions about that, you need a ride, you want to ride along
with us, you can talk to brother Ulysses Hernandez about that. It's been very fruitful there, so pray
that we see a lot of souls saved in Mexico on the 22nd. Please make sure you silence your phones
during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. And that is it for our
announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song, 121 Like a River, Glorious.
Song number 121, Like a River, Glorious.
All together nice and strong on that first verse.
Like a river, glorious is God's perfect peace.
Over all victorious in its bright increase.
Perfect yet it groweth, fuller every day.
Perfect yet it groweth, deeper all the way.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed.
Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand.
Never folk and follow, never traitors stand.
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care.
Not a blast of hurry, touch the Spirit there.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed.
Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
Every joy or triumph, falleth from above.
By the Son of Love, we may trust Him globally.
All for us to do, they who trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed.
Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
Amen. Wonderful singing.
At this time, the ushers will come forth to receive the offering.
You can turn your Bibles to Psalm chapter 84, Psalm chapter number 84.
Good morning, we're in Psalm 84. Psalm 84, the Bible reads,
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow had nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising me.
Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, whose heart
are the ways of them, who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well,
the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength.
Every one of them in Zion appearth before God.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob.
Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed,
for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
The Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory.
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in me.
Let's pray to the Lord God. Thank you for this church. Thank you for our pastor.
Just ask that you would strengthen him now. Please fill him with your Holy Spirit.
And we ask that you bless the preaching. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen. Okay, we're in Psalm 84 this morning. Verse number 10 says,
for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. And the title of my sermon this morning
is Cheap Substitutes for Church. Cheap Substitutes for Church.
The psalmist here in Psalm 84 is exalting the importance of being in the house of God.
And of course, we know that in the Old Testament, the temple,
the tabernacle would have considered the house of God.
In the New Testament, the house of God is the church, right? The pillar and ground of church.
It is the local New Testament, visible church that's found in different cities,
pastored by one man, assembled by many baptized believers.
But the principle still applies here. And here in Psalm 84, he's expressing
how much he loves to be in the house of God. And in fact, he says in verse one,
how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.
My soul longeth, yea, even fainted for the courts of the Lord.
In other words, man, I can't wait to be in the house of God.
My soul faints, it longs for, it thirsts for. It has a appetite.
It has a desire for being in the courts of God, which is referring to the house of God,
the tabernacle. He goes on to say in verse number four,
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. They will be still praising the seal.
And of course, the famous verse and number 10, he says here,
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. And then he compares it.
He says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper, meaning, you know, give me the lowliest position in the
church. Give me the position where maybe I'm just opening the door for people to come into
the house of God. I'd rather do that.
I'd rather be the doorkeeper, the greeter, the man who's opening the door for the people of God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. He's saying, I just rather be in God's house
more than anything else. And this morning I'm preaching to the choir here,
but I want to talk about the fact that, you know, there are certain things that are just
a cheaper substitute than church. And unfortunately, certain Christians
choose those substitutes over the house of God. Now, by way of introduction, first and foremost,
I want to talk about the importance of going to church. And again, I know that I'm preaching to
the choir here, but these are good refreshers for us all, especially as we start off the year
here in 2025, the importance of going to church first and foremost, go with me.
If you went to Matthew chapter 18, Matthew chapter 18, if you would, let me say this by
way of introduction. Why is it important to go to church? Well, first and foremost, it is the next
step for newly baptized believers. We often talk about people who get saved and when they get saved,
we often communicate to them that the first step of obedience, the first thing you should do after
you get saved is what? Get baptized. That is you go to a local New Testament church or wherever
you're at where there's an ordained pastor and ordained evangelist, and they baptize you in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, you get fully immersed underwater,
you get fully taken out. And that pictures the death, barren resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That is the first command that God gives all believers after salvation. But what about after
that? Well, after that, God's will for every believer who's been baptized is to go to church,
to be a part of a local New Testament church. Now you're not there, but I'm going to read to you
from Acts chapter two and verse 41. It tells us here, then they that gladly received his word,
by the way, gladly receiving his word is synonymous in this passage with getting saved.
Someone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ when the gospel is preached unto them can be said
that that person gladly received the word of God. They gladly were saved. It says were baptized and
the same day they were added unto them about 3000 souls. And they continued steadfastly in the
apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking and bread and in prayers, the Bible says. So we see
here that the biblical model is that when someone got saved, there were then baptized and immediately
they joined a local New Testament church to continue in the word of God in the apostles
doctrine in fellowship, breaking and bread in prayers immediately, not a year after,
not two years thereafter. And obviously, when we go and preach the gospel, we get people saved,
they don't show up to church right away. But that still doesn't negate the fact that God expects
for them to go to church right in order to grow in their faith and their knowledge, because that is
the next step for baptized believers. Not only that, but you know, going to church is important
because it's where we come to meet with God. Now, we obviously know that you met with God this
morning, if you read your Bible, you've met with God throughout the week, if you walk with God,
but there is a specific designated place, according to the Bible, where we meet with
God collectively, and that is the local New Testament church. Okay, Matthew chapter 18,
verse 17. Look what it says here. This is a chapter on church discipline. It says,
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church,
let him be unto thee as a heathen man and as a publican. And I'm not going to develop this in
the sermon because it's outside of the scope of this particular message. But what this is
basically saying is that if a person who is essentially qualified for excommunication from
the church because of particular sin and offense, you know, we're supposed to bring it before the
church, right? Believers. And if he just refuses to repent of that particular sin, then we're to
excommunicate that person from the church and there to be to us as a heathen man, as a publican,
in other words, almost treat that individual as an unregenerated, unsafe person have nothing to
do with them, right? So the context here is referring to the church. It goes on the same
verse 18. Verily, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two
of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my
father, which is in heaven. Now, the second thing I want you to notice here is that God actually
respects church government, right? In other words, if the church collectively agrees to remove
someone from the congregation, if we bind that, in other words, we agree together, God says,
I agree too, because the church collectively agrees, I agree with you, it's bound in earth,
okay, it's bound in heaven as well. In its same context, verse 20, for where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. So obviously, in its context,
it's referring to the presence of God in church. And let me say this is that, yeah, you know,
you may sense the presence of God when you're reading your Bible and you do, you hear from God
when you're reading the Word of God, you hear, you know, the Word of God when you're listening
to preaching outside of church, but there's a specific presence that comes when we meet
together as a church to hear the preaching of God's Word, according to the Bible, we come to
meet with God. And you know, I can't tell you how many times as a Christian, I've essentially, you
know, been under preaching, and I think someone shut off the lights back there, if someone could
get that. Please keep the children away from the lights, parents. You know, there's been times when
I've been in church, and I hear a pastor preach, and maybe I'm struggling with something, or maybe
I have some sin in my life, or maybe I'm just struggling with my attitude, and the pastor
addresses it, and I'm just like, oh man, like, I know he's talking about me, you know, and there's
a temptation to want to nudge the person next to you and be like, did you talk to him about that?
You know, this often happens with couples in our church, and it's just like, they nudge each other,
you're like, you talked to them, huh? You told them? And it's just like, I don't know anything
about it, but the fact that you came here, God obviously has a message for you. You're coming
to meet with God so he can address your specific issues, your situation, cause you to grow.
Go to Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4. So church is important because it's the next
step for newly baptized believers. Not only that, but it's a place where we meet with God
collectively as a congregation, but also it's important because you cannot reach spiritual
maturity without attending a church. It's impossible to reach any form of spiritual
maturity if you're not in church. It doesn't matter how much Bible you learned online,
doesn't matter which Bible college you went to, what Bible university you attended,
what degrees you have, you got a masters in divinity, masters in theology. Sir,
if you don't go to church, you're not spiritually mature. That's a fact. That goes for everyone
across the board. In order for anyone to reach spiritual maturity, they need to be in the house
of God. Look at verse 11 of Ephesians 4, very familiar passage here. It says in verse 11,
and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ. And I want you to notice the result here. It says till we all come in the unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, a complete man, a mature man
is what that's referring to, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Now,
let me just explain something briefly here regarding this passage. And that is that today
in 2025, there are no apostles and there are no prophets the way we would consider the prophets to
be of the Old Testament, where they're given divine visions and such. Those offices no longer
exist, whereas the offices of evangelists, pastors and teachers do. And those are offices that exist
in a local church. And what this passage is teaching us is that in order for us to really
become a perfect man, a mature man, a complete man in our faith, it requires the assistance of
a pastor, a teacher or an evangelist, which is found in a church. And it goes on to say in verse
14, that we henceforth what? Be no more children. What is that implying? You've matured, you've
grown, you're no longer a babe in Christ. Look, everyone who first is newly saved,
they're a babe in Christ. They're a baby. This is not an insult. This is not to degrade anybody.
This is not to, you know, diss anyone. This is just plain fact. We all start in that position,
in that stage where we first get saved. We are literally like an infant in the Lord. We are a
babe in Christ. And God's will is for us to grow, grow spiritually, grow in our knowledge. And
according to the Bible, we need the house of God in order to no longer be children. Now, look,
just because you've been in church for a long time, by the way, doesn't necessarily mean that
you are a fully mature person. Because I don't know if you know this, you have to apply what
you're listening to, right? So it's like you could be in church for years on end and just look into
the perfect law of liberty, but then you walk away and forget what manner of man you were. You know,
you're not a spiritually mature person. So you have to come to the house of God and, you know,
you got to apply what I'm telling you. You got to actually put into practice the preaching of God's
word in order to mature. It goes on to say that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and
fro. What does it mean to be tossed to and fro? Well, you know, you could take any five-year-old
here and just tell them that there's a monster around the corner and if, you know, they probably
believe you, right? Depending on the child. But, you know, you can pretty much convince them because
they're just like a sponge. They're very gullible. They're just kind of believe everything. They're
kind of simple in that area. So what this is implying is that, you know, if you go to the
local New Testament church, you grow in your faith, you're not going to be a child who's just
gullible. Just believe everything you see on the internet. Believe every single YouTube video.
Believe every podcast. Believe every post. You're not tossed to and fro. You're not carried about
with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men cutting craft in this whereby they lie in
wait to deceive. What's the point here? The point is you cannot spiritually mature without a church.
You need the church in order to grow spiritually. Go with me if you went to Titus chapter 1.
This is all introduction. We're saying the importance of church. Why is it important?
Because it's the next step for newly baptized believers. And let me just throw this in here.
If you've been saved and you've not been baptized, you should be baptized after the service. Because
in order for you to spiritually grow, you have to obey the Lord in believers baptism. That's the
first command that God gives you after salvation. Secondly, church is important because it's a place
where we come to meet with God. Thirdly, you cannot reach spiritual maturity without attending
a church. And here's the next point. Why is church important? It is where a believer's behavior is
corrected and improved. See, it's not enough that we believe the right things. We have to behave the
right way as well. You know, God is interested in us living in holiness, having godly conduct
and conversation, and being what the Bible would refer to as Christ-like, like Jesus Christ.
Not just in the way that we think, but even in the way that we walk and the way that we behave. And
I don't know about you, but when I first came to church, I just didn't come, batteries included.
When I first came to church and I got saved, I wasn't just on par and knew all the commandments
and lived just righteously right off the bat. I had to learn these things. And in fact, the
Bible literally says, learn to do well, right? Learn to obey God's commandments, learn by
repetition, learn by going to the house of God. Now, partly when it comes to this particular point,
good behavior is learned by preaching, right? You know, you may think that drinking alcohol is okay,
but then I rip face on alcohol and you're like, oh, it's a sin. Okay, I shouldn't drink anymore,
right? And other behaviors, but you know, some of it is just learned through preaching,
but I'll be honest with you, a large portion of behavior is just learned by looking at other
believers, looking at other believers who are mature in the Lord, and they see your example,
they see your conduct, they view your speech, they see how you parent, they see how you're a husband,
they see how you're a wife, they see how you're a child, and guess what? They want to mimic that,
and that's how they learn righteousness, that's how they learn to change their behavior.
Like, oh, I want to be like that. This is why the Bible talks about being an example to the
believers, and it talks about in conversation. That's not referring to our speech, it's talking
about our conduct, our manner of life, okay? But again, that's not the exclusion of preaching,
because the Bible does say, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season,
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. In other words, you have to correct
people. I have to rebuke people, I have to correct people and say, that's not the right way to live,
you have to change that attitude, you have to change that behavior and bring it in line to
the behavior of God's word. But look at Titus chapter 1 and verse 12, it says here, one of
themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts,
slow bellies. Now, let me give you a little bit of context here. The Pharisees who are false
prophets are going to the island of Crete, and they're saying this of the Cretans. And false
prophets are liars, right? They're false prophets, they teach false doctrine, they're wicked people,
but false prophets will also put a little bit of truth into that preaching, because if they only
preach lies, then they wouldn't be able to sell it off. So sometimes they have to put a little bit
of truth. And in this particular instance, I believe what they're saying is actually true.
So they're preaching false doctrine, but then when they're talking about the Cretans,
they're saying, hey, they're liars, they're evil beasts and slow bellies, okay? And obviously,
this is hitting home to Titus and to Paul, because they're starting churches in that area
that are filled with what? Cretans. Now look what it says in verse 13, this witness is true.
So the Apostle Paul is like, yeah, you guys are evil beasts, liars and slow bellies, you guys are
lazy, you guys are gluttons, you guys are, you know, just slothful. And you know, this witness
is true. What is the solution? Wherefore, rebuke them sharply, rebuke you, the Cretans, that they
may be sound in the faith. Now, this isn't referring to rebuking the Pharisees sharply,
because Pharisees who are false prophets can't be sound in the faith, right? You can't correct the
false prophet, once they're reprobated, they're doomed. Whereas you can correct new believers and
those who don't have the right conduct. And so he's saying, make sure you preach hard, rebuke
the Cretans for being evil beasts, liars and slow bellies, so they can be sound in the faith, they
can have the proper behavior, the proper conduct. What is the point here? The point is, it's
important to go to church because it is where a believer's behavior is corrected and improved.
And let me just say this on this point, be patient with people. You know, there's people
that come to church and maybe they don't act exactly like you. In certain instances, that's
a good thing, okay? But here's the thing is that sometimes maybe they're not up to par, maybe
doctrinally, they're not up to par in their behavior. Be patient with them because neither
were you when you first came. So we need to make sure we show grace and be kind to people and be
patient with people, be long-suffering with people. And obviously, that is not at the
exclusion of rebuking, reproving, correcting behavior, but we need to be patient with them.
Turn with me if you would to 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, if you would.
We're talking about the importance of church. It's important because it's the next step for
newly baptized believers. It is where we come to meet with God through the preaching of God's Word.
You cannot reach spiritual maturity without attending a church. It is where a believer's
behavior is corrected and improved. And let me say this is that it is the only viable manner
of getting biblical fellowship. Look, you can learn the Bible online, listen to all kinds of
preaching online, but you're missing an element of the church that's very important and that is
fellowship, friendship, having people that you look to face to face, talk to, befriend, eat with,
hang out with. This is actually a biblical thing. And I'm not going to go through all the verses on
that, but that's obviously something that we see in the New Testament where people were like-minded
in the local New Testament church, meaning that they believe the same doctrine, but they were
around each other as well. I don't really like to use this phrase because it's abused by liberal
churches, but it's a community. A local New Testament church is where we find a community
of believers. I feel like when I say it, I have to say it that way. It's a community of believers
where we get together and rip on false prophets and talk about reparations and all the other
stuff. But we agree. But you need the fellowship. So yeah, you need to be fed spiritually through
the preaching of God's word, but let me just be real honest with you. You need a friend too.
You need friends, you need family, you need people that are praying for you. And this is why it's
good that the ladies, they got the ladies chat going on and they're there gossiping about us
and all that stuff. And they're on there sharing prayer requests and talking about things that are
even outside of the church, like homemaking and homeschooling. This is good stuff. Is there a
men's chat by the way? Do men actually go on there and say stuff? Or is there only two guys
that put paragraphs and then everyone else just reads it? Is that it? Not anymore? Okay, that
finished. Okay, good. The point that I'm making here is that it's important for us to have a
church to go to because we need families, we need churches. Hey, by the way, your kids need friends.
I don't know if you know this, but some of the kids that are out there are pretty bad.
And they can be really bad influences on our children. Therefore, we need to raise our children
in church because they're raised with other children who are in church who believe the
right doctrines, who have the right upbringing. And that's the kind of friends we want them to
have. And we can actually kind of govern that and oversee that. And we know their parents. See how
it works out? It's good. So fellowship is important. Okay. Next, you're in First Corinthians
chapter 12. Why is church important? It's how we carry out the functions of the body of Christ.
Okay. You know, another way of saying the assembly of God, the church of God is the body of Christ.
And we do operate as a member or members of the body of the local New Testament church. Look at
verse four. It says, and now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. There are
differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations,
but it is the same God, which worketh all in all. But the manifestations of the spirit is given to
every man to profit with all. For to one is given the spirit of the word of wisdom, to another word
of knowledge by the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing
by the same spirit. So on and so forth. Let's skip down to verse number 11. But all these work at
that one and the self same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body
is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body. So also
is Christ. This is one of the reasons why we call it church membership. A member is a body or a part
of a body, right? And so we, as the body of Christ, we operate in that way. You know, there
are members of this body that are musically inclined. There's members of the body that are
orators. There are members of this body who are great leaders. There are members of the body who
are very knowledgeable and other things outside of the word of God. And what do all these do? They
serve a purpose in the local New Testament church, right? And blessing one another and helping one
another. It obviously edifies the body of Christ. Okay. And this is where it's carried out. And of
course, the most important ministry, not the only ministry, but the most important ministry
is soul winning. And that is carried out through a local church. Okay.
Go to 1 Timothy, chapter three, 1 Timothy. Actually, no, skip that. Go to Hebrew chapter
10, Hebrew chapter 10. So why is it important to be in the house of God? Here's the next point is
that it is the designated area whereby we glorify God. You know, you say, why can't glorify God
anywhere? True. But God says, you have to glorify me in the church though. That is a command of God.
Ephesians 4, verse 21 says, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages,
world without end. Amen. You say, well, I thought that was referring to the church, like the
universal church. No, he's writing to the church at Ephesus. So he's addressing him and he's saying
the glory should be in the church at Ephesus throughout all ages. In other words, God is
expecting for that church to continue on, plant churches and continue the tradition,
continue the word of God there. It's the designated place whereby we glorify God.
And then lastly, by way of introduction, the importance of church is that it is the headquarters
for the declaration of the truth. Okay. Now this is an important point because of the fact that
in the age of the internet, Christians have access to all types of quote unquote truths.
And they're constantly going to different platforms, constantly going to different
podcasts, YouTube videos, social media outlets of so-called experts in the things of God,
but they're not really experts. And unfortunately, they can cause Christians to have an unbiblical
worldview, right? Whereas at the end of the day, we should always see, understand that the house
of God is the pillar and ground of truth. It's where we come to essentially redirect our minds
to what is it that God says about this? What is it that the house of God says about this?
Not what Joe Rogan says, not what your favorite conservative says, not what your favorite
libertarian says. What does God say about the whole situation? And the way we get that is by
going to the house of God. And so let me just briefly review these points about the importance
of church, going to church. It is the next step for newly baptized believers. It's where we come
to meet with God through the preaching of God's word. You can't reach spiritual maturity without
going to a local church. It's where believers' behaviors is corrected and improved. It's the
only viable manner of getting biblical fellowship. It is how we carry out the functions of the body
of Christ. It is the designated area whereby we glorify God. And it is the headquarters
for the declaration of the truth. Now with that being said, let me give you these points briefly
regarding the cheap substitutes for church. And what church am I referring to? I'm referring to
First Works Baptist Church, okay? So what are some cheap substitutes? And again, we've got a full
crowd. We've got a full house today. So I'm obviously preaching to the choir. But you know,
I was thinking as I was sitting there, I was like, these are the people that need it the most,
actually. That's probably why God allowed everyone to be here today, because he wants everyone to
hear this, lest you should delve into these cheap substitutes, okay? All right, substitute number
one. Cheap substitutes for church, not going to church at all, is a cheap substitute for church,
okay? Not attending church at all is actually a really cheap substitute. Because you know,
here's the thing is that when it comes to that which is cheap, and everyone knows this,
is that you know that it's going to cost you more in the long run. When you purchase something
that is cheap, not inexpensive, but cheap, you know that eventually it'll cost you something
in the long term. Yeah, it doesn't cost you much now. But you know for a fact later on,
it will cost you something even more than what you previously paid. And let me just say this,
you know, not attending church is convenient. It's cheap, literally. Why? You don't have to
spend as much gas. You save on gas, you know, you save on time. It's convenient because you get to
sleep in on Sunday mornings. It's convenient because you get to relax and participate in
other activities and just do other things. Yeah, that's very convenient. Yes, it's very cheap.
It's cheaper actually to not go to church, right? I know no one wants to agree with that.
But it's true. I would agree with that. Yeah, it's cheap not to go, you know, to not go to church
because, you know, you get to basically do a bunch of other stuff. But let me just remind you that
it's going to cost you something in the long run. It's going to cost your family something in the
long term. Guess what? It's going to cost your children something in the long term. My friend,
it's going to cost you something in the long term. So yeah, you save a lot by not going to church.
You may even save money, resources, time. You can dedicate more time to do other things,
other activities, participate in other things. But at the end of the day, it's going to cost
you something in the long term. And that is a fact. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24.
Now, here's the thing is that there's always this argument that I constantly get and even
brother Hernandez gets this a lot. And I agree with the statement to a certain degree. And that
is that people will often tell me, they'll often tell brother Hernandez, I can be right with God
and just go to one service. Right? How many of you have heard something like that? I could be
right with God and go to one service. And you know what? That is true somewhat. Because I want to
ask, and I typically don't ask this because I don't want to just like be mean or something like
that. You know, you need people to mature. And you know, because the reason they say this is
because they want to justify going to one service. Right? They're like, well, I can still be right
with God and go to one service. And I kind of want to ask like, so what does that make the
people who go to three then? Right? So if you're right with God, then what does that make the
people who go to three? And at the end of the day, you know, we can't really point to a verse
in the Bible that says if you go to one service, you're right with God. But there is passages in
the Bible that seem to imply far more that we need to be in church more. Right? I mean, Hebrews 10,
24, that says here, let us consider one another to provoke and to love and to good works.
You're being mean. No, I'm trying to provoke you, actually. I'm not trying to get you angry.
I'm not trying to get you upset. I'm not trying to offend you. You know what I'm trying to do?
I'm trying to provoke you to love and to good works. What is the good work? To be in church
more. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. What is the assembling of ourselves?
The congregation of ourselves going to church together. That's what it's talking about.
And this is an owie phrase right here. As the manner of some is. I always read it that way.
You know, don't forsake the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is. It's like,
man, Paul, who are you talking about? But exhorting one another and so much the more
as you see the day approaching. So that phrase and so much the more applies to church attendance.
So in other words, you should be in church as much as possible. Now, someone can look at this
and say, well, I believe that so much the more is actually referring to the exhorting one another.
And I would say, yeah, that's true. It is referring to the exhorting one another. And
guess what? The exhorting one another is tied into not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
So in order, you know, according to the Bible, the way you exhort one another is by coming to church
and seeing each other face to face, exhorting one another and considering one another, provoking one
another unto love and to good works. So based upon this verse, it sounds as though God just
wants us to be in church as much as possible. Now, fortunately for you, we only have three services,
right? I'm sure there's churches out there that have a lot of services, you know, and maybe not
a whole lot of churches do something like that, but I'm sure there's churches out there, you know,
that probably have multiple services or whatever and do that. As fundamental Baptist, traditionally,
because obviously the Bible doesn't lay this out for us. But traditionally, we have three services
a week. And I'm explaining to you why we have those particular services. Now we attend church
to provoke our fellow brethren unto love and to good works. The manner of some meaning of some
believers is to forsake church. And God has commanded us not only to not forsake church,
but also to go to church even more. So here's my challenge to you. And I wouldn't be a good pastor
if I didn't share this with you, tell this to you. You need to go back to Sunday night church again.
You need to start going to the Bible study again. If you're Sunday morning glory, that's not enough
insult to you. That is a challenge to you. That is preaching to you to exhort you to provoke you
to go back to church. Okay. Now, verse 26 seems to be in its context and argument can be made that
maybe it's not maybe it is. But it does say for if we sin willfully, after that we have received
the knowledge of the truth, there remain no more sacrifice for sins. Now you say, well, are you
saying that it's a sin not to go to church? Of course, it's a sin not to go to church. You say,
well, what if I go to church, though, for the one service, but I don't go to the other services?
Well, the question I would ask back to you is, do you think it's a good thing to go to all three
services? And no one's going to say no. Right? You see where I'm going with this? You know,
I think I go to one service and be right with God. True. Amen. But do you think it's a good
thing to go to all three? Yes. Well, if you don't go to all three, therefore, to him that knoweth
to do good and doeth not, to him it is sin. So if we have the knowledge that we should be in
all services, you know, you say, man, I got to condemn you. I'm preaching to you is what I'm
doing. I'm trying to provoke you is what I'm trying to do here. And look, let me just say
this caveat here, because people take these things a little too literal. Don't come here
for projectile vomiting. If you have a fever of 100 and whatnot, you know, don't come. Okay.
That's obvious. You know, I appreciate your zeal, parents. Okay. But don't bring your child with
you if they're like, fevering. They're vomiting. They're just highly infectious. You know,
stay home. You're actually loving us by not coming to church. Okay.
And obviously, your car breaks down, you die, you know, things like that. You can't really
do anything about it. We'll let you off the hook at that point. Amen.
I'm not referring to things that are just outside of your control. I'm talking about when you have
the capability of coming to church and you choose not to come to church. Now, here's the thing is
that you might say, well, you know, I'm kind of struggling with gas. I'll give you the gas money
to come to church. Now you're out of excuses. Hopefully, I don't have like 10 people coming to
me after service. They're like, pastor. So let me just be real frank with you when it comes to
church services, the church services that we have, and how I would interpret each church service,
because we have Sunday morning, Sunday night, and then we have the Thursday night service, right?
Sunday morning service, in my opinion, is probably the most important service of the week, right?
And generally, even those who don't go to church, maybe they're not Christians,
you know, they will go if they're invited, they're probably going to go to a Sunday morning service.
So if a person is not saved, or maybe they're backslidden, and they're trying to get back into
church, it's probably not likely that they'll go to a Thursday midweek Bible study, they're probably
going to go to a Sunday morning church service. That is the most common service for people to go
to. And quite frankly, if I were to interpret the Sunday morning service, I would say,
it's for not just only but for primarily new believers and newly saved Christians,
babes in Christ. That's what it's for. Because that's the majority of the people who go to that
church service, okay? The Sunday night service, whether you like it or not, honestly, traditionally,
as fundamental Baptist has been designated for those who are just a little bit spiritually
mature. That's not an insult. That's not, you know, a dis or anything like that. Traditionally,
that's what has been known for is those who are prioritizing church and they're saying,
I want more preaching. I want to be a part of the services. I want to hear something else.
And here's the thing is that this is why in general, Baptists have typically preached
more doctrinal, extra tative type sermons in the morning, because of the fact that you have
new believers who could only handle the milk of the word. And typically, the meat of the word
has been designated for Sunday night. Now you say, well, you should preach the meat of the
word on Sunday morning when everyone is there. Well, guess what? If that's you who thinks that,
then you should come to Sunday night too then. Because if you have the spiritual maturity to
understand that you need the meat of the word on Sunday morning, you have enough spiritual
maturity to come back Sunday night. So Sunday morning, Sunday night, what are the Thursday
night, what are Thursday night Bible studies for? Well, it's literally for Christians who
want to deepen their understanding of God's word. And I commend you believer who come on
Thursday nights, because you're literally carving out a specific time throughout the week to come
to the house of God to literally listen to expository preaching. In other words, you're
like, I want to learn about the book of Isaiah. I want to go verse by verse. And I've had a busy
week. I got yelled at by my boss. I got yelled at by my wife. I'm just kidding. You know, I got
yelled, you know, my dog, you know, I got all these things happening. But I want to go to a
Thursday night service because I want to understand the word of God that much more. So it's obviously
a service that is designated for people who are more serious about their study of the word of God.
Okay. That's a fact. And at the end of the day, here's the goal that everyone should have. And
that is I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
A day in thy courts is better than 1000. And look, three days is way better, right? A day is better.
Three days is even greater. And so make church important and recognize that a cheap substitute
for church is just not going at all. And I commend you for being here this morning. Amen. Let me just
challenge you as a pastor. Come back tonight. Let me challenge you this week. Come back on Thursday.
And look, it's for Californians going to church on Thursday is the hardest than I think any other
state. Right? Can I get an amen? You know, other states, you know, they got the corner church,
they got to, you know, shovel the snow just from there to there, whatever. We got LA traffic. Okay,
we got IE traffic. I moved to Corona, 13 minutes away. Why does it take 45 minutes to get back home?
I'll tell you why. Because that 91 is a curse. And so, you know, those of you who are willing
to just be in traffic for a long time to come to church, I commend you. But more than me,
the Lord commands you. The Lord commands you for that, because it obviously shows the church is
important to you, and so forth. And so go to Psalm 92, if you would, Psalm 92.
Cheap substitutes for church, not going to church at all. And if I can just provoke anybody in here
to just not miss church anymore, whether that is all three services, two services, or at least
you're coming to one, my job has been done. But my challenge to you is to raise the bar and say,
you should be all three services. Why not? Here's another cheap substitute for church.
Church hopping is a cheap substitute for church. What do I mean by that? I'm not talking about
church shopping, okay? Church shopping is what people do when they're, maybe they no longer have
a church, and they're looking for a church to attend. They want to hear the preaching,
what the church has to offer. And so typically, they'll go from church to church looking for a
specific church that they can be a part of. Church hopping, on the other hand, is when there's tons
of good churches, and you just can't be planted in one. Not being planted in one specific church,
jumping around churches, I don't think that's conducive, and I think that's a cheap substitute
for just going to one particular church, okay? Look at Psalm 92 verse 12. It says,
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing to show that
the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. He's saying here that
the blessing of God to become fruitful, flourishing, the solution to that is to be planted in the house
of God. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about visiting other churches, okay?
I think it's great to visit other churches, other like-minded churches. You go to Faithful
World Baptist Church, Verity Baptist Church. You go to churches that are fundamental Baptist Church.
I think that's great, but I don't think you should make that your life though,
right? Or it's just like you have a tendency to be an unofficial evangelist
by going to church to church than being planted in your own church. I don't see anything wrong
with going and visiting other churches, but I think you should be planted in your church.
Now, why is that? Well, I think the reason church hopping is a cheap substitute for church is because
there's more accountability when you're in one church. And typically, people who like to church
hop, you know, they go to this church on Sunday morning, but then they like to go to another
church on Sunday night, and they're like, this Bible study on the midweek service, that's called
church hopping. And typically, people do that because they don't want accountability.
And I'll be honest with you, in a church where you're planted in, there is accountability. You're
going to be having Brother High call you and say, hey, I missed you on Sunday. Where were you?
I missed you on Thursday. I've noticed you've been missing. And you know what? Some people don't like
that. Some people don't like it when people keep up with them and say, hey, I haven't seen you in
church. Where have you been? Is everything okay? What's going on? They don't like to
divulge that information. But that is what a local church does. It keeps you accountable,
because accountability is necessary for success. Not only that, but just being in one church not
only keeps you accountable, but it helps you to be trained for the ministry as well.
Let me just say this is that being in one church is good for your family and specifically your
children. You know why? Children need a church to grow up in, but they need to see you faithful.
And it does something to them to see other people faithful. Sometimes we have a family or people
that leave our church for whatever reason, and my kids will come to me and they'll be like,
why isn't so-and-so coming anymore? And it affects them. Because to them, church is stability.
The people in church provide, my wife and I are not the only ones that provide stability
for my children. We're the main ones. And believe it or not, so do you. Them seeing you faithful
ingrains faithfulness in them as well. And let me give you this example that just came to mind.
I think one time Brother Huyck, he was sick or something like that. And remember when I told
you about this? It's pretty funny. You know, he was sick as usual. Okay. And he was sick.
And you know, he wasn't in church. You know, he was out. And typically like on Sunday night,
when my family and I go home, we're typically talking about you guys, you know, in a good way.
But sometimes we're like, you know, I didn't see today. And then we'll kind of go through lists
like, oh man, we miss so-and-so today. I noticed that so-and-so wasn't here. Right. But this
particular evening, we're just kind of talking. And then my son is Zias from the back seat says,
Brother Huyck was not here today. We weren't even talking about like absence of church,
but he just kind of like, Brother Huyck was not here today. And I was just like, oh,
that's right. Brother Huyck wasn't here. You know, that's true. Thanks for telling me, son.
And I think I texted you right away and I said, this is what my son said right now,
that you were not in church today. But isn't it interesting that a five-year-old noticed that?
Yeah. And it wasn't even in conversation or in talk that we weren't talking about it,
but it was going through his mind because he's thinking about everyone that he sees
every single Sunday. So let me just remind you, when you miss, the little ones notice that you
miss because technically you're like the furniture of the church. You know, you're like a part of our
children's lives, believe it or not. You know, some of you more than others maybe. But at the
end of the day, you know, they notice. They may not tell you, but they do notice. And this is why
it's important to be just in one church because it helps with stability. It helps with learning
faithfulness. It does something to Christians to see another Christian be there for the long haul.
And you know what? When someone backslides for years on end and they come back, it does something
to them when they see someone who's been there from the very beginning. Like, wow, this person
has been serving the Lord from the very start. It's very much encouraging. It helps with
faithfulness. It helps with growth. So it's important for your family, for your children.
And it's the best way, by the way, to develop meaningful relationships.
It is. When you're in one church, you actually end up developing some really deep relationships,
friendships, right? How many would say I got a pretty good relationship with people in my
church here? Raise your hand if that's you. You're like, you know what? I got like a best friend here,
a person that I tell everything, a person I tell too much to. No, I'm just kidding. You know,
hatred. He raises his head. But you know what? That's God's will, though. God's will is for
you to develop meaningful relationships. You can't do that if you're church hopping,
right? And you're like, well, I just like preaching so much. I just get it from just
different places or whatever. But you know what? That's not necessarily God's will.
And quite frankly, even 20 years ago, when I was in an old IFP church, it was very rare
for anybody in the church to just go to different churches all the time.
Like, it was just normal for us to see each other maybe once a year in a conference.
But in general, we were just satiated by the fellowship that we had in our church,
okay? And so you develop meaningful relationships at your church when you are stable in one church.
Not only that, but it helps you to overcome, listen to this, adversity,
offer forgiveness, and be gracious to others. What do I mean by that? Well, you're going to
get offended at our church, especially if you've been here for like 10 years.
You're going to be offended. I'm going to offend you. You're going to offend me.
You're going to offend each other. And you know what? Here's your two options.
Option number one, I'm offended, so I'm going to go to a different church.
Okay? You're going to be there for another five years to get offended
and then go to a different church. Or you can just stick it out in your church
and exercise Christian principles, learn how to forgive, and overcome adversity.
You know what? For example, in a home, you know, with the husband and wife, or maybe there's,
you know, a couple kids in the house, they grow up, you know, you kind of have to learn to live
with each other. And it's good life skill to learn not to run away from conflict, run away
from problems. Like, oh man, this person offended me, so I'm just going to leave,
leave to another problem? You know, that's all you're doing. Like, well, I'm going to leave to
a perfect church. Okay, no such thing as a perfect church, but let's say there was. As soon as you go
there, you've already ruined it. It's no longer perfect. The point that I'm making here is that
being in one church helps you just be a better Christian, right? Because it helps you overcome
adversity. You're going to, we're going to suffer persecutions, trials, difficulties, offenses,
and you know what? If you learn how to push through those times in a church, and let me
just say this, I'm not referring to like sin. I'm not referring to things that, you know, are just
contrary to the word of God, simple things. I'm just talking about relationship type things,
okay? You know, let me just prophesy unto you right now, you know, I am going to personally
offend you one day. I hope, hopefully I don't. I don't want to. I'm just saying sin nature says
that that's probably what's going to happen. And you know what? You as a Christian have to be a
good Christian and say, you know, I forgive my pastor because he's not perfect. You know,
and I still love my pastor. I could still listen to his preaching and be under his leadership
and do that. And you know what? The same goes for me to you. You're going to probably offend me.
Many people have offended me throughout the years. And as a pastor, I have to say, you know,
I still love this person. I forgive this person. So it's, it's good grounds for just exercising
biblical principles of overcoming adversity, offering forgiveness and being gracious to others
and not just quitting easily when the going gets tough. And I'm preaching to the choir here because
we have a lot of people in our church who are just going through a tough time. They're going through
a hard time and they're sticking it out no matter what, you know, and I, and I commend those people.
You know, I think of the Rodriguez's, you know, who are, they need the sermon more than anything
because they're not in church today. No, I'm just kidding. No, they have a reason. They got hit by
a car. Okay. And so they're still recovering, but you know what? They're a perfect example of this
particular point because of the fact that, you know, honestly, Courtney could just say,
you know what? I just got hit by a car. I'm just going to go to the church closer to me.
And you know, we're not going to do this anymore, but they've been literally driving. How many,
how many hours is that from Oxnard? Three hours every week to go to church.
And the only reason they've been missing the last two weeks is because they got hit by a car.
You know, you say, are they going to come back? Yeah, they're going to come back because they're
grounded in this church. They've been a part of this church and she's not allowing that
difficulty to just sway to her and get her out of church and get her bitter towards God and allow
her to just, you know, get out of God's will. It's probably driving her deeper into the things of
God. And she's expressed multiple times how thankful she is for our church, for you ladies,
for the people in our church. It's because she's been here and she has dug her heels deep into
this ministry. Here's the next point regarding the same aspect of church hopping is that it's
a cheap substitute because when you're in one place, it gives you credibility if you're looking
to go into full-time ministry. So if you want to be a pastor and evangelist, you're trying to serve
in church full-time, you know, you can't be church hopping. You got to be in one place for a long
period of time. And again, there are obvious reasons why you should leave a church.
Okay. Unrepentant sin, heresy, you know, you're not growing there. It's a nonsensical church.
It's a liberal church. I get it. You got to go. But in general, I would consider this to be a
good church. It's not a perfect church, but I do think it's a good church and I think it's a place
you can grow in. And so cheap substitutes for church. We said not going to church at all.
We said church hopping. Number three, and I'm going to get off topic here as far as the
application to our church, but this is important to know. The so-called universal church is a cheap
substitute for church. Okay. And I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this. Go with me if
you would to Acts chapter 11, Acts chapter 11. Let me just remind you that not all churches are
created equal. There are churches that are better than other churches. And may I say,
not in a disrespectful way. There are certain fundamental Baptist churches that are actually
better than other fundamental Baptist churches. And this is not a diss, but you know what? If
there's a fundamental Baptist church out there that does, rarely evangelizes, rarely goes sowning,
takes a weak stance on the King James Bible, doesn't preach hard, you know, I don't know if
I would really want to be a part of that church, especially if there's other churches that actually
do that. So not all churches are created equal, but you know, this idea that we're in a universal
church is actually Catholic. Okay. Well, aren't we all a part of the church? No, we're part of
this church. The people who are in this room, other people are part of different churches,
but no, we're not all part of a invisible universal church. Why? Because that doctrine
flies in the face of number one, church discipline. How do you kick someone out of a local,
how do you kick someone out of the universal church? They're just still floating in the
universal church. Not only that, but the New Testament Book of Acts model that we see
are visible local churches, the churches of Galatia, the church at Ephesus, the church at
Thessalonica, right? The church at Corinth. These are specific churches that the Book of Acts and
the New Testament mentioned, meaning that it's not referring to a universal church. There's no
concept like that in the Word of God. He said, well, I remember Jesus saying, you know, thou
repeated upon this rock, I will build my church. Yeah, but notice that doesn't say I will build my
universal church. What church is he referring to? The church that he currently had with him
as the pastor. Okay. And of course, you know, ecclesiastical separation due to heresy or
flagrant sin can be done in a universal church. You know, if we're all part of the church because
we're all saved, well, if the Bible tells us not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather approve them, how do we do that if there's a safe person out there who
believes in heresy? How do I separate from that person? You can't in a universal church. And so,
universal church, invisible church, it's just an excuse not to be an actual church. Okay.
Here's the next point that I want to make regarding cheap substitutes for church.
Parachurch ministries are a cheap substitute for churches. What am I referring to here?
Bible colleges, evangelistic ministries, missions boards, you know, Christian universities,
these are cheap substitutes for church. Now, if there's people out there that do both,
good. But if there's people who do only the Bible college, only the evangelistic ministries,
but they don't go to an actual church, bad. Okay. Why? Because it's a cheap substitute for church.
And quite frankly, listen to me, it's ecumenical in nature. You know, if you go to a fundamental
Baptist college, for example, you know, that's located at another church, they're going to
attract students from all different types of churches that don't agree on a lot of things.
Well, that's a problem because the Bible promotes unity in the local church. Well,
how do you have unity if one has the psalm, one has the revelation, one has the doctrine?
And they're all different from one another, right? And this is what parachurch ministries
often do. Now, the most famous of parachurch ministries are those that essentially focus on
evangelistic services, like, or not services, but they focus on evangelism a lot. You know,
like the great comforts of this world where they don't really have a church, they're just like an
organization that focuses primarily on preaching the gospel, getting people saved, evangelism,
things of that nature. But here's the problem with that is that there's no governor there to
check the doctrine, right? So if you have an organization that is focused only on soul winning,
but they don't have a pastor, there's no church government there, then guess what,
they can teach whatever they want, which is why Ray Comfort teaches a repent of your sins
false gospel. Now, I'm not against you making it your life's goal to just be a missionary
or an evangelist as long as you're being sent from a local New Testament church. Why? Because
a pastor has to approve you, right? You have to have the stamp of approval of not only the pastor,
but the local church itself. You have to have a reputation. We have to check your doctrine. So
you're not just out there as a Ronan soul winner doing whatever you're not with no checks and
balances. Accountability is key. Now, who would you say is the greatest missionary of the New
Testament? Paul. I mean, that's obvious, right? The man won a lot of souls to Christ. He started
a lot of churches. But let me say this, he was not part of a parachurch ministry. It wasn't like
its own organization. He was being sent out. And even when he was sent out, he would often join a
church for a long period of time. Look at verse 22 of Acts 11. Then tidings of these things came
into the ears of the church, which is at Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as
far as Antioch, who when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all,
that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man and full
of the Holy Ghost and faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to
Tarsus to seek Saul. Saul is referring to Paul. It says when he had found him, he brought him
unto Antioch, and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church
and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first and Antioch.
So even when Paul and Barnabas are doing missions work, they're doing it with the headquarters being
Antioch. They're being sent out of Antioch. They're dwelling there for a whole year,
assembled with the church, not just kind of doing their own thing, okay? And so parachurch ministries
are often a very much cheap substitute for a local church. Go with me if you would.
Let's see here. Turn to, you're in Acts. Go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20.
And look, this is why we have soul winning teams at our church, to kind of keep tabs, right? Make
sure people aren't preaching weird stuff, make sure people aren't mixed up in their gospel
presentation, to refine them as a soul winner, because we have a standard here. And you know,
a parachurch ministry doesn't necessarily have a standard because they don't have one boss telling
everyone what to do, a qualified pastor telling people what to do. And sometimes you actually
need that, okay? To avoid heresy, to avoid bad soul winning, to avoid a ministry that is apostate.
And in fact, the Apostle Paul told Timothy, but watch out on all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. So even Timothy himself was subject
to Paul at the church at Ephesus where he was preaching at. Next point here, cheap substitutes
for church. Bible studies in house churches are cheap substitutes for church, okay? What do I
mean by Bible studies? You know, the coffee shop Bible studies, right? Let's all get together.
You have this Bible, I got this Bible, and we'll just make interpretations. This is church for us.
That's not church. That's a cheap substitute for church. Why? There's no governor for the doctrine.
Unqualified people teach the Bible, and it's breeding grounds for false prophets, okay?
So let me share this story from many years ago. This is when I was in a Spanish ministry,
and I was growing a Spanish ministry at an English fundamental Baptist church.
I was out sowing, and we're kind of hitting certain areas, and this is when we were in
Monterey Park, and, you know, ELAC was there, okay? East Los Angeles College was there,
and there's a lot of young people there. I was like, you know what? I'm going to go over there,
and I'm going to just go sowing in ELAC and see how many people are going to get saved,
see if it's receptive. So I went there, and there's a lot of young people. I was preaching
the gospel to a couple people, and some of them got saved. Some of them weren't interested,
and this one guy walked by, and I said, hey, I want to give you this invite.
Now, I was like, oh, really? He's like, yeah, on college campus, do you want to come?
And in my mind, I'm like, oh, more people to listen to the gospel. I'm like, sure, I'll go
with you. So we went to the library, and there's a specific room designated for this Bible study,
and there was about like eight, nine people in there, all young people,
and we all sat down around a table, and I thought to myself, well, this should be good,
you know? And the leader, quote, unquote, you know, opens to, I can't remember what passage
it was, but he opens the Bible, and he reads a portion of scripture, and then this is what he
does. He says, what do you think this means? And basically, everyone was going to take a turn
as they go in a circle, interpreting what this passage meant.
After the second person, I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.
And here's what I thought to myself. I can't wait till they get to me.
I'm like, I'm not going to tell them what I think it is. I'm going to tell them what it is.
I mean, we're in church. We're constantly hearing this preach. We've read through this.
They call themselves Christians. They don't even know what this is. They're asking for opinions,
right? Like, obviously, when there's deep passages in the Bible,
you know, there might be instances where, you know, after church, the men and I get together,
and we kind of brainstorm what the particular interpretation could be,
but this wasn't one of those passages, okay?
Brother Lisa, you can turn down the AC. I think people are freezing now.
So, you know, we go around, and finally, they get to me, and I say,
I'm not going to tell you what I think it means. I'm just going to tell you what it means, okay?
And then I give the interpretation, and then they're like, then they kind of stop me. They're
like, okay, it's the next person's turn, all right? So they start going around again,
and then they do another one, and I forgot what passage it was, but it was a passage dealing with
salvation, and everyone was just giving the wrong answers, and at that point, I was like, oh, man,
I can't wait till they get to me because this is about salvation, and once they got to me,
I told them, I said, well, it actually doesn't mean any of that. This is actually what it means,
and this is how you could be saved, okay? And I started preaching the gospel. The leader was
visibly upset. I didn't care, and I saw that he was visibly upset, so I said out loud, I
said, and by the way, if anybody here doesn't know 100% sure that you're going to go to heaven when
you die, come talk to me after this Bible study. I'll show you how you could be saved,
and you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved, and he was like, okay, I don't
think anybody can know that they're truly saved or not, but what do you think? And I'm just like,
you can all know. You guys can talk to me afterwards, right? So it ends, and everyone
gets up, and this guy comes up to me, and his name is Oso, and he's like, hey, I want to know,
you know? Like, I want to know how to be saved, and the leader grabs him, and he's like, come on,
I need to talk to you, right? And he pulls him outside, and then another guy comes to me. He's
like, hey, you can't just be coming here, like, saying stuff like this. I'm like, what do you
mean saying? I'm telling you what the Bible says, and you could know for sure. These things haven't
been written unto you to believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. So you guys seem like you're
doubting. I don't even know if you're saved, because you don't even know if you're saved.
You're given all kinds of excuses as to why it's possible you're not saved. I'm giving you
assurance right now, but I can see outside of life, you know, the guy's like talking to Oso,
and later on, I was told that Oso basically said, or the guy was telling Oso, like, hey,
don't talk to that guy. That guy's a false prophet. He doesn't know what he's talking about.
And then Oso's like, no, it sounds like he knows what he's talking about.
And he's like, I want to talk to him, because I want to know how to be saved, and he says he
can show me how to be saved, and I've been coming to this Bible study for a while, and no one's been
able to talk about that, so I want to know. And he goes, you should stay away from him, and he's
like, I'm going to talk to him, you know. So he went in there, and then I was just like, yeah,
I'll show you how to be saved, and I preached the gospel, and he got saved, joined the church,
and he was even with us for a while when we started this church.
But the point that I'm making here is that here's this Bible study,
you know, with the dim lights and the Bible, and it's so hip, because it's all these young people,
but not a single one of them knew how to be saved. And you know what? That was a divine appointment
for a saved soul winner to run into that guy so that God can send a prophet there
and say, this is how to be saved.
And we ended up having issues with them later on, because we ran into them in the streets, and
you know, they brought their big guy to come, like, talk to me or whatever,
and you know, but how big are you if you're not even saved? You know, it's like,
you got bigger problems on your hands, buddy. And this is why the Bible says, when it comes
to church leadership, not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation
of the devil. So you have this guy who's not saved, but he's prideful because he thinks he
is saved. He thinks he's leading a group of people, but he's completely unqualified,
and he's in the condemnation of the devil. He's blinded by Satan. He cannot be saved.
And even those who are under him, quote unquote, were getting saved, and he wasn't, okay? And this
is why the Bible says, beware of false prophets, for they come to you in sheep's clothing. So you
got to be careful with Bible studies and house churches because you don't really know, you know,
who's actually qualified to teach the word of God there. And those are perfect breeding grounds
for false prophets to come in and try to spread heresy, damn people to hell, whereas here,
false prophets cannot thrive. False prophet comes here with a false gospel, false doctrine,
even if I don't hear about it. You know, someone in here will, and they're going to get molded
by the member of our church. You know, sometimes it doesn't even get to me. It's just like, oh,
yeah. You know, because false prophets will often come to churches, and they'll try to like draw
away disciples after them, which is the passage we're going to read, but I'm going to skip it for
today. You know, they try to draw away disciples after them. They try to go to people, but just
imagine, you know, some false prophet comes here, and he goes to, you know, goes to Brother Paul,
and like, hey, can I talk to you? You know, the King James Bible is not really the word of God,
you know. How do you think Paul is going to react to that? You think Paul's going to be like,
really? Tell me more. You know, Paul's going to be like, get out of my face, you know, and he's
probably going to go tell church leadership, and we're going to deal with it. So they can't really
thrive in a fundamental Baptist church where there's church governance here, and where people
have been trained to defend their doctrine, but in house churches, Bible studies, coffee shop Bible
studies, it can permeate and ruin a lot of people, so that's why it's a cheap substitute
for church. Go to second John, and we're done. Second John.
Let me briefly cover the cheap substitutes for church. Number one, not going to church at all.
Cheap substitute is going to cost you more in the long run. Number two, church hopping.
Cheap substitute, be grounded and settled in and planted in your church. Number three,
the so-called universal invisible church is a cheap substitute for church because it doesn't
exist. Number four, parachurch ministries is a cheap substitute because it's not sanctioned
by the local New Testament church. Number five, coffee store Bible studies and house churches,
cheap substitute because there's no appropriate biblical governor to, you know, filter the
preaching and it's obviously breeding grounds for false prophets. Last one, number six,
cheap substitutes for church, live streams. Sorry folks who are watching on the live right now.
Is a cheap substitute for church. Now, thank God, are you against it? No, that's why we're
streaming right now. We're streaming for people who live in an area that literally they don't have
any churches whatsoever or for people who are bedridden like the Rodriguez's, but we also stream
them so that later on people who do go to church can get more preaching in afterwards. I mean,
that's what I do when I go home. I just pop on some more preaching. I just like to listen to
preaching, but this should never be a substitute for what we got going on here though. Like, well,
I'm not going to go to church. I'll just catch it online. Wrong answer. Cheap substitute.
Okay. Why? Because you're actually missing out on the lot when you're not actually here in person.
Okay. And I'm not going to go through all the things we're missing because we talked a lot
of it already in the sermon, the fellowship, the friendships, the rebuking, the correcting,
the exhortation that you receive. And let me just be honest, obviously we do a lot of rebuking,
but everyone can attest here. You've been encouraged when you come to church though.
There was a sermon. There was a person here who encouraged you in the Lord. And you're just like,
I needed that. I'm so glad I came to church. I mean, how many times you don't have to answer
this, but you know, how many times have you, I know this has happened to me. Didn't feel like
coming to church. You're like, I'm discouraged. I don't want to go to church. And then you go
to church and you're like, man, I'm so thankful I came because I got the answer that I needed.
Or you're stuck in a passage of the Bible that you've been reading. And then for some reason,
I ended up preaching on it and you're like, whoa, I was stuck on that. But then you answered it
in the preaching. It's almost as if the local New Testament church is custom fitted for you.
It's what God uses to help you as a Christian. But not only that, let me say this. It's good to be in
the house of God to sing praises unto God. It's not, we're not just trying to fill up the service.
Praising God in Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs admonish one another is important, my friends.
And it's important for you to come to the house of God, to open up that hymnal and sing praises
unto God because it reinforces doctrine and prepares your heart for preaching.
So live streams, thank God for the internet, but it's a cheap substitute. Look at 2 John 12.
I like what John says here. He says, having many things to write unto you, I would not write with
paper and ink, but I trust to come into you and speak face to face that our joy may be full. He's
saying there's certain things that I just can't communicate on pen and paper. I need to see you
face to face. And you know what? You get a lot through the preaching of God's word, I'm sure,
but you know there's a lot of richness when you and me are just talking face to face after the
service. There's times when we're here after service on Sunday night and service has been
long over and we're just talking. We're discussing things. We're discussing ideas. We're gossiping.
We're talking smack. No, I'm just kidding. We're just talking about a variety of subjects and
topics and sometimes they're necessary things. Sometimes there's interventions that take place
in our church. Necessary interventions or something. That's necessary. What is that?
That's talking face to face. And that's what John is saying. He's like, I have many things to write
unto you, but now with paper and ink, I need to see you face to face. Why? Because there's
certain things that need to happen, not on the live, but in live, in order to help you.
In conclusion, let me say this, is that in my experience, Christians who are blessed by God
generally go to all the services. And you might be blessed by God and you go to one service,
but I'm just going to, I'm just saying in general though, like just in my assessment of people
who go to church every single service, I've seen God bless them. I've seen God use them. I see
their attitude change. I see God working in their marriage. I see God working with their children.
I see God just blessing them. So in general, in my experience, God does bless them. And God blesses
those, listen to me this, who arrange their lives around church. It's just true. You know, I think
of some of the guys who are bulking and cutting right now. Okay. You know, I'm going to call out
brother Carey right now. Brother Carey, he's bulking. And you know, you'll see brother Carey,
right after, he'll probably do it today where he has like prepared meal for himself to get his
protein in and he'll be in the kitchen or something and just he's getting it in. He's
getting, but you know what? That actually takes arranging his life and his meals around church.
He's like, I'm not going to miss church, but I'm not going to miss my protein either.
You know, I'm going to be here for a long time. And so I need to get my meals. And there's people
that literally prepare meals to bring to church because they're going to be here. You know what
that is? That's a person who arranges their lives around church. You're going to tell me that God
doesn't bless people for that. Of course he does. Why? Because they're prioritizing the Lord. That's
what it is. Okay. Is it a sacrifice? Of course. But does it yield favorable results and dividends
spiritually speaking? Absolutely. Here's the last verse. You don't have to turn there. Psalm 27,
verse four, one thing have I desired of the Lord. He says that will I seek after that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire
in his temple. David is saying, there's only one. If I could have just one goal, it's this.
I want to be in the house of God to the day that I die. And that should be our goal. Amen. Let's
pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And Lord, we're thankful for the house of God.
I'm thankful that the house of God is full today and is filled with people who prioritize spiritual
things. I pray, Lord, that you'd help us as your people to maybe step it up a notch. Maybe we need
to turn that dial up a little bit in our spiritual lives. Maybe sacrifices need to be made. Maybe we
need to arrange our lives a little more to prioritize the things of God. And I'm thankful
that our people love you, Lord. And I know they love the house of God. This is just a challenge
that I'm issuing to them to step it up. And I pray that, Lord, you'd help us to appreciate the house
of God and to utilize it and not let it go to waste. Lord, we have such a privilege and an
honor to have a church that we can go to. And Lord, may you use it in our lives and our children's
lives and help us to continue to reach more people for Christ and to lead them in the ways of
righteousness. We love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.