Let's understand Hebrews chapter 10 for a minute.
Let's look at verse number 5 where the Bible read,
Wherefore, when he cometh in the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me.
And burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come, and the volume of the book it is written of me,
To do thy will, O God.
Above, when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin thou wouldst not,
neither hast thou pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God.
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Now, this is a really cool portion of scripture because see the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he's talking to the Father, he said that he prepared a body for him.
He says, Thou hast prepared me a body.
Now, some people that would deny the Trinity, they would say that Jesus Christ,
The only difference between him and the Father is that Jesus Christ is the flesh of God.
Like he's just the body.
That's the only difference.
Well, right here, he's saying that there's a thou and a me without the body.
Because he's saying, hey, thou hast prepared me a body.
So that means, look, Jesus Christ is not just a body.
Look, there's two different people here,
and he's constantly talking back and forth to this other person.
So we see, what is the point of what he's trying to make here?
He's saying, look, the sacrifices of the Old Testament,
that's not what God had pleasure in.
God did not forgive people of their sins, you know, because of these old sacrifices.
That's not where he had his pleasure.
Now, obviously, that was a command of God.
Obviously, God commanded that this is what they were to do,
and it was for the purging of iniquity.
But it wasn't in the sense that it really cleansed them.
It was Jesus Christ's blood in the future
that was truly, you know, going to purge them from their sins.
And it's all pointing unto Christ.
A once-for-all sacrifice for all through the Lord Jesus Christ.
God did not have pleasure in these sacrifices
because they had to continually be offered.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying, look, you came and you offered the bowl.
That didn't cut it.
That might have cut it for just a minute, but guess what?
The next time he sinned, I'll offer another bowl.
And the next time he sinned, another bowl and another bowl.
Look, Jesus Christ was a once-for-all sacrifice for all, okay?
Look at verse 11 now.
And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he'd offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.
So it says Jesus Christ, once for all,
he's made the sacrifice for all.
Look, those sacrifices in the Old Testament
never took away the sins.
It was only through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Meaning what?
Nobody went to heaven by keeping the law.
Nobody had their sins forgiven for keeping the law.
No, that's the righteousness of the works of the law.
That's not the righteousness
which is of faith by Jesus Christ, okay?
So let's keep reading.
Look at verse 17.
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
So when Jesus Christ paid for all of your sins,
he's not even gonna remember your iniquities ever again.
They're not gonna be mentioned to you.
They're separated as far as the east is from the west
is what the Bible teaches.
Now look at verse number 24.
And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.
And so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So what is he saying?
He's saying, look,
Jesus Christ already paid all your sins.
Jesus Christ is once for all, the sacrifice for all.
And look, there's no more sacrifice.
But you know what?
You still need to go to church.
You still need to get around the brethren.
You still need to come into the house of God.
Why?
Well, look at verse number 26.
For if we sin willfully,
after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
but a certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries.
Look at verse 28.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy
under two or three witnesses.
Of how much sore punishment
suppose ye, shall ye be thought worthy,
who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God,
and hath counted the blood of the covenant?
Wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.
He's saying, look, there's no more sacrifice for sins.
All your sins are forgiven you
once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
As soon as someone has faith on the Lord Jesus Christ,
they become a child of God.
They're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
They have all their sins washed away.
There's nothing they can do
to be separated from the love of God.
Look, they're on their way to heaven, okay?
But there's no more sacrifice for your sins
when you sin in the future.
And he's saying, look, if you continually sin willfully,
God will punish you in this life.
Some people say, oh, once saved always
saves the license of sin.
That's not what my Bible said.
My Bible said there's a sore punishment
for those that will willfully sin.
If I go out and I steal and I cheat and I lie
and I commit adultery,
God will punish me severely on this earth.
And look, just because I'm saved
doesn't mean he's gonna not punish me.
He's gonna punish me the more.
The Bible says that God chasteneth and scourges
every son in whom he receiveth.
Look, if you're saved today and you know better,
if you know the commandment of God
and you just go out and sin willfully,
God will punish.
So how am I gonna avoid that?
You need to get into church
and you need to be exhorted and reminded by the brethren,
hey, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
here are his commandments.
Look, don't mess with sin.
Don't go out there and be a part of the world.
You need to be a part of God's people
and follow God's commandments.
That's the point of church.
That's one of the points of church
is to come together and to be exhorting one another.
And it says so much the more.
So you say, what's the title of the sermon?
The title of the sermon is Three to Thrive.
Three to Thrive.
And you say, what does that mean?
Well, if you look at our insert,
if you got a bulletin this morning,
there's three services a week.
There's a Sunday morning, there's a Sunday evening,
and there's a Wednesday night.
So if you go to all three, guess what?
You're gonna thrive.
You know, if you go to two, you're gonna survive.
And if you go to one,
you're really close to backsliding, all right?
Now I'm gonna preach five points
of why you should go to church three times a week.
Look, I can't say that it's necessarily a command
for you to go three times a week,
but one thing's for sure, it's a command to go to church.
It's a command to be in church.
And if you're not going to church, you're in sin.
So some people might ask, they say,
well, where's the line?
Is it going like once a month?
Is it going on Easter?
Is it going once a week?
Is it going two services?
Is it three services?
Look, I don't care where the line is.
I'm not trying to figure out
exactly where the line of sin is.
I'm trying to do thriving.
I'm trying to serve God with my life.
I'm trying to be zealous for the Lord Jesus Christ.
So I'm gonna go three to thrive.
Look, in my personal opinion,
I think if you're not going to church once a week,
I mean, I would have to say you're definitely in sin.
That's just my personal opinion.
But we know if you're not going to church, that's a sin.
So what's my first point this morning?
It's a command of God to go to church.
Look, it's not optional.
It's not, well, that's a good idea.
Well, you know, maybe.
No, it's a command of God to go into church.
You say, is it a command of God to go to this church?
No, you don't have to come to my church.
The command is not where you go to church.
The command is that you're in church.
Now, obviously, if you're going into a building
with a bunch of unsaved people,
you're not going to church.
If you're going to one of these fun centers,
one of these mega churches
where they don't even preach the Bible,
where nobody's even saved,
where they don't even do any soul winning,
God doesn't even consider that a church.
So you obviously have to go into a church
that actually believes the Bible,
where people are actually saved,
but exactly which church that is,
God doesn't tell you.
God gives you the free will.
You are welcome to go to any church on this planet,
but guess what?
You better get into church and be around the brethren.
Even more so is what the Bible says.
You say, why three times?
It says, hey, as the day's approaching,
we should be going more and more and more.
Go to Matthew chapter number 16.
Matthew chapter number 16.
Why'd you pick three services a week?
I didn't pick it.
Somebody else picked it.
And guess what?
If they were doing three services a week,
hundreds of years ago,
and then 50 years ago,
and then 20 years ago and 10 years ago,
and my Bible says we should be going more,
then the bare minimum should be three services a week.
That's what I'm,
I'm just trying to follow what the Bible says.
It doesn't matter what my opinion is.
It doesn't matter what I think.
It just matters what Christ commanded me to say, all right?
Look at Matthew chapter 16.
I'm gonna turn there myself real quick.
I'll read for you from Luke.
It says in Luke chapter 11 verse 52,
woe unto you lawyers,
for you have taken the key of knowledge,
ye entered not in yourselves,
and them that were entering ye hindered.
So according to the Bible,
the Pharisees and the false prophets
and the false teachers,
look, they were hindering people
from entering into the kingdom.
Now look at,
I didn't write the verse down.
Look at verse 19.
It says, and I will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.
Now if you ask a Catholic priest what he's saying here,
he basically says he has the keys
of sending your soul to heaven or hell.
He'll say like,
like they have the power to basically condemn people
to purgatory or to hell or get people out or in.
That's not what it's saying here.
Look, being saved is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're gonna go to the kingdom of heaven.
But guess what?
There's also some keys.
What would that mean?
There's parts of the kingdom of heaven
that are only gonna be accessed to you by the church.
Look, if you're not going to church,
if you're not serving God,
if you're not going out soul winning,
look, there's parts of the kingdom
that are gonna be held back from you.
Look, this is where you learn about the kingdom of heaven
is from church,
from somebody going out and preaching the gospel,
preaching the word of God to you
and instructing what the kingdom of heaven is like.
Look, if you wanna be ruling and reigning
with Christ in heaven, you're gonna be in church.
You're not gonna be,
there's not really lone rangers out there
not going to church just serving God.
You know how you serve God?
Going through the local church,
being sent out by the local church,
doing great works for God in the local church.
Look, Peter, he had the keys
and whatever he binds on earth
is gonna be bound in heaven
and whatever he loose on earth
is gonna be loose in heaven.
Saying what?
The church has power and authority to make decisions.
It's what he's saying.
Look, did God say we have to meet three times a week?
No.
There's a lot of things.
Did he say we have to meet in this building?
Did he say we have to go to so many on Saturdays?
No, he's giving the church the ability to say,
hey, you're supposed to go out and preach the gospel.
You figure out how to do it.
You figure out what times to show up.
You figure out what place you're gonna go.
You open the Bible and preach
what you feel like the Spirit's leading you to preach.
Look, the church has some power there, right?
But it's under Christ's shepherding.
It's under what God said.
And God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
And look, what did the lawyers do?
They had keys, right?
But they were hindering them from entering in.
They're not even preaching the gospel.
They're not even getting anybody saved.
And the people that are saved,
they're not teaching them how to live for God.
They're not teaching them all the things
of the kingdom of heaven.
Look, as a preacher, you're supposed to be
instructing people and showing them,
hey, here's how you open this key to your life.
Here's how you open this part of your life.
Here's how you have a good marriage.
Here's how you serve God.
Here's how you go at soul winning.
Here's how you rule and reign with Christ.
And look, some people have this idea
that the pastor is like just gonna be the upper person.
Like the pastor, well, he's just better than everybody else
and God's gonna reward him more.
No, the pastor's supposed to just show you,
hey, here's all the keys, here's all the doors.
You decide what you're gonna do.
And you can work harder than the pastor.
You could enter in more than the pastor.
You can labor more than the pastor.
You can get more rewards than the pastor.
But you know what, as my job,
it's my job to say, hey, here's some keys.
Here's some ways that you can improve your spiritual life.
Here's how you can get greater rewards
in the kingdom of heaven.
You say, how am I gonna do that?
Well, it's by going to church three times a week.
It's by thriving and by hearing God's word
being preached.
Look, it's a command to go to church.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter five.
1 Corinthians chapter five.
If we think about the Bible,
if you think about the New Testament,
you have the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
That's the timeline of Jesus Christ.
And with his disciples,
this is a picture of the church.
Then we roll into Acts.
What happens through Acts?
Well, it's all the apostles and disciples
going out and planting churches.
They're going everywhere, planting churches.
We learn a little bit about church.
That's the timeline of the New Testament.
Basically, you have a little bit more in the future
with Revelation, but that's the timeline.
Then what do you have in the New Testament?
A bunch of letters to churches.
Why?
Because God's people are in church.
Because God's people,
the people that are doing great things for God,
they're in church.
And then when you get into Revelation,
who's Jesus Christ speaking to?
The seven churches in Asia.
Why?
Because if you're serving God, you're in church.
If you're not serving God, you're not in church.
There's a parallel there.
Look at 1 Corinthians five, verse 11.
But now I have written unto you, not to keep company,
if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator,
or a covetous, or a dolator, or a railer,
or a drunkard, or extortioner,
with such in one know not to eat.
For what have I to do to judge them
without also that are without?
Do not you judge them that are within,
but them that are without, God judgeth.
Therefore, put away from among yourselves
that wicked person.
He's saying, look, when you're not in church,
look, it's not the church that's looking out for you.
You're just under God's judgment.
Isn't that what we read in Hebrews chapter number 10?
Look, if you're just gonna sin willfully,
if you're not gonna go to church,
God will judge you, is what the Bible's saying.
Now go to Revelation chapter number three.
We'll see what he's saying to some of these churches.
He's saying, well, you should just go sometimes.
You should just go on Easter.
You should just go once a week.
Let's see what he says in Revelation chapter three,
verse 14.
And unto the angel of the church,
are the Laodiceans right?
These things saith ye, amen,
the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.
I would, that wert cold or hot.
So then, because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot,
I will spew thee out of my mouth,
because thou sayest I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,
and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich and white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve,
that thou mayest see.
Look, he's looking at a church,
and he's saying, y'all are lukewarm.
He said, what is lukewarm?
It's basically they're kind of showing up
and kind of going through the motions,
but there's no soul winning.
Look, he said, go out and get some gold.
Tried by the fire, what is that?
When you go out and get a soul saved,
look, they can't go to hell.
You've got some gold that's gonna be laid up in heaven.
All right, they're not going soul winning.
They're just kind of going through the motions.
They're just kind of showing up,
but they think they got it together.
They're like, oh, we're hot stuff.
I mean, we're so, look at our fancy building.
Look how tall our building,
look, the church parking lot's got 500 people in it.
Look, we're doing great.
We got a big choir.
You know what?
God's looking at you like you're poor,
and blind, and naked.
Look, you think you're hot stuff.
You're lukewarm.
You're not doing any of my commandments.
You're not going out and preaching the gospel.
You're not coming three times a week.
You're not fired up for God.
Look, and wouldn't it God that our church
would never be like this?
Wouldn't it God that we'd never be so prideful
to look at ourselves and be like,
oh, we're just doing great works for God.
Nobody saved, nobody baptized, nobody coming to church.
Hey, did you see so-and-so at church?
Yeah, he comes on Easter.
Oh man, what a fired up church.
That guy's lukewarm.
And he's saying, I wish you were cold or hot.
And say, what does that mean?
He's basically saying, well, I wish you were just so cold.
You just like weren't going to church.
You just realized you're backslidden.
You realized you're wrong.
So that when someone preached hard against you,
maybe that conviction could get you fired up again.
But when you're lukewarm, you think you're right.
Oh, I think I'm red hot.
I think I'm there.
So the red hot preaching just goes over their head.
Sometimes you preach and you're preaching
and it's just replying to some person just directly.
And they're like, man, that's good for that guy.
That guy really needs to get it together.
That guy needs to go to church.
That guy needs to be nicer, you know,
because he's lukewarm.
Look, if you're cold, you just realize, man,
this is really applying to me.
This heat is coming on me like fire.
And if you're red hot, great.
Keep it red hot.
Keep staying strong.
Keep going to church.
Why?
Because it's a command of God.
He's not suggesting these things, is he?
Is he saying, hey, it's kind of cool
that you're lukewarm.
And he says, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth,
is what he's saying.
Look at verse number 19.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open the door,
I will come into him and will sup with him
and he with me.
Look, I'm not trying to pattern this church
after Joel Osteen, okay?
I'm not trying to pattern this church
after all these lame, non-evangelical churches.
I call them non-evangelical
because they don't actually go out and preach the gospel
even though they use that word, use that name.
What are they doing?
Oh, one service a week.
Now, of course, they'll disguise it, okay,
because they'll have a service at nine, 10, 11, 12.
It's the same sermon.
And sometimes they just even record it.
The preacher can't even get up
and preach that many times in a row,
so they just record it
and they just go in and watch a movie,
watch their pastor just preach a 10-minute sermon,
a 15-minute sermon.
Look, that's a joke.
Look, I'm not trying to pattern my church after that.
We have three services a week
and it's a different sermon every single time.
It's not, hey, you come when you feel like.
No, you come and learn the Bible.
No, you come in the command of God.
No, we're gonna be zealous for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.
This isn't just lukewarm Baptist church.
This should be red, hot, pure words,
Baptist church, okay?
Go to Acts chapter number 20.
My wife's not about to start co-passing the church,
just if you were wondering either.
Look, we're not trying to figure out
what the lame evangelicals are doing.
We're not gonna start having life groups
on Wednesday night where everybody just sits around
and says, hey, well, that's what I think the Bible says
and this is what I think.
I've never read it myself.
I don't even know what it says.
I'm just taking it out of context.
I'm just gonna use some other book to teach me,
the book of Enoch.
Look, it's a joke today.
People today, they just go to church
and it's a social club.
It's just to hang out and get a coffee and feel nice.
Nobody's ever challenged to actually serve the Lord.
Nobody's getting the fear of the Lord by getting rebuked.
Look, a lot of people, they would say,
oh, your church is mean.
You're saying mean things.
You're telling people that they're wrong.
Yeah, the Lord Jesus Christ said the ones that he loves,
them he rebukes.
The Lord Jesus Christ rebukes you because he loves you.
Look, if I didn't love you this morning,
I would just tell, oh, you're great.
You don't need to come to church.
You don't need to serve God.
Who cares?
I'll get all the rewards for myself.
I'll just go out and soul winning.
Who cares about church?
I'll just skip going to church too
and I'll just go out and preach the gospel
and just, look, that's not what God commanded.
That's not what God's ordained.
That's not what God wants us to do.
Look at Acts chapter 20 verse 25.
And now behold, I know that ye all,
among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God,
shall see my face no more.
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.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock
over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers
to feed the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Hey, what does Jesus Christ think about church?
Oh yeah, he purchased it with his own blood.
You think he thinks lightly of church.
You think the Lord Jesus Christ is like,
well, just go whenever you feel like it.
I mean, I only purchased it with my blood on the cross.
I only was spit upon and beat on the head
and crucified and went to hell
for three days and three nights.
But you just go to church when you feel like it.
You just, you know, it's not that big a deal.
No, it's a big deal, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He purchased it in his own blood.
You ought to go to church and serve the living God.
Look, what's the second point?
Well, the second point is that we should learn the Bible.
Go if you would to Proverbs 23.
Look, it's a command of God.
He says he purchased his own blood
and he said the pastor is supposed to feed the flock.
Now, how am I supposed to feed you if you don't show up?
How am I supposed to teach you the word of God
if you're not even here to hear it?
Look, what did Jesus Christ say to Peter?
He said, feed my lambs.
He said, Peter, feed my sheep.
How many times did he say it?
Three, three times.
It's important to God to get the word of God.
How many meals do you have today?
How many meals are you gonna probably have, three?
Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
What if people just start taking,
well, let's just have one meal a day.
Let's just have one meal on Easter.
Look, how much more is God's word?
The spiritual food for your soul.
Look, this is more important than your daily bread.
Jesus Christ said man doth not live by bread alone,
but by every word of God.
Look, it's important to the Lord Jesus Christ
for you to go to church.
People today, they'll go out and they'll spend
thousands and thousands of dollars
to buy season tickets to the Houston Texans, won't they?
I mean, they already got their seat lined up.
They don't even know what's gonna happen
in the next six months,
but they know they're gonna go to the game.
They know they got all their seats lined up.
What about church?
Oh, I'm gonna go to the Astros.
Oh, I'm gonna go to the Texans.
Oh, I'm gonna go to the Rockets.
Look, people today, they're making provision.
They're deciding they're gonna be somewhere.
They know they're gonna be at that game.
Why can't you know you're gonna be at church?
Something way more important than a stupid football game,
than a stupid child's game.
Look, it's the Lord Jesus Christ that's his word.
You know what, people also pay a lot of money
to learn, don't they?
I mean, how many colleges are there?
How many institutions are there today
where they're just taking thousands and thousands
and thousands of dollars from students to teach them?
And look, what's more important than learning
the wisdom of the world,
learning the wisdom of the Chaldeans?
How about God's word?
How much do you have to pay
when you walked in the church today?
Zero?
Look at brothers 23 verse 22.
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,
and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Buy the truth and sell it not.
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice,
and he that begateth a wise child shall enjoy them.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad,
and she that bear thee shall rejoice.
Now look, the Bible's saying truth and wisdom
and understanding is so important
that if you had to, you should buy it.
I mean, he's saying that's how much you should desire
to have truth, to have knowledge, to have understanding.
You should be willing to buy it.
But guess what?
I'm not charging anything
for you coming to church this morning.
It's free.
I'm just opening up my Bible
and trying to teach you the word of God.
And you know what?
Parents today, they send their kids to college.
Why?
So they won't be stupid.
Isn't that why?
I mean, you send your kid to college
so he won't be an idiot, so he can have a decent job,
so he won't be a derelict.
That's why they're doling out thousands and thousands
of dollars.
I mean, I looked online.
It says in 2017 to 2018, the average college tuition
for one year is $34,740 at a private college.
Now that's not books.
That's not like the room and board.
That's not all the other expenses.
That's just the school.
That's just the tuition and the fees that go aside.
$34,000.
If you go to a state college,
it says it's about $9,970.
It says for an out-of-state resident,
that same state university would be $25,000.
Look, people are doling out lots and lots of money
for their children to not be an idiot,
for their children to have wisdom.
But guess what?
If you don't ever teach in the Bible,
if they don't know anything in this book,
they're an idiot.
They're a moron.
The Bible says the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom.
It's the beginning of understanding.
It's the beginning of knowledge.
Go if you would to Ecclesiastes, chapter number 12.
Look, why wouldn't you go somewhere,
take your children three times a week for free
so they don't have to be a moron
according to God's word?
Look, you can have your children be wise
if you take them to church.
Ecclesiastes, chapter number 12, look at verse eight.
Vanities of vanity, said the preacher.
All is vanity.
And moreover, because the preacher was wise,
he still taught the people knowledge.
Yea, he gave good heed and sought out
and said in order many proverbs.
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words
and that which was written was upright,
even words of truth.
The words of the wise are as goads
as nails fastened by the master of assemblies
which are given from one shepherd.
He's saying, look, a wise preacher, a wise man of God,
he will teach the people.
He will try and set in order many proverbs.
He's trying to choose his words carefully
to instruct the flock to teach people the word of God.
He's saying, this is what a wise preacher is doing.
And it's supposed to be a goad.
You know what a goad is?
It's a long stick with a very sharp point at the end,
and they would use this to prod animals
so they'd keep walking forward,
so they'd keep doing their job.
And he's saying, look, you know
what the preacher's supposed to do?
He's supposed to prick you with this sharp goad
of God's word and get you to go to church,
get you to serve God, get you to read your Bible,
not because it gives me any benefit.
Look, if there's nobody here,
I'd still preach this hard.
I'd still preach the word of God.
I don't care, but I'm doing it for your benefit
because God wants you to serve him.
It's a command of God.
He wants you to learn the Bible.
God doesn't want you to be stupid.
He doesn't want you to be an idiot.
That's not what God teaches.
God teaches you to be wise.
The wisdom comes from God.
He's like, I want to give you that wisdom.
You say, no, I don't want to go to church.
I want to pay $25,000 to go to some idiot school
and learn from some professor that hates God
and doesn't want to teach me jack squat about truth,
about wisdom, about how to think critically.
Look, it's a joke today.
Go if you would to 1 Timothy chapter number four.
1 Timothy chapter number four.
And I know I'm preaching really hard this morning
and I'm trying to put some goads.
Look, if you don't come to church three times a week,
I will still love you.
I will still be your friend.
I will still be nice to you.
I will still say all kinds of manner good things to you.
I'm just preaching what the Bible says this morning.
I'm preaching what I think you should do,
what the Bible's teaching us to do.
And look, if someone stops coming to church,
don't think, well, if you come to church,
Pastor Shelley's gonna give me that look.
He's gonna really ring me in.
No, I want you to come to church every single time.
I don't care if you skip for six months.
Come back to church.
I would love to see you come back to church.
Look, the Bible says the angels rejoice in heaven
when one sinner repenteth.
You say, is that salvation?
No, it's talking about somebody's already saved
and he's like, hey, he's getting it right.
He's coming back into church.
And when someone gets back into church,
we had to receive them with loving arms
and say, I'm so glad to see you again.
Look, I know people that were dedicated soul winners.
They were going to church three times a week.
They're going out preaching the gospel.
They were good soul winners.
They were excellent soul winners.
And then six months later, they're gone.
Six months later, they're not in church.
You know, it doesn't happen overnight.
It doesn't happen where there's just zealous,
on fire, soul winning Christian
just automatically just doesn't go to church.
You know what happens?
They start going two times a week.
And then all of a sudden now they're going once a week.
And then they miss for some reason.
And now they're like, well,
I don't know if I want to go back to church.
Look, never let your heart get so hardened
that you wouldn't just walk back into church.
Get back into church, come back and see the Lord.
Look, I want you to come back to church.
I don't care how many times you're going.
But look, I'm trying to teach you what you should do.
What's the best thing to do?
How you can thrive for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at 1 Timothy 4, verse 11.
These things command and teach.
What were our first two points?
It's a command of God to go to church, right?
And not only that, so you can learn the Bible.
He's telling the preacher, hey,
you need to command it and teach it.
Look at verse 12.
Let no man despise thy youth,
but be thou an example of the believers
in word and conversation and charity
and spirit and faith and purity.
Till I come, give attendance to reading,
to exhortation, to doctrine.
Neglect not the gift that is in thee,
which is given thee by prophecy,
with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things.
Give thyself wholly to them,
that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine.
Continue in them, for in doing this,
thou shalt save thyself and them that hear thee.
It's important for you to come to church
so the pastor can teach you how to save yourself
from all the wicked filth out there.
All the sin and the smut and all the reprobates
and all the people that wanna attack you
and draw you away from God and distract you.
Look, he's saying, look,
the preacher is trying to watch out for your soul.
He's trying to help you,
but if you don't come, you're not gonna get any help.
If you're not showing up, if you're not here,
I can't help you.
I can't preach you the word of God.
And you say, well, I don't wanna come to your church.
Okay, then find a good church.
Find a church where the pastor does love you
and is gonna preach you the Bible and be faithful there.
Look, I'm not preaching you to come to my church.
I'm preaching you to go to church.
Look, you find the best church,
you find the church you need to be going to,
but once you find it, get in that church
and be faithful into that church
and let the man of God help save you
from the wicked filth of this world.
Look at verse 12, let no man despise thy youth.
Well, I don't like your preaching
because you're only 31 years old.
Well, guess what?
You wouldn't have liked John the Baptist preaching,
would you?
You wouldn't like John the Baptist,
he was 30 years old, he's tearing it up.
You know what else you wouldn't like?
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, oh, at 30 years old,
you wouldn't hear a 30-year-old preach?
Sounds like you wouldn't have heard
Jesus Christ preach either, would you?
Look, I don't care what age you are.
If a man of God's getting up preaching the Bible,
let your ears be open today.
Be like a Berean.
Be ready to receive the word, okay?
Go to Nehemiah chapter number eight.
We're supposed to go to church to learn.
You know what's one of the main reasons
people say they change churches?
I wasn't learning anything.
You know, they weren't teaching me anything.
I just felt like I was just going
and they just keep preaching the gospel and the gospel
even though it's not even the true gospel,
even though it's not even clear,
even though they're not even getting anybody saved,
they're just kind of going through the motions.
You know, this morning we need to just be like Christ
and just love and forgive and do good and be a good person.
That doesn't change anybody's life.
That's not a goad.
That's not inspiring anybody to do anything.
We're making it practical this morning.
What's the name of the sermon?
Three to Thrive.
I'm making it practical.
Go to church three times a week.
Get in church and hear God's man preach through the Bible.
Why do you have two services on Sunday?
Look at Nehemiah chapter eight, verse one.
And all the people gathered themselves together
as one man in the street.
That was before the Watergate.
And they spake unto Ezra the scribe
to bring the book of the law of Moses,
which the Lord had commanded Israel.
And Ezra the priest brought the law
before the congregation, both of men and women,
and all that could hear with understanding
upon the first day of the seventh month.
And he read therein before the street,
that was before the Watergate,
from the morning until midday,
before the men and the women
and those that could understand
and the ears of all the people were attentive
under the book of the law.
So he's saying, look, everybody's together.
The men, the women, the children.
And look, this is a family integrated church.
I want everybody in here.
I want everybody to hear the word of God.
I don't want to just shove off some people
and say they're not as important.
No, it's not as important for the children
to hear God's word.
It's not important for the teenagers
to hear God's word.
No, everybody needs to be in the one place
hearing God's word preached.
And look how long they did it.
From morning to midday.
He said, how long is that?
That sounds like several hours.
Skip over to chapter nine.
We'll get some clear instruction
of how many hours this really was, all right?
Look at verse number three.
And they stood up in their place
and read in the book of the law,
the law of the Lord their God,
one fourth part of the day
and another fourth part they confess
and worship the Lord their God.
Now you can interpret day a couple of ways.
You can interpret day as a 24 hour day
or you can interpret it as just the daylight, right?
Would it just be 12 hours?
Let's just take the most conservative estimate.
12 hours.
What's a fourth part?
Yes, we're learning math this morning.
Yes, what is that?
That's three hours.
Hey, you're lucky today.
Service is only going to be like an hour and a half.
You want us to start reading
and preach in the word of God for three hours straight?
And then what do they do?
What do they say?
Oh, then they were confessing
and worshiping God for another fourth part.
This is a six hour church service.
You get mad at me
because I have an hour and a half sermon
in the morning and in the evening,
they have church for six hours.
They're confessing and worshiping the Lord for six hours.
And guess what?
Church is not just learning the Bible.
Guess what else it is?
Worshiping God.
So what have we learned?
We've learned that it's a command of God
to go to church.
We've learned that you come to church to learn,
to hear God's word.
Guess what?
You also come to church to praise the Lord.
That's my third point.
Go to Colossians chapter three and Psalms 21.
Go to those two places.
Colossians three and Psalms 21.
Go to both those spots.
Look, probably the most common command in the Bible
is to praise the Lord,
is to give worship and honor and glory
unto the Lord Jesus Christ,
unto God the Father.
We're supposed to worship the Lord.
That's one of the purposes we're on this earth
is to give glory and honor to God,
is to praise Him,
is to sing praises unto His name.
That's why we sing the hymns.
That's why when we come in before church,
we praise the Lord.
We're singing songs unto God to give Him honor,
to give Him glory.
Look, this is His church.
He gets the honor.
He gets the glory.
It's not about man.
It's not about us.
It's us giving glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Colossians chapter three verse 16.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your heart for the Lord.
Look, the New Testament,
it tells us we're supposed to sing psalms.
We're supposed to sing the hymns.
We're supposed to sing God's word.
And you know what?
When everybody in this room is singing,
bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves.
You know what you're doing?
You're admonishing all the people in there
to go out and preach the gospel,
to go out of soul winning.
That's what we're doing.
We're admonishing one another.
We're reminding one another,
this is the point of your life.
Your point of your life is to preach the gospel
to get people saved and to praise the Lord.
Why don't we do it all at the same time
and sing songs like bringing in the sheaves,
bringing in the sheaves,
then should come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Look, we're here to worship God.
That's a point of church.
It's not to worship man.
It's not to worship the preacher.
It's not to worship some other person in the church,
to worship the missionaries or the evangelists.
No, it's a common worship God.
He is the one that's getting all the praise and the honor.
Look at Psalms 21 now.
I'll read for you from Psalms nine.
It says,
sing praises to the Lord,
which dwelleth in Zion.
Declare among the people his doings.
So there's a common theme that you see
through the book of Psalms.
It's telling you where you're doing it.
It's telling you where you're actually praising the Lord.
In Psalms nine, he says among the people.
Look at Psalms 21 verse 13.
Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength.
So will we sing and praise thy power.
Notice there's a word there called we.
Now, unless you're a Trinity,
I don't know how you can say, hey, we.
We are gonna praise the Lord today.
No, I will praise the Lord with you.
So we will sing praises unto God.
That's church.
That's us coming together in one place,
singing God's praises.
Go to Psalms 47.
Skip over just a couple more chapters.
Psalms 47.
It says in Psalms 89,
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints
and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
You know what God likes?
God likes it when a bunch of saved believers
all come together and they all sing praises to him
at the same time.
They're all singing and giving him praise and wonder.
That gives God a lot of glory and honor.
And you know what?
If each one of us just started singing by ourselves,
it doesn't sound that good.
This is an American Idol Baptist.
You know, when you get a bunch of people
all singing together, congregational singing,
it just sounds good.
It just sounds so much better.
It's so much more powerful.
It's giving more honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Psalms 47, verse one.
Oh, clap your hands all you people.
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph
for the Lord most high is terrible.
He is a great King over all the earth.
He shall subdue the people under us
and the nations under our feet.
He shall choose our inheritance for us.
The excellency of Jacob, whom he loved, Selah.
God has gone up with a shout.
The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God.
Sing praises.
Sing praises unto our King.
Sing praises for God is the King of all the earth.
Sing he praises with understanding.
God reigneth over the heathen.
God sit upon the throne of his holiness.
The princes of the people are gathered together.
Even the people of the God of Abraham
for the shields of the earth belonging to God,
he is greatly exalted.
Now, how many times does this verse say sing praises?
I mean, just saying, sing praises, sing praises,
sing praises, sing praises.
And what does it say at the beginning?
All ye people.
Look in verse nine, when the people are gathered together,
even the people of God of Abraham.
He's saying not just the rulers, everybody.
When everybody gets together,
we're supposed to sing praises unto God.
Look, how are you gonna do that
if you don't go to church?
How are you gonna do that
if you're not coming into God's building
to be with God's people to praise the Lord together?
Go to Psalms 22.
If you read the book of Psalms,
it's just saying over and over and over the same thing.
Because the word church, it just means assembly.
It just means congregation.
It just means a gathering of people together
is what that means.
And throughout the Old Testament,
it uses the word congregation and assembly
for the word church.
We'll even see that in Psalms 22.
I'll read for you from Psalms 107.
Let him exalt him also in the congregation of the people
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
Psalms 111, verse one, praise ye the Lord.
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart
in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
Look at Psalms 22, 22.
I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
So he's saying, look, I'm in the middle of the church.
I'm gonna lift up my voice.
I'm gonna make known to the congregation
I love the Lord.
I'm gonna praise the Lord.
I'm gonna exhort and admonish you to sing with me.
And the Bible says we're supposed to sing a loud noise,
sing a joyful noise.
We're supposed to sing,
look, he's the greatest king of all.
How can you not lift up your voice,
sing with all your might, sing with all your heart.
We're supposed to sing loud unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Hebrews chapter two now.
Keep your finger here and go to Hebrews chapter two.
It actually quotes Psalms 22,
but it uses a different word.
And this word will help us understand
what congregation means, what assembly means.
Look at verse number 12,
saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
In the midst of the church
will I sing praise unto thee.
So God's saying,
hey, you remember when I said in the Old Testament,
you're gonna sing in the congregation?
Let me tell you what that means.
It means church.
Just in case you're too thick-headed
to think that we're not talking about church.
He's saying, look, you need to be in church
and singing in the midst of church.
You need to be around the congregation,
around the assembly of believers, praising the Lord.
Go to Psalms 111.
I'm not gonna bore you with every single one.
I'm not gonna belabor the point,
but look, we need to get this on our hearts.
We need to get this on our minds.
Look, we don't just come to church because it's a command.
We don't just come to church just to learn.
We come to church to praise God,
to give him honor, to give him glory,
to lift his name up.
The Bible says my praise shall be
of thee in the great congregation.
The Bible says in Psalms 26,
my foot standeth in an even place,
and the congregation's will I bless the Lord.
Psalms 35,
I will give thee thanks in the great congregation.
I will praise thee among much people.
Bless ye God in the congregations,
even the Lord from the fountain of Israel.
Look at Psalms 111, verse one.
Praise ye the Lord.
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart
and the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
So the Bible's making it clear
we're supposed to praise the Lord.
Now go to Jeremiah 35.
We're gonna do a different,
we're gonna look at a different point here.
The Bible also said in Psalms 149,
praise ye the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise in the congregation of saints.
Go to Jeremiah 35.
So what have we learned?
It's a command of God.
We're supposed to come to church so we can learn God's word.
We can learn the Bible.
We can learn that, hey,
you're supposed to sing praise unto God.
And that's the point.
The third point is we're supposed to praise the Lord.
We're supposed to give him glory, give him honor.
What's my fourth point?
My fourth point is that you coming to church
is a good example to your family.
Now this point is very special to me
because this is a point
why I decided to really start living for God,
why I decided to really change my life
and try to serve God more is because I knew
that whatever I made, the decisions I made as a parent,
they were gonna affect my children back there.
Whatever I do, the decisions I make,
they're gonna greatly affect my children
and I don't want my children
to be adversely affected by my decisions.
Be, oh, look at my dad.
He just doesn't care about anything.
He just cares about video games
and the football and whatever.
And then guess what their kids are gonna do?
Think about video games and football.
Look, whatever the parent likes,
the children are gonna like.
This is why you look at last names.
It usually told you what the people did.
Oh, my name's Smith.
We're all blacksmiths.
You know, my dad was a blacksmith
and my grandfather's a blacksmith.
You know, my dad's a Braves fan
and my brother's a Braves fan
and his dad was a Braves fan and everybody's.
Look, it's because you like the things your parents like
and you know what?
If God, if your dad likes church, guess what?
You're gonna like church too.
Look at Jeremiah 35 verse five.
And I said before the sons of the house
of the Recubites, pots full of wine and cups,
and I said unto them, drink ye wine.
But they said, we will not, we will drink no wine
for Jonah Dab, the son of Recub,
our father commanded us saying, ye shall drink no wine,
neither ye nor your sons forever.
Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed,
nor plant vineyard, nor have any,
but all your days ye shall dwell in tents
that ye may live many days in the land
where ye be strangers.
Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonah Dab,
the son of Recub, our father,
and all that he hath charged us
to drink no wine all our days,
we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters,
nor to build houses for us to dwell in,
neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed,
but we have dwelled in tents, and have obeyed,
and have done according to all that Jonah Dab,
our father, commanded us.
You know what?
A parent has a great responsibility for their children.
And a parent is the one
that can affect their children the most.
You say, who has the most influence
in a child's life?
The parents.
And you know what?
The father is the strongest.
Why?
Because he's the one that's supposed
to be leading the family.
He's the one leading the charge.
And you know what your dad likes?
Well, your dad teaches you.
Well, your dad commands you.
Those are a lot of the things
that are gonna be instilled in you,
and you're gonna carry those forward,
whether it's good or bad.
So you better think about that.
Oh, is the decisions I'm making,
is that what I really want my kids to be doing?
Is that what I want my kids to be interested in?
And look, I'm gonna decide my hobbies
are gonna be the hobbies I want my children to have.
The things that I love and do,
I want my children to love and do.
Why?
Because I want to zealously affect them for the Lord.
And you know what?
There's lots of special memories I have of my dad.
My dad would take me on golf trips.
I loved it.
I loved getting to go with my dad on a golf trip.
He would take me there,
and he instilled a lot of time and energy into me.
And you know what?
The good things I can take from that,
even though I'm not gonna put so much pressure
on my kids to play sports,
is the fact that my dad was selfless enough
to go take me to do things that I enjoyed
that I liked to help me.
You know what?
So a father, I see from my dad's example,
I can be selfless.
I can put my children above my needs,
my wants, my desires,
and I can do things for my children.
Not only that, my dad would take me to work.
My dad would sometimes just take me to his work.
And you know, you would think it's super boring.
I go to work, it's not that exciting.
But as a kid, I loved it.
I loved going with my dad to work
and seeing him play, you know, work on the computers
and work in an office and do all kinds of things.
I thought it was so cool.
And I'd run around, and all the doors had locks on them,
so I'd go and lock all the doors.
I would do all kinds of stuff.
But it was special unto me to see my dad working.
I wonder what would happen
if my dad was a derelict bum on the corner
and he took me to his work?
What would I have thought then?
You know what my dad took me to his work
where he's working hard and doing good things
and being a good worker and instills in me,
hey, I should be a good worker.
I should do good work.
Look what the father does will affect the children.
Go to Deuteronomy chapter six.
Deuteronomy chapter number six.
The Bible says train up a child the way he should go,
and when he was old, he will not depart from it.
You know why so many people are sports fans?
Because their dad liked that team.
I mean, that's just how a lot of people are.
My dad loved this team, so I love this team.
You know, another one would just be where you live,
but many times,
it's actually just whatever the parent likes,
whatever the parent does.
Hey, my dad loves church.
Guess what?
You will start to like church
if you're a child of that father.
Just as Timothy, or just as Paul was talking
about Timothy, he says as a son with the father,
he has served with me in the gospel.
Paul was saying, look,
I know Timothy's gonna be faithful
because he was with me, serving with me,
and I was like a father unto him,
teaching him and admonishing him,
encouraging to preach in the gospel,
and Timothy, I know he's gonna do right
because he was with me,
because he saw me doing it
because I was teaching him and training him.
If you never teach and train your children,
guess what?
They're not gonna do anything well.
Look, you gotta take your child
and teach them and train them
and spend time with them and be selfless with them.
That's how you're gonna affect them for the positive.
That's training them, being practical about it.
How about picking up your child,
putting him in the car,
and driving to church and getting out?
Look, you're teaching him church is important to you.
You know what?
The father that doesn't go to church three times a week,
you know what he's teaching his child?
Church isn't that important.
Church isn't that big a deal.
It's not that big a deal if we don't go.
But you know what?
When the father goes three times a week,
the kid's gonna wanna go three times a week.
The kid's gonna get excited
about going three times a week.
They're gonna learn to love it.
Look at Deuteronomy 6, verse six.
And these words, as I command thee this day,
shall be in thine heart,
and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up,
and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes,
and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates.
So look, he's saying you gotta teach your children.
You gotta teach them the word of God.
Write it on the doorposts of your house.
Look, you should have it everywhere,
constantly teaching them the word of God.
You know, my dad taught me a lot of things,
and it stuck with me.
My dad taught me that whenever you're on a date,
you always open the door for the woman
that you're going on a date with.
You open the door to the restaurant.
You open the door to the car.
You always open the door for the lady.
That's what a gentleman is.
A gentleman takes care of the woman that he's with.
He's the leader.
He's the one that's supposed to take care of her
and provide for her and make her feel safe.
That's what my dad taught me.
Thank you very much.
It also says, my dad taught me,
every time you're talking to a man,
you say, yes, sir.
Every time, it doesn't matter who he is,
what he looks like, yes, sir.
My boss at work, yes, sir.
Some person I've never met, yes, sir.
Some stranger, some person at church
is telling you not to play with that.
The children say, yes, sir.
That's what my dad taught me.
And you know what I say
every time someone gives me instruction?
Yes, sir.
You know how my boss says something to me?
Yes, sir.
You know how some stranger says to me?
Yes, sir.
Why?
Because my dad instilled that into me,
and now I'm gonna do that.
I'm gonna have proper etiquette.
I'm gonna be a respectful person,
and also to women.
Yes, ma'am.
Yes, ma'am, whatever she's saying to me,
whatever she's asking of me.
Look, it's good for children
to be respectful to the elders,
but if you never teach your children,
they don't do that.
Every child that says, yes, sir, and yes, ma'am,
they were taught that.
Someone taught them and instructed them,
and you know what I say to my children every time?
Yes, sir.
And they say, yes, sir.
You know what, it's a lot of work.
They don't do it very faithfully right now.
They struggle with it.
It's difficult.
But you know what?
When they're a teenager,
I won't have to say it again.
I won't have to remind them.
They'll just say, yes, sir, and yes, ma'am,
because when I train up a child in the way he should go,
when he's old, he will not depart from it.
You know, my parents taught me lots of different things.
They took me to church,
and we never went to church close to my house.
Never.
We weren't going to the church that's just next door.
We weren't going to the Jehovah's false witness.
We weren't going to this other false church.
They would just take us
to what they thought was the best church.
Now, my parents weren't taking me to a good church, okay?
I'll just be honest.
They weren't taking me to church
that actually believes the Bible.
That's right, okay?
But they were taking me to the church
that they thought was the best church.
So that's still a good principle.
I mean, we're driving 40 minutes across town.
We're driving 30 minutes across town.
We never went to a church that was close to us.
The closest church was like 20 minutes away.
I mean, that's the closest church
we ever went to in our lives was 20 minutes away,
because they were trying to take us
to what they thought was the best church in their area.
And that's what I encourage you to do.
Find the best.
If there's a better church, go to that church.
Go to the best church in this area.
Go to the best church that you can go to.
Go to the church that you go three times a week.
You say, I won't go to your church three times a week.
But I would go to that church three times a week.
Then go to that church.
Go to the church where you will serve God.
You say, I would only go to church three times a week
if I was at Faithful Word in Phoenix.
Then I'll help you get there.
Then I'll help move you there.
Because it's more important for you to serve God
with your life than to come to my church.
So you go to the church where you can be faithful to.
And you say, well, right now it's just too impractical.
OK, then go to another church in the midweek service.
Go to another church.
Go to church three times a week, though.
And you know what?
When you go to that lame church for that other service,
it'll motivate you to want to go to a good church.
I was going to a church that I didn't want to go to
three times a week.
You know what it did?
It motivated me to want to go to a really good church.
So when I moved, I moved four minutes away
from the church I was going to go to the next time.
Because I was like, I'm going to be close to a church
that I'm going to be faithful to.
Look, it's important for you to serve God with your life.
There's nothing more important.
And if you're not in church,
look, you're teaching your children a lot of bad habits.
You know what?
When you teach your children that it's OK
to just do whatever you want,
well, let's talk bad about the pastor.
Let's gossip of people behind their backs.
You know, children pay attention to everything you do.
They know if you read the Bible.
They know if you pray.
They know what your habits are.
They know when you go out and you leave church,
like you're visiting friends or family,
and you just don't go to another church,
they take note of that too.
They say, oh, I guess church isn't that important.
It's only important if other people know
I went to church, isn't it?
Because you know what?
When you visit somewhere else, when you go out of town,
only your children are going to pay attention
if you need to go to church or not.
They're going to see where your heart is.
Is your heart to serve the Lord?
Is your heart to praise God?
Or is your heart to just be seen of men?
Why go to church?
Because everybody knows I'm going to be there.
Go to Second Timothy chapter number one.
Second Timothy chapter number one.
You know what?
Jesus always went to church.
The Bible says in Luke four,
and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.
And as his custom was,
he went in the synagogue of the Sabbath day
and stood up for to read.
Jesus Christ, he was the Bible reader.
He was the guy that got to come up
and read the Bible to people.
And you know what?
He says, as his custom was.
His parents were taking him to church.
He was in church.
He was reading God's word.
If Christ is in church, we need to be in church.
He already is the word.
He already knows the word, but he's still doing it.
He's being faithful.
He's going to church.
Look at Second Timothy chapter one verse five.
When I call the remembrance,
the unfeigned faith that is in thee
would dwell first in thy grandmother, Lois,
and thy mother, Unise.
And I am persuaded that in thee also.
Look at verse, go to chapter number three.
Chapter number three.
So we see Timothy, he actually got his faith
from his grandmother and from his mother.
And you know, if you read in Acts chapter number 17,
I believe, it's when we're introduced to Timothy,
it says that his dad was a Greek.
So it's possible that his dad wasn't saved.
It's possible his dad wasn't a believer.
But you know what his mom was?
His mom for sure was.
His mom instilled that faith into her son.
The grandmother instilled that faith into her daughter
and her daughter instilled that faith into her son.
And Timothy's a great man of God.
Timothy's turning up the whole world with the gospel.
You say, oh, I'm a mother.
I'm not that important.
Oh, yes you are.
Every single person in this room has a mother
and you were affected by your mother.
Every man of God had a mother.
And you know what, that mother affected that child.
You have a very vital role.
Actually, the mother spends more time
with the children than the father.
It's just, it's more important for my wife
to be a godly example and to teach my children.
As far as time,
cause she's gonna spend more time with them.
She's gonna be with them constantly.
You know what, I could be at church three times
preaching hard, but what if my wife's home
and I'm with the kids like, man, I don't like church.
I don't like it when we go to church.
You know when I'm not around and the kids hear that
and the kids pick up on that and they say,
oh, well, mom doesn't like church.
I don't like church.
The kids will pick up on everything that you do.
Look, you have little sponges walking around,
soaking up everything you do.
It should make us careful with the decisions we make
with the things that we do in our life.
Look at verse 15.
And that from a child that was known the holy scriptures,
which are able to make the wise and the salvation
through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
He got saved as a child.
I think he got saved by his mother.
I think his mother is the one that led him to the Lord.
She taught him the Bible.
She got him saved.
And look, this should be an encouragement to any person,
no matter what their situation is.
You say, well, I'm a single parent
or my husband divorced me or my wife divorced me
or my wife left me or I'm a widower or I'm older
or I'm a single grandparent or whatever.
You can affect the children in your life greatly
for the Lord Jesus Christ.
But you know what a lot of people do?
They'll get really, they'll have a lot of self pity.
They'll just say, well, you know,
my life's just so bad, poor me.
And that's all they do.
All they do is just complain about how bad their life is.
Well, your dad just doesn't love me.
Your dad just doesn't like me.
And all they do is they just talk negative
about themselves and look, your children pick up on it.
You know what?
All your children do is just hate the other parent.
They just hate you for just being such a grouch,
for never getting over it, for not realizing,
hey, you're a parent.
You have children to watch out for.
You have children that you're responsible for.
You should pay attention to that child
and say, you know what?
No matter what my situation is,
I'm gonna make sure to sacrifice for this child
and take him to a good church and teach him the Bible
and warn him to not make the same mistakes that I made.
I don't have to be such a poor me attitude.
Oh, it doesn't matter.
Look, then your kids are just gonna have a ruined life.
Just because your life's ruined
doesn't mean you don't have to ruin your child's life too.
Just because you made a mistake
doesn't mean your children have to make the same mistake too.
Look, there's a lot of things that I did in my life
I hope my children never do.
And you know what I'm gonna affect them?
Is by preaching them the Bible, teaching them God's word,
instructing them what's right and wrong,
no matter what happens in my life.
No matter what happens to me or my wife,
you have a responsibility to affect your children
zealously for the Lord.
Look, I don't care what situation you're in
and this should be a great encouragement
to a single parent saying, look,
you can do great things with your child's life.
Stop being so self-reflective,
stop being so selfish and focus on your children.
Look, be a good example under your children.
Go over to Proverbs 27 and look at my last point.
Look, it's such an important point.
Why am I preaching this unto you?
Because I know that your children
are very important to you.
Your children are probably one of the most
important things in your life.
They're gonna affect you for your whole life.
When you talk to old people in the nursing home,
number one thing they wanna talk about is their children.
And they have regrets about their children
and they have good things about their children.
Their regrets is they wish they had more kids,
that they spent more time with them,
that they did more good things for their children.
When they see their children failing
and making the same mistakes,
they're like, man, I wish I had taught my children more.
I wish I had spent more time with my children.
And look, we should take that example
and realize, hey, I should start doing it now.
I should start making decisions in my life now
to affect my children positively.
I should start making decisions now to help my children.
Why?
Because one day they're gonna be gone.
Before you know it, they're not gonna be there anymore.
And they're gonna make their own decisions.
So every single moment I have is precious with me
to instill God's word into my child
and to teach them and to train them and instruct them
and to be selfless for my children.
To lay down my life.
Look, that's what it says about the man.
The man's supposed to lay down his life
for his wife and his children.
That's not just in the sense that I'll die for him.
That means I'm gonna lay down my interests,
my hobbies, my wants,
and pick up good things for them to learn.
What's the last point I have?
Well, it's a command to go to church.
Look, it's to learn the Bible.
Look, it's to praise the Lord.
It's so you can be a good example under your family.
But not only that, it's for fellowship.
Look, church can be fun.
Church can be exciting.
It can be great to come to church and see your friends,
see those people that you love,
see those people you have fellowship with,
be around like-minded believers.
You know, it's not fun to go to these liberal,
you know, lame churches where you walk up to somebody
and you're like, hey man, what do you think about this?
Oh, my NIV says, you know, X, Y, and you're like,
NIV, what are you talking about?
You know, hey, I was going out soul winning.
Soul winning, what's that?
You know, I mean, that's not fun.
It's not fun to be around people
that don't know the Bible,
that don't care about the Bible,
that don't love Jesus Christ, that aren't even saved.
Look, I guess you can go to those churches
and do a bunch of soul winning.
I mean, I'm just saying, look,
I mean, it's great to be around like-minded believers.
That's why you come to church,
because when you go to your job,
when you go to the supermarket,
when you go to all these places,
they aren't believers on the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're not saved, zealous Christians.
They don't use the King James Bible.
I mean, it's just a sea of unsaved people out there.
You need to come to church
so you can be around like-minded believers,
around people that believe the same way,
and you can zealously affect other people.
Look at Proverbs 27, verse 17.
Iron sharpeneth iron.
So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
You know, when you come to church
and your friend doesn't show up,
the countenance kind of drops.
You're not as excited to be at church.
But then he walks in, oh, hey, what's going on, Nick?
What's going on, Eli, what's going on, Emerson?
What's going on, guys?
It's great to see you.
You affect other people in this building.
You affect the people around you.
If you don't start coming to church anymore,
if you stop coming three times a week,
other people will follow like suit.
I guarantee you, if you're the only person
in this church, if you're the only person here,
look, when a new person comes in,
they'll be like, I'm not gonna show up anymore.
Look, it's important that you're here.
It's important, look, every member
of the body of Christ is important.
Every member has their role and their importance.
You might think, well, it's not that important
that I'm here.
Wrong.
Every single person in this room
is zealously affecting the other people.
Everybody else stop coming, the one person coming,
they probably stop coming pretty soon, too.
They're just not gonna wanna be there.
They're not gonna wanna be in a church
where nobody's coming.
Look, you help other people wanna come to church.
You help encourage other people by coming to church.
You say, hey, I'm gonna see you on Wednesday, right?
And they're like, oh, I don't know.
But now that you said that, I do wanna come.
Now I do wanna be here.
Now I do wanna see you.
Now I can't wait to talk to you.
Now I can't wait to fellowship with you
and go soul-winding with you and hang out with you
and talk about the Bible
and we can be great friends.
Look, church provides a place for fellowship.
Go if you would to Hebrews chapter 10, we'll wrap up.
Now when it comes to making the decision
to go to church, it should be a one-time decision.
It should be like salvation.
Because if you decide to make,
if you decide if you're gonna go to church
every single time, you're gonna not go
three times a week.
Let me just be honest with you.
I didn't wake up this morning wondering
if I was gonna go to church.
I didn't wake up this morning thinking,
should I go to church this morning?
No, I already knew I was going to church.
I already know, hey, I'm gonna go to church
Sunday morning, I'm gonna go Sunday night,
I'm gonna go Wednesday night, I'm gonna be there.
You know what, I went to Fayetteville
at Baptist Church in Phoenix, Arizona.
There's only two times that I can remember
that I didn't go, personally.
It was when I was in Canyon, Texas,
which was 12 hours away,
and it was when I was in San Antonio, Texas,
which was 14 hours away.
Those are the only two times I can ever remember
not being in the church service.
And if my pastor had said,
hey, we're gonna come on Friday,
I would've probably been there on Friday.
And if he said I'm gonna be on Monday,
I'm gonna be on Monday.
And look, I'm not about to start five services a week,
trust me, okay?
But I'm just saying, look, that was what I decided to do.
That's what I thought was the best.
I wanna thrive, I wanna know God,
I wanna praise the Lord,
I wanna be a good example into my family.
So I already made that decision.
Said, hey, we're gonna go to church Sunday morning,
we're gonna go to church Sunday night,
we're gonna go to church Wednesday night.
I don't care where we are, I don't care what's going on.
Look, unless you're sick in bed and you can't get out,
unless a baby's coming out,
unless you're physically out of town,
look, I'm gonna be in church, I'm gonna be there.
And there's a legitimate reason, okay?
Hey, you got a big two by four
sticking out of the side of your body,
go to the hospital, okay?
Hey, you got some dangerous disease,
don't come infect us all with it, all right?
But I'm saying, look, if I can make it to church,
I'm gonna make it to church.
If someone rams into me and I get flipped over in my truck,
I'll just start walking.
Maybe I'll be there a little late, but you know,
I'm just saying, I'm gonna make it
to try to be in church.
I already made that decision, I'm gonna be there.
And once you make that decision,
it's not if I'm going, it's where I'm going.
And like I said, if you think there's a better church,
go to it.
If there was a better church, I'd go to it.
Look, I'm gonna go to the best church that I think.
I'm gonna go to the best church in my area.
Look, I traveled to go to a church,
I traveled several hours away,
moved my whole family to go to a church.
Why?
Because I thought it was the best church for my family.
I thought it was the best place for me to be.
That's why I went there.
And look, I'm gonna preach you the same thing.
Go to the best church for you.
If you say I would never go to this church
three times a week, find another church hopefully.
Find a church that you'll be faithful to.
Find a church that you can get excited about,
that you can have fellowship with.
You can be, I'm gonna learn the Bible today.
I'm gonna praise the Lord today.
I'm gonna do great things for God today.
Go to that church.
You know, and it's really up to the men.
I'll just be honest.
I'm picking on the men because it's up to the guy.
The guy's just gotta decide,
I'm gonna go to church three times a week.
My family's gonna come with me.
You know what Adam did?
He arced under the voice of his wife.
You know what Abram did?
He arced under the voice of his wife
and he made grievous sin for the family.
The man just needs to make a decision.
We're going three times a week.
Then the wife doesn't have to wonder,
should I get up and get ready this morning?
Should I start preparing things?
She just knows, hey, we're going to church.
I better start getting ready.
I better start getting the kids ready.
I better start providing things for the day.
I know I'm going to church.
I know we're gonna go praise the Lord.
I know we're gonna serve God.
You know, choose for yourself.
Are you gonna serve Baal?
Are you gonna serve God?
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24.
And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as a manner of some is, but exhorting one another
and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Look, if you don't come to church three times a week,
I'm not gonna just, I'm not gonna be mad at you.
I'm not gonna say anything to you,
but I'm gonna preach you what God's word says.
And you know what's most important?
Not that I'm gonna be here three times a week,
but that you're here three times a week.
That you're here affecting other people to be here.
Because when you miss, other people are like,
well, if he missed, I might as well.
You know, it's not that big a deal.
If that guy's missing, if the song leader misses,
if the piano person misses, if the preacher's missing,
what if I just kept scheduling in
other people to come preach?
If I just bring some evangelist,
I bring some missionary,
I just let some other random guy,
you'd kind of be like, does pastor really care?
Does pastor really care
that he has these three services?
Is he really caring for my soul?
Is he really trying to feed me?
Does he really want me to know the word of God?
And look, there will be a time in the future
where I'm probably not preaching, okay?
There's gonna be a time in the future,
but I'm not planning on it anytime soon.
I'm not planning on missing.
I'm not planning on not being here.
I wanna be here.
I wanna preach you the Bible.
I wanna preach three great sermons a week.
Not one, not two, but three.
And you know what, I don't try to pick,
well, what's my best sermon?
You know, what's the best sermon?
I just preach, hey,
this is what I think I'm gonna preach
on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
A lot of times, I think the Sunday evening sermon
is maybe the best one.
Or maybe just the Wednesday night one,
because we're going through things
I wouldn't normally preach.
Or maybe the Sunday morning is the best one.
And look, I'm gonna preach this sermon
on Sunday morning, so you have a chance
to go to three times a week.
I'm not gonna preach at the end of the week.
Well, you already messed up.
You already didn't go.
Look, I'm giving you an opportunity
to get it right now, to go to church right now.
Why?
So you can provoke other people.
And if you, this is a good sermon for you,
not just for this church, wherever you go in your life.
If you leave this church, if you move,
if you go somewhere else, be faithful to that church.
Go to that church every time they open the doors,
every time they want you to be there.
Let the man of God teach you the word of God.
And when you travel, go to church.
Find a church, praise the Lord.
Look, at least you can praise the Lord.
Even if you didn't learn anything,
you're still following the command.
Even if you didn't learn anything,
you can still praise the Lord, right?
And most importantly,
you're a good example on your children.
You're saying, look, I wanna be in church
because I wanna serve God.
I love God, I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
He purchased the church with his own blood.
I guess that's probably important, isn't it?
I mean, if the Lord Jesus Christ
purchased the church with his own blood,
maybe I should bring some importance to that.
And you know what?
People today, they're forsaking churches by the droves.
Churches, they're not even having
three services a week, do they?
I mean, most churches today,
you say three services, is it the same preaching?
No, it's a different sermon every single week.
You have a Sunday night sermon?
Yeah, we do, because we love the Lord,
because we're gonna serve God,
because we wanna learn the Bible,
because we wanna praise the Lord.
Why?
Because we wanna provoke others into good works.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Father, so much for your word.
Thank you so much for purchasing the church
with your own blood and giving us the opportunity
and the privilege to come into your house
and to serve you and give praise
and honor and glory unto you.
I just pray that every single one of us
would understand the importance of church,
would understand the importance of the example
that we set for our family and for our lives,
and that we could just make a decision
that I'm just gonna be in the house of the Lord, period.
That it's not an everyday decision,
but I just wanna serve God with my life.
I wanna be zealous for the Lord.
I wanna repent of my wickedness
and just serve God with my life.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.