Acts chapter 1 verse 8, just the one verse that I want to take out of this passage.
Acts chapter 1 verse 8, it says,
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
So the Great Commission, the work that Jesus has left us to do,
is yes, it's local work, right?
This was, Jerusalem is local, but then it expands it to Judea, to Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
So we as a church, we need to have the mindset, yes, to win our local area,
to do work in the local place,
and to be honest, right now my plan for a young church is to be focused primarily on Australia,
even New Zealand to some extent, okay?
But we're also commanded to look at the uttermost part of the earth, right?
We're commanded to have a worldwide mindset when it comes to preaching the Bible.
And so this is, in a way, this is part two, if you want to look at it that way,
from my sermon that I preached Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday afternoon I preached on the church institution.
And so I preached on that basically as a foundational understanding of what the church is,
that it's the body of Christ, okay?
And you know, Christ died for the church, right?
Church is not really this optional thing, right?
The purpose that God has in our lives is, yes, to get us saved
and to get plugged into a church, right?
To be a member of a church, the body of Christ.
The reason it's called the body of Christ is because Christ, you know,
performed his ministry in his body,
and he's given us that work to continue,
and that work should continue through the body of Christ.
It should continue through the local church.
And so recently I've been sort of in the last sort of few weeks and months,
I've been challenged.
I'm not saying challenged in a negative sense,
just, you know, people, you know, we talk about things like,
you know, missions trips, things like that.
You know, what about mission trips?
What about, you know, starting churches in other places?
You know, what about sending out missionaries and evangelists?
You know, what should evangelists do?
These kinds of questions.
And I thought I'd formulate a few thoughts here and present it to you tonight.
So in many ways this is just continuing on from the study
that we started on Sunday afternoon.
But the title for the sermon tonight is Church Ministries, Local and Broad.
Church Ministries, Local and Broad.
And by, of course, broad, you know, to the uttermost part of the earth.
Now, one of the commandments that the local church has been given
in 1 Corinthians 14.40,
let all things be done decently and in order.
Okay?
Now, sometimes people have exciting ideas, right?
We can do this, we can do that,
but I want things to be done decently and in order.
That's a command that God has given us.
And if something looks exciting, something that we can do as a church,
but we, you know, we're not orderly yet,
we don't have the resources, we don't have the people,
I don't want to do it because whatever I do,
I want to make sure it's done decently and in order.
And so when we think about the local church and the work our church ought to do,
it ought to be done decently and in order.
That's how Christ did things, decently in order.
That's how he's commanded the local church to do things decently and in order.
Now, please go to Romans 12.
Romans 12, that was one of the passages we left off on Sunday afternoon.
Romans 12, let's look at this once again, just a few other verses here.
Romans 12, verse 3.
Romans 12, verse 3, please.
Romans 12, verse 3.
It says, for I say, through the grace given unto me,
to every man that is among you,
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think soberly,
according as God have dealt to every man the measure of faith.
So every man, woman, and child is part of a local body.
This chapter is about the local body, the church.
It's told that God has given us a measure of faith, right?
And you keep reading, God has given us different gifts,
different abilities to serve in the local church.
Verse number 4.
For as we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office,
so should we all be preachers?
No.
Now, if you're not a man,
you shouldn't be a preacher behind the pulpit in the first place, right?
But could we all be preachers of the gospel?
Yes.
But the teaching here is about the local church,
how we ought to conduct ourselves in the local church.
Because we don't all have the same office.
We don't all have the same measure of faith.
Let's keep going.
Verse number 5.
So we, being many, are one body in Christ,
and every one members one of another.
So not only are we part of the body of Christ,
but we're members one of another, okay?
This is why we should care for one another,
you know, edify one another,
so we can serve each other as we serve Christ.
But verse number 6.
And gifts, different,
according to the grace that is given to us.
That's like the measure of faith.
Here it's referring to the grace that has been given to us.
We all have different gifts, right?
Weather, prophecy,
let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.
Now, prophecy is to proclaim God's word,
so that's the preacher, right?
The pastor or other preachers that get up here,
we've been given that gift.
Number 7.
All ministry.
Let us wait on our ministry.
That's serving one another.
Maybe that's your call, to serve one another.
Or he that teacheth on teaching.
You see, there are many pastors that can preach God's word,
but they're not necessarily good teachers.
Now, here's the thing.
One of the commandments to be a pastor, to be a bishop,
is to be apt to teach, right?
So if you're desiring that office,
you should be also someone that can teach.
You say, what's the difference?
Quick example.
Let's say a pastor gets behind the pulpit
to teach on creation,
to teach on the age of the earth, right?
Many pastors will get behind the pulpit and say,
you know, according to the Bible,
the earth is approximately 6,000 years old, whatever, okay?
And they're proclaiming the truth.
They're proclaiming what the word of God says,
but they won't necessarily teach it, right?
Now, a pastor who should be apt to teach
should also be able to say,
well, this is why it's 6,000 or, you know, 6,000-whatever,
you know, 200 years old or whatever, you know, whatever it is, right?
This is why.
And he starts and explains how we can look
at the ages of people giving birth,
we can give the ages of the time that Israel was in Egypt,
we give the times of the kings
as they reign through Israel up to Christ,
and then, you know, teach the fact that this is why
we believe what we believe, right?
And that's what differentiates someone that just preaches,
and it's fine with just preaching,
but also someone who teaches, right?
You're grounding that person in that doctrine
rather than just proclaiming that doctrine.
And so some people have been given the gift to teach,
and pastors should be able to both preach and teach, all right?
Let's keep going, verse number eight.
Or he that exhorteth on exhortation.
That's just building up other people.
Maybe that's your gift,
just to encourage, to build up other people in the Lord.
He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.
You know, some have more finances than others,
and those with more are there to give,
to give of what they can, let him do it with simplicity.
He that ruleth with diligence.
He that showth mercy with cheerfulness.
Maybe your gift is just to be merciful to other brethren, right?
Other brethren that fail, that are struggling,
you have the mercy to encourage them,
you know, to show them that you love them.
Maybe that's your gift.
Verse number nine.
Let love be without dissimulation.
Abhor that which is evil.
Cleave to that which is good.
So the love, the service that we ought to do to one another
ought to be without dissimulation.
That's basically saying make sure it's not fake, okay?
It's gotta be true love, true charity,
that we have one for another.
Now, please go to 1 Timothy 3.
1 Timothy chapter 3.
And while you're turning there,
I just wanted to show you all the different gifts
that are given to the body of Christ, okay?
To serve in the body of Christ, right?
To minister in the body of Christ.
And what I'm trying to show you guys tonight
is that God has called you in a body.
I say to you, I want to serve God.
You know, I want to do some great things for God.
You know, it's not about you doing your own thing.
You know, it's not just you coming up with your own idea
and just doing your own thing.
No, you ought to get yourself plugged into the body of Christ
and through the body of Christ do those great things, okay?
This is what I strongly, strongly believe, okay?
And this affects the way I look at mission work or evangelists,
these kinds of things, okay?
Now, while you're turning to 1 Timothy chapter 3,
I'll read to you from 1 Corinthians 12.
1 Corinthians 12, 27.
It says,
After that, miracles, then gifts of healings,
helps, governments, diversity of tongues.
And if you speak other languages,
that's a gift that God has given you
to be able to preach the word to people
that don't speak English, for example, okay?
I mean, here again, we've got different now.
This time we've got some titles, apostles, prophets.
Again, prophets, people that preach the word of God.
Thirdly, teachers, et cetera.
And so, you know, why don't we have apostles today?
Well, as, you know, Brother Jason was reading through Acts chapter 1,
we saw that one of the requirements
was that they saw the resurrected Christ, okay?
And so, not only, you know, to be an apostle in the time,
you know, to be one of the biblical apostles here,
you had to see the resurrection of Christ,
you know, the resurrected Christ,
but Christ also, you know, in one case, like Paul,
yeah, Paul, you know, he was hand-selected by Christ himself, right?
Hand-selected by Christ himself.
That's why we don't have apostles today,
because there's nobody here today
who has seen the resurrected Christ, right?
Christ ascended up into heaven,
is at the right-hand side of the Father,
and we won't be seeing him physically until his second coming,
until the rapture again.
So that office is no longer,
nobody holds that office any longer, okay?
But what we've turned to in 1 Timothy 3
is the office of the bishop.
Now, the most clear, the most obvious, the most important,
the one that's laid out in detail for us in the Bible
is the office of the bishop,
not just here in 1 Timothy 3,
but also in Titus 1, okay?
Two references to this office.
Let's have a look at it very quickly.
1 Timothy 3, 1, this is a true saying
that if a man desired the office of a bishop,
he desired for good work,
and now we get qualifications.
We get a whole list of things this bishop ought to stand for.
A bishop then must be blameless.
The husband of one wife,
of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach.
There's the apt to teach.
Not given to wine, no striker,
not greedy or filthy lucre,
but patient, not a brawler, not covetous,
one that ruleth well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity.
For if a man know not how to rule his own house,
how shall he take care of the church of God?
Not a novice, lest being filled up with pride,
he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without,
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
So those are the qualifications there of a bishop.
What are the key things that we see there?
That he's a family man.
He's married with kids, right? Number one.
Number two, he's got great character about him, okay?
And number three, that he's apt to teach,
like he's got knowledge, he knows the Bible well, right?
He's someone that knows the Bible well,
he's able to teach God's word.
And if we keep going, look at verse number eight,
we now have the deacons, okay?
The deacon is the next office that's given to us with great detail.
Number eight, likewise.
So really the deacon must be almost identical to the pastor there.
Likewise, must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued,
not given too much wine, not greedy or filthy lucre,
holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience,
and let these also first be proved.
Remember that.
This person needs to be proved.
Then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless.
Even so, must their wives be grave,
not slanderous, sober, faithful in all things.
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife,
ruling their children and their own house as well,
for they that have used the office of a deacon
will purchase to themselves a good degree
and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
So we see many of the same qualifications for a deacon,
the same as the pastor, but what else do we see?
The deacon must be a family man once again, right?
A wife, faithful children.
These ideas, right?
A family man, okay?
Husband of one wife.
And I want you to keep that in mind
because now go to Acts chapter 6, please.
Go to Acts chapter 6.
Acts chapter 6.
Now, New Life Baptist Church,
we have here the office of a bishop, right?
That's myself, serving in that office, right?
And I believe that the term bishop, pastor, and elder
are terms, and I've preached on this before,
used interchangeably in the Bible for the same office, okay?
The same office, but those different names
kind of point to a different role
that that person plays as well in the house of God.
So we wanted to just look at deacons first
because this will lead us to the office of an evangelist, okay?
Let's look at the first deacons that we see in the Bible here
in Acts chapter 6, verse 1,
and once again, we've seen that the deacon
has to be married with kids, okay?
Faithful children.
So when we see these first deacons being appointed
to work in the church, guess what?
They're married with kids, okay?
They're not single guys doing whatever they want, okay?
They're married with kids, and they're serving in the church.
The other thing that I missed the point,
the other thing about the deacon
that was mentioned in verse number 10,
it said, not in Acts, back in 1 Timothy,
it says, let the, sorry,
it said, and let these also first be proved, okay?
So before we select a deacon,
if we need a deacon in our church,
they have to be proved.
They have to be proven.
You say, who proves them?
The local church, the body of Christ.
That's where they're proved, right?
Proved to be faithful members,
proved to be doing the work of God,
proved to know the word of God.
That's how they're proved.
That's not their own opinion of themselves, all right?
They are proved by the church.
Then they're appointed to this office.
And we see the same thing play out here in Acts chapter 6.
So far, we're just focused on the local church,
the local ministry in the church.
We haven't gone abroad yet, right?
Look at verse number 1, Acts chapter 6, verse 1.
And in those days,
when the number of the disciples were multiplied,
there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
So we have a situation where this church in Jerusalem,
it's growing, there's more disciples added,
but the Grecian widows were being neglected.
And so we see that it was the church's responsibility here
to look after the widows, right?
They've got no husband.
They've got no, I guess, children that can look after them.
And so if they're faithful widows to the church,
that's a command for the church to look after that widow
if she has that need.
And so that task of the church was being neglected.
Verse number 2.
Then the 12, those are the 12 apostles,
called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said,
It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
So the apostles are getting really busy, right?
They want to serve with the word of God.
They want to be preaching the word of God,
you know, winning souls and preaching, teaching the local church.
But they were getting caught away by doing these other jobs.
This is why this was being neglected.
They couldn't do all this work.
Then it says here in verse number 3,
Wherefore, brethren, look ye out amongst yourselves,
among you seven men of honest report,
full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,
whom we may appoint over this business.
So he says look, look out amongst yourself.
He says look, who's proven themselves is what he's saying, right?
Who's proven themselves to be hard workers,
good church members, people full of the Holy Ghost
that we may appoint to the business,
the stuff that is being neglected in the church.
Verse number 4.
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer
and to the ministry of the word,
and the same pleased the whole multitude,
and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith,
of the Holy Ghost, and Philip.
Now, Philip's the one we're going to focus on as we move on.
And Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas,
a proselyte of Antioch,
whom they set before the apostles.
And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them,
so they ordained them there,
and the word of God increased,
and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly,
and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
So we see when a church needs deacons, right?
Not only do we have qualifications,
but when the work of the church is starting to be neglected,
not because the apostle or the leadership is lazy,
they've just got too much on, they can't keep up.
That's when a church would need to appoint a deacon
to help assist in those matters.
Now, one of the things we see here is they were looking after the widows,
things like that.
This is not saying that deacons have to look after widows.
We take the greater lesson here.
Things that are being neglected.
Let's say one day, I don't know,
the maintenance of the church is being neglected or something.
Whatever need might come up in this church,
and where I can't feel that anymore,
I've got too much on my plate, I can't feel that anymore,
then we look at getting a deacon that can serve in those areas.
Whatever it is that's being neglected,
that's where the deacon is an assistant to the ones that are in authority.
In this case, it was the apostles,
but the apostles today, we don't have them.
And so the lesson here is that they would be that assistant to the bishop,
the office of the bishop.
But once again, notice the second name that was given there in verse number five
was Philip, right?
And Philip was a deacon.
He served in that role.
So once again, was Philip married?
He had to be.
Those are the qualifications of being a deacon.
Did he have kids? He had to have kids.
Were they unruly?
No, they were supposed to be faithful children, right?
In order to be able to fill this role, fill this capacity.
Now the reason I want to focus on Philip now
is because we do have an office of an evangelist
that's taught to us from the Bible.
But there's only one man that we read about that holds that office.
Now he's not the only man that holds that office,
but he's the only one that we know of by name
and we can follow his story and see what he does.
And so when we start thinking about an evangelist,
an evangelist is someone that preaches the gospel, right?
Whether we need someone to preach the gospel full time in the local area
or we send someone, a lot of people send out missionaries
or there are missionaries to support.
I personally, I want to find a missionary to support.
There are missionaries out there to support, okay?
But you'll soon see why I withhold from supporting certain ministries,
or missionaries.
But really the name these missionaries have in the Bible are evangelists, okay?
Because they're out there doing the work of evangelism,
preaching the gospel to the lost.
So let's now go to Ephesians 4, please. Ephesians 4.
Ephesians 4.
Let's learn about the evangelist.
So we looked at the office of the apostles that's done away with,
the office of a bishop now, the office of a deacon.
Those guys are there to serve the local church, right?
Church ministries, local ministries,
those are the officers that are held in that official capacity of leadership.
Now, do you think we need evangelists for the body of Christ?
Do you think we need them?
I agree with you. I agree.
But do we need them to do their ministry of evangelism to the local church?
I mean, the local church is supposed to be made up of saved, born-again, baptized believers, right?
So why would saved, born-again, baptized believers need to hear the gospel again from an evangelist?
Just by the title evangelist, doesn't that mean that person is going outside of the body
and preaching the gospel?
I mean, obviously, right? Common sense.
That's why they've got that name.
Now, Ephesians 4-4, please.
Ephesians 4-4.
Look at this. Ephesians 4-4.
There is one body.
Now, what was that one body that we learnt?
The church, the body of Christ, okay?
And one spirit.
Even as he accorded one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in you all,
but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
So here's another teaching about the gifts that God gives us, right?
To serve in that one body.
Drop down to verse number 11.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists with an S.
So were there more than one evangelist?
Yes, okay?
We only know really of Philip who becomes an evangelist.
That's the only one we know of.
But we know there are definitely more evangelists, right?
Because it's got an S there. It's plural.
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,
till we all come in the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
So when we see the evangelists here,
they are there to serve in the local church.
They're there to be members of the local church, right?
And to serve one another.
But notice in verse number 12, it says,
for the perfecting of the saints.
Now again, do the saints need to be saved again or hear the gospel again?
No. Okay?
But then read the rest of it.
For the work of the ministry.
So an evangelist's job outside of the church
is a work of the ministry of the local church as well.
Okay?
And so that's where the evangelists would fit in.
They would have authority within the local church
but to go out of the local church
and preach the gospel. Right?
Preach the gospel.
And if you guys can now go to
Acts chapter 8, please.
Acts chapter 8.
We're going to follow Philip in the book of Acts a little bit here.
We're going to learn more about the evangelists here.
Okay?
So again, the sermon here is local church
doing local ministries
and broader ministries as well. Okay?
So Acts chapter 8, please.
And while you're turning to Acts chapter 8,
it says in 2 Timothy 4-5,
speaking of the church bishop, of the church pastors,
but watch thou in all things,
endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist,
make full proof of thy ministry.
So what's a pastor commanded to do as well?
To do the work of an evangelist.
Okay?
The church bishops are required to get out there
and give out the gospel as well.
Alright?
Many pastors don't do it.
In fact, I was talking to one guy recently
and he's talking about a former pastor that he had
and he's like,
he wasn't interested in any evangelism.
He wasn't interested in going out there
and preaching the gospel to the lost.
Well then that man needs to step down.
Okay?
Because he's not fulfilling the role of a pastor.
That's when you stop paying the guy.
Look, you're not doing the work
that God has left you to do.
And so listen,
if I drop,
if I'm not out there guys,
you need to raise that with me and say,
look, you're not doing the work
that a pastor has been called to do.
You're also called to do the work of an evangelist.
Okay?
But let's look at the evangelist now.
Acts chapter 8 verse 37.
We're following the story of Philip.
Now we've seen that Philip is a deacon.
Acts chapter 8 verse 37.
And Philip said,
this is when Philip goes to the Ethiopian eunuch,
if thou believeth with all thine heart,
thou mayest get baptized.
And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
So what do we see?
Not just a pastor is to do the work of an evangelist,
but we see a deacon here, right?
Doing the work of an evangelist.
He's going and preaching the gospel.
And verse number 38,
and he commanded the chariot to stand still
both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch,
and he baptized him.
And when they were come out of the water,
the spirit of the Lord carried away Philip
that the eunuch saw him no more,
and he went on his way rejoicing.
So what do we see here?
We see that someone who has the office of a deacon,
remember he's there, a deacon in the Jerusalem church,
he's also preaching the gospel.
He also has the authority there
to baptize a new convert.
Okay?
So what we see here is that, you know,
a person that holds the office,
either of a bishop or a deacon,
they will be the ones that are permitted
to perform baptisms in our church.
You know, I don't believe in this free-for-all thing.
Okay?
I believe in the work of the body of Christ,
the local body of Christ,
that we're commanded to do this work.
And so we see Philip doing this work
as an evangelist as well.
Now go to Acts chapter 21.
Acts chapter 21, please.
Acts chapter 21, verse 8.
And now we're going to be introduced
once again to Philip,
but now he's an evangelist.
Okay?
So all we're doing right now,
we're just taking facts,
just things that we're seeing in the Bible, right?
And then I'm going to give you my thoughts on all this.
All right?
And look, there's a saying that goes,
you know, there's many ways to skin a cat.
I understand.
You know, I'm not expecting every church
to be exactly the same as me.
You know, I'm not going to look down
and disgrace and go against churches
that don't believe things exactly like I do
when it comes to church ministry.
But I just want this local church to know what I believe.
And to be honest with you,
when I started this church,
I didn't really fully know what I believed
when it came to some of this stuff.
This, you know, you get challenged, right?
People ask you questions,
things you don't really think about,
things that you don't think you need to think about for a while,
I want to see what they're doing in the Bible
and they're just patting our church
as closely as we can with what the Bible says.
Other people, you know,
instead of trying to be as close as what the Bible says,
other people will look for the loopholes
and say, well, the Bible doesn't really say
so we can...
And they'll stretch their hand beyond, all right?
I don't want to do that.
Now, if another church does that, fine.
What did we learn on Sunday afternoon?
That every church has to give an account to Christ.
Every pastor, you know, has to give an account
to their own independent church, okay?
So I'm not... Look, if someone's a brother in Christ,
they're doing things a certain way,
God bless them, all right?
I hope they win many souls.
I hope they're serving the Lord at the full capacity
as much as they can.
That doesn't mean I'm going to go and copy
what another church does, okay?
What we do as a church has to come from
as best as I understand what the Word of God says.
I have to have a clear conscience before God
with how we go ahead and do things.
So I'm not looking for the loopholes.
I'm looking for the pattern we see
and trying to do the best we can
to follow after that pattern.
Verse number 8, please.
Acts 21, verse 8.
And the next day,
we that were of Paul's company departed
and came unto Caesarea.
Now, Caesarea is about a two-day journey
from Jerusalem, okay?
Two-day journey from Jerusalem.
And then it says here, and we enter...
And by journey, I mean walking, obviously, in those days, right?
You could drive or something like that if you had a car, okay?
And came unto Caesarea,
and we entered into the house
of Philip the evangelist,
which was one of the seven.
So we definitely know this is the same guy
that was made a deacon before, right?
But now he's an evangelist.
Now he's in Caesarea.
He's got a house there.
And it's a two-day journey from his local church, okay?
So what do we see here?
Well, he's an evangelist.
He's doing work outside of the local body of Christ, you know?
He's in this city,
you know, winning souls, doing the work of an evangelist.
And it says,
And abode with him.
And the same man had four daughters,
virgins, which did prophesy.
So even his daughters were out there
preaching the gospel with him.
Okay, so did he have faithful children?
Absolutely, right?
You can see that when we look at his life,
it lines up with the same qualifications
that you would see of a deacon or a bishop, right?
Verse number 10.
And we tarry there many days.
There came down from Judea
a certain prophet named Agabus.
Now, this is important, okay?
So we have this prophet named Agabus.
He's coming from Judea, okay,
to see this group of believers there in Caesarea, all right?
Now, keep your finger there in Acts 21.
We're gonna come back.
Please go to Acts 11.
Let's learn a little bit more about Agabus, okay?
Acts 11, please.
Acts 11, verse 27.
Because is Philip...
Okay, it's two days' journey from his local church.
But is Philip just doing his own thing, do you think?
Look, obviously the Bible doesn't give us
this level of detail.
Is he doing his own thing?
Is he just saying, you know what,
my house is in Caesarea, you know,
I'm just gonna go and do my own work here in Caesarea?
Is that what's going on?
Or do you think he's still under the authority
of his local church in Jerusalem?
My personal take on this is I still believe
he's working under the authority of his local church.
And I'll tell you why.
I believe Agabus is the main, you know,
connection that we can see here, right?
Agabus, look at Acts 11, please.
Acts 11, verse 27.
And in these days came prophets
from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
So the most famous churches at the beginning
of the New Testament era is the church in Jerusalem
and the church in Antioch when they were first
called Christians, right?
And we have preachers coming from, or prophets here,
coming from Jerusalem, from the Jerusalem church
to the Antioch church.
Verse number 28.
And there stood up one of them named Agabus,
there he is, and signified by the Spirit
that there should be a great dearth
throughout all the world which came to pass
in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability,
determined to send relief unto the brethren
which dwelt in Judea,
which also they did and sent it to the elders
by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
So what do we learn?
That the church in Jerusalem now had elders.
They now had pastors, right?
And this relief, this help
for the time of famine, of drought to come
was being sent from the church in Antioch
to the church in Jerusalem
and the one that the Jerusalem church sends
to pass on this message is Agabus.
All right?
What do we then, if we go back to Acts 21,
what would be, for me anyway,
just the natural reading of this,
is Agabus is being sent by the local church
once again to Philip, right?
Why? Because Philip's part of that church.
He's operating as an evangelist
and there's a command coming from somebody
that's sending a message from the Jerusalem church
onto Philip.
Let's keep going there. Acts 21, verse 11.
Acts 21, verse 11.
And when he was come unto us,
that's Agabus, he took Paul's girdle
and bound his own hands and feet
and said, thus saith the Holy Ghost,
so shall the Jews at Jerusalem
bind the man that owneth this girdle
and shall deliver him into the hands
of the Gentiles.
Now look at verse 12.
And when we heard these things,
both we, that's Paul's company,
and they of that place,
that's Philip the evangelist
and his whatever family
and entourage that he has,
of that place besought him
not to go up to Jerusalem.
So we have Agabus come in
issuing an instruction,
a command, a word of God
from the Jerusalem church
coming to instruct them
at the house of Philip the evangelist.
And so what I believe we're seeing here
is that the local church in Jerusalem
had sent out, maybe they didn't need him
as a deacon anymore in the local church,
he's only two days journey
and report of his work
and he's out there in Caesarea,
maybe because he already had a house there
and he's being used to preach the gospel
to the people there.
Being used like what we would term
a missionary, an evangelist.
What I don't see here is a guy
just doing his own thing.
It looks like he's reporting directly
back to the church in Jerusalem.
That would make a lot of sense
because again the evangelist
was for the purpose of the body of Christ.
That holds an office that's been given a gift
to serve in the local church.
It would make no sense to me
to give somebody the office of an evangelist
that is not operating under a local church.
Okay.
I'm just trying to show you
what the Bible says here.
And I believe this should be your natural reading
of the Bible there.
I don't think I'm getting overly complicated.
We should strive
whatever ministry it is to do,
whatever it is to do for the Lord
through the local church.
Okay.
Now if you can please go to
let's see, where can I get you to turn to now?
Um
Please go to Mark chapter 9.
Mark chapter 9.
Now while you turn there
the reason I wanted to talk about that brethren
is because again
being challenged in a good way
why can't we
why can't I just
sell my thing, sell everything that I have
go into
a highly receptive area
let's say the Philippines
or somewhere in Africa
or somewhere in South America where people are poor
I can sustain myself
I can provide for myself
what's wrong with me
just selling all that I have
getting out there where it's hyper receptive
and just doing the work of God
just preaching the gospel.
Doing that in of itself
there's nothing wrong with it in of itself.
But what we see in the Bible
the pattern that we see in the Bible
is that it is a work of the local church.
That you're still under the authority of a local church.
You're still able to report back
to that local church.
That local church is still able to send
messages to you
via email or whatever
you're still reporting back
there's still a connection there
back and forth.
What I don't want
other churches might be doing other things
they're accountable to God.
Praise God if they're serving God
people that do their own thing
and go their own way
I've got their backs
they're my brother in Christ
I want them to do well
but I'm not accountable for that person
I'm accountable for what we do in this church
I'm accountable for the people that are the members of this church
and here's the thing
if you say to me
I really just want to go and serve the Lord out there
I'm probably going to jump at that opportunity
are you able to
we're a small church we're not able to
necessarily provide everything you need at this point in time
but maybe you can provide half
maybe the church can provide half
hey we'll send you out there
but you come back and report back
you still be part of this church
this is that you're sending church
we saw that the church is an umbrella of God's protection
as well
and so we want to make sure that everything that we do
whatever it is
work that is ministry that is abroad
that is the local church
and sometimes I hear these stories
so and so has gone out there
he's serving the Lord
great, great
but is he reporting back to a church
does he have a past
we should support so and so
we should support this missionary
thank God he's out there doing the work of God
but who's his pastor
what church is he operating under
I don't know
I'm not going to support it then
but there are certain rules that I see in the Bible
and certain rules that I want to base
our ministries on that I need to make sure whatever we support
as a church is following that same pattern
and we look at the evangelist
what was the evangelist able to do
he was someone that had the same
he served as a deacon
he was married with children
and so if that evangelist was able to
establish
get many people saved
and they wanted to start a church
guess what that guy has the qualifications
one day
it's not that he's disqualified from that
you could see that being the natural progression
of that
potentially starting a church in Caesarea
and having Philip become the pastor
because we already know he meets the qualifications
of a deacon
and they pretty much line up
and so of course
look, like I said
this is just a pattern that I see in the Bible
this is what I want to follow
I'm not looking for
and I know we can all find a million loopholes
and do things however way we want
and so you guys
when did I ask you to turn to Mark chapter 9
while you turn to Mark 9
I'll just read to you from 1 Corinthians 7 32
Paul says
but I would have you
without carefulness
that he that is unmarried
careth for the things that belong to the Lord
that he may please the Lord
that he that is married
careth for the things that are of the world
how he may please his wife
so right now I'm looking at
what about situations
what about here
Paul says it's better if you're not married
you'll be able to do more for the Lord
well praise God
if a church
if you're someone that's unmarried
if you're someone that has the resources
you have the desire to preach the gospel
praise God for you
you don't have a family that's going to
use up your time
to do great works for God
you can still be sent in places
to serve him
but I'm not going to ordain you an evangelist
okay
you're not going to have that office
because I believe the evangelist needs to line up
with the qualifications of the deacon
that's what we see with Philip
why should I have a lower standard
than what we see in the Bible
so you can still serve the Lord
you can still get out there
but here's the difference brethren
you are an evangelist
we send you out to the foreign feud
then by that what I had already mentioned
you'll also be able to perform
baptisms as an evangelist
as someone that holds that office
but if you're being sent out
from this church anyway
and you don't meet the qualifications of a bishop or a deacon
you can get out there and preach the gospel
but you're not going to be doing baptisms
and where I would send you
is if we can find a good church
that has a pastor
that if you get people saved
they can go to that local pastor
and get themselves baptized
so this would have an effect of
where I would send certain people
if someone is married with the kids
and has the qualifications
that's the person I would most likely send
to a place that has no good church
to win souls
and the guy that doesn't have those qualifications
that I wouldn't ordain as an evangelist
I would rather send you to work with another church
to get yourself plugged into another church
to see the needs of those people you get saved
that's how I want to operate
I'm just sharing my thoughts here with you
and then we have Matthew 19 verse 12
for there are some eunuchs
these are the words of Jesus
which were so born from their mother's womb
and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men
and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs
for the kingdom of heaven's sake
he that is able to receive it
let him receive it
so just because you might make yourself a eunuch
you might say I'm never going to get married
I just want to commit the rest of my life
to the kingdom of God to serve the Lord
praise God if he's given you that gift
but once again I'm not going to ordain you
I'm not going to ordain you an evangelist
I'm not going to give you the permission to conduct baptisms
we need to do things decently and in order
decently and in order
you guys are in Mark 9
look at Mark 9
so this is another one that comes up with my train of beliefs or thoughts here
and John answered Saint Master
we saw one casting out devils in thy name
and he followeth not us
and we forbade him because he followeth not us
but Jesus said forbid him not
for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name
that can lightly speak evil of me
alright so what do we see
we see this was a situation brought up to me
look you know this guy that's casting out devils
that's not following after Christ
he seems to be like part of some other church
he's not part of any church right
what about this guy and Christ says don't forbid him
well look once again
if other churches do things differently
to what I believe we ought to do
I'm not going to forbid him from preaching the gospel
he's not part of our local church right
but here's the other thought that you need to consider
when it comes to this passage
the New Testament is still not in effect
we're still operating under the Old Testament
why can this man cast out devils in the name of Jesus
obviously what we see in the Bible
is they could only do it when Jesus gave them the ability
gave them the power to do those things
so when we look at that
obviously Jesus at some point
crossed paths with this guy
told him to do the work
and he's doing the work but he didn't follow after Christ
right
I mean a great example of this is when Jesus
passes over to the coast of Gentiles
and there's that demon possessed man
and Jesus heals the man
the man gets saved
he wants to follow after Christ
he wants to follow me
you stay in your city and you preach the word of God
and that's what he does
he's not following after Christ
but he's doing the work of Christ
and so listen brethren
say what about this church, what about that church
they don't do it the way you believe
well I'm not going to forbid them
if that's how their pastor wants to do it
if they want to be accountable to that for God
to God, go for it
I'm happy for them to do it that way
but I'm going to try to pattern myself after
I would rather err on the side of caution
rather than err on the side of error
ok
so then we have
if you guys can please
go to Acts chapter 9 please
Acts chapter 9
and there is a principle here
that I want to mention
and this is
that obedience is better
than sacrifice
obedience is better
than sacrifice
1 Samuel 15 22 and Samuel said
have the Lord
as great
have the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings
and sacrifices
as in obeying the voice of the Lord
behold to obey
is better than
sacrifice
this is a great teaching in the Bible
to obey is better than sacrifice
you might say look I'm willing to sacrifice
at all
I'm willing to do my job
quit my work
sell everything that I have
get out there
ok there's no good church
there's nothing there
but I'm just going to get out there and just serve the Lord for the rest of my life
I'm going to sacrifice everything I have for the Lord
well you can do that
I'm not going to stop you if you really want to do that
I can't stop you right
but I don't believe you're in obedience
to what we see in the word of God
if you want to do something like that
get yourself into a local church
or you get yourself plugged into another local church
that can oversee you
and commission the work that you're doing
ok
obedience is better than sacrifice
let's get this lesson here in Acts chapter 9 please
Acts chapter 9 verse 17
let's have a look at the Apostle Paul here
Acts chapter 9 verse 17
it says
and Ananias went his way
and entered into the house
and put in his hands on him said
and appeared unto thee in the ways
in the way that thou camest have sent me
that thou mightest receive thy sight
and be filled with the Holy Ghost
and immediately they fell from
him, from his eyes as he had been
scales and he received
sightful with and arose and was
baptised so this is Paul
the Apostle Paul
getting saved, getting baptised
verse 19
and when he had received meat he was strengthened
then was sold certain days
with the disciples which were at Damascus
and straight away
he preached Christ in the synagogues
that he is the son of God
so what do we learn with Paul?
he gets saved, he gets baptised
he's excited for the Lord, he gets out there
and preaches
that Jesus Christ
is the son of God
drop down to verse number 23, Acts 9 23
and after that many days were fulfilled
the Jews took counsel
to kill him but there lay no weight
was none of Saul
and they watched the gates day and night to kill him
then the disciples took him
by night and let him down
by the wall in a basket
and when Saul was come to Jerusalem
he assayed to join himself to the disciples
but they were all afraid of him
and believed not that he was a disciple
alright
so what do we learn with Paul?
Paul's got a lot of zeal
he gets saved, he gets baptised
he gets out there preaching Christ
he's a great example of a man
but he does his own thing
he does his own thing, he gets out there
preaches Christ
he finds himself in trouble
they've got to save his life
they deliver him in a basket from down the wall
and then he decides I better go to Jerusalem
and in verse number 26
he says here
that
when Saul was come to Jerusalem
he assayed to join himself to the disciples
he said man I better join the church
that's what he's saying right
he's out there doing his own thing
it didn't really work out
I mean he's doing it for the Lord right
I'm not going to forbid him
I'm not going to say you're an idiot Paul
but then he realised man I've got to get in church
that's what he does right
he goes to Jerusalem
tries to find the local church there
and now go to Acts 13 please
Acts 13
Verse 1
we see the lesson there of a man
but then Acts 13 Verse 1
this is many many years later
in the life of Paul
alright
he goes back to Tarsus
he gets the training of the word of God into him
and then God is able to use him
Acts 13 Verse 1
now there were in the church that was at Antioch
certain prophets and teachers
as Barnabas and Simeon
that is called Nigah
and Lucius of Cyrene and Manian
which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch
and that soul that's Paul
and they ministered to the Lord and fasted
the Holy Ghost said
separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work we're unto I have called them
and when they had fasted and prayed
and laid their hands on them
they sent them away
guess what?
Paul from being sent out here
is able to accomplish great things
great work
and he's being sent by his local church
he's being sent there by the church of Antioch
alright being commissioned by that church
and he's being sent out there
he gets many people saved
he starts many churches
but where do we see the difference there?
one thing, he gets saved
without the authority of his local church
he just does the work of God
finds himself in trouble
he's got to take pause
get training, learn once again
then he finds himself in church
finds himself many years later in the church of Antioch
now he's ready
he's got to get his local umbrella
of the church
it's come through that ministry
and so I thought that was quite interesting
we see an example here of Paul
doing his own thing
not really working out
but once he's plugged into a church
once the church has commissioned him
and sent him out
then he was able to accomplish great things
for God
so obedience is better than sacrifice
doing things in accordance to God's word
we may find ourselves one day
needing this office
there's two thoughts that I have here
let's say
let me just use brother Sam for an example
brother Sam has a heart for missions
very clearly
he has a heart to see as many souls saved
especially in the foreign fields
he's done a lot of that in the past
let's say one day brother Sam
that desire comes back to him
I need to get out there
to the country that needs the gospel
Lebanon
he goes I want to get out there to Lebanon
but it's not something full time
it's something like
let's say a solid month
I'm going to get out there for a month
serve the Lord and win as many souls as possible
and if it's someone
at that point that measures up to the qualifications
of a deacon
at that point I'd be like yeah let's get on board
let's send him out as an evangelist
for that month
I'll put my hands on him or name him as an evangelist
he'll get out there, win souls
and he'll be able to baptise new convicts as well
he comes back
after that month let's say
brings back a report of what he's done
and he's done the duty
of his office at that point in time
that would be like a temporary position as an evangelist
he comes back
but there might be a future opportunity
we don't know, maybe not even someone in this church
but someone else
let's just use our church for example
I believe the best place for me
is to go to Papua New Guinea
and
maybe at that point
the church has the resources
to send that person there
to provide their needs on a daily basis
that person may become a full time evangelist
at that point I would have deigned that person again
as long as they meet the qualifications
of a deacon
ordain that man, send him out there
here's the qualifications
so it'd be winning souls, getting people baptised
he's there for the long haul
that person may eventually be able to have a group of believers
and start establishing a church
again that would be a church though
that's sending the work
and the church commissioning the beginning of another church
and if that person
has those qualifications
he can then step up to be the deacon
or even be the pastor
the bishop
and then look after that local church
and that would be its own independent church at that point in time
that would be the way I want to operate
now you say well I don't meet those qualifications
can I still be sent out to do the work of God?
absolutely
once again I just wouldn't ordain you as an evangelist
get out there
find a good church, maybe there's another church doing a missions program
go with them
help them out, maybe we can support you a little bit as well
do the work and do great things for the Lord
get out there
but find a church that you can get yourself plugged into
and once again
if you come back from that, hey come back and report to us
report to us of the great things that God
was able to do for you
so that's all I wanted to cover today
it really is part 2 of what I preach
Sunday afternoon
those are my thoughts on
how I want to operate things as a church
now if you agree with me
great
now what I don't want you to do though
is find some other church that does it differently
and say you're doing it wrong
because
again, we just have the stories
we see how things play out
once again, I just want to do things
as closely as I see they're in the Bible
I don't want to ordain someone
an evangelist just because I can find
a loophole and do it
no, I'd rather do it because the evangelist I see
was also a deacon
he also had those qualifications
so I want to make sure he can do that
not only was he a deacon, he was able to baptise as well
and that's what we see in the Bible
we see men that hold these offices
that are the ones that are doing the baptisms
we don't see in the Bible
Joe Blow doing baptisms
things ought to be done decently
and in order and through
the local church
alright, let's pray