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Bless the preaching today. Bless our preacher. I'm not feeling with your Holy Ghost in your name. Amen Amen All right over there in Matthew chapter number 16 and the part of the chapter I want to focus on there is verse 18 where the Bible reads and I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock Will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Let's pray Lord Thank you so much for this day and thank you for the opportunity to preach this morning I prayed that I would be able to be edifying to this church Lord and that you just helped me to preach bold and preach the Truth in Jesus name we pray. Amen Alright, well title my sermon this morning is the local New Testament Church and I want to preach on this topic because it's a topic That's often misunderstood by many sects of Christianity and even some Baptists I believe don't fully understand this topic and it's always good to be reminded of simple doctrines, especially as a new church You know some of us in this room may be new to church in general, but we're all new to this church, right? So it's really important to know what this church believes and to know for yourself what the Bible teaches You know if somebody was to ask you, you know, why is your church independent? Would you be able to show them in the Bible why you're in an independent church or if you if someone would ask you? Why do you have a pastor? You know Why do you run the church the way that you do would you be able to open up the Bible and show them? And I'm sure many of you would be able to but you know If not, I hope that this sermon can help you with those things. But number one, what is a church? So the Bible talks a lot about church It actually used the word church 111 times in the King James Bible and it's something that's very important to God Of course, you know, Jesus just told us here that you know He's gonna build his church and that the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it So it's something that Lord Jesus Christ himself builds something is very important to God But we should always let the Bible define itself. What is a church, you know church is not a word That's ever found in the Old Testament one single time But there is quotes in the New Testament the New Testament quoting the Old Testament using the word church And I want to show you that real quick. So go to Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter number 2 And I'll read for you Psalms 22 22 The Bible says I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation Will I praise thee and then if you look at Hebrews chapter 2 look there at verse 11 For both he that sanctify and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren saying So this is going to quote the Old Testament I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church Will I sing praise unto thee so you can see how the Bible there uses the word congregation and church Interchangeably and like I was saying the Bible always defines itself if you're reading the Bible There's this thing called the law first first mentioned Often where the first time a word is used in the Bible the verse itself will kind of define that for us You know, for example, the word reprobate is used in the book of Jeremiah Saying reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord has rejected them So we learned that the word reprobate means rejected or cast away, right? But here in Hebrews we get the definition of the word church and it simply just means in congregation now Why is that important? Well because a lot of Christian sects today Including like the Catholic Church teaches that there's this thing called the universal church We're basically that anyone who just claims the name of Christ is in this universal church And in fact the name Catholic itself means universal so and it's kind of funny because a lot of churches who aren't even Catholic churches are Catholic in the sense that they believe in the unit in the universal church For example the Nazarenes, you know A lot of people will go to like NNU and they're thinking they're sending their children to a Christian college But if you go to NNU's website and you look at their statement of faith One of the things that they say is that we believe in the Holy Apostolic Catholic Church So a lot of Christians say are unknowingly going to Catholic schools that are calling themselves Christian schools Another one that does that is GCU in Arizona, you know people think that's a Christian Christian school But if you look at their statement of faith, it says we believe in the Holy Apostolic Catholic Church So there's a lot of people that are into this false doctrine that this there's this universal church of all believers So number one we see that a church is a congregation of believers But it's not just a congregation of believers because you know when me and my wife and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law Are all hanging out. We're all believers, but that doesn't just make us a church Okay, there's more to that but that is the first aspect of a church number two We see that a biblical church is in a specific community go to 1st Thessalonians chapter number two back a few pages there through the T books Left by Lehman, Titus, 2nd Timothy, 1st Timothy, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Thessalonians 1st Thessalonians chapter number two Starting there verse 13 the Bible reads for this cause Also, thank we God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God Which he heard of us you received it not as the word of men But as it is in truth the Word of God Which effectually worketh also in you that believe for ye brethren became followers of the churches of God Which are in Judea and in Christ Jesus for you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen Even as they have of the Jews, so, you know Paul is saying you became followers of the churches Of God in Judea why because there are multiple churches in Judea, you know You ever hear people say like oh I was raised in the Baptist Church or I was raised in the Pentecostal Church well Which one you know because there's no such thing as this universal church Paul is saying here you became followers of the church as Which are in Judea why because it's assigned to a location Go to 2nd Thessalonians chapter number one few pages to the right 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 look at verse 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians In God our Father in the Lord Jesus Christ So he's writing a specific letter to a specific church in a location, you know If you like if my pastor Pastor Thompson sent an email to your pastor and said to Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento Right because it's a specific location and you know, like right now this church is a satellite church Under the authority of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento And the reason that that's going on is because right now there's not a man that's met the qualifications to be a pastor But as soon as that happens You guys are gonna have a pastor be ordained here and this is going to be an independent church Pastor Menes will no longer be in charge of this church. He'll have no authority over this church It will be pastor Joe Jones God willing, but that's showing again that it's in a specific location go to Revelation chapter number 1 And This sermon is going to be more of just like a teaching type sermon But it's important to know these things revelation chapter 1 look at verse 11 so this is Jesus Christ giving the revelation to John and he tells John in verse 11 Saying I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and what thou see is right in a book and send it unto the Seven churches which are in Asia unto Ephesus unto Smyrna and unto Pergamos and unto Thyatira and unto Sardis and unto Philadelphia and unto Laodicea So, you know just these couple verses alone that I've shown you completely disproves the universal church because no matter what man wants to call It the Bible says church ends multiple churches So this idea of a universal church cannot be possible and we see of course that not only is it a congregation of believers But it's in a specific location go to 1st Corinthians 14 1st Corinthians 14 Because people that teach that a Church is just or the church. It's just all believers on the earth. They're gonna run into a couple problems they're gonna run into a couple contradictions in the Bible and Specifically right here. They're gonna run into some problems with what the Bible says in regards to women in 1st Corinthians 14 Look at verse 33 The Bible says for God is not the author of confusion but of peace as in all churches of the Saints Let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak But they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law and if they will learn anything Let them ask their husbands at home for it is a shame for women to speak in the church So here's the thing The Bible teaches that a woman is not supposed to be preaching or teaching in the local church God gives the authority of the pastor the authority of the office of a pastor to a man God wants men to be running churches. He wants men to be running homes. He wants men to be running governments That's just the way God ordained things. Okay, and he says that he doesn't allow a woman to speak in church so that you know you go to these Pentecostal churches and these women are screaming amen and Rolling on the floor and barking like a dog and throwing their hands up, you know, that's not biblical That's not right at all Bible says that the women are to be silent in the church and it's because Men are supposed to be preaching and the people in the audience that are saying amen are saying yeah What he's saying is true, you know for me in my house I am agreeing with what the pastor or the preacher is saying right now and that's what my family believes, too But a woman doesn't have that authority in her family to say yeah, this is what our family state it stands on No, that's for your husband to decide not for you to decide So here's my question If the universal church is just all people who claim the name of Christ and the Bible says that a woman's not allowed to speak In the church, then when are women allowed to speak? Because if if the church is just everywhere then according to the Bible women would never be able to speak anywhere. Isn't that ridiculous? That's absolutely foolish to believe something like that You know these and it's what's funny is a lot of women pastors Oh one's teaching this this stuff of the universal church these Pentecostals and these Catholics and these Methodists all these people they're the ones teaching the universal church yet according to 1st Corinthians 14 They wouldn't even be allowed to open their mouth according to their own logic. So it's a completely foolish doctrine It's very clear that churches are just an assembly of believers in a community Go to Romans chapter number 16 so we see a Church is a congregation of believers. The church is in a specific community and Then I want to talk about the church is not a building You know a lot of times when you say the word church Probably the first thing that comes to your mind is some steeple, right? It's just what our brains naturally go to we just think of some building But the Bible teaches that the church is not a building and a lot of people would probably criticize this church here because we're meeting In a house, but you know, it's very biblical to meet in a house I'm gonna read for you for a few verses Romans 16 5 Romans 16 5 Bible reads likewise. Greet the church that is in their house salute my well-beloved Epinettus who is the first fruits of Achaea unto Christ Colossians 4 15 says salute the brethren which are in Laodicea and Memphis and the church which is in his house 1st Corinthians 16 19 the churches of Asia salute you Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house Philemon 1 2 and to our beloved Apphia and our archippus our fellow soldier and to the church in thy house You know people that have a problem with churches meeting in the house number one It just shows that they've never read the Bible because all the great churches in the New Testament pretty much were started in someone's house And number two, it just shows that they're carnal and that they're they're more interested in the things of this world And they just want to see some beautiful stained-glass building They what what matters to them is not really the work that's actually being done for the Lord Or the sermons that are being preached from the Word of God or you know, the souls that are being saved That's not important to most people What's important is that they could feel comfortable and that their tithe money is going to nice air conditioning and heating and all the beautiful Statues and all the beautiful stained glasses, you know, it's a carnal mind that thinks that way But yet the great churches in the Bible were started in a house That's a biblical thing But of course, it's not it's not necessarily you need to stay in a house Right because there's this thing out there right now called the house church movement Where the goal is to stay in the house and if you outgrow the house, then the church is too big now They just want to have us for no more, you know, have our little coffee class where no one's a pastor No one's actually been qualified to be doing the work that a pastor is supposed to be doing and they just want to come in Here and have their fun and everybody gets up and takes turns preaching, right? They don't want to actually go out soul winning and do any work for the Lord They just want to stay in the house because you know, you hear slogans like because I have known people in this movement They'll be like, well, I was tired of looking at the back of people's heads Well, maybe maybe don't leave church right after service and talk to people and you won't have to just look at the back of people's Heads the whole time, you know maybe go out and get a part of the sewing program that your church is offering and get to know the people that you're going to Church with and not just be on a first-name basis with everybody in the church, you know Has anyone ever been to a church where you go there for years and years and you don't know nobody, right? And you know, it's an unhealthy thing in a church when the churches have to have you know Like in between their song like alright everybody stand for two minutes of fellowship, right? You shouldn't have to do that as a church. You shouldn't have to like, you know sanction times of fellowship You should actually love the people you're going to church enough to actually want to be around them, right? And obviously the type of people that come to church Sunday night and I come to church Thursday night and that go to the Soul and I go to the men's preaching nights. Obviously. Those are the people that love the brethren Those are the people that want to be around them. But you know these these house church people are a bunch of like Socially awkward just weird people that don't actually want to be around human beings, right? And but they yet you just want to call themselves pastor. It's like oh, I'm a pastor. No, you're not you're a father Maybe you're a husband maybe but you're not a pastor and you're not a church, okay So it's not a bad thing to meet in a church But it's a bad thing if your goal as a church is to stay in the house. Okay, go to Matthew 23 Matthew 23 We'll see what Jesus thinks about these people that just care about the outside Matthew 23 Verses 25 through 28 Jesus said woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter But within they are full of extortion and excess thou blind Pharisee cleanse that first Which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean Also well unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you're like unto whited sepulchers Which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness even so you all also outwardly Appear righteous unto men but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity You know, it makes me think of the Mormon temples, right? They've got their beautiful Obelisk Mormon temple that has no windows right by the way It's a red flag if your church has no windows, right the Masons the Jehovah's Witnesses Mormons, why don't you have any windows in your church? I'll tell you why it's because you're a cult That's why because you're baptizing for the dead in your buildings because you're doing all these pagan Rituals and the Mormons are making their oaths to Satan, right if I don't follow the Lord for the rest of my life I don't you know continue and all of his commandments every day the rest of my life Let Satan accursed me right and then we wonder why all these Mormons become reprobates so fast Because just like every human being Mormon sin every single day, you know, but isn't it great that they have their outward beautiful temples You go to Salt Lake City and it just looks like this huge castle, but you know what inwardly they're full of dead men's bones They're sin. They're sitting in there preaching a gospel That's sending people straight to hell Then you have to repent of your sins to be saved That you have to go to church to be saved that you have to do all these good works to be saved Even though the Bible says that it's not of works lest any man should boast Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in my house The only condition for salvation is putting your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he was God and that he paid for your Sitting on the cross that he did all the work for you But all these other churches they're focusing on the outside and not on the inside. Well, it's another good example How about the Catholic Church? you got your Pope and your all these Cardinals and archbishops going around in their long clothing and their funny hat and their jewelry and everything and They're big old castles of churches, but in really, you know, what's going on child molestation Child rape, you know, I read an article last Sunday about an archbishop in st Louis, Missouri was in Missouri who testified under oath that in the 1970s He did not know that it was illegal for a priest to lay with a child Okay, does anyone is anyone dumb enough in this room to believe that garbage this morning? I sure hope not, you know the Catholic Church, you know They allure through the lusts of the flesh They want to get people into their building so they can feel comfortable But inside there's priests that are telling under oath that they don't know if it's illegal to lay with a child you know and the Catholic Church has done this for years and years and years and years and Jesus says woe unto you, you know what Jesus said should happen to that archbishop He said, you know, he said what is what should be done to a person that offends a child What would Jesus do everybody loves they ask that question right what would Jesus do Jesus said woe unto you if anyone offends a little child He said it were better for you that you hung a millstone around your neck and threw yourself in the ocean What would Jesus do he said if someone offends a child, you should take a rock You should tie it around your neck and you should jump into the ocean until your head explodes underwater from the pressure That's what Jesus Christ thinks about these Catholic priests that are out molesting children So don't listen to anybody that says Jesus just loves everyone Jesus is just accepting of everyone Jesus would be hugging the Catholic priests today No Jesus would kill the Catholic priests today and you know In fact, Jesus will kill the Catholic priests today because he's gonna burn them in hell for eternity Praise God for that because I would hate to serve a God that would allow some pedophile To spend their life to make their living by molesting children and to have no punishment for it You know, I'm glad for hell and I'm glad for these things But we see there what God thinks about A church that focuses more on the outside of their building than on the work and stuff that is going on inside the building So let's go to and just you know as quick example some of the great churches that many of you may know Started in a house Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe Arizona Steadfast Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas Word of Truth Baptist Church in Prescott Valley, Arizona All these churches started out in houses and you see starting out in the house isn't the problem The problem is making sure that you're doing God's work in that house. So number one we saw What is the church go to Ephesians chapter number five? Number two, I want to talk about who has authority in the church Ephesians chapter number five Get there Ephesians chapter number five who has authority in the local church. Well number one the Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians chapter number five verse 22 Excuse me wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife Even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the Savior of the body Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ so let wives be to their own husbands and everything We say oh, there you go there proves the universal church right there because it says Christ is head of the church Okay, but did you not see there that the Bible says that the husband is head of the wife? So is there a universal wife? Is there just one wife and one husband and the husband's head of the wife and Christ is head of the church? No, the Lord Jesus Christ is head of every church. That's really clear if you read the Bible in context But you know, it's really easy for churches to say. Yeah Christ is the head of this church You know what pastor in the world would say that Christ is not the head of their church, right? But do you believe today that every single church has Christ as their head? Absolutely not. So what does this look like practically? How do you actually? Practically allow the Lord Jesus Christ to be the head of your church go to John chapter number one Matthew Mark Luke John chapter number one Many of you know this verse How is Christ the head of the church Bible reads in John chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God jumped down to verse number 14 and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glorious of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth So what does the Bible teach you the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is in the beginning as the Word of God. He is God. He was with God and Jesus is the Word of God so how you have Jesus Christ as the head of your church is if you have the Word of God as the head of your Church if the Word of God is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice you hear pastors say that a lot and the reason why is because that is how you make Christ the head of your church is if you obey the Word of God And you read you the Word of God and you teach the Word of God but you know In order to have the Word of God as the head in your church as an English-speaking person You must have the King James Bible if you have any other English version of the of the scriptures Christ is not the head of your church. The reason why is because those versions are perversions of the Word of God They're not just bad translations They're their versions that take out verses that add verses that twist Teaching about salvation about important doctrines. It's not the Word of God therefore if you're teaching or reading out of those things Christ is not the head of your church and in your family if you're reading these other versions Christ is not the head of your home. You know, you're letting satanic Bible versions be the head of your home but Psalm 12 6 through 8 says The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in the furnace of earth Purified seven times thou shalt keep them. Oh Lord thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever Okay, so who's in charge of preserving God's Word goddess, right? It's so weird to me how Christians can believe that God created the heavens and the earth God Christians can believe that God created everything in this world that he gave breath and life to everything that's here But yeah, they don't think that God's power not powerful enough to preserve their word You know, they think that we have to go back to the original Manuscripts to get the true meaning of the Word of God. You know what? No, the Bible says that God Promised us to preserve his words to every generation. So what is that version? What is the Word of God today? You know, it's not even a question. It's not even a thought It's not even hard at all to figure out what it is when you compare it to the other versions and we're gonna do that in a minute here, but I want to read you something else Matthew 24 35 says Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away So do you believe the Word of God or not? You know, if you don't believe that there's a perfect Word of God, why would you even go to church? Why would you even read the Word of God? Your entire Christian life is a vain joke If you don't believe that there's a perfect Word of God out there, you know People like to make this as hard issue where we got to go back to the Greek and go back to the Hebrew You know, it's not hard at all. God created the heaven and the earth God made all the miracles happen in the Old Testament God said he could preserve his word for us and I believe that he didn't it's not that hard But you know another thing real quick is if you have a Bible that has a commentary attached to it If you have a study Bible and all these things well Then you know when you're reading the words of God if you have a King James Bible Then that's Christ being the head of your home But as soon as you step over to those commentaries Christ is no longer the head of your home when you're reading those Okay, the reason why is because man You know for filthy lucre's sake to try to make money or just because people want to corrupt the Word of God You know, they may have the King James Bible in the text But then you read the commentary and everything's casting down on the Word of God, you know, you read the Schofield reference Bible and Starting right away in Genesis chapter 1 the Bible says God created the heaven and the earth and then Schofield lets you know Hey, there's probably millions and millions of years in between, you know each day of the days of creation, you know What's the point of having the King James Bible if you're just gonna let someone You're just gonna read the Bible and just let someone tell you that it's all false anyways that it's all fake, you know, you go to 1st John 5 7 and Verses about the Trinity and a lot of a lot of commentaries and say all these verses shouldn't have been in the Bible They weren't in the original manuscripts. So then, you know, if the devil doesn't get you with the false Bible versions He'll just get you with the commentaries to try to make you doubt the Word of God But I want to I want to show you some Perversions in the New King James Bible Because I believe the New King James Bible is the single worst translation of the Bible that there has ever been Because it's the most deceptive one because people know the King James is the Word of God So they say all the New King James that just takes out the V's and the vowels, right? Just makes it a little easier to read. It'll just help me understand a little bit better But the New King James has some of the worst perversions that you can imagine I want to show you some of those you could turn to Acts 4 7 with me You can read it in the real Bible and then I'll read it in the perverted Bible Acts 4 27 Start reading here Acts 4 27 The King James Bible says for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus Whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontus Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together The New King James says for truly against your holy servant Jesus So why would the New King James want to change holy child to holy servant? Well, it's because they want to pervert the deity of Christ Because they don't want you to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is God in the flesh They want you to think that he was just a good servant of God and that he was just a good prophet Well, here's the thing If you don't believe that Jesus Christ is God if you're putting your face faith and just a man that was a good prophet To save you then you're not saying, you know You have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved and realizing that he is God not just some good man Okay, so there's a perversion right there Romans 1 25 Romans 1 25 if you want to turn to these I'll read them for you Romans 1 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever? Amen, the New King James says who? Exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen So it changes it from people who change the Word of God or for change the truth of God into a lie to Exchanging the truth of God for a lie So the New King James make it seem like that they're just turning in the truth and they're receiving a lie But the King James is telling you know, they're changing the truth of God into a lie these reprobates Which it's funny because that's exactly what these reprobate translators are doing They're changing the truth of God into a lie and revelation 20 talk or 22 talks about how if you add anything to Words in this book or if you take anything away out of it that your part will be taken out of the holy city And out of the book of life the Bible says if you take if you tamper with God's Word You're an automatic reprobate your chances of being saved are sealed forever. You will never be saved Your part is in the lake of fire. You've already got your reservation there There's nothing you can do to ever change that when you tamper with God's Word So and it's funny because they tamper with a verse that's talking about people changing God's Word How obvious is that, you know, but yet people just like oh just take it out to these and that was no The New King James is not the Word of God go to Romans chapter 4 Romans chapter 4 King James Version Romans chapter 4 says Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification? The New King James Version says who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification You know, I got news for you Jesus didn't Jesus Christ didn't raise from the dead because of our of our sins He raised from the dead because he never sinned and because he's God in the flesh and because he paid for our sins for us It's not like yeah our sins allowed him to rise from the dead But that's what the New King James is saying that our sins is what gave Jesus Christ the power to rise from the dead It makes no sense at all. And here's 2nd Corinthians Chapter number 2 verse 17. The real Bible says for we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God But as of sincerity, but as of God in the sight of God speak we Christ so Paul's saying hey We're not as many that are perverting and corrupting the Word of God because this was happening in their day Too even from the beginning of the of time the Word of God has been being corrupted But what does the New King James say about this? He says for we are not as many or for we are not So many peddling the Word of God, but as of sincerity, but as from God we speak in the sight of God in Christ So how convenient you know Paul's saying hey, we're not tampering with the Word of God We're not messing with God's Word and the New King James saying we're not peddling God's Word. We're not selling God's Word We're not trying to get you to have God's Word, you know, how stupid is that? You know the Bible says buy the truth and sell it not yet. These New King James publishers are Copywriting the Word of God where you can't even use their scriptures without a copyright infringement, which go ahead and copyright me. I don't care but You can't even quote New King James version scriptures without legal permission Do you know that you know that the King James Version is the only Bible in existence that's not copyrighted Why do you think that the dollar store only sells King James Bibles? It's because every other version of the Bible the copyright is more expensive than a dollar so they can't sell it for a dollar So I'm thankful that God safeguarded that for us so that the Word of God can be available to the poorest of the poor in This world that you could just literally go to the dollar store and spend a dollar and get the Word of God But yet they are peddling the Word of God and it says in the New King James that we're not peddling the Word of God What a joke Go to 1st Corinthians chapter number one This is the worst one that there is in the New King James Version to the best of my knowledge. I I definitely haven't read the false Bible versions cover to cover and I never will because it'd be a total waste of my time With just some of these here 1st Corinthians chapter number 1 verse 18 for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish Foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God The New King James Version says for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing But to us who are being saved it is the power of God Okay, so the New King James Takes what the the Bible says in the new in the King James Version saying hey, we're saved or you're perished Right you believe in Lord Jesus Christ and you're saved, you know You're passed from death unto life in Matthew 5 24 Jesus says that three times in a row you believe on me you're passed from death unto life You will not come into condemnation, you know all these things if I makes it really clear you believe on Lord Jesus Christ You're saved in that moment But the New King James says but to us which are being saved Right because they want to make salvation a process that you have to go through the process of repenting of your sins Going to church living a good life cleaning up your life of all your sins reading the Bible praying Raising your kids right doing all these things right? You can't mess up or you go to hell, right? No, that's not what the Bible teaches, you know go to Matthew chapter 7 real quick Matthew chapter 7 See if I could find it here Matthew chapter 7 verse 22 Jesus tells us what's gonna happen to people that are trusting in their works to be saved Matthew 7 22 Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord Have we not prophesied in thy name and then thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you depart for me ye that work iniquity No, that's Jesus didn't say I used to know you before you fell away and stopped doing the good works and stopped going to church He said I never knew you why because these people never trusted Jesus Christ as their salvation They were trusting in their works and he says, you know that they cast out Devils Don't we see the Catholic Church cast out Devils today, or at least they claim to okay Just because you do a miracle or something like that does not mean you're a god In second Thessalonians chapter 2 the Bible talks about how how the Antichrist is going to be doing great signs And he's gonna have great power and signs and lying wonders and he's gonna get that power from the devil, right? so just because you see miracles doesn't mean that it's of God, but these people they're trusting in their in their Exorcisms and in their prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ and their wonderful works to save them and Jesus says depart from me I never knew you so the New King James Version People who are trusting and that to save them they're gonna die one day Jesus Christ is gonna say I never Knew you so don't tell me that the Bible version issue is not a big deal Don't tell me that we should just compromise on this and just allow people to have their false Bible versions and their churches No, because people are gonna go to hell if they trust in this kind of stuff and what kind of a pastor? What kind of a preacher that actually loves people would allow them to send themselves to hell by trusting a lie? It's not gonna happen at this church. It's not gonna happen at sure foundation Church You know what if you ever have a pastor someday that brings in the false Bible versions Then you need to leave and move to a new church. That's a deal-breaker right there That should be a deal-breaker for any family because Christ is no longer the head of your church if you're trusting in false Bible versions So not only does Lord Jesus Christ have authority over the church. However, go to Hebrews chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 You Find the t-bucks. It's past the t-bucks for a second Thessalonians for a second Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews Hebrews chapter number 13 Hebrews chapter number 13 who else who else has authority in local church? Hebrews 13 verse 7 Remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose faith follow Considering the end of their conversation So the Bible tells us that there's people that have the rule over you in the local church And it's telling us to follow their faith considering the end of their conversation, which just means lifestyle Consider the end of their lifestyle, you know and follow their works who they who they have the rule Over you and you know Bible teaches that the pastor has God ordained authority Okay, a pastor is not just a paper tiger where he doesn't actually have real authority, right? It's like someone gives you that like the mayor gives you the keys to the city right where it just means nothing No The pastor actually has God ordained authority from Lord Jesus Christ go to first Timothy chapter number five back a few books there first Timothy chapter number five First Timothy chapter number five For 17 let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor in the word and doctrine for the scripture saith thou shalt not muzzle the ox and treadeth out the corn and Laborer is worthy of his reward and against an elder and the word elder pastor bishop are all interchangeable in the Bible against an elder received not an accusation but before two or three witnesses then that sin rebuke before all and Though sorry that others also may fear So we see their Bible again talks about the elders ruling well, and it talks about how they're worthy of double honor So honor the Bible is talking about not just respect. Of course, the pastor does deserve double respect You don't just treat your pastor like you treat everyone else in church, you know, like hey, what's up, bro? What's up, man? What's up, Roger, you know when Pastor Madison comes you don't call him by his first name Don't call any pastor by his first name because the Bible says that they're worthy of double honor But not only are they worthy of double respect honor in the Bible is also talking about Financial because it talks about honoring your mother and your father, right? You're supposed to take care of them in your old age in their old age when you know, you can no longer work You know your children are supposed to be the ones that take care of you and they're supposed to have the honor and respect for You enough to do that. So it's both But that's the same way it goes for a pastor, you know honor them double the Bible says I believe a pastor should be paid Double that the average blue-collar man works why because I believe that the pastor is probably the hardest job in the world Because it's not just getting up and preaching three sermons a week and studying the Bible and reading the Bible through cover-to-cover Hundreds of times like your pastor most likely has you know, it's dealing with people's problems. It's loving people It's taking in the unwanted it's helping people change their lives, you know And it's probably two hardest jobs in the world is a pastor and a mother, right? So how much respect for you should you have for your pastor and for your pastor's wife, right a lot of respect Why because they have to rule over you the Bible says they said that the Bible says that they're over you in the Lord Now, of course, they're under the Lord Jesus Christ. They have to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ authority How do they do that by submitting to what the Word of God says? by preaching what the Word of God says faithfully not holding back anything that Jesus says and not adding anything to what Jesus says But you know what when they do that job Bible says they're worthy of double honor double respect and double pay I believe that wholeheartedly So let's go to our I'll read for you first Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1 I was this be followers of me and this is Paul speaking be followers of me even as I am also of Christ You know a lot of people today they want to act all high and mighty and self-righteous. Why only follow Jesus? I don't follow any man. Well, then why did Paul say follow me as I follow Christ? Why did why did Christ give authority to the pastor and tell him to feed the flock of God? Which he's purchased from his with his own blood, right? Jesus Christ purchased this church with his own blood and he gave you know pastor Jimenez the authority and the responsibility Of watching for your souls like the Bible talks about and he's gonna give an account someday for what he does with this church So, you know It's really important to respect him for that work because the Lord Jesus Christ has given him a large amount of authority real authority not a paper tiger authority and a huge amount of Responsibility that he's gonna be having to be held accountable for that day go to first Timothy chapter number three a few pages back first Timothy chapter number three I want to read for you the qualifications of a pastor, you know, not everybody can be a pastor today There's people that are permanently disqualified from being a pastor There's people that never ever will become a pastor and that's okay because you only need one chief You don't need you know, a bunch of pastors you need one per church The first Timothy chapter 3 let's look at the qualifications of the pastor This is a true saying if a man desired the office of a bishop He desireth a good work a bishop then then must be blameless the husband of one wife Vigilant sober of good behavior given to hospitality apt to teach not given to wine No striker not greedy a filthy lucre But patient not a brawler not covetous one that rule it 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 lifted 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 stare of the devil So look, that's a tall order. You know, that's a virtuous man that fills all those Qualification that's not an easy task to fulfill to be someone that's vigilant and sober. That's a given hospitality It doesn't drink alcohol that's not a brawler it's not covetous the rules his house Well, he has to meet a lot of qualifications, right? He has to have his wife in subjection, right? And and by the way Bible says one wife So if you're divorced and remarried, you're disqualified to be a pastor There's a lot of divorced pastors out there that need to step down and give the office to a man of God That's actually qualified for that. But look those qualifications for a pastor are there for a reason, okay? It's because that this is a this position is a huge Responsibility from the Lord Jesus Christ because it does have a lot of authority So, you know like I was talking about before the sermon. Are you able to tell people why we have a pastor? Well, the reason why is because pastors have real authority from God and a real responsibility that they have to take care of, right? Why are we independent? You know, why don't we fall into some denomination? Why because the Lord Jesus Christ is to be the head of the church and under that is supposed to be the pastor You're not supposed to be a part of like a conference of churches Where you have a board of directors telling you what you could preach Why because it's really easy for the devil to corrupt those institutions, right? You know The Mormons have their headquarters in Salt Lake City the Seventh-day Adventists have their Northwest headquarters where I work in Washington You know all the and the Southern Baptists have their their headquarters We know that this is an independent Baptist Church Why because the Bible teaches that the authority of a church goes the Lord Jesus Christ the pastor that's it You know You don't you guys as church members don't have the authority to tell your pastor what to do To tell your pastor I this is what we're doing today The only authority you could ever have in local church is if the pastor gives you authority, you know Why why did I come here this weekend from Vancouver, Washington to preach you guys because pastor men has asked me to So I have the authority to preach to you guys today not because of me but because pastor Jimenez gave me that authority So don't try to just stand up in a church and say all right. This is what we're doing Alright pastor you need to do this this and this, you know, no, you don't meet the qualifications of a pastor You don't have your house in order You don't you're not apt to teach you haven't read the Bible through as many times as he has you have no authority in this Church to do anything like that Follow the man of God like Paul said as he follows Christ and if he fails to follow Christ Do you usurp his authority and overthrow your pastor? No Your pastor still has authority from Lord Jesus Christ you go find a new church you go move to a new church Like you guys did right and you all were in a different church here. You didn't like it Pastor men have started this church biblically for you guys So we saw what is a church we saw who has authority in the church lastly I want to talk about what should the local New Testament Church be doing go to Matthew 28 Matthew 28 What time is it? Okay, we'll go quickly to this Matthew 28 This is Jesus speaking He said going there for and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I've commanded you and lo I'm with you always even on to the end of the world Amen mark 16 16 15 says and he said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature So what should the local New Testament Church doing number one local new chest New Testament Church is an assembly of believers number two It's an assigned. It's assigned to a community It's in a specific place number three the authorities authority structure goes the Lord Jesus Christ and the pastor now What should that congregation be doing the Lord Jesus Christ says it should be going out teaching all nations Baptizing them and teaching them to observe whatsoever Christ commanded So what's that first part talking about talking about soul winning right? And what did the the early New Testament Church do in the Bible? what is the template that we saw them do acts 542 says and daily in the temple and In every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. So why do you guys knock doors? Why do you go to every house because the Bible says to? Because Jesus said teach all nations and what did the New Testament Church do they went into the temple and in every house How are you gonna how you gonna reach every single person in Boise with the gospel if you don't knock every door Are you just gonna go to the mall every weekend and hope that at some point every single person who lives here is gonna go There no, you need to be systematic about it. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two House to house preaching the gospel. That's what a church should be focused on number one It's the first thing Jesus Christ told his disciples to do when he came when he came to this earth It's the first thing Jesus told his disciples to do before he left and you know in Revelation it talks about how that's the first Works, so that's the church's number one priority is soul winning right and here at Verity Baptist Church. That is your pastor's number one desire to get done is Soul winning and number two talks about baptizing them, you know, once we get people saved We don't want to just leave them out there right and people love to criticize our movement saying Oh, you got people saved, but did they go to church? So they start growing did they start, you know cleaning up their lives? Well, no, they didn't they're still drunk. That's where they are. They're still at home. That's where they are They're still playing video games doing nothing with their life. That's where they are but you know what happened though is someone brought them the gospel and they put their faith on Lord Jesus Christ and they call Upon the name of the Lord and at least when they die, they're gonna go to heaven. So yeah, who cares? Well, obviously we care but We care a lot more about people going to heaven than about them serving God with their lives. Does that make sense? I don't want that to come off as sounding weird We want people to serve God with their lives, but it matters a lot more that people go to heaven So that's the first way we fulfill the Great Commission number two getting the baptized means getting them into church Okay, we do want to do that. That is a priority for us, but it's not the number one priority And of course baptism happens after salvation not before if you get baptized before you're saved that Baptism is not valid in the eyes of God. That's a different sermon and then number three It says teach them all things whatsoever Christ commanded What does that mean? That means opening the Word of God and preaching every single chapter out of this book and explaining to the people what it means What it teaches applying it to their lives, you know churches today because they don't do the Great Commission the way Jesus told them to because they don't go out and preach the gospel to Every creature that's why every church you go to the preaching is so boring and so lame from behind The pulpit is because every Sunday all they're doing is preaching on salvation All they're doing every single Sunday is every head bow every eye closed If you're not sure you're going to heaven raise that hand come to the front, you know And we're gonna get you the gospel, right? That's why churches is so boring now because they've forsaken The Great Commission the way that Lord Jesus Christ told us to do it But when a pastor like your pastor pastor Menes gets up Teaches his congregation while so many gets converts into church and that teaches all things whatsoever Christ commanded You're gonna actually grow you're gonna actually learn a lot from the Bible in In one year as much as you would have learned in 50 years in another church because churches are not preaching the Bible anymore They're just preaching on salvation so You know, they've gotten rid of this ministry and they've replaced it They've gotten rid of the ministry of soul and replaced it with a bunch of foolish nonsense I'll read for you first Timothy 6 10 while you turn to Matthew 21 first Timothy 6 10 for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they've aired from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, you know because they don't want to lose their constituents They don't want to lose their business partners that they call church members, you know They don't want to preach anything to offend them to get their money out the door But go to Matthew chapter number 21 And so because of that they have all these dumb ministries like Bible College, right? And what is Bible College? Well, it's the love of money which the Bible says is the root of all evil What is Bible College? It's charging people to go to church and making them pay to learn the Word of God You know, what? What is what would Jesus do? Let's ask that question again. What would Jesus do go to Matthew 21 verse 12 Matthew 21 verse 12 and Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple and Over through the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold dogs and said unto them it is written my house Shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves You know, what would Jesus do to West Coast Bible College or Golden Calf Bible College or Treasure Valley Baptist Institute? He'd walk in there with the whip that he made with his own hands He made the whip and he'd go in and just start whipping people Right and he'd go in there and he'd start flipping tables and flipping out on people Why because they've made the house of God a house of merchandise You know because they forgot their first love and their first works of soul winning So they want to say well if you really want to learn the Word of God You have to come to Bible College because all we're gonna be doing is preaching on salvation Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night So pay us money to learn the Word of God Jesus said that's making your house the house of God a house of merchandise and what did he do? He literally sat down in righteous anger. This wasn't a sin. The Lord Jesus Christ has never sinned never have never will He sat down in righteous anger He made a whip out of cords and went in there and started beating people with a whip. Okay So, you know people never read the Bible and they have this weird concept of Jesus that he's just some long-haired soft-wristed hippie You know, Jesus preached hard and he's literally whipped people he was so mad So maybe maybe stop watching the Bible documentaries on TV and start reading the Word of God Anyone who says the Word of God isn't interesting has never read it because that's pretty interesting I'd like to see a video of that. That'd be pretty cool We're almost done here same thing with bookstores Same thing with church camps same thing with having Starbucks in the lobby of your church Jesus Christ would flip out if he saw Starbucks in the temple in Jerusalem He would flip out if you saw your stupid bookstore in the temple of Jerusalem Churches should not be charging money for everything The Bible says that you're to pay your tithe 10% of your income is what the Bible teaches You need to pay your church. That's not extortion. That's what the Lord established Okay, and the church needs to take the tithe that God provides them and use that for the work of their church And that's what this church does you will never pay for a church camp here. You will never pay for Bibles here You'll never pay for songbooks here We'll never pay to hear the Word of God preached here because this church actually believes what the Word of God says because this church Christ actually is the authority in this church and Because pastor it is as well and even not allow them so Last scripture here. I know I went a little long. So I'm just gonna cut out most of this last point What will happen to a Christian that's not in church go to Hebrews chapter 10. What will happen to a Christian is done first We saw this is an important Institution that God has established. This is something that the Lord Jesus Christ Purchased with his own blood we learned in Acts chapter number 20, you know It's something that he's given authority to to the pastor and it's something that has a lot of Responsibility and a big task to do reaching the gospel to the lost go to Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24 the Bible says 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 for if we sin willfully After that, we have received the knowledge of the truth They remain at no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries He that despised Moses's law died without mercy under two or three witnesses What is this scripture telling us it's telling us when you sin willfully after you know the truth and Even in specific in context it's talking about forsaking the assembly of yourselves together Forsaking going to church Bible says there's no more sacrifice for sin. You can't just say Oh God, you know I know I should be in church, but I'm not going to anyways, but just please bless my life Anyways, no, you know what you have waiting for you when you forsake the assembly God a certain fiery Looking for an indignation and later on in this chapter says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of living God So you're gonna wonder, you know, why why am I having health problems? Why am I not succeeding financially? Why am I not why are my kids turning out wrong? Why is my marriage failing? Why are all these things happening because God's not blessing you because you know What's right and he said to get in church and you forsaken the assembly of yourselves together as the manner of some is Jesus Christ purchased the church with his own blood. He says if you knowingly willfully sin against that So it's over you're in the wrath of God at that point God's gonna judge you when people despise Moses's law when they knew what Moses preached and said, yeah I know that it's not lawful to pick up sticks on the Sabbath day, right? Because you're the Sabbath day used to be a picture of rest. That's a different sermon and you pick it up Anyways, what happened? They were killed on the spot Right for despising the Word of God for despising the law of God when you hear the preaching of God's Word And you know what's right and you willingly decide I am NOT going to do what the Bible says You will be judged by God and when it happens don't question it don't wonder why it happened to you Just remember these words It's because you despise the law of God because you willingly forsook the assembly of God and that is what's gonna happen to you so You know Psalm chapter 1 says blessed is the man that walked the knot and counsel the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners Nor sitteth in the seat of a scornful But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that they meditate day and night you want to be blessed You want to be blessed as a person you want to have everything you do prosper? Well, you know what? You need to be in the Word of God every day. You need to be around Christians You need to be at church and then whatsoever you do will prosper the Bible says, you know So let this be said of you today and what said in Psalm 122 1 I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord Let that be a true feeling in your heart that when it's time for church, you're glad to be there Okay, don't forsake the assembly. So number one. What's a church? It's a congregation of local believers Exercising the Great Commission number two who has authority in the church Lord Jesus Christ the Word of God and the pastor that is it. There's no other authority in local church number three What should churches be doing? Preaching the gospel getting people in church teaching them all things whatsoever Christ commanded number four What will happen to a Christian that's not in church, you know, God's gonna judge you God's gonna take blessings from your life and you're gonna lose your rewards in the next line What was your salvation you can never lose your salvation? But if you want to have rewards when you get to heaven you need to be in church You need to be getting with the program of what the what the Lord Jesus Christ started here You know, he said I'm gonna build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us Or take this day and thank you for the doctrine Founding your word. Thank you so much that we have a great church to go to here in Boise, Idaho I pray that no one would take it for granted I pray that people would take advantage of it Lord and that they would see the blessings of God on their life by being in this church and learning the Word of God and Starting to serve you with their lives. It's praise you bless these people in Jesus name. I pray. Amen