(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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