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the bible says 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 it sounds to me like in this new testament church somebody's in charge right the bible says remember them that have the rule over you the bible even goes as far as to say obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls so the bible is literally telling us that there is a person in the local church that we are supposed to have allegiance to and that we are supposed to have obedience under and that person is obviously talking about a pastor now if the house church movement was correct if there's no authority in the church would this scripture here really make any sense we grew up in what's known as the house church movement now the house church movement what they teach people is that there is no pastor okay and you're going to eventually come across people in this movement god literally says you're supposed to have a pastor obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves but they'll say nobody has the rule in the church there's no leader it's just a free for all and one of these guys when when we were getting into the house church said i'm so glad that we've escaped organized religion what do you want a disorganized world where there's chaos everywhere just take the logical conclusion of that statement to where it goes and you'll see it's not of god it's not logical it's not biblical to say that you shouldn't have a pastor the bible says salute all them that have the rule over you and all the saints they of italy salute you they say there's no pastor in the new testament there's no authority what it comes down to is they want to be their own authority it takes power to be able to submit to the man of god now obviously if the man of god oversteps his bounds pastor and i were talking about this last night if he starts preaching bad heresies or bad doctrines it is our job to tell him well pastor you also have to submit to the authority of god's model and preach what's appropriate preach what's right for the flock of god but notice what the bible says here it says and i will give you pastors according to mine heart which shall what which shall feed you a lot of them say well my only shepherd is jesus christ well that's good that you're shepherd he's the great shepherd the ultimate shepherd but the bible says that there are shepherds who will feed us with knowledge and understanding in the new testament it says the same thing it says feed the flock of god doing what taking the oversight now it sounds to me again like in the old and new testament that there is somebody that's in charge that there's somebody who's leading this local church don't let youtube teachers and people that don't know the bible come along and put together a well edited video and put it in your face and say well here's why there's no pastor in the new testament look you need to be aware of this and you need to be aware of what the bible says so that you don't get tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine what the house church movement says is that well we don't have pastors we have elders well the bible makes it clear and these titles are used interchangeably bishop elder and pastor the bible says that jesus is the chief shepherd that he's the bishop of our souls it uses these words interchangeably think of this too the mormon church says that we have elders right but what does the bible say about an elder that he's supposed to be the what the husband of one wife now you notice these young guys with the mormon tags they say i'm elder so and so but they're like you know 10 years younger than me it's just mind-blowing now in the catholic church they say that you cannot be married to be a pastor you to be a bishop you can't be married the exact opposite of what the bible says the bible says that you have to be the husband of one wife having faithful children why give the qualifications for a pastor if there's no pastor why would he go spend all this time saying this is what the pastor's got to be he's got to be vigilant sober not given to filthy lucre not given to wine no striker why would he give all these examples of what a pastor is supposed to be if all well in the new testament there's no pastor it's a free-for-all every dad is a pastor well you're supposed to be a pastor to your family perhaps you're supposed to be a leader to your family but not to the church there's one man that god has chosen to ordain and this is what god's system is is that there's a pastor who leads the local church and so that is under attack when i was in the house church they would they would try to get us to trick pastors they'd say here's how you trick a pastor and they made it their goal to shut down the one that i was a part of our goal was to shut down one independent fundamental baptist church per year so one of this type of church per year it was our goal to shut it down now why why was it the independent baptist why wasn't it the pentecostals why wasn't it the mormons why wasn't it the jehovah what about islam islam's a growing religion you notice how satan only wants to attack that which is legitimate he was john the baptist amen not john the catholic not john the lutheran john the seventh day adventist it's john the baptist let's talk about the house church and the arguments that they use to try to get people in because remember they're very tricky and they'll take these scriptures out of context so this is a verse they use they say well at acts they met in a house we've got to get back to the book of acts where they're meeting from house to house well let's look at the scriptures that they have in acts that we also use the bible says when they were come in they went into an upper room and they say well see there's an upper room this is a house that they're meeting in right in the book of acts where abode peter james john and all the apostles a bunch of the apostles but notice what the bible says it says and in those days peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said the number of names together were about 120 who here could fit 120 people in their house in the upper room of your house right there you go there you go so when 120 people were in the upper room do you know what that means that this chapter the very first chapter in the book of acts is showing us that there was a large infrastructure that they were meeting in and it was the upper room of this large piece of infrastructure it wasn't a whole a house church a home church now pastor and i were talking eventually our goal at liberty his vision is that we start a independent fundamental baptist church in the city of coleman the town of coleman and i believe that church will probably start out in a house meeting in a house isn't bad but if you're scriptural you'll outgrow the house in acts chapter 2 then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls it's definitely time to get a bigger house three thousand souls were added to the church and some make the argument well they split up they they went their own ways and did their own house churches no false read the next verse it says and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers they were all together as a church as an over 3 000 member church meeting together with the apostles being trained by the apostles of christ the disciples it's incredible that the the scriptures the book of acts which they claim proves the house church it proves we shouldn't have a building with four walls when they're really meeting in a building with four walls as well and think of this they say well it takes money to to have the infrastructure this is what they'll say when you're knocking doors and you're trying to witness to them because a lot of them aren't saved they'll say well your church costs money to keep the doors open well your house also takes money to be able to keep the doors open as well it's not a good argument and so uh like i was saying the apostles were teaching the new believers and they had the authority in the church whenever people would come to our church our house church growing up we oh it wasn't ours we went to a different one and it got so big that we hit a point where we couldn't fit everybody in the house and so we had to go through a literal church split to be able and it was very painful for a lot of people there was a lot of contention and this guy who says i'm so glad we've escaped organized religion to live in his disorganized home fellowship with no leadership he turned around and said well we we need to have no official start time we'll just tell people to show up between 10 and 12 and people are showing up in their pajamas right they're not they're not showing up in in a professional manner not all people were but some were and you know it just wasn't right the bible says we're ambassadors for christ we should be professional paid leadership and now a lot of people say pastors should not be paid it's okay to have a pastor some of them will admit this but then they'll say the pastor should just not be paid well let's look at what the bible says let's look at what god's will is the bible says in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied there arose a murmuring of the gracians against the hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration the 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said it is not reason that we should leave the word of god and serve tables you know what they're saying it's not reasonable that we go out and get a secular job and go be a waiter at ihop or you know whatever restaurant cracker barrel what's reasonable is that we don't leave the word of god and do that but that we stick with teaching the word of god and the bible says wherefore brethren look you out among you seven men of honest report full of the holy ghost and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business so god says that we shouldn't leave the word of god as pastors to serve tables to work a secular job but what would the house church tell us have the pastor go work at tables somewhere go be a waiter over at a restaurant go work a secular job now i understand certain pastors have to work a secular job and that's okay but ultimately god's plan is that a pastor is to be paid and a pastor is to be taken care of by the flock bible says do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple so he's referring back to the old testament and he says and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar so people who are serving at the altar the levitical priests were partaking of the sacrifices the people were taking care of them the bible says even so hath the lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel so god is saying in the same way that they took care of the levitical priests in the old testament and they fed them from the tithes that's how we're going to take care of a pastor in the new testament we're going to feed them and take care of them and pay them bible says if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your what carnal things so paul by inspiration of the holy ghost is saying that it's okay for him as an apostle even to reap carnal things if he's giving to the flock as the shepherd of the flock he should be able to reap back a small benefit from the flock bible says let the elders that rule be counted worthy of double honor especially they who what labor in the word and doctrine it is hard work being a pastor some of you may notice i'm not a pastor but i get up here and i'm sweating i turn red as a tomato because it is hard work to put together a message and then bring it forth to the congregation that's actually hard work and if you try it you'll see what i mean it takes time the bible says study to show thyself approved unto god a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth especially they who labor in the word and doctrine this is a true saying if any man desire the office of a bishop he desireth a good work it is work to serve god it's one of the hardest jobs people criticize pastors and they say well he's a hireling and he shouldn't be paid and he's in it for money and he wants fame pastors die the youngest they usually get paid the least they have the most difficult job that that's known in the whole usa some people say it's the second most difficult job because of all the stresses of having to deal with let's say you guys were having marriage issues or we're having financial issues or or the grottens are having issues with the kids being lazy you know i don't think they would ever have that issue but you know these issues and he's got to deal with all of that right that's very stressful it's one of the most difficult jobs there is pastors give the most statistically to the congregation financially they give the most out of anybody but pastors they're bad they're in it for the money look when people say stuff like that they should be afraid of what god thinks of that god literally said a pastor is to have the rule in a congregation and i if i'm going to obey god have to be willing to say god i'm going to go with your program i'm going to go with your model i'm going to go with your plan that's why liberty baptist church follows the model that god gave not because we wanted a dictator but because we want to follow god and being a pastor is actually one of the most humbling things that you could do because you have to get down and dirty in the mud with all the sheep and try to help them to get out of the mess that they've gotten themselves into half the time but people today in the house church movement they say oh the pastor he's a hireling he shouldn't be paid and there is a verse in scripture that they take out of context where the bible talks about hirelings who are in it for money well the fact that you have somebody in the bible that could be called a hireling means by definition that position is paid position think about it how could you be a hireling if the position isn't paid are you following me so far they say oh you know and whenever the pastor would come to our church we would say oh here comes the hireling he's coming the hireling look you shouldn't ever say something like that about a man of god that's like i mean imagine saying something like that when you're living in the old testament about the priesthood god took that very serious and he takes the new testament just as serious the bible says jesus christ is the same yesterday today and forever remember when jesus called simon peter and the different apostles he said give up your secular work give up the nets give up your secular jobs and come and follow me he says henceforth you will catch men the bible says they left their nets behind and followed christ jesus was the first pastor and think of this when peter back slid and when he turned his back on god he denied the lord three times this is what peter said at his lowest point in his life simon peter said unto them the disciples i go with fishing what was peter doing he was going back to what his secular job the disciples said this we also go with thee peter and they went forth and entered into his ship immediately and that night they caught nothing god wasn't blessing it when you turn your back on god you're going to take some people with you notice how peter took people with him there were people disciples of christ that forsook god and went back to their secular job when they were supposed to be overseeing the church i mean it just to me is incredible that this happened in the bible so what that tells me is even strong christians could get caught up in this peter said i go of fishing he turned his back on what god told him to do tithing in the house church they are against tithing bible says in matthew 23 23 this is when jesus is rebuking the pharisees and he says woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrite for ye pay tithe of mint innocent cumin house church just stop right there they say see jesus was mad at the pharisees because they were tithing no that's not what it says read on it says and have omitted the what the weightier matters of the law judgment mercy faith these ought you to have done and not left the others undone so he's saying yes you should have tithed you should do that but not leave the others undone so what did jesus just teach right here in the new testament tithing jesus christ our lord and savior our messiah god in the flesh taught that we are supposed to tithe the bible literally says in the new testament that tithing is not bad jesus says these things ought you to have done will a man rob god yet ye have robbed me this is god speaking but ye say wherein have we robbed thee we were at the house church and this pastor came here he says you guys are robbing god man you're supposed to be supporting missions you're supposed to be helping your local church out not just meeting in your living room for a social club and coffee time this one lady got up and she's like um she's like well how can you say that i've robbed god well that's the same question these people are asking right and malachi mankind hasn't really changed and the bible says god said in tithes and offerings so tithing absolutely is biblical the bible says in the next verse you are cursed with a curse for he have robbed me even this whole nation god said this in the very next verse again he says bring ye all the tithes into the where the storehouse what's the storehouse in the new testament the church all right a lot of people teach well i just give my tithe as a as an offering to you know whoever but what does the bible specifically say that we're to bring the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith saith the lord of hosts if i will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it so god is saying if you tithe if you give to him what what he has given you if you give it back to him the bible literally says that he'll open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you in so much that you won't even be able to receive it amen now the house church movement you'll hear this well they'll say well did you know that tithing is not biblical in the new testament because tithing in the old testament was food so the increase was food matt well what was the monetary system of the day back then they were plowing fields they were farming they didn't really use a lot of legal tenders so when the bible says give a tithe of all thine increase yes that might have been talking about the field but food was the monetary system of the day pastor matt leithley was just in the congo in the congo they don't really have a lot of legal tender but what he noticed was that people were bringing pumpkins to church they were bringing squash to church he's like well what's this about this is the way they tithed over there because that was their increase that was their only income and so they were just doing that to be right with the lord now i want to talk about one of the most important parts of this movement what's going to happen if you have people coming into a house church and there's no leader chaos and what did the apostle paul warn he says with tears i warn people please guys understand that there's going to be ravenous wolves who come in after my departure and that's why the bible says that god's plan is to ordain elders in every single city to be able to keep the ravenous wolves out and away from the flock in the house church they embrace basically all religions growing up we fellowshipped with the examish the meninites the uh we we fellowshipped even there was some muslims who came in judaism had crept in there was a family that practiced full-blown judaism i'm not i know it sounds probably like the twilight zone to some of you but this actually happened but they practice in the house church ecumenicalism which means that just anything goes and it appeals to our flesh right because we you know it's kind of exciting to just say well jamie anything goes it's all good just believe what you want come as you are leave as you came that feels good to our flesh and you know what excites a lot of people right is starbucks i don't know about you i get excited when i have a coffee i'm not gonna lie i'm human just like everybody else love coffee but they'll use that they'll say well we get around and have coffee around the table i'm sorry that's not church they say well where two or three are gathered in his name there christ is in the midst yes but that's talking about when we come together to pray that's not church that's just getting together and having fellowship there's a difference between fellowship and being fed feed the flock of god taking the oversight thereof there's a difference all right a house church usually has no leader a lot of them go into some really really different stuff some of which i'm not even going to get into but the bible tells us now we command you brethren in the name of our lord jesus christ that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly so there are even saved christians who we should separate from you know if if mark heaven forbid was getting drunk and and beating his wife heaven forbid don't think he ever would but if he did my my job is to say mark i have to separate fellowship and people say oh that's so hateful matt oh the preacher is so mean look you know what would be mean is if i say oh i'll be your friend anyway i don't have a problem with it and create more victims exactly the most loving thing we can do is stand up and say you're wrong about something sometimes i don't like to do it anybody that knows me knows i don't like to go around and tell people they're wrong but you know what sometimes you have to withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us now i beseech you brethren by the name of our lord jesus christ that you all speak the same thing in house church they don't all speak the same thing it's all different religions coming together how can you speak the same thing how can you have unity if the house is divided against itself notice this we're going to end kind of with this here the bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved right very famous verse that we use but then it says this at the end of this verse it says how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be what is the house church sending missionaries out no they say let's be recluses we're supposed to hide our light under a bushel and not tell anybody where we meet because of fear of the government and i've heard this stuff and a lot of them will say your church is a 501c3 so because it's a 501c3 therefore we're not going to have anything to do with it well and then they'll say 501c3 means that the government can come and shut you down actually that's not what 501c3 is 501c3 is just a tax exempt status and the most that the government can do is what revoke our status they can't shut us down if the government's coming to shut us down what that means is that we're under communism at that point 501c3 doesn't matter at that point my wife's family was trying to escape communism when they came over here from romania and yes some of the churches were forced to go underground but just because and a lot of the house churches will come to you and say well we're going to meet underground anyway someday folks we're going to meet in a house anyway so let's just go ahead and start now well i mean you're going to have to ration someday probably why not start now you might have to i don't know not have electricity someday why don't you start now do you see how it makes no sense because it's not true because the house church movement is literally of the devil because they're attacking what god has said that there should be preachers who are sent out of where out of the local church to preach the gospel to every single creature since there's no leadership in the house church it is open to the attacks of satan and eventually somebody will come in and like what happened with me when i was a young man 17 years old there was a group within the house church that went into the hebrew roots movement and i was a part of messianic judaism part of the hebrew roots movement as a young man and i did not know the truth why because there was no man of god to hold me accountable there was no pastor and the pastors that would talk to us they were the most nice people that i had ever met and that's one of the things that changed my heart towards them and somebody told me recently well why does this matter why is this so important i'm going to put this down here so you all know i'm getting close to being done okay so a lot of people say well why does this matter i don't know maybe because hell is a real place now a lot of people say how can you say that hell exists that's such a far stretch for me well noah's flood is a fact okay i'm going somewhere with this noah's flood happened we covered it last week we find whales on the top of mountains we find clams on the top of mountains how does a whale get to the top of a mountain the flood so what that means is that god did flood the earth that noah was a real person that shem ham and japheth were real people adam and eve were real people i mean what makes more sense on a practical level that we all descended from fish and primates or that we all descended from two people but if hell exists and if noah's flood happened that means that everything in the bible is true and we can trust it and i can trust that the fact that jesus said that the moment the rich man died and in hell the bible says he lifted up his eyes it was immediate and in hell he lived up his eyes being in torments because hell is so important to get people to avoid we need to speak out against movements that send people there and ecumenicalism saying well all paths lead to god oprah is a lie jesus says i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me there's only one way to go to heaven and that's through jesus there's not many ways to heaven there's only one way the bible says for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have what everlasting life now a lot of people say well i got saved but it wasn't everlasting i could lose it tomorrow well then they didn't get saved to get saved you have to realize that jesus is offering a gift of eternal life and you believe it and you receive it by faith