Bless the preacher today, bless our preacher, and fill him with your Holy Ghost in your name. Amen.
Amen. All right. Over there in Matthew chapter number 16 and the part of the chapter I want
to focus on there is verse 18 where the Bible reads, "And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter
and upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Let's
pray, Lord. Thank you so much for this day and thank you for the opportunity to preach this morning.
I pray that I would be able to be edifying this church, Lord, and that you just help me to preach
bold and preach the truth. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, well, the title of my sermon this morning is
"The Local New Testament Church," and I want to preach on this topic because it's a topic that's
often misunderstood by many sects of Christianity, and even some Baptists, I believe, don't fully
understand this topic, and it's always good to be reminded of simple doctrines, especially as a new
church. You know, some of us in this room may be new to church in general, but we're all new to this
church, right? So it's really important to know what this church believes and to know for yourself
what the Bible teaches. You know, if somebody was to ask you, you know, "Why is your church independent?",
would you be able to show them in the Bible why you're in an independent church? Or if someone
were to ask you, "Why do you have a pastor?", you know, "Why do you run the church the way that you do?",
would you be able to open up the Bible and show them? And I'm sure many of you would be able to,
but, you know, if not, I hope that this sermon can help you with those things. But number one,
what is a church? So the Bible talks a lot about church. It actually uses the word church 111 times
in the King James Bible, and it's something that's very important to God, of course. You know,
Jesus just told us here that, you know, he's going to build his church and that the gates of hell are
not going to prevail against it. So it's something that Lord Jesus Christ himself builds, something
is very important to God. But we should always let the Bible define itself. What is a church?
You know, church is not a word that's ever found in the Old Testament one single time,
but there is quotes in the New Testament, the New Testament quoting the Old Testament using the
word church. And I want to show you that real quick. So go to Hebrews chapter two, Hebrews chapter
number two, and I'll read for you Psalms 22, 22. The Bible says, "I will declare thy name unto my
brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee." And then if you look at Hebrews
chapter two, look there at verse 11, "For both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified
are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren saying," so this is going to
quote the Old Testament, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee." So you can see how the Bible there uses the word congregation and church
interchangeably. Like I was saying, the Bible always defines itself. If you're reading the
Bible, there's this thing called the law of first mention often where the first time a word is used
in the Bible, the verse itself will kind of define that for us. You know, for example,
the word reprobate is used in the book of Jeremiah saying, "Reprobate silver shall men call them
because the Lord hath rejected them." So we learned that the word reprobate means rejected
or cast away, right? But here in Hebrews, we get the definition of the word church and it simply
just means congregation. Now, why is that important? Well, because a lot of Christian
sects today, including like the Catholic Church, teaches that there's this thing called the universal
church, where basically that anyone who just claims the name of Christ is in this universal
church. And in fact, the name Catholic itself means universal. So, and it's kind of funny because
a lot of churches who aren't even Catholic churches are Catholic in the sense that they
believe in the universal church. For example, the Nazarenes, you know, a lot of people will go to
like NNU and they're thinking they're sending their children to a Christian college. But if
you go to NNU's website and you look at their statement of faith, one of the things that they
say is that we believe in the Holy Apostolic Catholic Church. So a lot of Christians today
are unknowingly going to Catholic schools that are calling themselves Christian schools. Another
one that does that is GCU in Arizona. You know, people think that's a Christian school, but if
you look at their statement of faith, it says we believe in the Holy Apostolic Catholic Church.
So there's a lot of people that are into this false doctrine that there's this universal
church of all believers. So number one, we see that a church is a congregation of believers,
but it's not just a congregation of believers because, you know, when me and my wife and my
brother-in-law and sister-in-law are all hanging out, we're all believers, but that doesn't just
make us a church, okay? There's more to that, but that is the first aspect of a church. Number two,
we see that a biblical church is in a specific community. Go to 1st Thessalonians chapter number
two, back a few pages there, through the T-books, left by Leman, Titus, 2nd Timothy, 1st Timothy,
2nd Thessalonians, 1st Thessalonians. 1st Thessalonians chapter number two, starting there,
verse 13, the Bible reads, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you
received the word of God which he heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it
is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. For ye brethren
became followers of the churches of God, which are in Judea and in Christ Jesus. For you also
have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews." So you know,
Paul is saying you became followers of the churches of God in Judea. Why? Because there
are multiple churches in Judea. You know, you ever hear people say like, "Oh I was raised in the
Baptist church," or "I was raised in the Pentecostal church." Well which one? You know, because there's
no such thing as this universal church. Paul is saying here you became followers of the church as
which are in Judea. Why? Because it's assigned to a location. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter number
one, a few pages to the right. 2 Thessalonians chapter one. 2 Thessalonians chapter one. Look
at verse one, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our
father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's writing a specific letter to a specific church in a location.
You know, it'd be like if my pastor, Pastor Thompson, sent an email to your pastor and said
to Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, right, because it's a specific location. And you know,
like right now this church is a satellite church under the authority of Verity Baptist Church
in Sacramento. And the reason that that's going on is because right now there's not a man that's
met the qualifications to be a pastor. But as soon as that happens, you guys are going to have
a pastor be ordained here and this is going to be an independent church. Pastor Menace will no longer
be in charge of this church. He'll have no authority over this church. It will be Pastor Joe Jones,
God willing. But that's showing again that it's in a specific location. Go to Revelation chapter
number one. And this sermon is going to be more of just like a teaching type sermon. But it's
important to know these things. Revelation chapter one, look at verse 11. So this is Jesus Christ
giving the revelation to John. And he tells John in verse 11, saying, "I am Alpha and Omega, the
first and the last. And what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which
are in Asia, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis,
and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." So you know, just these couple verses alone that I've
shown you completely disproves the universal church. Because no matter what man wants to call it,
the Bible says church-eds, multiple churches. So this idea of a universal church cannot be possible.
And we see, of course, that not only is it a congregation of believers, but it's in a specific
location. Go to 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Corinthians 14. Because people that teach that a church is just,
or the church is just all believers on the earth, they're going to run into a couple problems.
They're going to run into a couple contradictions in the Bible. And specifically right here,
they're going to run into some problems with what the Bible says in regards to women.
In 1 Corinthians 14, look at verse 33. The Bible says, "For God is not the author of confusion,
but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches,
for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience,
as also sayeth the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home,
for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. So here's the thing. The Bible teaches
that a woman is not supposed to be preaching or teaching in the local church. God gives the
authority of the pastor, the authority of the office of a pastor to a man. God wants men to
be running churches, He wants men to be running homes, He wants men to be running governments.
That's just the way God ordained things, okay? And He says that He doesn't allow a woman to speak
in church. So that, you know, you go to these Pentecostal churches and these women are screaming
"Amen" and rolling on the floor and barking like a dog and throwing their hands up. You know,
that's not biblical. That's not right at all. The Bible says that the women are to be silent
in the church and it's because men are supposed to be preaching and the people in the audience
that are saying "Amen" are saying, "Yeah, what He's saying is true." You know, for me in my house,
I'm agreeing with what the pastor or the preacher is saying right now and that's what my family
believes too. But a woman doesn't have that authority in her family to say, "Yeah, this is
what our family stands on." No, that's for your husband to decide, not for you to decide. So
here's my question. If the universal church is just all people who claim the name of Christ
and the Bible says that a woman's not allowed to speak in the church, then when are women allowed
to speak? Because if the church is just everywhere, then according to the Bible, women would never be
able to speak anywhere. Isn't that ridiculous? That's absolutely foolish to believe something
like that. And what's funny is a lot of women pastors are the ones teaching this stuff of the
universal church. These Pentecostals and these Catholics and these Methodists, all these people,
they're the ones teaching the universal church, yet according to 1 Corinthians 14, they wouldn't
even be allowed to open their mouth according to their own logic. So it's a completely foolish
doctrine. It's very clear that churches are just an assembly of believers in a community.
Look at Romans chapter number 16. So we see a church is a congregation of believers. The church
is in a specific community. And then I want to talk about the church is not a building. You know,
a lot of times when you say the word church, probably the first thing that comes to your
mind is some steeple, right? It's just what our brains naturally go to. We just think of
some building, but the Bible teaches that the church is not a building. And a lot of people
would probably criticize this church here because we're meeting in a house. But you know, it's very
biblical to meet in a house. I'm going to read for you for a few verses. Romans 16, 5. Romans 16, 5
Bible reads, "Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epinetus,
who is the first fruit of Achaia unto Christ." Colossians 4, 15 says, "Salute the brethren,
which are in Laodicea and Memphis, and the church which is in his house." 1st Corinthians 16, 19,
"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the
church that is in their house." Philemon 1, 2, "And to our beloved Aphia and Archippus, our fellow
soldier, and to the church in thy house." You know, people that have a problem with churches meeting
in the house, number one, it just shows that they've never read the Bible, because all the
great churches in the New Testament pretty much were started in someone's house. And number two,
it just shows that they're carnal, and that they're more interested in the things of this world,
and they just want to see some beautiful stained glass building. What matters to them is not really
the work that's actually being done for the Lord, or the sermons that are being preached from the
Word of God, or you know, the souls that are being saved. That's not important to most people. What's
important is that they can feel comfortable, and that their tithe money is going to nice
air conditioning and heating, and all the beautiful statues, and all the beautiful stained glasses.
You know, it's a carnal mind that thinks that way, but yet the great churches in the Bible
were started in a house. That's a biblical thing. But of course, it's not necessarily you need to
stay in a house, right? Because there's this thing out there right now called the house church
movement, where the goal is to stay in the house. And if you outgrow the house, then the church is
too big now. They just want to have us four, no more. You know, have our little coffee class where
no one's a pastor. No one's actually biblically qualified to be doing the work that a pastor is
supposed to be doing. And they just want to come in here and have their fun. And everybody gets up
and takes turns preaching, right? They don't want to actually go out soul winning and do any work
for the Lord. They just want to stay in the house. Because, you know, you hear the slogans like,
because I've known people in this movement, they'll be like, "Well, I was tired of looking
at the back of people's heads." Well, maybe, maybe don't leave church right after service
and talk to people. And you won't have to just look at the back of people's heads the whole time,
you know? Maybe go out and get a part of the soul winning program that your church is offering
and get to know the people that you're going to church with and not just be on a first name basis
with everybody in the church. You know, has anyone ever been to a church where you go there for years
and years and you're like, "No, nobody," right? And you know, it's an unhealthy thing in a church
when the churches have to have, you know, like in between their song they're like, "All right,
everybody stand for two minutes of fellowship," right? You shouldn't have to do that as a church.
You shouldn't have to like, you know, sanction times of fellowship. You should actually love
the people you're going to church enough to actually want to be around them, right? And
obviously the type of people that come to church Sunday night and that come to church Thursday
night and that go to the soul and that go to the men's preaching nights. Obviously, those are the
people that love the brethren. Those are the people that want to be around them. But you know, these
house church people are a bunch of like socially awkward, just weird people that don't actually
want to be around human beings, right? But they just want to call themselves pastor. It's like,
"Oh, I'm a pastor." No, you're not. You're a father maybe, you're a husband maybe, but you're
not a pastor and you're not a church, okay? So it's not a bad thing to meet in a church,
but it's a bad thing if your goal as a church is to stay in the house, okay? Go to Matthew 23.
Matthew 23. Let's see what Jesus thinks about these people that just care about the outside.
Matthew 23 verses 25 through 28. Jesus said, "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For ye may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse that first which is within the cup and platter,
that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." You know, it makes
me think of the Mormon temples, right? They've got their beautiful obelisk Mormon temple that
has no windows, right? By the way, it's a red flag if your church has no windows, right? The Masons,
the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons. Why don't you have any windows in your church? I'll tell you why
it's because you're a cult, that's why. Because you're baptizing for the dead in your buildings,
because you're doing all these pagan rituals and the Mormons are making their oaths to Satan,
right? If I don't follow the Lord for the rest of my life, if I don't, you know, continue in all of
his commandments every day the rest of my life, let Satan accursed me, right? And then we wonder
why all these Mormons become reprobates so fast, because just like every human being, Mormons sin
every single day, you know? But isn't it great that they have their outward beautiful temples?
You go to Salt Lake City and it just looks like this huge castle, but you know what? Inwardly
they're full of dead men's bones. They're sitting in there preaching a gospel that's sending people
straight to hell, that you have to repent of your sins to be saved, that you have to go to church
to be saved, that you have to do all these good works to be saved, even though the Bible says
that it's not of works, as any man should boast. The Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved in thy house. The only condition for salvation is putting your trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ and that He was God and that He paid for your sin on the cross and that
He did all the work for you, but all these other churches, they're focusing on the outside and not
on the inside. Well that's another good example. How about the Catholic Church? You got your pope
and your all these cardinals and archbishops going around in their long clothing and their funny hat
and their jewelry and everything and their big old castles of churches, but inwardly you know
what's going on? Child molestation. Child rape. You know I read an article last Sunday about an
archbishop in St. Louis, Missouri, who testified under oath that in the 1970s he did not know that
it was illegal for a priest to lay with a child. Okay, does anyone is anyone dumb enough in this
room to believe that garbage this morning? I sure hope not. You know the Catholic Church,
you know they allure through the lust of the flesh. They want to get people into their
building so they can feel comfortable, but inside there's priests that are telling under oath that
they don't know if it's illegal to lay with a child. You know and the Catholic Church has done
this for years and years and years and years and Jesus says woe unto you. You know what Jesus said
should happen to that Archbishop? He said you know he said what should be done to a person that offends
a child? What would Jesus do? Everybody loves to ask that question right? What would Jesus do?
Jesus said woe unto you if anyone offends a little child. He said it were better for you that you hung
a millstone around your neck and threw yourself into the ocean. What would Jesus do? He said if
someone offends a child you should take a rock you should tie it around your neck and you should
jump into the ocean until your head explodes underwater from the pressure. That's what Jesus
Christ thinks about these Catholic priests that are out molesting children. So don't listen to
anybody that says Jesus just loves everyone. Jesus is just accepting of everyone. Jesus would be
hugging the Catholic priests today. No Jesus would kill the Catholic priests today and you know in
fact Jesus will kill the Catholic priests today because he's going to burn them in hell for
eternity. Praise God for that because I would hate to serve a God that would allow some pedophile
to spend their life to make their living by molesting children and to have no punishment
for it. You know I'm glad for hell and I'm glad for these things but we see there what God thinks
about a church that focuses more on the outside of their building than on the work and stuff that
is going on inside the building. So let's go to and just you know as a quick example some of the
great churches that many of you may know started in a house Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento,
Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe Arizona, Steadfast Baptist Church in Fort Worth Texas,
Word of Truth Baptist Church in Prescott Valley Arizona. All these churches started out in houses
and you see starting out in the house isn't the problem. The problem is making sure that you're
doing God's work in that house. So number one we saw what is a church. Go to Ephesians chapter
Number 2, I want to talk about who has authority in the church. Ephesians chapter number 5, who has authority in the local church? Well, number 1, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter number 5 verse 22.
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands and everything."
We say, "Oh, there you go, there proves the universal church right there because it says Christ is head of the church."
No, the Lord Jesus Christ is head of every church. That's really clear if you read the Bible in context.
But, you know, it's really easy for churches to say, "Yeah, Christ is the head of this church."
You know, what pastor in the world would say that Christ is not the head of their church, right?
But do you believe today that every single church has Christ as their head? Absolutely not.
So what does this look like practically?
How do you actually practically allow the Lord Jesus Christ to be the head of your church?
Go to John chapter number 1, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John chapter number 1.
Many of you know this verse. How is Christ the head of the church?
The Bible reads in John chapter 1 verse 1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Jump down to verse number 14, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.
The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
So what does the Bible teach us? The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is in the beginning as the Word of God.
He is God. He was with God. And Jesus is the Word of God.
So how you have Jesus Christ as the head of your church is if you have the Word of God as the head of your church.
If the Word of God is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
You hear pastors say that a lot. And the reason why is because that is how you make Christ the head of your church.
Is if you obey the Word of God and you read the Word of God and you teach the Word of God.
But, you know, in order to have the Word of God as the head in your church as an English speaking person,
you must have the King James Bible. If you have any other English version of the scriptures,
Christ is not the head of your church. The reason why is because those versions are perversions of the Word of God.
They're not just bad translations. They're versions that take out verses, that add verses,
that twist teaching about salvation, about important doctrines. It's not the Word of God.
Therefore, if you're teaching or reading out of those things, Christ is not the head of your church.
And in your family, if you're reading these other versions, Christ is not the head of your home.
You're letting satanic Bible versions be the head of your home.
But Psalm 12, 6-8 says, "The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever."
So who's in charge of preserving God's Word? God is, right?
It's so weird to me how Christians can believe that God created the heavens and the earth.
Christians can believe that God created everything in this world, that He gave breath and life to everything that's here,
but yet they don't think that God's powerful enough to preserve their Word.
They think that we have to go back to the original manuscripts to get the true meaning of the Word of God.
You know what? No. The Bible says that God promised us to preserve His Words to every generation.
So what is that version? What is the Word of God today?
You know, it's not even a question. It's not even a thought.
It's not even hard at all to figure out what it is when you compare it to the other versions.
And we're going to do that in a minute here, but I want to read you something else.
Matthew 24, 35 says, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
So do you believe the Word of God or not?
If you don't believe that there's a perfect Word of God, why would you even go to church?
Why would you even read the Word of God? Your entire Christian life is a vain joke.
If you don't believe that there's a perfect Word of God out there.
And you know, people like to make this this hard issue where we've got to go back to the Greek and go back to the Hebrew.
You know, it's not hard at all. God created the heaven and the earth.
God made all the miracles happen in the Old Testament. God said He could preserve His Word for us.
And I believe that He didn't. It's not that hard.
But you know, another thing real quick is if you have a Bible that has a commentary attached to it,
if you have a study Bible and all these things, well then, you know, when you're reading the words of God,
if you have a King James Bible, then that's Christ being the head of your home.
But as soon as you step over to those commentaries, Christ is no longer the head of your home when you're reading those, okay?
The reason why is because man, you know, for filthy lucre's sake, to try to make money
or just because people want to corrupt the Word of God, you know, they may have the King James Bible in the text,
but then you read the commentary and everything's casting doubt on the Word of God.
You know, you read the Schofield Reference Bible and starting right away in Genesis chapter 1,
the Bible says, "God created the heaven and the earth," and then Schofield lets you know,
"Hey, there's probably millions and millions of years in between, you know, each day of the days of creation."
You know, what's the point of having the King James Bible if you're just going to let someone,
you're just going to read the Bible and just let someone tell you that it's all false anyways, that it's all fake.
You know, you go to 1 John 5, 7 and verses about the Trinity and a lot of commentaries will say,
"Oh, these verses shouldn't have been in the Bible. They weren't in the original manuscript."
So then, if the devil doesn't get you with the false Bible versions,
he'll just get you with the commentaries to try to make you doubt the Word of God.
But I want to show you some perversions in the New King James Bible,
because I believe the New King James Bible is the single worst translation of the Bible that there's ever been,
because it's the most deceptive one, because people know the King James is the Word of God,
so they say, "Oh, the New King James, that just takes out the Vs and the Vows, right?
It just makes it a little easier to read. It'll just help me understand a little bit better.
But the New King James has some of the worst perversions that you can imagine.
I want to show you some of those. You can turn to Acts 4.7 with me.
You can read it in the real Bible, and then I'll read it in the perverted Bible.
Acts 4.27. Start reading here, Acts 4.27.
The King James Bible says, "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontus Pilate,
with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together."
The new King James says, "For truly against your holy servant Jesus."
So why would the new King James want to change "holy child" to "holy servant"?
Well, it's because they want to pervert the deity of Christ.
Because they don't want you to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
They want you to think that He was just a good servant of God,
and that He was just a good prophet.
Well, here's the thing. If you don't believe that Jesus Christ is God,
if you're putting your faith in just a man that was a good prophet to save you,
then you're not saved.
You have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved,
and realizing that He is God, not just some good man.
So there's a perversion right there.
Romans 1.25. Romans 1.25, if you want to turn to these.
I'll read them for you.
Romans 1.25.
"Who changed the truth of God into a lie,
and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen."
The New King James says, "Who exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen."
So it changes it from people who changed the word of God,
or changed the truth of God into a lie,
to exchanging the truth of God for a lie.
So, the New King James make it seem like,
that they're just turning in the truth,
and they're receiving a lie.
But the King James is telling you know,
they're changing the truth of God into a lie, these reprobates.
Which is funny, because that's exactly what these reprobate translators are doing.
They're changing the truth of God into a lie.
And Revelation 22 talks about,
how if you add anything to the words in this book,
or if you take anything away out of it,
that your part will be taken out of the holy city,
and out of the book of life.
The Bible says if you tamper with God's word,
you're an automatic reprobate.
Your chances of being saved are sealed forever.
You will never be saved.
Your part is in the lake of fire.
You've already got your reservation there.
There's nothing you can do to ever change that
when you tamper with God's word.
So, and it's funny because they tamper with a verse
that's talking about people changing God's word.
How obvious is that?
But yet people are just like, "Oh, just take it out to these
and the vows." No.
The New King James is not the word of God.
Go to Romans chapter 4.
Romans chapter 4,
the King James Version,
Romans chapter 4 says, "Who was delivered
for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification."
The New King James Version says
"Who was delivered up because of our offenses
and was raised because of our justification."
You know, I've got news for you.
Jesus Christ didn't raise from the dead
because of our sins.
He raised from the dead because He never sinned
and because He's God in the flesh
and because He paid for our sins for us.
It's not like, yeah, our sins allowed Him to rise from the dead.
But that's what the New King James is saying.
That our sins is what gave Jesus Christ
the power to rise from the dead.
It makes no sense at all.
And here's 2 Corinthians,
verse 2, verse 17, the real Bible says,
"For we are not as many which corrupt
the word of God, but as of
sincerity, but as of God,
in the sight of God, speak we Christ."
So Paul's saying, "Hey, we're not as many
that are perverting and corrupting the word of God."
Because this was happening in their day too.
Even from the beginning of time,
the word of God has been being corrupted.
But what does the New King James say
about this? He says, "For we are not as
many, or for we are not
as so many peddling
the word of God, but as of sincerity,
but as from God, we speak
in the sight of God in Christ."
So, how convenient.
Paul is saying, "Hey, we're not tampering with the word of God.
We're not messing with God's word."
And the New King James is saying, "We're not peddling God's word.
We're not selling God's word.
We're not trying to get you to have God's word."
How stupid is that?
The Bible says, "Buy the truth
and sell it not." Yet, these
New King James publishers
are copywriting the word of God
where you can't even use their scriptures without a
copyright infringement. Which, go ahead
and copyright me, I don't care. But
you can't even quote
New King James Version scriptures without legal permission.
Do you know that? Do you know that the King James
Version is the only Bible in existence
that's not copyrighted? Why do you
think that the dollar store only
sells King James Bibles? It's because every other
version of the Bible, the copyright is
more expensive than a dollar, so they can't sell it for a dollar.
So, I'm thankful that God
safeguarded that for us, so that the
Word of God can be available to the poorest
of the poor in this world, that you could just literally
go to the dollar store and spend
a dollar and get the Word of God, but yet
they are peddling the Word of God.
And it says in the New King James that we're
not peddling the Word of God. What a joke.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number one.
This is the worst one that there is in the
New King James version,
to the best of my knowledge.
I definitely haven't read the false
Bible versions cover to cover, and I never will
because it would be a total waste of my time.
I'm going to go through some of these here.
1 Corinthians 1 verse 18,
"For the preaching of the cross is to them
that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved
it is the power of God."
The New King James version says,
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but unto us who are being saved
it is the power of God."
So the New King James takes
what the Bible says
in the King James version saying,
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but unto us who are being saved
it is the power of God."
So the New King James says,
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but unto us who are being saved
it is the power of God."
So the New King James says,
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but unto us who are being saved
it is the power of God."
Going to church, living a good life,
cleaning up your life of all your sins,
reading the Bible, praying,
raising your kids right, doing all these things,
and you can't mess up or you go to hell.
No, that's not what the Bible teaches.
Go to Matthew chapter 7 real quick.
Matthew chapter 7,
see if I can find it here,
Matthew chapter 7, verse 22,
Jesus tells us what's going to happen to people
that are trusting in their works to be saved.
Matthew 7, 22,
"Many will say to me in that day,
'Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name,
and in thy name have cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you.
Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'"
Notice Jesus didn't say, "I used to know you
before you fell away and stopped doing the good works
and stopped going to church."
He said, "I never knew you." Why?
Because these people never trusted Jesus Christ
as their salvation. They were trusting in their works.
And he says, you know,
that they cast out devils.
Do you think the Catholic Church cast out devils today?
Or at least they claim to?
Just because you do a miracle or something like that
does not mean you're a God.
In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, the Bible talks about
how the Antichrist is going to be doing great signs
and is going to have great power in signs and lying wonders.
And he's going to get that power from the devil, right?
So just because you see miracles
doesn't mean that it's of God.
But these people, they're trusting in their
exorcisms and in their
prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ
and their wonderful works to save them.
"I knew you and never knew you."
So, the New King James Version,
people who are trusting in that to save them,
they're going to die one day and Jesus Christ is going to say
"I never knew you."
So don't tell me that the Bible version
issue is not a big deal.
Don't tell me that we should just compromise on this
and just allow people to have their
false Bible versions in their churches.
No, because people are going to go to hell
if they trust in this kind of stuff.
And what kind of a pastor, what kind of a preacher
that actually loves people, would allow them
to send themselves to hell by trusting a lie?
It's not going to happen at this church.
It's not going to happen at Sure Foundation Church.
And you know what? If you ever have
a pastor someday that brings in
the false Bible versions, then you need to leave
and move to a new church. That's a deal breaker right there.
That should be a deal breaker for any family
because Christ is no longer
the head of your church if you're
trusting in false Bible versions.
So, not only does Lord Jesus Christ
have authority over the church, however,
Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13.
If you find the T-books, it's past the T-books.
1st 2 Thessalonians, 1st 2 Timothy,
Titus, Philemon, Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter number 13.
Who else has authority in the local church?
Hebrews 13 verse 7.
"Remember them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow,
considering the end of their conversation."
So the Bible tells us that there's people
that have the rule over you in the local church.
And it's telling us to follow their faith,
considering the end of their conversation,
which just means lifestyle.
Consider the end of their lifestyle,
and follow their works,
who they have the rule over you.
And the Bible teaches that the pastor
has God-ordained authority.
A pastor is not just a paper tiger
where he doesn't actually have real authority.
It's like the mayor gives you the keys to the city,
where it just means nothing.
No, the pastor actually has God-ordained authority
from Lord Jesus Christ.
Go to 1 Timothy chapter number five.
Back a few books there.
1 Timothy chapter number five.
1 Timothy chapter number five, verse 17.
"Let the elders that rule well
be counted worthy of double honor,
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
For the scriptures say,
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn,
and the laborer is worthy of his reward.
And against an elder,
and the word elder, pastor, bishop are all interchangeable in the Bible,
against an elder receive not an accusation,
but before two or three witnesses,
them that sinned or beat before all,
and though, sorry, that others also may fear.
So we see there the Bible again talks about the elders ruling well,
and it talks about how they're worthy of double honor.
So honor in the Bible is talking about not just respect.
Of course, the pastor does deserve double respect.
You don't just treat your pastor like you treat everyone else in church.
You know, like, "Hey, what's up, bro? What's up, man? What's up, Roger?"
You know, when Pastor Mattis comes, you don't call him by his first name.
Don't call any pastor by his first name,
because the Bible says that they're worthy of double honor.
But not only are they worthy of double respect,
honor in the Bible is also talking about financial,
because it talks about honoring your mother and your father, right?
You're supposed to take care of them in their old age when, you know, you can no longer work.
You know, your children are supposed to be the ones that take care of you,
and they're supposed to have the honor and respect for you enough to do that.
So it's bold, but that's the same way it goes for a pastor.
You know, honor them double, the Bible says.
I believe a pastor should be paid double that the average blue collar man works.
Why? Because I believe that a pastor is probably the hardest job in the world.
Because it's not just getting up and preaching three sermons a week and studying the Bible
and reading the Bible through cover to cover hundreds of times like your pastor most likely has.
You know, it's dealing with people's problems. It's loving people.
It's taking in the unwanted. It's helping people change their lives.
You know, and it's probably two hardest jobs in the world is a pastor and a mother, right?
So how much respect should you have for your pastor and for your pastor's wife, right?
A lot of respect. Why? Because they have the rule over you, the Bible says.
They said that the Bible says that they're over you in the Lord.
Now, of course, they're under the Lord Jesus Christ.
They have to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ authority.
How do they do that? By submitting to what the word of God says, by preaching what the word of God says faithfully,
not holding back anything that Jesus says and not adding anything to what Jesus says.
But you know what? When they do that job, the Bible says they're worthy of double honor, double respect and double pay.
I believe that wholeheartedly.
So let's go to, or I'll read for you, First Corinthians chapter 11, verse one.
The Bible says, "Be followers of me," and this is Paul speaking, "be followers of me, even as I am also of Christ."
A lot of people today, they want to act all high and mighty and self-righteous.
Well, I only follow Jesus. I don't follow any man.
Well, then why did Paul say, "Follow me as I follow Christ"?
Why did Christ give authority to the pastor and tell him to feed the flock of God, which he's purchased with his own blood?
Jesus Christ purchased this church with his own blood, and he gave Pastor Jimenez the authority and the responsibility of watching for your souls, like the Bible talks about.
And he's going to give an account someday for what he does with this church.
So, you know, it's really important to respect him for that work, because the Lord Jesus Christ has given him a large amount of authority, real authority, not a paper tiger authority, and a huge amount of responsibility that he's going to be having to be held accountable for that day.
Go to 1 Timothy chapter number three, a few pages back, 1 Timothy chapter number three.
I want to read for you the qualifications of a pastor.
You know, not everybody can be a pastor today.
There's people that are permanently disqualified from being a pastor.
There's people that never ever will become a pastor, and that's okay.
Because you only need one chief. You don't need, you know, a bunch of pastors.
You need one per church.
In 1 Timothy chapter three, let's look at the qualifications of a pastor.
This is a true saying. If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireeth a good work.
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior,
given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy
lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having
his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the church of God?
Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil.
So look, that's a tall order.
You know, that's a virtuous man that fills all those qualifications.
That's not an easy task to fulfill.
To be someone that's vigilant and sober, that's given hospitality,
that doesn't drink alcohol, that's not a brawler, it's not covetous, that rules his house well.
You know, he has to meet a lot of qualifications, right?
He has to have his wife in subjection, right?
And by the way, the Bible says one wife, so if you're divorced and remarried,
you're disqualified to be a pastor.
There's a lot of divorced pastors out there that need to step down
and give the office to a man of God that's actually qualified for that.
But look, those qualifications for a pastor are there for a reason, okay?
It's because that this position is a huge responsibility from the Lord Jesus Christ,
because it does have a lot of authority.
So, you know, like I was talking about before the sermon,
are you able to tell people why we have a pastor?
Well, the reason why is because pastors have real authority from God,
and a real responsibility that they have to take care of, right?
Why are we independent?
You know, why don't we fall into some denomination?
Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ is to be the head of the church,
and under that is supposed to be the pastor.
You're not supposed to be a part of like a conference of churches,
where you have a board of directors telling you what you can preach.
Why? Because it's really easy for the devil to corrupt those institutions, right?
You know, the Mormons have their headquarters in Salt Lake City.
The Seventh-day Adventists have their Northwest headquarters where I work in Washington.
You know, all the Southern Baptists have their headquarters.
But you know what? This is an independent Baptist church. Why?
Because the Bible teaches that the authority of a church goes to the Lord Jesus Christ, the pastor. That's it.
You know, you guys as church members don't have the authority to tell your pastor what to do.
To tell your pastor, "Alright, this is what we're doing today." The only authority you could ever have in a local church is if the pastor gives you authority.
You know, why did I come here this weekend from Vancouver, Washington to preach to you guys? Because Pastor Jimenez asked me to.
So I have authority to preach to you guys today, not because of me, but because Pastor Jimenez gave me that authority.
So don't try to just stand up in a church and say, "Alright, this is what we're doing. Alright, pastor, you need to do this, this, and this."
No. You don't meet the qualifications of a pastor. You don't have your house in order. You're not apt to teach.
You haven't read the Bible through as many times as he has. You have no authority in this church to do anything like that.
Follow the man of God, like Paul said, as he follows Christ. And if he fails to follow Christ, do you usurp his authority and overthrow your pastor?
No. Your pastor still has authority from Lord Jesus Christ. You go find a new church. You go move to a new church, like you guys did, right?
Y'all were in a different church here. You didn't like it? Pastor Mendes started this church biblically for you guys.
So we saw what is a church. We saw who has authority in the church. Lastly, I want to talk about what should the local New Testament church be doing.
Go to Matthew 28. Matthew 28. Moses, what time is it? We'll go quickly, guys.
Matthew 28. This is Jesus basically speaking. He said, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always."
Even not to the end of the world. Amen. Mark 16.15 says, "And he said unto them,
going into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
So what should the local New Testament church doing?
Number one, local New Testament church is an assembly of believers.
Number two, it's assigned to a community. It's in a specific place.
Number three, the authority structure goes the Lord Jesus Christ and the pastor.
Now what should that congregation be doing?
The Lord Jesus Christ said that they should be going out, teaching all nations, baptizing them,
and teaching them to observe whatsoever Christ commanded.
So what's that first part talking about? It's talking about soul winning, right?
And what did the early New Testament church do in the Bible?
What is the template that we saw them do?
Acts 5 42 says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
So why do you guys knock doors? Why do you go to every house?
Because the Bible says to? Because Jesus said teach all nations?
And what did the New Testament Church do? They went into the temple and in every house?
How are you going to reach every single person and voice you with the gospel if you don't knock every door?
Are you just going to go to the mall every weekend and hope that at some point every single person who lives here is going to go there?
No, you need to be systematic about it. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two, house to house, preaching the gospel.
That's what a church should be focused on, number one. It's the first thing Jesus Christ told his disciples to do when he came to this earth.
It's the first thing Jesus told his disciples to do before he left.
And you know, in Revelation, it talks about how that's the first works.
So that's the church's number one priority is soul winning, right?
And here at Verity Baptist Church, that is your pastor's number one desire to get done, is soul winning.
And number two talks about baptizing them. You know, once we get people saved, we don't want to just leave them out there, right?
And people love to criticize our movement saying, oh, you got people saved, but did they go to church?
Did they start growing? Did they start, you know, cleaning up their lives? Well, no, they didn't.
They're still drunk. That's where they are. They're still at home. That's where they are.
They're still playing video games, doing nothing with their life. That's where they are.
But you know what happened, though, is someone brought them the gospel and they put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they called upon the name of the Lord. And at least when they die, they're going to go to heaven.
So yeah, who cares? Well, obviously we care, but we care a lot more about people going to heaven than about them serving God with their lives.
Does that make sense? I don't want that to come off as sounding weird. We want people to serve God with their lives,
but it matters a lot more that people go to heaven. So that's the first way we fill the Great Commission.
Number two, getting them baptized means getting them into church. OK, we do want to do that.
That is a priority for us, but it's not the number one priority. And of course, baptism happens after salvation, not before.
If you get baptized before you're saved, baptism is not valid in the eyes of God. That's a different sermon.
And then number three, it says, "Teach them all things whatsoever Christ commanded."
What does that mean? That means opening the Word of God and preaching every single chapter out of this book
and explaining to the people what it means, what it teaches, applying it to their lives.
You know, churches today, because they don't do the Great Commission the way Jesus told them to,
because they don't go out and preach the gospel to every preacher, that's why every church you go to,
the preaching is so boring and so lame from behind the pulpits,
because every Sunday, all they're doing is preaching on salvation.
All they're doing every single Sunday is every head bowed, every eye closed.
If you're not sure you're going to heaven, raise that hand, come to the front, you know,
and we're going to get you the gospel, right?
That's why churches are so boring now, because they've forsaken the Great Commission,
the way that Lord Jesus Christ told us to do it.
But when a pastor, like your pastor, Pastor Menes, gets up, teaches his congregation,
to go out to soul winning, gets converts into church,
and then teaches all things whatsoever Christ commanded,
you're going to actually grow.
You're going to actually learn a lot from the Bible in one year,
as much as you would have learned in 50 years in another church,
because churches are not preaching the Bible anymore.
They're just preaching on salvation.
So, you know, they've gotten rid of this ministry, and they've replaced it.
They've gotten rid of the ministry of soul winning,
and have replaced it with a bunch of foolish nonsense.
I'll read for you 1 Timothy 6.10, while you turn to Matthew 21.
1 Timothy 6.10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil,
which while some covet it after, they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
You know, because they don't want to lose their constituents,
they don't want to lose their business partners that they call church members.
You know, they don't want to preach anything to offend them,
to get their money out the door.
But, go to Matthew chapter number 21,
and so because of that, they have all these dumb ministries like Bible College, right?
And what is Bible College?
Well, it's the love of money, which the Bible says is the root of all evil.
What is Bible College? It's charging people to go to church
and making them pay to learn the Word of God.
You know, what would Jesus do?
Let's ask that question again.
What would Jesus do? Go to Matthew 21, verse 12.
Matthew 21, verse 12.
"And Jesus went into the temple of God,
and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple,
and overthrew the tables of the money changers,
and the seats of them that sold doves,
and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer,
but ye have made it a den of thieves."
You know, what would Jesus do?
The West Coast Bible College, or Golden Cath Bible College,
or Treasure Valley Baptist Institute,
He'd walk in there with the whip that He made with His own hands.
He made the whip, and He'd go in and just start whipping people, right?
And He'd go in there and He'd start flipping tables,
and flipping out on people.
Why? Because they made the house of God a house of merchandise.
You know, because they forgot their first love and their first works of soul winning,
so they want to say, "Well, if you really want to learn the Word of God,
you have to come to Bible college, because all we're going to be doing is preaching on salvation Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
So pay us money to learn the Word of God."
Jesus said that's making your house, the house of God, a house of merchandise.
And what did He do? He literally sat down in righteous anger.
This wasn't a sin. The Lord Jesus Christ has never sinned, never have, never will.
He sat down in righteous anger, He made a whip out of cords,
and went in there and started beating people with a whip.
So, you know, people never read the Bible, and they have this weird concept of Jesus,
that He's just some long-haired, soft-wristed hippie.
You know, Jesus preached hard, and Jesus literally whipped people. He was so mad.
So maybe stop watching the Bible documentaries on TV and start reading the Word of God.
Anyone who says the Word of God isn't interesting has never read it.
Because that's pretty interesting. I'd like to see a video of that.
That'd be pretty cool. But we're almost done here.
Same thing with bookstores. Same thing with church camps.
Same thing with having Starbucks in the lobby of your church.
Jesus Christ would flip out if he saw Starbucks in the temple in Jerusalem.
He would flip out if he saw your stupid bookstore in the temple of Jerusalem.
Churches should not be charging money for everything.
The Bible says that to pay your tithe, 10% of your income is what the Bible teaches.
You need to pay your church. That's not extortion.
That's what the Lord established.
And the church needs to take the tithe that God provides them and use that for the work of their church.
And that's what this church does. You will never pay for a church camp here.
You will never pay for Bibles here. You'll never pay for song books here.
You'll never pay to hear the Word of God preached here.
Because this church actually believes what the Word of God says.
Because this church, Christ actually is the authority in this church.
And because the pastor is as well, he would not allow that.
So, last scripture here. I know I went a little long.
So I'm just going to cut out most of this last point.
What will happen to a Christian that's not in church?
Go to Hebrews chapter 10.
What will happen to a Christian that's not in church?
We saw this is an important institution that God has established.
This is something that the Lord Jesus Christ purchased with his own blood.
We learn in Acts chapter number 20.
You know, it's something that he's given authority to, to the pastor.
And it's something that has a lot of responsibility and a big task to do.
Reaching the gospel to the lost.
Go to Hebrews chapter 10.
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 of the Bible says,
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,
but exhorting one another in so much the more as ye see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
they remaineth no more sacrificed for sins, but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment,
and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries,
he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.
What is this scripture telling us?
It's telling us when you sin willfully after you know the truth,
and even in specific in context it's talking about forsaking the assembly of yourselves together,
forsaking going to church, the Bible says there's no more sacrifice for sin.
You can't just say, "Oh God, you know, I know I should be in church,
but I'm not going to anyways, but just please bless my life anyways."
No. You know what you have waiting for you when you forsake the assembly of God,
a certain fiery looking for of indignation.
And later on in this chapter it says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
So you're going to wonder, you know, why am I having health problems?
Why am I not succeeding financially? Why am I not?
Why are my kids turning out wrong? Why is my marriage failing?
Why are all these things happening? Because God's not blessing you.
Because you know what's right, and He said you get in church
and you forsake the assembly of yourselves together as the manner of some is.
Jesus Christ purchased the church with His own blood.
He says if you knowingly, willfully sin against that, it's over.
You're in the wrath of God at that point. God's going to judge you.
When people despise Moses' law, when they knew what Moses preached and said,
"Yeah, I know that it's not lawful to pick up sticks on the Sabbath day."
Because the Sabbath day used to be a picture of rest. That's a different sermon.
And you pick it up anyways. What happened? They were killed on the spot
for despising the Word of God, for despising the law of God.
When you hear the preaching of God's Word, and you know what's right,
and you willingly decide, "I am not going to do what the Bible says,"
you will be judged by God. And when it happens, don't question it.
Don't wonder why it happened to you. Just remember these words.
It's because you despise the law of God, because you willingly
forsook the assembly of God, and that is what's going to happen to you.
So, you know, Psalm chapter 1 says,
You want to be blessed. You want to be blessed as a person.
You want to have everything you do prosper.
Well, you know what? You need to be in the Word of God every day.
You need to be around Christians. You need to be at church.
And then, whatsoever you do will prosper, the Bible says.
You know, so let this be said of you today in what's said in Psalm 122.1.
"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."
Let that be a true feeling in your heart that when it's time for church, you're glad to be there.
Okay, don't forsake the assembly.
So, number one, what's a church? It's a congregation of local believers exercising the Great Commission.
Number two, who has authority in the church? The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the pastor.
That is it. There's no other authority in the local church.
Number three, what should churches be doing? Preaching the gospel, getting people in church, teaching them all things whatsoever Christ commanded.
Number four, what will happen to a Christian that's not in church?
You know, God's going to judge you. God's going to take blessings from your life, and you're going to lose your rewards in the next life.
You won't lose your salvation. You can never lose your salvation.
But if you want to have rewards when you get to heaven, you need to be in church.
You need to be getting with the program of what the Lord Jesus Christ started here.
He said, "I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
So let's pray. Lord, thank you for this day and thank you for the doctrine.
Founding your word, thank you so much that we have a great church to go to here in Boise, Idaho.
I pray that no one would take it for granted.
I pray that people would take advantage of it, Lord, and that they would see the blessings of God in their life
by being in this church and learning the Word of God and starting to serve you with their lives.
I pray that you bless these people. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.