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Amen. Alright well I'd like to begin of course by first of all saying congratulations to the Verity Baptist Church Fresno family for one year of ministry and then of course I want to specifically say congratulations to brother Jared and Miss Heidi and the Pazarski family for the great work that they've done here over the last year and we appreciate them and thank you. Thank you very much for the gift. We weren't expecting that but it's very kind of you, very generous of you and I want to say of course thank you to everybody who came out today. It was a great crowd and thank you to all of you who came from Sacramento. We appreciate you being here and some of you came from different places, Southern California and other places and I appreciate you being here for this special day. If you look down at Ephesians chapter number 4 and I'd like you to look down at verse number 11. The Bible says this, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse number 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers and in verse 12 the Bible says this, for the perfecting of the saints. And I'd like you to notice the next few words. It says for the work of the ministry, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. When I think of the last year of Verity Baptist Church here in Fresno and I'm sure brother Jared and Miss Heidi would agree with this. I think of the work of the ministry. I think of starting a church. I think of the word work and I'm not saying that in a negative way. I know in our society today the word work is a four letter word but work is not a bad thing. And work isn't negative if you like to work and I will tell you this, the ministry is work. The Bible says the work of the ministry. My wife and I, over the last couple of weeks we've been a little nostalgic. I don't know if that's the right word but of course gearing up and getting ready for the one year anniversary here in Fresno. But in the next couple of weeks we'll actually be celebrating ten years of ministry in Sacramento. And over the last ten years the Lord has privileged us and allowed us to be a part and to be in charge of several church plans. In fact we've started, my wife and I, with the help of course of many godly people have started six churches in the last ten years. And of course ten years ago we started Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento. And several years ago we started Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington. And we started Shield of Faith Baptist Church in Boise, Idaho. And we started Verity Baptist Church in Manila, Philippines. We started here with Brother Jared and Miss Heidi Verity Baptist Church in Fresno. And we started Verity Baptist Church in Pampanga. So we've been, we're acquainted with what it means to start a church, what it means to go into a location where there is no church. I mean if you consider the fact that one year ago this did not exist. Yesterday Verity Baptist Church in Fresno hosted a soul winning marathon flawlessly with workers and organization and soul winners and all of that. And this did not exist one year ago today. So we're acquainted with what it means to go into an area where there is no church and to begin to put the work into starting a church. And when I think of church planning I think of the word work, the work of the ministry. It's work to start these churches. And this morning what I want to do is preach to you on the subject of the working church. And because the Lord has allowed us to start so many churches and many of these churches have been started as satellites which means that we've kept them for a couple of years. And after two years we make them independent Baptist churches. And the idea is that as long as Brother Jared doesn't, you know, have a breakdown and just mess it all up in the last three minutes before the two year anniversary. You know we'll ordain him and send him off to start a church to be the pastor of this church. And because we've had so many churches that we've had satellites over the years I've preached many one year anniversary sermons. I haven't preached a lot of three year anniversary sermons or four year anniversary sermons because by then they're independent and then their own church. But I've preached a lot of one year anniversary sermons and every time I come to this I think what do we need to preach? What can I talk about? What truth can we highlight for the one year anniversary? And today I want to speak on the subject of the working church. And I want to begin by giving you a definition of a church. Now you're there in Ephesians chapter 4. If you would go with me to the book of 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 3. If you find all the T books, they're all clustered together. 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus and find 1 Timothy chapter 3. Do me a favor when you get there, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it later on in the sermon. So I'd like you to be able to find it quickly. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and while you turn there I'll give you a definition for a church. This is the definition we use at our church when I speak to our church people about what a church is, what we believe a church is. And there's many definitions that people use but this is the one that we've came up with. We believe that a church is a local assembly of believers who have banded together under the leadership of a pastor for the purpose of fulfilling the great commission. If you say what is it that you started here one year ago today, it was we were starting a church which we wanted to be, which we have endeavored for it to be a local assembly of believers. Who have banded together under the leadership of a pastor for the purpose of fulfilling the great commission. And when we talk about the work of a church or the working church, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about fulfilling, we're talking about believers coming together under spiritual leadership to fulfill the great commission. I want to give you some thoughts in regards to this and if you're taking notes I'd encourage you to write some of these things down. Point number 1 this morning, I'd like you to consider first of all the work of the church, the work of the church. And what I mean by that is this, I believe many churches today are not working and I think part of the reason is because I think many churches today unfortunately do not even really understand what the work of a church is. What it is that a church has been given to do and I want you to understand when we started Verity Baptist Church, we did here in Fresno and Sacramento and every church we've ever started, we did not start this church with the intention of it being a social club. Now we realize that part of discipleship is fellowshipping and socializing and we hope that people do socialize and fellowship but that was not our intention. That is a byproduct or that is a part of it but that's not the reason we started the church. I'll say this, we did not start this church as a fan club for the new IFB. Now I realize that many of you listen to pastors from churches that are our friends and that we fellowship with and there's nothing in the world wrong with that. In fact we encourage that and we love that but this church was not meant to be a fan club and I'm glad it's not. It's not meant to be a social club and I'm glad it's not. It's really meant, it's gathered, it's purpose is to gather believers together for the work of the ministry, to get the work of God done on this earth. So what is the work of a church? What is it that a church is supposed to do? Well first of all I want you to notice that a church is to uphold truth. You're there in 1 Timothy 3, look down at verse number 15, 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15 the Bible says this, But if I tarry long, this is the apostle Paul of course speaking to Timothy, this is Paul training Timothy who is a young pastor training him for the ministry. He says but if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself, notice these words, in the house of God. In the house of God and of course in the New Testament this is the church of the living God. He says in the house of God which is the church of the living God. Do you understand that you are sitting in the house of God today? Not because of this building, not because of this location but because we are with the family of God. We are with the people of God and we are preaching the word of God. And we've got the Holy Spirit of God and we are in the house of God which is the church of the living God. And I want you to notice these words, he says the pillar and ground of the truth. Here the apostle Paul actually gives us one of the purposes or one of the works of the church. He says look the church is to be the pillar and the ground of the truth. Now when he says the ground there of course he's talking about the ground. He's talking about the foundation where you would place a pillar. What is a pillar? A pillar is defined as a tall vertical structure of stone, wood or metal used as a support for a building or as an ornament or monument. And of course during the time today you'll see buildings with pillars and they're only really there for ornament to make something look nice. But during the time of the apostle Paul they would build these buildings and the pillars were literally there to hold up the building. They were there to support the building and Paul takes that analogy and he says the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. What does that mean? It means that the church is to uphold the truth. The church is to be the ground, the foundation that we put a pillar on in order to uphold. You say what are we upholding? Are we upholding a roof? Are we upholding a ceiling? Are we upholding the top of a building? He says no. The purpose of a church is to uphold the truth. It's to hold up the truth. Go to the book of John if you would. John chapter number 17. You're there in 1 Timothy. Keep your place there. We're going to come back to it. Go to John chapter 17. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John chapter 17. And do me a favor. Put a ribbon or a bookmark or your finger there in John chapter 17 as well because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it as well. What is the truth? Well the Bible says this. Jesus said this. Sanctify them through thy truth. Then he said this. The word is truth. The word of God is truth. So the Bible says that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. And then the Bible tells us that the word of God is the truth. So what does that mean? That means that the church is to uphold the word of God. Why? Because the word of God is the truth. See, our job is to take the truth, which is the word of God, and to uphold it. Keep your place right there in John. Go back to 1 Timothy. But do me a favor. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4. If you consider the fact that Paul says, hey, the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Jesus said, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Then that would make sense why Paul would say in 2 Timothy chapter 4, again speaking to Timothy about the work of the ministry. Here's what he says. 2 Timothy chapter 4, look at verse 2. He says, preach the word. Now why would Paul say that? Paul says that because the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. And because the word of God is truth. So Paul says, look, your job as a church, Verity Baptist Church friends, no, Verity Baptist Church Sacramento, whatever Baptist Church you happen to be from, what is the job? What is the work of the church? What is something that the church is supposed to do? It's supposed to uphold the truth. How do we do that? By preaching the word. Preach the word. Now you say, well, doesn't every church preach the word? Well, Paul kind of deals with that because he says this. He says, preach the word. Then he says, be instant. He says, be instant. He says, be ready. He said, be instant means you have it now, right? It's like instant coffee. You don't have to wait for it. It's instant, right? He says, be instant. He said, I want you to be ready. He says, in season, out of season. Now why would he say that? He says that because of the fact that there are times when the word of God is popular and there are times when the word of God is not. And by the way, I would submit to you this morning that we are living at a time when the word of God is not popular. He says, be instant in season, out of season. He says, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Why would he say this? Notice verse 3. He says, for the time will come. And I would say to you, the time is here when they will not endure sound doctrine. Please understand something. You say, what's the work of the ministry? What's the work of every Baptist church? What's the work of a church? What is a church supposed to do? Please understand this. The work of the local New Testament church is to uphold, is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. And I would submit to you this morning that we are really the last man standing when it comes to the truth. I mean, I don't know where you could go in society today to get the truth. I'm talking about the truth of the word of God. I'm talking about the truth that comes from God. You can't get it from government. You're not going to get it from the public school system. You're not going to get it from public education systems. You're not going to get it from most churches. Most churches today have decided that they're not going to be instant, that they're not going to preach the word in season, out of season. They're only going to preach the word in season. They're only going to preach what's popular. They're only going to preach what's acceptable. They're going to preach every day, all day, about love thy neighbor, about the prodigal son, and about the good Samaritan, and all those things are good things. But you know what, there's parts of the Bible that aren't popular. But they're still true. Genesis 19 is true. Romans chapter 1 is true. And he says, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. He says they're going to look for teachers that are going to make them feel good. They're not going to look for teachers, like he said in verse 2, that are going to reprove them and rebuke them and exhort them. They're just going to look for preachers that are going to make them feel good. This is why Joel Osteen is so popular today. This is why preachers that refuse to preach the word of God are so popular. He says they're going to, after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Notice verse 4, And they shall turn away. They're not going to want to hear. Notice, their ears from, notice, the truth. They're going to turn away their ears from the truth, but yet our job is to be the pillar and ground of the truth and shall be turned unto fables. So please understand, you say, What is the work of Verity Baptist Church? What is the purpose of a church? The purpose of a church, the work of a church is, number one, to uphold the truth. Whether that's popular or not. Whether people like it or not. Look, we need to get up and preach things that are true from the word of God, whether people like it or not. And I would submit to you this morning that there are lots of things the Bible teaches that people don't want to hear. You know the Bible teaches that you shouldn't drink alcohol? Yeah, that's not popular today. You're not going to hear that preached in the average church today. You say, well, why would you preach that at Verity Baptist Church? Because we're going to uphold the truth. You know the Bible teaches against divorce? Yeah, you'll never hear that today from the average pulpit in America. But yet this is what the Bible teaches, so we're going to preach it. You know the Bible teaches against fornication, against young people having a physical relationship, going to bed together before they're married? That is a biblical truth that the Bible teaches. You're not going to hear it today. You're not going to hear preached against the sodomites, homosexuality, that the Bible says that they are worthy of death. You're not going to hear Leviticus 19 preached. You're not going to hear Genesis 19 and Judges 19, Leviticus 18. You're not going to hear these passages preached today because they are not popular. But please understand, our job is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. And our goal really, and I'll just tell you right now, we've never hit this, our goal is to start as many churches in this country and specifically in this state as possible that will uphold the truth. I mean, I don't know what the impact is and we may have to get to heaven to realize what the impact is. I know for a fact our church in Sacramento has made an impact. And we're not famous but we're infamous and we don't have a lot of fans but we have a lot of enemies. And we've made an impact and this church is making an impact. And the six churches that I've talked about, and those aren't the only six churches. Those are the six churches we've started. There are other churches like ours that have started churches. Here's what I'm telling you. Could you imagine the day? Could you imagine the impact that would happen in the state of California if this church started another church and we started another church? I mean, imagine what would happen if one day there were ten churches like ours up and down this coast. Twenty churches like ours up and down this coast. Thirty churches like ours up and down this coast. I mean, I'm only 34 years old. If the Lord allows me to minister until I'm 70 years old, you're going to be stuck with me for a long time. And you're going to hear a lot of one-year anniversary sermons, Lord willing. And we're going to start churches and we're going to plant churches. And you say, why are you going to do it? We're going to do it for the work of the church, for the work of the ministry. You say, what is that? It's to uphold the truth. It's to make sure that the truth of God's word, because today you can't find the truth anywhere. We are the last man standing when it comes to the truth. We're the last man standing when it comes to preaching the word of God and to preaching it in season, out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all longsuffering. Because the time has come. So what is the work of the church? Well, the work of the church is number one, to uphold the truth. I think you notice secondly, when it comes to the work of the church, go with me to the book of 2 Corinthians, if you would. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, you're there in the book of John. If you kept your place in John, you have John, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians. John, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians. I want you to notice something, and this is something we talk about a lot. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 19, the Bible says this, To it that God was in Christ, notice these words, reconciling the world unto himself. God was in Christ, the Bible says, In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. God came to this earth in flesh, robed in flesh. He was in Christ, why did he come? Jesus said to seek and to save that which was lost. Reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed, notice, notice these words, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. He's given us, he's entrusted us, he's given us a responsibility of the word of reconciliation. What is the word of reconciliation? Well, it's what Christ was doing on this earth. He was reconciling the world unto himself, reconciling the world unto God. He's given us the ministry of reconciliation to find unbelievers and reconcile them unto God. Notice verse 20, he says, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. That's what he means. When we talk about being ambassadors for Christ, it means that we are representatives of Christ. We are here as representatives, in the same way that an ambassador is a representative of a nation, or a kingdom, or a president, or a king. We are ambassadors of Christ, notice, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in, I love these words, in fact, if you don't mind underlining your Bible, you should underline these words. In Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God. Do you know that when you go out soul winning, you are an ambassador for Christ, and you are there in Christ's stead? I mean, literally, when you and I knock that door, and we shouldn't say this, and please don't say this because this is weird, okay? And sometimes people say weird things out of soul winning. But when you and I knock that door, we could say, when somebody opens the door, is say, Hi, I'm an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and I'm actually here in Christ's stead. Christ sent me in his place to be an ambassador and a representative, and I'm not telling you to say that at the door, please don't say that. In fact, if you say that, we're probably going to ask you to stop saying that. But what I'm saying is, that's the truth. By the way, I'll say this, if you realize that you are an ambassador for Christ when you're out soul winning, it'll probably change the way you do soul winning. You'll probably stop having such a bad attitude when you're out soul winning if you realize I'm here in Christ's stead. You might actually start dressing differently when you're out soul winning. You might start actually smiling when you're out soul winning. You might actually start carrying a Bible when you're out soul winning if you realize I'm not here on my own and for myself. I'm here in Christ's stead. I'm an ambassador for Christ. Notice verse 20. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you. Notice the words, by us. When we are beseeching people to get saved, it is as though God is doing it by us and through us. We pray you, in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. Now go to the book of Genesis if you would. Genesis chapter number 28 in the Old Testament. First book of the Bible, Genesis chapter 28. Let me give you the second work of the church. What is the work of the church? Well, first of all, the work of the church is to uphold the truth. It is the pillar and ground of the truth. But secondly, I would say this. The work of the church is this. If we as believers are ambassadors, then that would make the church the embassy. And really, a church is an embassy for the kingdom of God. Just like embassies on different nations will have an embassy for the United States of America on a foreign nation, on a foreign land. And what is the purpose of the embassy? It is to represent that nation, the United States of America, in England, in wherever that country may be. In the same way, this church, this church and every Baptist, biblical, scriptural, bonafide church is an embassy for the kingdom of God. Now, if you remember we saw in 2 Timothy, excuse me, 1 Timothy, where Paul said, the church of the living God, he said, He said that thou mayest know how thou art is to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. He said the house of God is the church of the living God. Now, we understand that's New Testament. In the Old Testament, there was a house of God, and I don't have time to preach that or explain that, but you have the house of God in the Old Testament, which was at one time the tabernacle, and then it was the temple, and today as New Testament believers, we are the temple. Our body is the temple, so now the gathering of believers is the house of God. But I want you to notice, one of the first times, in fact the first time in the Bible, this idea of the house of God was referenced is in Genesis 28, and I want you to notice verse number 11. Genesis 28, verse number 11, this is of course Jacob, and I want you to notice what the Bible says, he has this experience, Genesis 28 verse 11, the Bible says this, And he, Jacob, lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, this is of course, remember Jacob, he's running away from home, and he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set, and he took the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in the place to sleep, so he picked some stones up, and uses them as a pillow, not a very comfy pillow I don't think, but that's what he used, look at verse 12, And he dreamed and behold a ladder, and of course a famous passage known as Jacob's ladder, He dreamed and behold a ladder, set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. So Jacob, he finds a certain place, he lays down to sleep, and he has a dream, and he dreams, he has this vision that there is a ladder from where he is that reaches up to heaven, and the angels of God are ascending and descending, there is this bridge, there is this opening that connects heaven and earth where he is at, and of course God gives him here the Abrahamic covenant, and it comes down from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, and we understand those things, but look down at verse number 16, the Bible says this, And Jacob awake out of his sleep, and he said, notice what he said, He said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Then he says this, and he was afraid, and said, how dreadful is this place? Notice what he says, he says, this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. He said, I'm not sure where I'm at, but this has to be the house of God, this has to be the gate of heaven, because this is where God is working from heaven. He says there is this ladder that goes up and down, and the angels of God, and God is working through this place. Notice verse 22, he says, And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. And what we learn is this principle, that where Jacob had set this stone, that was the house of God, and the house of God, why was it the house of God? Because that's where God was working, because Jacob said he had a vision, and he saw a ladder where God was sending angels up and down, ascending and descending, and Jacob said, I didn't realize it, but this is actually where God is, this is where God is working. He says this is the house of God, and then eventually when Moses would come along, Moses would build a tabernacle, and they would call that the house of God. Why would he call it the house of God? Because that's where God worked, and you had the Holy of Holies, you had the Ark of the Covenant that represented the presence of God, and eventually the tabernacle would be turned into a temple, and they would call that the house of God. Why? Because the Holy of Holies, because of the Ark of the Covenant, because of the presence of God was there, and then in the New Testament, your body and my body would become the temple of the Holy Ghost, and God would reside in us through the person of the Holy Spirit, and we would join together, and God would call that the house of God, and you say, well pastor, what is it that you're trying to explain to us? I'm trying to explain to you this. God does His work today through the house of God. He's always done His work through the house of God. The house of God is an embassy for the kingdom of God. I would tell you this morning, you may not know it, but the Lord is here. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. Surely God is working in this place. I believe that there is a, spiritually speaking, there is a gate from this place, from this location. You say this location next to the Chinese restaurant and the Japanese restaurant. It's not about this location, it's about you. When you and I decided to gather together here, God sent and placed an embassy in Fresno, California for His kingdom called Verity Baptist Church. The work of God, please understand this, the work of God is done through the house of God. God does His work on this earth through the local New Testament church. God does not work through Bible colleges. Jesus never said, I'm the head of a Bible college. And by the way, God, Jesus never said, I'm the head of a YouTube channel. Now I'm not against YouTube channels and we have YouTube channels and as long as they're done under the ministry of a local New Testament church, there's nothing wrong with that. But Jesus never said, I'm the head of a YouTube channel. Jesus never said, I'm the head of a Bible college. Jesus never said, I'm the head of a parachurch organization. Jesus said, I'm the head of the church and the work of God on this earth is done through the church. He said, well, in this one year anniversary, why are you preaching about this? Because I want you to understand, what did we start here one year ago? We started a church. Why? For the work of the ministry. Well, what's the work? The work is to uphold the truth and the work is to be an embassy for Jesus Christ, for the kingdom of Christ. We are here to represent and do the work of God. God does His work through the local New Testament church and God, by the way, only does His work through a local New Testament church. You say, well, I watch sermons online and I don't go to church, but I watch sermons online. Well, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but please understand something. You're not involved in the work of God. God does His work through His house. God does His work through the local New Testament church. Why do we start local New Testament churches? Because of the fact that the work of God is done on this earth. The embassy of God is in the local New Testament church. And what we're trying to do is start to open as many embassies as possible. Set up as many gates as possible between heaven and earth on this earth. In Sacramento and in Fresno and one day in San Jose and one day in Oakland and one day in Redding and one day in Reno and one day wherever the Lord allows us to do it. Why? Because the work of God, the work of God is to uphold the truth and the work of God is to represent God on this earth as ambassadors. So I said, number one, I'd like you to consider the work of God, but secondly, this morning I'd like you to consider the working of the church. Now we already saw in Ephesians this phrase, the work of the ministry. Go read the book of Hebrews if you would. If you get your place in 1 Timothy, excuse me, if you get your place in 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy, you'll go past Titus, Philemon into the book of Hebrews. I hope it's clear, the work of God. So what is the church trying to accomplish? What is it trying to accomplish? I hope you're listening in the last 10 minutes. We're upholding the truth whether it's popular or not and we're representing Jesus Christ on this earth. You can call it whatever you want. You can define it, I've defined it for our church this way. Our goal, our purpose at Verity Baptist Church is to reach people and teach people. We are reaching people with the gospel, that's the embassy, ambassador part of our job and we are teaching people the word of God, that is the upholding of the truth of God. Everything we do at Verity Baptist Church falls under these two categories, reaching people or teaching people. We're either reaching people with the gospel or we're teaching people we've already reached with the gospel but that is the work of the church. But I'd like you to notice secondly, not only do we understand the work of the church but we must understand the working of a church. Because I don't know if you know this but work requires labor, I'm sure you know that. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10, notice what the Bible says. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10, the Bible says, For God is not unrighteous to forget your, I want you to notice these three words, work and labor. He says, For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love. And by the way, I will say this, that is what the ministry is, it is a work and labor of love. In fact, I was just reading a book recently, it was a secular book about leadership. They were talking about the fact that when you find your passion, and again this is secular terminology, it's just a secular book about business. They were talking about the fact that when you find your passion, it's actually something that you would do even just for free. You'd just do it just because you love to do it. And eventually in this book about business and how to start a secular, not church related or spiritual, just starting businesses, and I like to read business books and there's a lot of things that we can apply to our church life. And it was talking about eventually if you find a passion, something you're willing to do for free, and you do it long enough and well enough, eventually people actually start paying you to do it. And excuse me, and I hope this is not inappropriate for me to say, but I thought about the ministry. So Jared hasn't received one cent, one paycheck from Verity Baptist Church. He works a full time job, preaching Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, leading soul winning two times a week, having the fellowship and the activities and all those things. You say, what is it? It is a work and labor of love. Ms. Heidi is doing a work and a labor of love. The first three and a half, four years of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, I worked a full time job while doing everything that we did at church and running a church and growing a church, having buildings and all those things. You say, what was it? It was the work and the labor of love. The truth is that, and hopefully this doesn't get out too much to our church family, the truth is that I do what I'm doing, I do it if they paid me or not. In fact, I did it when they paid me, when they didn't pay me. Now don't tell them that, okay, because they might say, well if you do it for free, then maybe we should just get it for free. And I would say this, you get what you pay for too, so be careful with that. But he says, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name and that ye have ministered to the saints and do ministry. He said, look, you have shewed your work and labor of love. He says, which ye have shewed toward his name and that ye have ministered to the saints. You know when we minister to the saints, we don't do it for the saints, we do it for Jesus? When we minister to others, we do it in Christ's name. But I want you to notice these words, work and labor, work and labor. And you might think, well that's kind of redundant, aren't work and labor the same thing? And they're very closely tied together and in some ways they definitely could mean the same thing. But I want you to notice the Bible sometimes makes this distinction between work and labor, work and labor. Go to the book of Revelation if you would, Revelation chapter 14. Now I want you to consider this idea, the difference between work and labor. Revelation chapter 14, look at verse 13. Revelation chapter 14 and verse 13, the Bible says this, And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, right blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. And of course this is end times prophecy. Notice what the Bible says, Yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest, notice what the Bible says, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. He says that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. And of course it's talking about the fact that these people died in the Lord and they can rest from working, from their labor. But then the Bible says their works do follow them. And in the Bible there's this idea that there is a difference between labor and work. And again I don't think it's something we should argue about or split hairs over because the words can be used synonymously. But when God puts them side by side, He says work and labor. Or He says they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. And I believe that God is trying to show us something that there is a difference between these two words. And I think He's trying to emphasize something. I'd like to share this with you. You say what is the difference between work and labor? And again because we're coming up on our 10 year anniversary, my wife and I have been reminiscing a little bit about the last 10 years. And we've been talking about things that happened when we started the church in 2010 and things that took place in 2011 and things that took place in 2012 and things that took place in 2013. We've been thinking about the different buildings we were in and at different buildings even just on the way down to Fresno we were talking about, yeah, in this building is when Brother Graham came and in this building is when Brother Joel and Miss Courtney came. And in this building is when, you know, and in the house is when Brother Ron and Miss Beulah and Miss Cricket and Brother Ray and Miss Denise and all, you know. And I'm going to forget somebody. I shouldn't start mentioning names. But Brother Daryl, you know, they came while we were in the house and we were just kind of talking about these things. And one thing that we've done at Very Baptist Church, we've been in four buildings, one we got kicked out of, kind of, not kicked out of but, you know, they didn't want us there anymore. Not because we didn't pay our bills. We always pay our bills. But we've had four buildings and three of the four buildings we had to remodel. The first building, the second building, the building we're currently in, when we got the buildings they were not ready to meet in so there was a time and a season when we had to go in and clean them up. And really the building we're in right now, really from top to bottom, I mean from the carpet all the way up to the ceiling tiles where everything was redone. And fresh paint and walls came down and things got opened up and a lot of labor went into it. And you said, what's the difference between work and labor? Well, if you were to come to our building when we first got it and saw the mess that it was, it had been vacant for ten years and it needed to be cleaned up and a lot of work. And you would have seen it a month later when we were done. What you would be witnessing, in fact, if you went to Verity Baptist Church Sacramento, you would walk into what I think is a very beautiful building. Beautifully decorated and, you know, we've done the best we can with what we have. And you would walk in and you would say, wow, and I could show you a picture of what it used to look like and you'd see the difference. And what you would be looking at, what you would be attesting to is the work. This is the work. Look at the work that we did. It didn't used to look like this. This wall wasn't here and this carpet was a different color and the ceiling tiles were all old and we replaced all those ceiling tiles. We had to put new rails in and we did all this and we cleaned it up. You would look at the work, but what you would not see is the labor. See, the labor was the one month when literally, you know, dozens of men from our church came in Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday. Hours upon hours every day just volunteering their time to come and help clean up and help demolish and help build up. See, what you would see at the end is the work, but then there's labor that goes along with it. And see, the truth is this, when we have events like this, when we have events like the one year anniversary or the ten year anniversary of a church, we all watch and we testify and we're amazed at the work that God has done. Look at the work that God has done. Look at what God has done here for the last year. Look at what God has done in Sacramento for the last ten years. And really, it could be applied to family. Husband and wife get to the place where they've raised their children. Their children are married and maybe, Lord willing, serving the Lord and all their kids are grown adults and they're married and they're serving the Lord. And you might look at those parents and say, man, great done. Look at the work that you've done. But please understand, there's the work that gets done that everybody wants. Everybody wants to raise children that serve God. Everybody wants to pastor a church that's reaching people, that has a soul winning army that's going on. Everybody wants to have a big conference with all sorts of preachers coming in and people coming from all over the country. Everyone wants to see the work, but please understand, to get the work, there's a lot of labor that goes into it. So you say, we've got a beautiful building, but there's a lot of labor that was done in order to do the building. And please understand this, the work of the church must be done, but please understand, it requires labor. It requires men and women getting up and standing up and saying, we are here to work. We are here to labor. We'll put the hours in. We'll work. We'll knock doors. We'll clean buildings. We'll do what needs to be done so that the work of God can be done. See, we all want the work of God to be done. We all want God's work. Look at God's work, what God has done in Sacramento over the last 10 years. But please understand this, over the last 10 years, there was a lot of labor that went into that work. A lot of toil. A lot of long hours. I'm not talking about just me and my wife. I'm talking about our church family has labored. We've labored together. You say, what are we doing here? Please understand this. We want to do the work of a church to uphold the truth, to be an embassy, to be a light in a dark world. But please understand this, Verity Baptist Church, Fresno, it will require labor. And Lord willing, 10 years from now, Lord willing, one year from now, I'll ordain brother Jared and say, stop calling me. Of course not. And Lord willing, he'll invite me out to preach every once in a while and we'll come and kind of... But you know, at that point when we cut the umbilical cord and we'll move on to start some other church somewhere else. And you guys will keep on without us and hopefully we'll all come back to a 10 year anniversary one day and say, wow, look at what the Lord has done. But never forget that there was years and years and years and years and years of labor. Oh, what a beautiful building. Yeah, but there was a whole month's worth of labor. See, he says, they rest from their labors and their works do follow them. One day, I believe that I and my wife and all of you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And God will reward us based on our works. I was very clear about that. He will reward us based on the works that we did. He'll look at what we produced and say, here are your works and I'm going to reward you based on those works. But please, please get this. You can't get the works without the labor. It's labor. You want to go into ministry? It's labor. Please don't look at the red hot preaching government and say, oh, that's what I want. I want ministry. That is one hour in one week that a half, you know, one sermon you get to preach once a year to 400 people. And then there's 52 weeks of labor, of meeting with people, of counseling with people, of visiting people, of hospital visits, of phone calls, of labor. And here's what I'm telling you. You want the work? I hope you do, but it requires labor. See, we must not only understand the work of the church. What's the work? To uphold the truth, to be an embassy. But we must understand the working of a church and the working of the church requires labor. Go to Proverbs chapter 14 if you would. If you open up your Bible just right in the center, more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 14. Work requires labor. Work requires labor. Pastor, I want to get married and have a wife or have a husband and our marriage is going to honor the Lord. And we're going to, you know, be married and till death do us part and we're going to come to the end of our ministry. Happy, you are of our marriage, happy and in love with each other and I hope you do that and I hope you accomplish that. And I hope you get that work done but realize that work, that work requires labor. A lot of labor that goes into a good marriage. A lot of labor that goes into being a good husband. A lot of labor that goes into being a good wife. You can't say, oh, I want to have a great marriage and I want to, you know, have kids and raise them for the glory of God. But I'm just going to go hang out with my buddies every week and not pay attention to my wife and not spend any time with my kids. Hey, you got to put the labor in if you want the work. I want to be able to pastor a church one day and we're going to reach people. Hey, I hope you do. We want you to go into ministry and if you need somewhere to go you just let me know and I'll find you somewhere to serve. One day you get married and of course meet all those qualifications. But the point is this, there's a work but labor goes into it. There's an end but a lot of labor goes into it. See, work requires labor but I would say this, secondly, work results in inconvenience. Proverbs 14, are you there? Look at verse 4. The Bible says this, where no oxen are, the crib is clean. If you have a baby, you know that's true. I mean this verse could say where no babies are, the crib is clean. We don't use cribs but it works. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. Notice but much increase is by the strength of the ox. And this is of course a proverb. It's a saying, it's a physical earthly saying that has a spiritual truth. And here's what the proverb is teaching. It's a saying, if you don't have an ox, if you don't have an ox, then there's not a lot of labor that goes into cleaning the crib. Because cribs stay clean. You know, the stall where you put the oxen, they stay pretty clean if you don't put an ox in it. If you don't have an ox in the crib, you never have to go get a shovel and pick up what comes out of the ox. If you don't have an ox in the crib, you never have to go and feed the ox and make sure it's fed. See, you say, my goal is to have a nice crib. No problem, just don't put an ox in it. You say, well, yeah, but the thing is, but much increase is by the strength of the ox. See the farmer would say, well, I need the ox, I need the ox to work the field. I need the ox to get the harvest. I need the labor of the ox to get the work of the harvest that I require. You say, okay, well, you need an ox? Well, then just realize you're going to have to clean up the crib. I need an ox. Okay, well, realize that you're going to have to pick up after the ox. There's going to be things that come out of the ox and you're going to have to grab a shovel and shovel it up. I need the ox. Okay, well, realize you're going to have to feed the ox. You're going to have to care for the ox. Here's what he's saying. He's saying, look, you want to get something done, please understand. People say, oh, man, one day, Verity Baptist Church is amazing, you know, and Verity Baptist Church is amazing. And I'm not saying that because I'm a part of it or my wife's part of it. The Lord has done a great work and many of you have been a part of it and I'm thankful for that. But people sometimes look at our church and say, man, you guys have 90 soul winners, almost 100 soul winners out every week knocking doors. I mean, a soul winning army, a soul winning machine. Let me tell you something, a lot of labor goes into getting 100 soul winners motivated and mobilized to go soul winning. Someone has to figure out where they're going to go. Somebody has to get the maps ready. Somebody has to print the map. Somebody has to get the bottled waters ready because they're 109 degrees outside and we don't want people passing out. Somebody has to preach a soul winning challenge in the morning and somebody has to lead the song at the soul winning meeting and somebody has to train the soul winners and write a soul winning seminar and write the soul winning curriculum and here's what I'm telling you. Hey, you say, that's a lot of work. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. But if you want an ox, just realize it's going to be inconvenience. I want to have a church that's full with people. We're going to reach people and I hope this church one day is just packed with people. But please understand, when this church is packed with people, someone's going to have to clean the building. I don't want to have to clean the building. Well, then don't get an ox. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, the Bible says. I want to have children but I want my house to always be, you know, guest ready. Well, don't have children. By the way, let me just give you a tip, okay? Please don't just show up at somebody's house who has like six kids, okay? Sometimes you have these people that are like, they have no kids or they have no kids in their house for like 20 years and they're like, Oh, we just showed up on a... We have six kids. You think our house is just going to be ready for you to come in? Good night. We got six kids with little ones and my wife does a wonderful job at keeping up after the house but there's only so much you can do with little ones. I want to clean the house. Well, don't have kids. I want to have a church where there's no problems, where nobody ever argues or fights and there's no strife. Okay, you can have that. Just have no people. I mean, the thing about ministry is this, that people bring problems. I mean, I hope it's okay for me to say that and I hope you understand my heart. I'm not saying that in a negative way but, you know, the more people you have, the more problems you have. You say, okay, well, then I just won't have any people. That's another problem. You either have the problem of not having people or you have the problem of having too many people but the point is this, where no oxen are, the crib is clean. But if you need the ox, if you want to work the ox, if you want to get the increase that the ox provides... See, when we started Verdi Baptition in Sacramento, what we started, what we got is we brought a big old ox into Sacramento to begin to plow the ground, to begin to have a harvest of soil. We've got an ox of a machine called Verdi Baptist Church in Sacramento that's just working that field in Sacramento. Then we went and got another ox and we put it in Vancouver, Washington and it started plowing the field there and it started having a harvest there and it started having an increase. Then we went and got another ox and we put it in Boise, Idaho and it started plowing the field there and it started working there and it started upholding the truth there and it started preaching the gospel there. Then we got another ox and shipped it out to Manila, Philippines and it started working there. Then we got another ox and we put it here in Fresno, California and we began to work the field, 228 salvations. Why? Because there's an ox that's working but understand this, with the ox comes inconvenience because we're no oxen are the crib is clean. And you say, okay pastor, so what do we do? Because if we have the ox and the crib is dirty and if we don't have the ox, the crib is clean but then we have another problem because we don't have an ox. So what do we do? Let me give you my pastor advice. What we decided to do at Verdi Baptist Church. We're going to keep the ox and we're going to clean the crib. We're going to keep the ox, we're going to keep the preaching and the soul winning going and then we're going to do whatever we need to do to get that machine rolling. And if it means organizing, if it means reorganizing, if it means starting ministries, if it means setting up cleaning crews, if it means whatever it means, we're going to keep the ox, we're going to clean the crib and we're going to do the work of the ministry and we're going to realize that the work requires labor. The work requires work because work requires labor and work requires inconvenience. Go to Matthew chapter 9 if you would, New Testament, I've got to finish this up. Matthew chapter 9, we're talking about the working church. We began by talking about the work of the church. What is it to uphold the truth to be an embassy? And then we talked about the working of the church. What is it? Work requires labor. One year later, you can look at the work that has been done but there's been one year of labor and labor requires inconvenience. Where no ox and no other crib is clean, it's true. But if you need an ox, then you better just decide we're going to keep the ox and we're going to clean the crib. I'd like you to notice thirdly this morning, the workers of the church. First of all, and you know this verse but please understand this, I want you to notice that the labors are few. Matthew 9, look at verse 36. But when he, this is Jesus, saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, notice what it says, the harvest, notice what Jesus said, the harvest truly is plenteous. Please understand this, the problem is not with the harvest. Sometimes churches, sometimes pastors, look I'm a, I know pastors, I are one. Sometimes we like to blame our failures on the harvest. Well I, you know, it'd be easy for me, well I live in California so I can't reach people in California as most liberals say in the union. I could say that but the truth is this, we can get people saved in Sacramento, you can get people saved in Fresno, you can get people saved in LA. And by the way, you can get people saved and you can get people in church and you can get them baptized and you can teach them the Bible and they'll become fundamental Baptists. And they'll change their lives. And men will start being the husbands that God has called them to be and they'll start leading their wives and wives and husbands will start raising their children the way that God called them to and they'll get involved. Look, you can do, the problem is not the harvest. There's nothing wrong with the harvest. There's enough people in Fresno, there's enough people in Sacramento, there's enough people up and down the state for us to reach people and do the work of the ministry. Jesus said, the harvest truly is plenteous. Nothing wrong with the harvest. You say, well why is the work not getting done? Here's why. But the labors are few. If the work's not getting done, it's not the harvest's fault, it's the labor's fault. The harvest truly is plenteous but the labors are few. So Jesus says this, he says, pray ye therefore, and this has been my prayer for the last ten years at Barry Baptist Church. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he was sent forth labors into his harvest. I remember maybe a year or so, honestly it was probably three months, it was probably six months into our ministry. It felt like three years. But I remember being several weeks into our ministry and being kind of discouraged because nobody was really going soul winning. And of course my wife and I were soul winning and people that were already soul winners but as far as like new converts that were coming into church, we were probably six months old, eight months old. I mean really fresh and we started with just a handful of people. I mean we started in a living room. It wasn't a startup like the startups that we're seeing today with the structure and all those things. And I remember being really just kind of discouraged. I remember talking to Pastor Anderson on the phone and saying like, I just hope that one day somebody will just come soul winning from our church. I remember him encouraging me and saying, just keep preaching on soul winning and they'll eventually come. You know but Jesus said, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he was sent forth labors into his harvest. I remember praying, Lord will you send us, will you send us labors? And God eventually did. We started having people come out as soul winners. We started having two or three, we started having a group of five soul winners. And when we got five soul winners, I said, Lord you know you had 12. Could you send us 12? And eventually we had 12 soul winners out every week and after that I said, well Lord you know eventually you had 70. So can we get to 70? You know and it took years but eventually we got to 70 and right now we have about 90 and now I'm saying, well Lord you know in the upper room there's 120. So you know and when we get to 120, I'm just going to keep praying. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he was sent forth labors into his harvest. Because look, the problem is not with the harvest. The harvest truly is plenteous but the labors are few. The workers of the church are needed because the labors are few. But I want you to notice what kind of labors are needed. Go to Romans chapter 16 if you would. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. We're going to go to Romans, 1 Corinthians and John and we'll finish up. Romans, 1 Corinthians, John, Romans chapter 16. What kind of labors are needed? What kind of labors are needed? Romans 16, look at verse 1. Paul says this, I commend unto you Phoebe our sister. And the apostle Paul all throughout his epistles would be constantly name dropping, giving thanks to people that had came along and helped him in the ministry. He says, I commend unto you Phoebe our sister. He says this, which is a servant of the church. I love that. A servant of the church which is at Synchrea. Go to 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. In our church in Sacramento, we have a lot of great families. A lot of great families. A lot of hard working people. I mean they work hard, they're generous, they're just out, you know. Like brother Jared, I think to myself, I don't know how I got here. You know, I know I didn't get myself there. Somebody told a story one time, but they're walking by a fence and they saw a turtle on the fence post just up there. And he said, you know, something I can tell you about that turtle is I don't know how he got there, but he didn't get there on his own. And sometimes it's what I feel like in the ministry, you know. I don't know how we got here, but I know we didn't get here on our own. We've had help. We've had people come alongside us and help us and partner with us and be co-laborers and be fellow prisoners and be fellow workers in the ministry. 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 15, the Bible says this, I beseech you brethren, you know the house of Stephanus, that it is the firstfruits of IKI. Firstfruits meaning some of the first people they'd reach. Some of you here at Verity Baptist Church Fresno, you are the firstfruits of Verity Baptist Church Fresno. And he says, you know the house of Stephanus, that it is the firstfruits of IKI, he says and that they have, notice these words, addicted themselves to the ministry. Addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. You know we have enough people addicted to alcohol. We have enough people addicted to prescription drugs. We have enough people addicted to marijuana. We have enough people addicted to heroin. You say, what do we need? We need people, some people get addicted to the ministry of the saints. He says that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Notice verse 16, that ye submit yourselves unto such and to everyone that, notice, helpeth with us and, here's our word, laboring. You say, what do we need? We need labors. I mean really, we are starting churches. We are church planters. We are starting churches, why? For the work of the ministry. What's the work of the church? To uphold the truth and to be an embassy. To send ambassadors into a community that represent the Lord Jesus Christ. To reach people and teach people. To fulfill the gospel. A local assembly of believers that abandoned themselves together under the leadership of a pastor for the purpose of fulfilling the great commission. That's what we're doing. That's the work. But the working, please understand, the work requires labor. Labor requires inconvenience. So what do we need? We need labors. Nothing wrong with the harvest. What's wrong? The reason the work is not getting done is because of the labors. What does the very Baptist church, Fresno, need? It needs labors. What does the very Baptist church, Sacramento, need? It needs labors. What does every Baptist church in this world, every scriptural church in this world, we need labors. We need people that will say, hey, you know what, I'm all in. And look, you have that. And over the last year, Brother Jared and Miss Heidi have done a good job at developing that. And you've got a church that's working and working together, striving together for the faith of the gospel. And we appreciate that, but you know what, now you say, we got an ox. Okay, well let's get the ox bigger. Let's do more. Let's accomplish more. Let's reach more people. Let's do something big for God. How do we do that? We do that with labors. We need labors. What do we need? We need people who, like Paul said, who will say, Christ who is my life. We need people that will say, church is not just something I do on Sunday, church is my life. I'm a servant of the church. I'm addicted to the ministry. It's the work of God. I'm a worker of God. I'm in this thing to win it, to be involved, to be engaged. The Bible says, whatever the hand finds to do, do it with all I might. Go to John chapter 9, if you would, we'll finish up. John chapter 9. So I want to commend Verity Baptist Church of Fresno this morning for the work that you've done. And I want to acknowledge that there's a lot of labor that went into that work that none of us, if we haven't been here, we have not seen. But I want to also challenge you to realize that the work is not done. We have not even begun to fight. We have not even begun to work. There's more that needs to be accomplished. There's more that needs to be done. Jesus said this, notice the obligation of work. John chapter 9 verse 4. He says, I must work the works of him that sent me. Would to God we'd have churches filled with men and women that would say, I must work the works of him that sent me. You say, why? Because there's not only an obligation to work, but there's an opportunity to work and the opportunity is running out. He says, while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. And here's the truth. Time's running out. Like I said, I'm a young man. I think I'm a young man. Don't look at all my white hairs. That's not due to my age. That's due to the stress of the people in ministry. You know, I'm not that old. But I'm coming up on 10 years of ministry and I'm kind of looking back at the last 10 years and thinking, and thanking the Lord for what the Lord has done. But also realizing that there's much more that could have been done. And it's not God's fault. It's my fault. I don't want to waste the next 10 years. And you say, yeah, you're only 34. But you know, decades, somebody said this, the Christian life is measured in decades. Decades? You don't get many of those. Pastor, you've been pastoring for 10 years. You know, I don't want to talk about how long that I've been pastoring for 10 years. I want to be able to talk about how many decades I've been pastoring for one day. I've been pastoring for two decades. I've been pastoring for three decades. I've been pastoring for four decades. And the truth is this, time is running out. Jesus said, I must do the works of him that sent me. Why? While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. And what we're going to do, we must do now. Look, the time is urgent, especially those of you with children. If you're going to raise your children right, if you're going to teach your children right, if you're going to disciple your children, if you're going to have Bible time with your children, if you're going to pray with your children, if you're going to correct your children, you need to do it now. You know, time is running out. I'm going to have a good marriage one day. No, you need to have a good marriage now. I'm going to be a soul winner one day. No, you need to be a soul winner now. I'm going to show up to Sunday night church someday or show up to Wednesday night church someday. No, you need to do it now. One day I'm going to quit my job and I'm going to get a job that's going to allow me to get involved in church. No, you need to get a job that's going to allow you to get involved in church now. While it is day, because the night cometh when no man can work. So why did we start this church? Not as a social club, not as a fan club. This is the working church. This is a working church accomplishing the work of the ministry. This is the working church.