I just want to, before we get
into it, remind everybody watching by Facebook that we will be having
a Bible conference here at the church on September the 14th
and 15th. September 14th and 15th, that's
a Saturday and a Sunday. We'll be having dinner at the
church on the 13th at 6 p.m. For anybody that's coming in
from a long way or whatever, and maybe stay in the night,
you can come and we'll feed you at 6 o'clock. Then on Saturday,
we'll begin our Bible conference at 9 o'clock in the morning.
We'll have three messages. We have three preachers that
are coming that we've asked to come. But if there are any other
ordained, and I've asked those three ministers to prepare two
or three messages each so that they will preach two or three
times throughout the conference. But if any other ordained ministers
come, we may substitute one of the other three guys' messages
for them and let them preach as well if they are willing to
do so. But anyway, we'll start at nine
o'clock. We'll have three messages. and then we'll break for lunch
and we'll have lunch and fellowship for a little while. Then after
we are done with that, then we will come back together and we'll
have three messages after lunch and fellowship. And then once
we have those three messages done, then we'll have dinner
together here at the church. Yeah, it's gonna be a long day.
It's probably gonna be a tiring day, but we don't do this very
often. I think it's beneficial for us
to spend that time together in preaching of God's word and in
fellowship, but we'll have dinner that evening, and then we'll
meet back on Sunday, and we'll have our regular service times,
which will be 10 o'clock, and we'll have two messages before
lunch on Sunday, and then we'll have lunch and fellowship, and
after Saturday night, everybody wants to sit around and visit
as long as they want. They can Sunday after lunch. Everybody wants to stick around
and visit as long as you want. Welcome to do that as well. But
that'll be kind of the order of our service. It's not a strict
order. We're not gonna have any time
constraints on the preachers. We'll let them preach as long
as the Lord leads them to preach in their messages. It's just
that we'll have three messages. We'll probably have a break in
between to use the restroom. We'll have hymns that we'll be
singing in between and everything. So be looking forward to that
and be praying for that. Anybody that's watching or listening,
if you would like to come, Please let us know in the comments below,
email me, text me if you have my phone number, whatever. Just
contact us, let us know you're coming so that we can make sure
we have plenty to eat and we can help you find a good hotel
here in town that's not going to be a bed bug infested meth
house. We've got plenty of nice hotels
here, but we've also got plenty of bad hotels here. Let us know
and we'll help you in that aspect. And if you'd like to come and
you can't afford anything, come, we'll help you with whatever
we can on your room. And just let us
know in advance so that we can know those things. All right,
back to our passages here. We just saw that the commission
strictly confines the service of the gospel to the local church. The ye in verse 19, the you in
verse 20, all find its context within that gathered assembly
they're being spoken to. And that the presence of the
Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, the enabling of
the Holy Spirit, the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in
the service of the gospel is confined in the work of the local
church. That's why men are sent from
the local church. We believe that men who go and
minister in other places, they are sent by the local church,
through the local church. We believe that God raises up
men, gifts those men, and that they are ordained through the
local church, and that that is God's design as we find in Acts,
as we've seen in the Gospels. So the gospel, even though it
may be taken out by individual men, it is still through the
ministry and delegated authority of the local church. And when
I say delegated authority, I mean delegated in the fact that Christ
has delegated it to the church to oversee the service of the
gospel. Now, I wanted to go on and look
and ask this question. In the commission, whenever it
gives the authorization to the church to go make disciples, is it just any kind of disciple
that were to go make? Like I said, whenever I was younger
and an Arminian, I used to really admire that book, The Purpose
Driven Church. and how they were all about being
very loose in their services of not being so strict and formal
and to adapting their churches to meet the needs of the seeker
and making a disciple any way that you can make a disciple.
But is that the case? a disciple at any cost, are we
to go out and make just any kind of disciple, just someone to
follow us? And so that's the question. Is there any other
kind of disciple other than a true disciple? Now, remember, keep
in mind that the word disciple here, and of course, if we're
in Matthew 28, 19 and 20, but we're making reference to Mark
16, 15, remember? Go make disciples with the gospel,
go with the gospel, make disciples. So these disciples, remember
that the definition of disciple is a follower, right? A disciple
is someone who follows. That means that there was some
point in time, and we talked about this, about the them being
made disciples, there was a point in time where they were made
disciples that there was a conversion experience. Not a new birth,
but a conversion. Not a quickening, but a conversion. Not a being born again, but a
conversion. They were already born again.
There was a conversion experience, meaning they converted from wrong
thinking. They converted from a false gospel,
from a false religion, from a false Jesus, from a false church, they
were converted and brought to the right understanding of the
gospel. Whenever they were converted to the gospel, made disciples,
that was at a point in time, but it continues to go on because
those who were converted at one point in time are now instructed
to come back into the church that the minister or the ministers
or Witness that had witnessed to them of the gospel Whenever
they hear that they come back and they are instructed by that
church In all things whatsoever Christ is commanded and so that
being a disciple means that they are continuing to follow What
was being said at the beginning that they converted to? Okay
so there is a There is a following or a discipling that continues
on. And so, if that being the case,
do we make a disciple just by any means, with anything? Is
there any other kind of gospel other than the gospel that Christ
preached and commanded? Well, we learned that in our
last section on the gospel, or the church's gospel, is that
there is no other gospel. So if you've made a disciple
with a gospel that is not the true gospel, then you've made another disciple.
You've not made a disciple of Christ. You've made a disciple
of some, you know, theology of man. Okay. So to be the church and to be
faithful in the commission that Christ has given to that church,
We must be preaching the Gospel that Jesus preached, and the
disciples that are being made must be made with the Gospel
that Jesus preached. If we're using any other tactic,
theology, than Jesus preached, then we're preaching another
Gospel. That's bad enough in and of itself, but we're making
disciples that are not true disciples. As a matter of fact, Jesus said
that the religious leaders were making people two-fold the children
of hell. The blind was leading the blind.
They were going out and preaching. They were blind. They didn't
know the gospel. And they were going out and teaching
people that wasn't the gospel. So the blind leaders are teaching
the blind people. Okay, and what the Bible says,
if the blind leads the blind, what happens? They both fall
into the ditch. Now, I always thought that was
kind of humorous, you know, that Jesus, I can almost see Jesus
probably saying this, maybe even in a humorous way. He said, well,
no, that if the blind leads the blind, what's gonna happen? Y'all
gonna fall in the ditch, you know? Why? Because neither one
of you can see where you're going. Neither one of you can see. And
so that's why the commission isn't given to those who have
not been gospelized, baptized, and then catechized or brought
back into the church and taught all things whatsoever Christ
commanded. That's why Paul told Timothy to not lay hands on anybody
too soon that's young. Why? Because they've not had
a chance for teaching and instruction and in growing in wisdom. And I can see that. I began to
preach and teach at a very young age. And I did things very stupidly. I did things very arrogantly.
As a young man, my arrogance was very, very prominent. Prideful. There's a lot of things
that has to be tempered through time of study and God's preparation
of the man and preparing him for the work of that ministry.
to be a disciple, to be mentored by other ministers, older men,
and to be given some wisdom by the Holy Spirit. And so that's
why Christ commanded Paul to command to the churches, to admonish
the churches, not to make one a pastor or a teacher, ordain
them to the ministry too soon. Okay? Give them time to mature. in the faith. And so we see that
we just don't do it with, you know, any gospel. Otherwise,
we're not making the right disciple. Look with me at John chapter
five and verse 24. What does Jesus teach? What is
the gospel? Now, we know this, I'm not going
to be lengthy on this, but what is one of the parts of the gospel
that Jesus taught that we are to use to make disciples with?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, verse 24, he that heareth my
word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life
and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
life. Okay, Jesus taught here that
He that heareth my word and believeth on him already has everlasting
life. Jesus taught in verse 38, ye
have not this word abiding in you for whom ye have sent him
ye believe not. So there are some that do not
have the word of God abiding in their heart. Jesus taught
in verse 6, or chapter 6, verse 37, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. If your gospel doesn't have election
as part of it, and an effectual atonement, then it's not the
gospel. And so any disciple you make
without that information being told to them, and them confirming
that by faith, that they believe that, then they've not been made
a disciple. And thus, they are not candidates
for baptism, they're not candidates for membership into the local
church. Now that doesn't mean we exclude them from attending
the services and listening to the preaching and the teaching,
but they are excluded from the things of the church like baptism
and the Lord's Supper, of making any decisions. They're not part
of the ecclesia yet, so they cannot make the decisions on
the affairs of the kingdom and its work. Okay, because why? They have not yet showed faith. They've showed a man's faith,
but they've not showed faith that Christ has given because
they don't believe the gospel, okay? So we see that there's
several things throughout John. Like I said, I'm not gonna rehash
all those. We spent a whole several weeks talking about that, but
we see that that is the gospel. In Galatians chapter one, we
see that there is no other gospel. So my question is this, did Christ
authorize or commission the church to administer another kind of
gospel? No, he only commissioned them
to administer one kind of gospel. And so if you're not at a church
that is preaching that kind of gospel, you need to find a church
that does, and to be a symbol to that church, right? Now, another
question. Okay, so the three elements,
remember, the three elements is to go with the gospel, So
we have to have the right gospel to be the right church. But let
me ask you this, did Christ commission the local church to administer
any other kind of baptism than the one that he did? Okay, turn with me to John chapter
four. John chapter 4. Guys, and I'm
telling you, this kind of teaching, I'm full aware, I get, you know,
men that teach these things, they get a lot of guff, especially
from the reformed community, anybody outside of old school
Baptist churches. You know, they get guff about
holding to these, tenaciously to these things, and are considered
legalists in these. But brethren, it is just following
the commands of Christ in proper service. And we have to stand
in that. And if we be wrong in this in
the end, say we are wrong in this in the end. You know, we
have tried to hold tenaciously to what Christ has told us in
God's word. There is a spiritual teaching,
a spiritual matter in all things. But there is also a experiential
and a physical matter in some of these things. And we must
make that discernment. And as far as I can tell, there
was no ceasing in the physical baptism in water. A lot of guys want to spiritualize
that away. And listen, I'm a guy that spiritualizes
things. I believe that there is spiritual
teaching behind a lot of physical truths, a lot of physical things,
types and foreshadows, different things. There is spiritual teaching
behind that. I'm a guy that thinks that the
spiritual part takes precedence over the physical part. With
that being said, being spiritually born again is more important
than being baptized, right? But that doesn't negate the fact
that Christ puts importance on baptism. In John chapter four,
look in verse one. It says, when therefore the Lord
knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized
more disciples than John. So Jesus made disciples. That's
part of the commission, right? Jesus led by example. He made
disciples. How did he make disciples? Do
you think that he made disciples other than the way that he told
the disciples to make them? In Mark chapter 16, Jesus told
the disciples to make disciples by going with the gospel. So
Jesus, how did he make disciples? By going with the gospel. And
I'm sure Jesus didn't preach any other gospel than the gospel
that Jesus preached, right? He can't preach anything other
than what he preached. He is the word of God. He is
truth. He cannot lie. He didn't hide anything. How
many times have you been told as a sovereign grace believer
that election, predestination, reprobation, those are things
that you don't tell people who are unbelievers. You know, you
wait until they're actually believers and then once they come into
the church, that's a more mature teaching that you ought to teach.
Brethren, the Bible doesn't say that. Are there things that are
meat and milk? Yes, there is. But the Bible
doesn't say, you know, this is a part of the gospel. That's
part of the gospel. The part of the gospel is that Christ
has saved a people from sin. But it says here that Jesus made
and baptized. That's the two parts of the commission. Right there in one verse, make
disciples, baptize. John did it, Jesus did it, and
then he told the local church to do it. So to me, that is,
the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, a thing
is established. Listen, that's three witnesses
in the scriptures that tell us to make disciples, and then to
baptize, not to baptize them as infants in hopes that they
will be a Christian one day and then be part of the church, not
to sprinkle them because Jesus wasn't sprinkled. John didn't
sprinkle. Nobody in the New Testament was
sprinkled. They were immersed in water. And so Jesus did not
commission the church or authorize the church to administer another
baptism other than the baptism that Jesus taught. And here we see Jesus made disciples
and baptized, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,
meaning that Jesus didn't do the physical baptizing. That
was what he had the apostles do. He had his disciples perform
that, his 12 disciples do that. Okay, so Jesus only did the gospel
and then baptism. Look back, if you would, with
me in Luke, Luke's gospel and chapter 7. John chapter 7. Look with me at verse 24. Matter
of fact, let's back up. I wanna back up to, let's see, verse
19. Speaking of John the Baptist,
it says, and John, calling unto him two of his disciples, sent
them to Jesus saying, art thou he that should come or look we
for another. Remember, John was in prison
at this time. And in that time, John began to have a little doubts
about what was going on. And he sent these two disciples
to Jesus asking, art thou he that should come or look we for
another. And when the men were come unto
him, they said, John, John Baptist has sent us unto thee, saying,
Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in
that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues
and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave
sight. So John's disciples came asking
Jesus for John. Are you the one that we are looking
for? Are you the Messiah, the Christ, the Lamb of God? And
Jesus began to heal many of their infirmities and plagues and of
evil spirits, and unto many that were blind, he gave sight. Now look at verse 22. Then Jesus
answering said unto them, the disciples that came to him from
John the Baptist, go your way and tell John what things ye
have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
to the poor of the gospel is preached. So Jesus here is saying
that he preached the gospel. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. And when the messengers of John
were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John
the Baptist, right? He says, What went ye out into
the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they which are gorgeously appareled and live delicately
are in king's courts. But what went ye out to see?
A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much
more than a prophet, this is he of whom it is written, Behold,
I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy
way before thee. For I say unto you, among those
that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God
is greater than he. Okay, so Jesus here is given
great accolades to John, not as a man, but as a messenger
sent of God. He was a prophet of God, a preacher
of God. Okay? He was a preacher of the
gospel. He was the one sent to prepare
the way for Christ to come. And he did that. Faithfully,
he did that. And so we can't discount John
and his ministry. It was of God. It was a gospel. It was a gospel ministry. And
what John began, Jesus took up and built upon that. He took
that. He took that group of people
and he took that same message. He took that same ordinance and
began to do that. We just saw that he made more
disciples than John by preaching the gospel. and he had them to
be baptized once they were made disciples. And look at verse 29, and all
the people that heard him and the publicans justified God being
baptized with the, basically what they were saying, they were
confirming the ministry of John. When Jesus said, listen, this
man is legit. He's from God. He's preparing
my way and you should listen to him. Listen to what he's saying
and follow what he is instructed to do. And he was instructed
to preach and to baptize. A man sent by God came baptizing,
right? That's why he was called John
the Baptist. That's why we're called Baptists, by the way,
not because we're a denomination, because we follow in that ministry,
that service of going with the gospel baptizing and then teaching
all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. We are continuing
that Baptist ministry. Okay, and so we are a local church. We are a Baptist kind of church,
not a denomination. We're not a denomination. We
didn't come from the Protestant Reformation. We are continuing
as a New Testament church In the line of New Testament churches,
and I'm not saying that each church has a link by link by
link by link succession back to the original. I'm saying that
in every generation, Christ has New Testament churches that come
together when baptized believers assemble and carry out the commission
as Christ commanded. Okay, but we see here that these
people justified God. That didn't mean that they made
God justified as in how we're justified before God, right?
It means what it says that they justified God, meaning that they
showed that what Jesus was saying, what God had been doing with
John the Baptist was a legitimate thing, that they believed it
to be true. And so they were baptized. They
submitted to that. Whenever you submit to baptism,
Whenever you hear the church preach the gospel and preach
the importance of baptism after you come to believe the gospel
and you are baptized, you are justifying the gospel message
that the church is delivering. You are justifying God in His
gospel. And so that's what these men
did. But look at verse 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers
rejected the counsel of God. against themselves being not
baptized of John. Because they were not baptized
by John, then the Bible says here that they had rejected the
counsel of God. That John telling them that they
need to be repent and baptized, them not doing that was rejecting
the counsel of God. So whenever somebody comes here,
rejects the message of believe the true gospel and be baptized,
or if we go to them or wherever we are at, and they don't submit
to Christ's baptism, Christ's gospel, then they are rejecting
God. They're not necessarily rejecting
us, they're rejecting God and His message through Christ. This is what Christ has commanded.
And those Pharisees, they didn't think it was something that they
needed to do, and so they showed that they rejected God. So whenever
you reject, the preaching and teaching of the gospel from the
local church, and the baptism from the local church, then you
are rejecting God. Now again, I want to say, this
is not popery. We don't believe that we are
the popes, that we are the be-all, end-all. Okay? And again, this
isn't about salvation. This is about proper service,
proper administrating of the service of the gospel. That is
what we're talking about. What is the proper way to serve
Christ in the gospel? And that is through the local
church and following what He has commanded. So there is no
other kind of gospel. If we make a disciple by any
other gospel, then we're not making the right disciples. We've
not made a disciple. If we bring anybody in and baptize
in any other way other than the baptism that Christ has commanded,
then it's not baptism. It's not administered properly.
It's not the true baptism. Now, lastly, the third part of
the commission, go with the gospel, so it has to be Christ gospel.
Baptize them, the ones that are made disciples, has to be the
baptism that Jesus baptized with. Then it says, teach them all
things to observe whatever I have commanded you. Is there any other
faith and practice that Christ commanded to be administered
to these people? Whenever the ye teaches the them,
what are they to teach? All things whatsoever I have
commanded you, and only those things. Right? Look with me back
in the book of Jude. The book of Jude. It's right before Revelation. Jude. Look with me, if you would, at
verse three. It said, Beloved, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was
needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should
earnestly. What does that word mean? earnestly,
wholeheartedly, both feet, dive in with both feet, tenaciously,
faithfully. It says here to earnestly, longingly,
our longing and desire and drive is to contend for the faith.
Right. He said, I exhort you, church,
to earnestly contend for the faith. What does that mean? That
means that when it's all said and done, that the word of God
is our only rule of faith and everything that Christ has taught
us in this word of God, we are to hold to and we are to defend
and we are to stand on. And that if it means not being
popular, don't be popular. If it means being ridiculed,
be ridiculed. If it means being cast out, It
means being cast out. If it means being unfriended
on Facebook, be unfriended on Facebook. If it means being rejected
and not allowed to come to a church because you believe that, then
not go to that church. You don't want to go there anyway.
If it means that we have 12 here in our assembly, then have 12
there in your assembly. But it means earnestly contend
for the faith. But it doesn't stop there. Look
what it says and follow along because I want you to see this.
It says to earnestly contend for the faith. Which was once
delivered unto the Saints, not another kind of faith. Not a
different kind of faith, not a quasi faith, not a partial
faith. The faith once delivered to the
Saints, you say, well, wait a minute, I thought if this is a reciprocity,
that in every generation, the church is teaching the faith
that Christ give, that they're teaching this faith. So, you
know, what do you mean once delivered? Aren't we supposed to deliver
it over and over and over again throughout all the generations?
Exactly. Yes, we are. But that's not what
this is meaning. It's saying the faith that was
once delivered to the saints, meaning that when Christ give
to the church that faith, and whenever we say faith, remember
now there's Two ways to look at faith, there's probably more,
but there is faith meaning that inward belief, okay? That inward trust that's there,
right? That's faith. But then the faith
is talking about a body of doctrine. The faith, once delivered to
the saints, not faith once delivered to the saints, you're not talking
about the God-given faith that we have in the new birth that
receives Christ and trusts on Christ, believes on Christ. It's
not talking about that. That wasn't once delivered to
the saints, okay? But he's talking about the body
of doctrine. Jude here is saying, listen,
I write to you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend. You know what the word contend
means? It means to fight for. to battle,
to defend. Whenever you're talking about
a boxing match, you know, you have a boxer and sometimes they
call them a contender. He's a contender, okay? It says to earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. So
brethren, in the commission, we are exhorted to go with no
other gospel except the gospel that Jesus preached. We are to
baptize those who become disciples with no other baptism except
for the baptism that Jesus taught. And then that we are to deliver
unto them the faith that was once delivered to that first
local assembly and contend for that over and over and over again. So that means that we're not
going to always be popular. That means that we are going
to be castigated in the community because that is not the faith
that most men believe, are given to believe. So if we ask the question, what
is it that Christ has commanded us to do? He has commanded us
to go with his gospel. And whenever disciples are made
baptized with his baptism, and by the way, remember, it is only
the ye that have been commanded to do so. And then it is to teach
them the faith that he gives to that first church. are to
be made just like those he's given the commission to, just
like those that he made. Now, let me ask you this. Is
that not the meaning of disciple? Every one of us in here were
made disciples by the gospel at some time. Every one of us,
well, I say every one of us in here, all those who have professed
Christ in here have been gospelized. And every one of us in here who
have professed faith in Jesus Christ, the true gospel, have
been baptized according to scripture. Scripturally baptized by an authorized
baptizer, which is a New Testament church. And has been taught all things
whatsoever Christ has commanded. So that is us following what
Christ commanded, right? We all did that. And now as we're
doing that to others, we are still following what Christ has
commanded. That is the very definition of
the disciple. If you want to be a disciple, you continue following your leader, or Christ, who is
our head. You cannot be a disciple of another
person if you do not follow them in their teaching and practice.
So if we don't follow Christ in his teaching, and if we don't
follow Christ in his practice, How can we be called a disciple?
A disciple is a follower. If we decided today to start
sprinkling instead of immersing, would we be a follower of Jesus
Christ? No, because Jesus immersed. If we said, well, you know, it's
all right to believe that there's free will and that Jesus died
for everybody, would we be a follower of Jesus Christ? No, a disciple
is a follower of their leader. And the leader didn't say that
there is free will and that he dies for everybody. So we are
not a disciple if we are not a follower or a disciple if we
don't follow what the leader has said and told to do. So Christ is giving the church
here authority to make people in the light, here's a term we
use a lot, of light faith, and order, or practice, like faith
and practice. Meaning that not only do we teach
them to believe the same things that Jesus taught, but we are
also teaching them to follow the service that Jesus taught. The administrating of the ordinances,
the gifts of the church, the propagating of the gospel, Just a few verses and we'll be
done here. Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter
20, if you will. Is this what that first church
understood? If what I'm preaching What I'm
teaching here, that's the interpretation of a commission. Is that what
the first church understood to be true as well? Well, we've
already looked at Acts chapter two, and we've seen that the
apostles in that 120 follow that example by preaching the gospel,
making disciples, instructing them to be baptized, and then
adding them to the church, and then teaching them all things
of the doctrine of the apostles, right? We saw that to take place. But here in Acts chapter 20,
look with me if you would, and go down to verse 27. Acts chapter 20, verse 27. For
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. So Paul here is saying, you know,
I wasn't afraid to preach everything in God's Word. The whole counsel
of God. And listen, for those that are
out there that are looking for churches, if you come across
a church and their pastor, their preacher, doesn't want to preach
the whole counsel of God, that likes to stray away. I kind of
find it humorous. Well, it shouldn't be humorous.
It's a very dire thing. But I do find it quite telling
whenever you Go to a lot of websites or on sermon pages where audio
sermons are found, and you find these preachers in these Armenian
churches, and they're going through, verse by verse, the books of
the Bible. And you get in there to Romans, and you see, boy,
they're going down verse by verse by verse by verse, and whenever
they get to Romans chapter nine, all of a sudden, that's just
like real, either real thin or non-existent. They skip right
over Romans nine. Or Ephesians chapter one. Paul said, I have not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Preachers, preach because
God sent you to preach. Declare the truth and don't worry
about the consequences. Don't worry about the outcome.
Don't worry about the results. Preach and declare the whole
counsel of God, and that includes sovereign grace. Verse 28, take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath
purchased with his own blood. So here's an instruction to the
elders. Whenever Paul was going around
and he was setting an elder up in every church, as he was establishing
these churches in the Gentile cities, And he would go there
and he would see this man has a gift that God has given to
be the pastor, the elder of the church. And they would set them
up. Now, I don't think Paul would
set the elder up any different than the elders would set up
in the first church. They were laid, they were prayed upon,
they were seen that they met the prerequisites and they were
laid, hands were laid upon them. They were ordained of the church
to carry out that gospel ministry. I believe Paul set them elders
up, wherever they were, exactly the way the New Testament teaches
they should be set up. Of course, knowing first that
that man should be called of God and equipped by God, right?
But he says, and he instructs to those ministers, and I instruct
any minister watching this, any of you that God might call to
be a minister, to take heed unto yourselves That means there must
be first inward introspection and study and desire. And to all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. Now, there are some guys out
there that says, well, the pastor is to be a pastor to everyone
in the quote unquote universal church. That's not true. He says
that the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. I'm not the overseer
of another church. I can't oversee the other church.
I can only oversee the one that the Holy Ghost has made me oversee. And to feed the church of God
which He had purchased with His own blood. My place as the pastor,
as the teacher, is to watch over the flock and to feed the church
which He has purchased. If you're the church here, Christ
has purchased you, and I'm to feed you, by his enabling. For I know this, that after my
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples
after them." So see what's going to happen here is that there
are going to be men that either are going to come in and look
like good members that we ought to bring in, and then they're
going to subvert the gospel and the way that Christ has commanded
us to follow after in church. Or there's going to be men within
ourselves that's going to be raised up even among our own
group. God forbid this happen, but maybe
one of my own sons that come up and they begin to preach a
different message, to preach a different gospel, to think
it should be done a different way than Christ taught. And so they come up among us. And they try to make disciples
for themselves, meaning followers after them follow their pattern
and not the pattern of Christ. So he says in 31, therefore,
watch and remember that by the space of three years, I cease
not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Why are we having
this message? We preach, you should only preach
on Christ and him crucified in the gospel. If it ain't about
the gospel, then it ain't need to be preached about. Okay? Brethren, there's other things
that should be preached. And the gospel is always tied
to it. Christ is always the center of
it. You can preach Christ. You can exalt Christ in your
preaching, even though you're preaching on other things within
the whole counsel of God. But here, Paul says this, and
in the context, he's talking about those who come in as wolves
and try to lead the flock in other directions. And he's saying
here, listen, I ceased night and day in warning. He said,
I didn't cease night and day in warning you for three years. And he says, now, brethren, I
command you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able
to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them
which are sanctified. I coveted no man's silver or
gold or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that
these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that
were with me. I have shown you all things,
how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak and remember
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's more blessed to give than
to receive. And when he had kneeled down and prayed with them all,
they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing
most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see
his face no more. And they accompanied him unto
the ship. So Paul here is saying that we should be careful on
what we teach and preach within the church. In 1 Timothy 4, Paul
writes to Timothy this, it says, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some
shall depart from the faith, not from having faith, from the
faith, okay? Some shall depart from the faith,
following the faith that was once delivered to the saints.
Some are gonna begin to hear what these wolves say and follow
after them and become their disciples. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking
lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of
God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with
thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God in prayer.
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be
a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of
faith, and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained,
but refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyselves
readily unto godliness, but for bodily exercise profiteth little,
but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of
the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is
a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation, For therefore we
both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living
God, who is the Savior of all men, especially those that believe. These things command and teach.
Let no man despise thee of thy youth, but be thou an example
of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in
spirit, in faith, in purity, till I come give attention, here
it is, till I come give attention to the reading, to exhortation,
to doctrine. So he's saying here at the very
beginning that some are going to depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. If it's
not the doctrine of Christ, you know what it is? It's the doctrine
of the devil. See, free will doctrine seems
to be harmless on the surface. Oh, they just don't understand
it rightly. But it's the doctrine of the devil. And Paul here says,
give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. He says, neglect not the gift
that is in thee. Of course, to Timothy, that was
the gift of the pastor, the preaching, which was given thee by prophecy
with the laying on of hands of the presbytery. Mediate upon
these things, give thyselves wholly to them, that thy profiting
may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself. Here
it is again. This is the instruction to the preacher. And as the instruction
to the preacher, it's also the instruction to the congregation
as well. Take heed unto thyself and unto
the doctrine, to the doctrine, not just unto doctrine general,
to the doctrine. Continue in them for in doing
this, thou shalt both save thyselves and them that hear thee. So what
does it mean, save thyself? Well, that doesn't mean eternal
salvation, legal salvation. That means it's gonna save you
from error. Whenever I preach these things, whenever the church
teaches these things and holds to these things, what does it
do? Those disciples that are being made with the gospel, baptized
and then brought back into assembly with us are being saved from
erroneous service to God. Whenever we hold these things
apart. All right, we'll stop right there.
We'll pick back up with that, Lord willing, next Wednesday. Anybody have any questions? Comments? All right, let's remember our
Bible conference a couple of weeks out. Be praying for that
and encourage anybody to come. If you have any questions about
that, feel free to contact me on Facebook, on text message,
for anybody that's watching and listening. All right, let's bow and we'll
have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, once again, we thank
you for