I'm so glad to be here. I'm glad you're here.
I'm excited tonight that we're going to continue
in our series of lessons about restoring New
Testament Christianity. If you were here yesterday,
you remember we talked about as the people of
God, we need to cultivate a mission mindset.
And part of that mindset needs to be to be about
the work of helping restore the church that Jesus
built. And yesterday afternoon, we talked about
how we really have no hope. in accomplishing
that mission if we don't trust the Scriptures
as our sole source of authority in religion.
And we're going to continue along in this vein
of investigating and looking into the great need
that we have today and the desire we should have
in our hearts to go back to the Bible, to find
our faith, to find our doctrine, to find our
practice in the Scriptures. And we do all that,
of course, to the honor and glory of that Lamb
of God that we sang about tonight, Jesus Christ.
It's all to His glory that we do it. I encourage
you to come back throughout this meeting as often
as you can. You see there on the screen that
we're going to have several more meetings. We're
going to be meeting every night at 7 o 'clock
this week, 10 .30 and 2 o 'clock on Sunday. And
these are some of the topics that we're going
to be covering in the course of this series.
The title of my lesson tonight comes in the form
of a statement, a true statement, combined with
a question. And the true statement is this, Jesus
built one church. And we're going to see that
from the scriptures in just a moment. If Jesus
built one church, if that statement is true and
it is, the question then becomes for us today,
how do we find the church that Jesus built. How
would we go out into our community, into whatever
region of the world we live in, and how would
we go about finding today, in 2026, that one
and the same church that Jesus built. That's
what we're going to study and focus on tonight.
And I want to go back and remind you of some
things that are so very important for us to know
and understand. Want to go all the way back to
the book of Daniel okay in the Old Testament
the prophet Daniel remember God's people were
in Babylon and Daniel a Jew was a servant of
King Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar had dreams
and Nebuchadnezzar didn't understand his dreams
and and he was troubled by his dreams and so
He comes to Daniel and Daniel by the power of
God is able to tell him his dream and tell him
the interpretation of his dream. And in the process
of Daniel explaining the interpretation of the
king's dream, he makes a prophecy. In Daniel
2 .44 he says, in these days, the days of the
kings of that fourth world empire that Daniel
speaks about, in the days of those kings shall
the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall
never be destroyed. and the kingdom shall not
be left to other people, but it shall break in
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever." God promised, through the
interpretation of this dream, 600 years before
Christ, that He would someday set up an everlasting
kingdom. Now fast forward 600 years. to the life
of Christ. Jesus has just been baptized by John
in the River Jordan in Matthew chapter 3. And
in Matthew chapter 4 he's tempted of the devil,
40 days in the wilderness. And then Jesus begins
his teaching ministry, his public preaching ministry
in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17. And I want you
to notice what was the first thing that Jesus
taught and he preached. In Matthew 4 17 it says
from that time Jesus began to preach and to say
repent. Why? He said for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand that kingdom that Daniel had prophesied
about 600 years before Jesus says you need to
get ready You need to repent because that very
kingdom the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It
is nearby It is soon to come You know when Jesus
was on trial before Pilate he said some things
about the kingdom that are important for us to
understand These statements that Jesus made to
Pilate while he was on trial help us understand
the nature of this everlasting kingdom in John
18 36 Jesus told Pilate the Roman governor. He
said my kingdom is not of this world My kingdom
is not of this world if my kingdom were of this
world, then would my servants fight? That I should
not be delivered to the Jews But now is my kingdom
not from hints Jesus says You know Jesus didn't
come to set up a worldly kingdom, an earthly
empire. He came to set up a spiritual kingdom.
It's important for us to understand the nature
of this kingdom, this everlasting kingdom. It's
a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom.
Also something Jesus taught during his teaching
ministry. He made a promise to Peter about this
kingdom in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Peter
made a confession that Jesus was the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And Jesus blessed
Peter for that confession. And Jesus told Peter,
I say also unto thee that thou art Peter. And
upon this rock I will build my church and the
gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against
it. That's Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Jesus
made a promise here that he would build his church.
Then notice what he told Peter immediately after
making this promise to build his church He tells
Peter I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
of heaven What we understand from this verse
we see Jesus using the word church and kingdom
interchangeably and that's because the church
is the earthly expression or manifestation of
this heavenly spiritual everlasting kingdom That
God promised to set up in the days of the Roman
Empire in the days in which Jesus lived died,
was buried, and rose from the dead. The church
is the earthly expression of that spiritual kingdom.
Now before we go any further, we see Jesus using
the word church there in Matthew 16 verse 18.
We need to understand clearly what the word church
means. We don't want to have a misunderstanding
about what the church means if we're going to
be talking about and studying the church. The
word church from our English King James Version
of our Bibles comes from an ancient Greek word
and that Greek word is ecclesia. The ancient
Greek word that is translated church in our New
Testament is the Greek word ecclesia and the
Greek word ecclesia simply means the called out.
The called out. That's the most basic definition
of this Greek word Ecclesia translated church
in our New Testaments. The church is all of God's
called out people. All of God's called out people.
That's what the church really is. What have we
as God's people been called out of? Well first
we've been called out of sin and we've been called
into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ
through the gospel. And when people are called
out of sin through the gospel into salvation,
they become a part of the church. God's called
out people. God's people are also called out
of the world and into this spiritual kingdom
that we're talking about tonight. God's people
have also been called out of the darkness of
sin and error and been called into the light
of Christ and the truth that he brings to us.
So this is what it means to be the called out.
We've been called out of something very terrible
and very damning and we've been called into something
very wonderful and amazing and To be part of
this called out people is what it truly means
to be a part of the church That's what the church
literally means now from this definition of the
word church We can see and understand that the
church is really not the building, right? Now
God's called out people can meet and assemble
in a building Right, but the church is not the
building Church is really not the building also
church is not the service or the exercises of
our worship assembly Sometimes people use the
word church that way they say well on Sundays
we go do church Church is really not something
you do. Okay now you can go and assemble with
the church and you can worship God But the worship
we offer up to God the exercises of our assemblies.
That's not really church though it involves us
as the people of God coming together to worship.
When you hear the word church, we need to be
thinking about people. We need to be thinking
about people. We need to be thinking about God's
people, people He has called out of sin into
a saving relationship with Him through His Son
Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus paid a high price. As
Brother Les mentioned in his prayer tonight,
he paid a high price to purchase the church.
Jesus had to die to purchase the church. Jesus
was buried and he was resurrected and all that
was a part of God's plan to save us and to purchase
the church. In Acts 20 and 28 this is something
that Paul mentions to the elders of the church
at Ephesus. He tells those elders to take heed
unto themselves and to all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost had made them overseers and he
tells those elders to feed. to shepherd the church
of God. And notice what he says about the church
of God, which he had purchased. Jesus purchased
that church with his own blood. Jesus paid the
highest price imaginable. He made the ultimate
sacrifice. He laid down his life. He willingly
went to a cross and subjected himself to all
that torture, all that pain, all that humility.
He did all that as the book of Hebrews says for
the joy that was set before him He saw on the
other side of the cross that his father would
be true to the promise to raise him up and to
set him on a throne at the right hand of God
and give him the kingdom and Allow him to be
the head over this body this church that we're
talking about tonight We need to understand that
a very high price was paced by Jesus himself
to purchase the church The resurrected Jesus
is the one who has been given all authority over
all things pertaining to the church You remember
after his death burial and resurrection in Matthew
chapter 28 verse 18 Jesus appeared in resurrected
form to his disciples and he said Gee, the Bible
says in Matthew 28 18 Jesus came and spake unto
them saying all power Jesus said all power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth The resurrected
Jesus was given all power, all authority in heaven
and in earth. And because of this, Jesus is the
head of this church that we're talking about
today, this spiritual kingdom. You know, the
church was very important to Christ. This kingdom
was very important, so important that Jesus then
went on to spend 40 days with His apostles, teaching
them things about that coming kingdom. In Acts
chapter 1, these are the days, counting down
the days leading up to when Jesus would build
His church in Acts 2. The Bible says that He
spent 40 days with them, speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now, at this
point I want to stop right here and I want us
to consider everything we've seen from the scriptures
tonight. What is it teaching us and what is it
telling us about the church? It's telling us
that Jesus is the one who announced the coming
of the kingdom. It's telling us that He taught
a lot about the kingdom. It's telling us that
Jesus promised to build His church. He claimed
that church. He called it My church. The Bible
tells us He shed His blood to purchase that church.
He was given all authority over it and He prepared
the Apostles for its coming. Now based on these
facts that we've seen from Scripture, Do you
think any man has any right whatsoever to claim
a position or usurp the authority of Jesus to
be the head of the church? If Jesus did all this
for the church, I believe he's the only rightful
one who deserves to be the head of the church,
don't you? In fact, that's what Colossians 1
and 18 says, that he is the head of the body,
the church. No man. Just Jesus. No man died.
No other human being died for the church. No
other human being claimed the church, said it
was my church. No other human promised to build
it. No one taught as much about it as Jesus did.
No one else was given authority over it but Christ
alone. And no man. Living today who has ever
lived or ever will live no man has any right
to claim Authority and to be the head of the
church and I want to tell you something else.
No man I don't care who he is has any right to
found some organization and build it up to Compete
with the church that Jesus built and to be like
an alternative form of that church You've got
Jesus's church, and then you got a church that
some man built No, man has any right to do that
to come along after Jesus, after He's already
built His church and raise up another religious
organization and say this is my church, this
is my group. You can be a part of the Lord's
church or you can come to be a part of my church,
my man -made church. No man has any right to
do that because Jesus and Him alone has been
given authority over all things pertaining to
the church. He is the head of that body. Now
I want to go back to Matthew 16 18 and and notice
something that's so very important When Jesus
promised to build his church, he only promised
to build one church He only promised to build
one church in Matthew 16 18 He told Peter I will
build my church and the word church is singular
Jesus didn't say Peter. I'm gonna build many
different churches Peter didn't Jesus didn't
tell Peter that. He didn't promise to build multiple
churches, but only one. In Acts chapter 2, when
Jesus did build his church, we find that those
baptized believers were added to only one church.
In Acts chapter 2, Peter and the apostles preach
the gospel. They preach the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus. They tell them to repent
and be baptized. And if they would, God would
forgive them of their sins and give them the
gift of the Holy Spirit. And then Acts 2 .41
says, they that gladly received His word, those
who gladly received the preaching of the gospel,
they were baptized, just like Peter commanded
them to do. And it says the same day, at that
very time, There were added unto them about 3
,000 souls. 3 ,000 people heard the gospel, believed
it, obeyed it in baptism, and they were added
to something. What were they added to? They were
added to this one church that Jesus promised
to build. We skip now just six more verses in
Acts 2 .47. It says that these 3 ,000 were praising
God and having favor with all the people and
the Lord added to the church daily. such as should
be saved. The Bible doesn't say that the Lord
added these three thousands into multiple different
divided denominations. It doesn't say that the
Lord added them to many different churches. It
says the Lord added them to the church. That
word church is singular. Because just like Jesus
promised in Matthew 16 to only build one church,
when it came time to build it, guess what Jesus
did? He was true to His promise. He built just
one church. And we keep reading through the rest
in the New Testament about that church and you
read through the rest of the book of Acts and
you see how it grew into the far reaches of the
Roman Empire. One of the places it grew to be
was in the city of Ephesus in modern -day Turkey.
Paul wrote a letter, an epistle, to the church
at Ephesus, to the congregation there. And listen
to what Paul told him. He told the baptized believers,
the Christians in Ephesus, Ephesians 4 -4, he
said there is one body. One body. And we know
what the body is. Colossians 1 .18 says he is
the head of the body, the church. The church
is the body and the body is the church. It's
the body of Christ. And Paul told the Ephesians
there is one body. Paul didn't say there are
many different bodies. He said there is one body,
just like there is one spirit, even as we are
called in one hope of our calling. Just like
there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One
God and Father of all who is above all and through
all and in you to all. As sure as there's just
one God, one Father, one Lord faith baptism,
the New Testament teaches there's only one body
because Jesus only built one church. So in Acts
chapter 2, in Jerusalem on Pentecost day, We
understand that that is the day that is the time
that is the occasion upon which Jesus built his
church, but let's let's fast forward to today
It's good to understand these things of the past,
but we want to talk about what's going on today
Why are there so many different churches today?
When we read these verses about Jesus building
one church and the baptized believers were added
to one church and Paul said there's one body
It seems so plain, it seems so clear, but we
look around us today and we see the furthest
thing from one church, right? We look around
us today, we survey the religious landscape,
and we see that there are many, many, many different
churches around us, right? And this is evidenced
by the fact that a lot of these churches we see
around us, they wear different names. Many different
names, right? many different churches wearing
many different names. That's just a sample of
some of the names of churches that we commonly
see around us today. And not only do the churches
we see around us today wear different names,
they also teach different doctrines. They teach
different doctrines. They teach different things
about salvation. One church will tell you you
need to do this to be saved and you go to the
next church It says no you need to do this to
be saved and you go to the next church. It says
no No, here's what you need to do to be saved
you go to one church and they say This is what
you need to do to be able to take communion and
you go to the next church and they have a whole
different set of criteria one church says that
We shouldn't have women preachers in the church.
The other church says well, that's okay. That's
fine We've got a woman preacher and the list
goes on and on all the different practices, all
the different teachings. They preach different
Gospels. They preach different plans of salvation.
This is the sad but true reality of the religious
world that we see around us today. And it behooves
us to ask the question, how did we ever go from
that one church Jesus built in Jerusalem in 33
AD in Acts chapter 2. How did we ever go to this?
How did that happen? Have you ever wondered that?
How did we go from here to what we see today?
Where did all this religious division come from?
That's the question I want to focus in on for
the next few minutes and I hope you listen very
carefully. As I talk about some of these things
and share some of these things with you, you
don't need to fear. It's easy to explain. The
last 2 ,000 years of religious division, we've
got these very clear, very simple flow charts
which explain how we went from the one church
Jesus built down through the ages and through
the divisions and here, there, and everywhere,
and we end up over here and come back down here.
I'm trying to be funny, but in all honesty, that's
really not funny, is it? That's a reality. These
are actual diagrams that people have created
to try to make sense of the complicated mess
that we have around us today in the form of all
this religious division. They've created these
to try to help make sense of it. It might take
a college degree to ever have a hope of making
sense of that. How did it ever come to be that
way? The truth of the matter is this, if we were
to be honest, if we were to be honest, if we
would look around we would have to admit that
we are drowning in a vast ocean of religious
confusion and division. That's the truth now
Some people with all due respect everybody's
got a different idea a different opinion and
some people have an idea or an opinion I talked
to an individual a few years ago had a really
good conversation with him He has a different
view or opinion than me his view and his opinion
is that it's actually good It's actually a good
thing that we have so many different churches
to choose from and here's his way of thinking
He said, you know, it's great when a town has
12 different churches because what that means
is you move into that town and you go visit all
12 churches and you find that church that fits
your own unique personality. You find that one
church that lines up with who you are as an individual,
that does the things you like, that appreciates
the things you appreciate. You go find that church
that fits you. And the more options you have
to choose from, right? It's kind of like going
to a fast food restaurant. We like options. The
more options you have to choose from, in his
mind, he says, well, that's just all the better.
Now, that is an idea. His articulation of that
idea is the articulation of an idea that is not
uncommon today in religion. And it's the idea
or the ideology of what we call denominationalism.
Denominationalism. That's probably going to be
the longest word I say tonight. Denominationalism.
It's kind of hard to say. What is denominationalism?
Denominationalism is the idea that we're going
to take the church that Jesus built and we're
going to divide it up into all these different
groups and then name each religious group. Divide
and name. And that's what we've done in Christianity
over the last 2 ,000 years. We've taken the one
church Jesus built and we've divided it up into
hundreds and thousands of different groups and
given them all their respective names. And the
names are important because they set that group
apart from all the other groups to divide in
name. It's the idea that Jesus, yes, did build
one big church and this one big church Jesus
built is made up of all these many different
denominations. That's the idea, the ideology
of denominationalism. I'm here to tell you folks,
listen, with all due respect to people who hold
to this ideology, brothers and sisters, friends,
I believe that this is one of the biggest religious
lies that may have been told in our time. This
idea that it's a good thing that we have so much
religious division. It's a good thing we have
20 different churches teaching 20 different doctrines
that just confuses people. discourages people
and frustrates people who are actually seeking
to find the truth and find the church Jesus built.
The idea that that is somehow a good thing. That
is a religious lie and it's terrible. It's a
terrible lie. I want to show you that from the
scriptures tonight. You know, one of the verses
that people commonly go to when they're advancing
the idea of denominationalism is 1 Corinthians
12 12. So let's go look at... let's be good students
of the Bible. Let's honestly and earnestly consider
what the Bible says. Let's look at 1 Corinthians
12 12 and let's see if it teaches this idea of
denominationalism. 1 Corinthians 12 12. Paul
said, For as the body is one and hath many members...
and all the members of that one body being many
are one body, he says, so also is Christ. Now
the interpretation of this verse is that, see,
the Bible teaches there is one body, Jesus built
one church, and that one body, one church is
made up of many different denominations. Now,
to start with, that's not what the verse says,
is it? That's not what the verse says. Does the
Bible say that there's one body made up of many
different denominations? It says there's one
body made up of many different members, but we've
got to be able to correctly identify and interpret
who the members are and we'll do that momentarily.
So number one, this scripture does not teach
there's one body made up of many different denominations.
It doesn't say that and it doesn't teach that.
Denominationalism is not the will of God. And
here's why we know that. When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians
12 .12, when he wrote there's one body made up
of many different members, when he wrote that
to the church of Corinth, do you know how many
denominations existed at that time? Zero. There's
no way Paul was writing about one body made up
of many different denominations because no denominations
existed at the time. In fact, most denominations
would not exist for another 1 ,500 years. So
we know for a fact he wasn't saying that the
members there in that passage are denominations.
In 1 Corinthians 4 17, we find that what Paul
taught in one church, he taught in every church.
That's something that denominationalism really
won't allow for. We live in a divided religious
world. I'm not so sure I could go to every church
in McMinnville and teach the same message. I
could try, but I'm not sure that message would
be accepted in every church. But in the first
century, Paul taught the same thing in every
church, and the churches accepted his teaching.
1 Corinthians 4 .17, Paul said, For this cause
I've sent unto you Timotheus, that's Timothy,
who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways
which be in Christ, as I teach, Paul says, everywhere
in every church. Paul taught the same thing everywhere
in every church. But we don't see churches today
teaching the same thing. We don't see them teaching
the same doctrines. We don't see them preaching
the same gospel. Paul commanded the same things
in every church in 1 Corinthians 7, 17. He says,
but as God has distributed to every man, as the
Lord hath called every one, so let him walk.
Paul says, as I ordain or as I command in all
churches. Paul didn't have one ordinance for
this church at Corinth and then a different ordinance
for the church at Philippi and then a completely
different contradictory command for the church
at Ephesus. He didn't ordain and command different
things in different churches. He ordained and
commanded the same things in all the churches.
Paul gave the same orders, the same instruction
to all the churches concerning the collection
on the first day of the week. Now concerning
the collection for the saints, as I've given
order to the churches of Galatia, Paul says,
even so do ye. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 1. Paul
says, I'm going to tell you all what you need
to do concerning this collection for the needy
saints. And by the way, I'm just telling you
to do the same thing I told the churches in Galatia
to do. He taught the same thing. He gave the
same orders, the same commands in all the churches.
Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 12 .12. The claim
was that there is one body, one church made up
of many different members, which are denominations.
The members here are not denominations. If the
members are not denominations, who are the many
members in 1 Corinthians 12 .12? It's not denominational
churches. It's individual Christians. You gotta
remember, Paul wrote this letter. It was an epistle.
It was to a church at Corinth. That church was
made up of what? Christians. Baptized believers
in Christ. Later on in the chapter, if you read
down just a few verses, look at what Paul tells
them. He says, now ye, who's ye? The Corinthians
that he wrote to. Baptized believers in Christ.
He said, now ye are the body of Christ. You're
the church. And look, and members in particular.
All we've got to do is be good students of the
Bible. Read down a little further and the Bible
will tell us who the members are. And it's not
telling us that they're denominational churches.
It's telling us that the members were individual
Christians. Paul wrote to Christians in 1 Corinthians
1 -2. The epistle was, Under the church of God
which is at Corinth, to them, those people who
were sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be
saints. It was saved people. Christians, baptized
believers that he wrote to and those are the
members of that one body in 1st Corinthians 12
12. Denominationalism is not the will of God
and here's why we know it because Jesus prayed
for unity of all believers. Jesus prayed for
unity of all believers. I'm scared to think what
Jesus thinks and feels about the religious division
he sees in the world today. I'm scared to think
about how he views it because I know he prayed
a very intense and sincere prayer in John 17
verse 20 to 21 where Jesus prayed to the Father.
He poured out his heart and his soul to the Father.
He said, neither pray I for these alone. He just
prayed for his apostles. He says, but I'm praying
for them also which shall believe on me through
their word. He's praying for us. He's praying
for every Christian who would follow. in the
footsteps of the apostles. Those the apostles
would reach with the gospel. And even the apostles'
message has reached us even today through the
written record and testimony of the New Testament.
We've come to believe in Christ through their
testimony. So if that's true, then Jesus is praying
for us. And what does He pray for? He says that
they all may be divided into 26 different denominations.
That's not what Jesus prayed for. Jesus said
that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art
in me and I and thee, that they also may be one
in us, that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me. Jesus prays for all believers to be
one. And that's how we know that this idea of
dividing believers up into all these different
churches doing different things is not the will
of God. It's not what Jesus prayed for. We know
denominationalism is not the will of God because
Paul very clearly in his writings condemned religious
division Corinth had a problem with the religious
division had a lot of problems Very first problem
Paul addresses was religious division, which
I don't know that kind of tells me maybe that
was the most important problem most serious problem
1st Corinthians 1 11 it hath been declared unto
me of you my brethren by them that are of the
house of Chloe that there are contentions means
divisions among you now this I say Paul says
that every one of you saying I'm of Paul another
person says I'm of Apollo's another says I'm
of Cephas another says I'm of Christ is Christ
divided he shouldn't be it's a rhetorical question
he shouldn't be But they were dividing Christ
With these attitudes, these mentalities of I
follow Paul, I follow Cephas, I follow Apollos.
They were dividing Christ. Is Christ divided?
He shouldn't be. Was Paul crucified for you?
No. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Well,
why are you saying I'm of Paul? It was Christ
who died for you. You were baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are you saying
I'm of Paul? He's trying to help them see they
all need to rally around Christ the one who died
for them and not allow themselves to be divided
up Following different men, but but that's part
of what we see around us in the religious world
today We see many different churches divided
against each other following the ideas the island
ideologies the traditions of men Denominationalism
is not the will of God because the Bible tells
us as God's people we should all speak the same
things Paul told these Corinthians in the process
of correcting that division that they had that
that division that we just we just read about
Paul said now I beseech you that word beseech
means to beg he's he's begging him He's begging
them He says I beseech you brethren that you
all speak the same thing That there be no divisions
among you, but that you be perfectly joined together
in the same mind and in the same judgment. God
calls us to unite in one body, not to divide
the body up into many different man -made denominations.
There's just no way around it. The teaching of
Scripture is very clear. It's very simple. This
is easy for us to understand that denominationalism
is not the will of God. Yes, this is what we
see around us today. But this was never God's
plan for the church. Okay, given the fact that
this is... These are the cards we've been dealt.
This is what we have to deal with today. How
do we go about finding the church that Jesus
built amidst this ocean of religious confusion
and division that the world is drowning in? How
do we find the church Jesus built? If you were
here yesterday, I used an illustration. of restoring
the game of baseball we were talking about restoration
returning things to their former original condition
and I gave the illustration of restoring the
game of baseball suppose I come from a foreign
country to visit the United States and I don't
know anything about baseball but I hear my American
friends talking about baseball they all love
baseball and and I want to learn about baseball
and I want to watch people play baseball How
would I go about finding the game of baseball
in this country today without any prior knowledge
of it? Well, the first thing I'd do, you remember
this from yesterday, the rule book, rule book
of Major League Baseball? First thing I would
need to do is get the rule book of Major League
Baseball and I'd need to open it and read it
and study it and learn a few things about the
game of baseball. And with that information,
with the rule book, I could start walking into
sports stadiums And I could start watching the
games that those athletes would play on the field.
And I might walk into a stadium and see the men
out on the field tackling one another, and they're
throwing this brown oval -shaped ball, and it
looks like the goal is to tackle the guy with
the ball before he gets into the end zone. I
don't read that in the rule book. That's not
in the baseball rule book. That must be another
sport, right? That's American football. So I
gotta keep looking. I'm gonna go to the next
sports stadium and I'm gonna look down there
and I'm gonna see two guys with rackets hitting
a little green ball back and forth, back and
forth, back and forth. Well I've read the rule
book and that ain't nothing like what the rule
book says baseball ought to be. So I hadn't found
baseball. I found something different. So I go
in the next sports stadium and there's a bunch
of guys running around wearing themselves plum
out. kicking this black and white ball back and
forth back and forth back and forth back and
forth and Nobody gets real excited until they
kick it in that net and then everybody goes crazy
Well, that's all fine and fun, but you know what
that's that's not baseball I Don't read of anything
like that in the baseball rule book. That's not
baseball. I hadn't found it yet have I But you
know what I could go into the next sports stadium
and I couldn't look out on the field and I can
see they've got A diamond -shaped pattern on
the field. And I can see they put nine players
on the field. And then the pitcher pitches the
ball. And it's three strikes is an out. Hey,
the rule book says it's three strikes is an out.
And then it's four balls in a walk. I can see
that. And hey, that's what the rule book says.
And it looks like they're gonna play nine innings.
And it's six outs per inning. Three at the top
of the inning, three at the bottom of the inning.
Hey. This looks a lot like what the rule book
says baseball ought to be I found the game of
baseball Just by letting the rule book Be my
guide and comparing what I'm seeing out there
on the field to what the rule book says It wouldn't
be hard to find the game of baseball. We could
do it. You could do it Brothers and sisters friends
if it wouldn't be hard for us to find the game
of baseball It shouldn't be hard for us to find
the church of Jesus built because we got a rule
book. Don't we? We've got a pattern. We've got
a blueprint. We've got the New Testament. It's
our guide. It's our plan. It's our pattern which
will help us understand and see clearly what
the church Jesus built was all about. It's like
a blueprint. You know, you can take a blueprint
and as long as you take that blueprint and follow
it carefully, you could go anywhere in the world
and you could build the same house over and over
and over again. I could build a house in McMinnville,
Tennessee, take the blueprint. over to the Middle
East and build that same house. I could go to
Africa and build that same house. I could build
that house anywhere in the world just by following
the pattern or the blueprint that is provided
to me. And the New Testament is like that blueprint.
We can take the New Testament and the pattern
of the church it gives us and we can replicate
the Lord's church. We can be the Lord's church
today. We can find the Lord's church today. We
can be the church that Jesus Christ built, the
Church of Christ. today, two thousand years after
he built it. I know that was a long time ago.
But you know, I mean the blueprint, as long as
the blueprint's still good, right? A thousand
years can go by, two thousand years, five, ten
thousand years could go by. And as long as you
have access to the blueprint, you still have
what you need to find the church Jesus built.
So we can find and we can be the church of Christ
today. Let me give you some specific examples
of what I'm talking about. The New Testament
provides information about the name of the church.
There's a name given to the church in Scripture,
okay? And we can go to the pattern, the New Testament,
and we can find that name given. And if we want
to find the church that Jesus built today, we
will go look for a church that wears that same
name, that wears a scriptural name. If we want
to be a scriptural church, it just makes sense
that we would wear a scriptural name. In Romans
16, 16, Paul said, salute one another with a
holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
He calls the churches, he refers to the churches
as the churches of Christ. That's a scriptural
name for the church and that's the name we wear
here at North Warren. I like that name. That's
a good name. It's a scriptural name and it shows
who the church belongs to. It shows the ownership
that Jesus has, the possession of His church.
And if we want to be a scriptural church, like
I said, we will wear a scriptural name. You know,
the members of the churches of Christ in the
first century, the disciples, they were simply
called Christians. Christians. I tell people
today, I told somebody today, we were out knocking
doors. I told them we're just Christians. And
the typical response I get when I tell someone
I'm just a Christian, they say, oh yeah, I know
you're a Christian, but what kind of Christian
are you? Right? What flavor are you? There's
all the different flavors of Christians. With
all due respect, there's Baptist Christians,
Methodist Christians, Episcopalian Christians,
Adventist Christians, Mormon Christians. There's
all these different flavors of Christian. It
seems like nobody is just a Christian these days,
but that's what I want to be. I want to be just
a Christian because that's what these disciples
were in Antioch in Acts 11 26. It says the disciples
were called Christians first in Antioch. Were
they Baptist Christians? No. No. Were they Lutheran
Christians? They were not. Were they Mennonite
Christians? No. You know, Baptist Church, Lutheran
Church, Mennonite Church wouldn't exist for another
1 ,500 years. They were just Christians. They
were just part of that one church that Jesus
built. That's the same church we're trying to
be today. The New Testament pattern also teaches
us things pertaining to membership in Christ's
church. How do you become a member of the church
Jesus built? If we want to be the church Jesus
built today, we will go to the pattern, the New
Testament. And we will try to put into practice
the same terms of membership. If we want to find
the church Jesus built in the religious world
today, we will look for a church that is putting
into practice the same terms of membership. And
there's something that's very, very important.
It's important that we be baptized in water for
the remission of our sins. And that's one of
the ways that we gain access or entrance into
the church Jesus built. The Bible teaches in
1 Corinthians 12 -13, for by one spirit we're
all baptized into one body. When we hear the
gospel believe it Repent of our sin confess faith
in Christ and when we're baptized the Bible says
we're baptized into We come into the body of
Christ the church that he built. So, you know
baptism is an important part of Membership in
the church that Jesus built we want to find that
church today We'll look for a church that teaches
you need to be baptized to become a member of
Christ Church That's very important the New Testament
gives us details about the organization of the
church. How does the Lord want the church organized?
How does it want it governed? We're only going
to mention this briefly for a moment. If you
want to hear more about that, come back Friday
night. We're going to talk more in depth about
restoring God's plan for the organization of
the church. But if we want to find the church
Jesus built today, we'll find that church that
is putting into practice that same pattern for
church organization. Ephesians 4, 11 to 12 gives
us some insight into the organization of the
church where He, Christ, gave some apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors
and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ. This is one passage that
reveals certain offices. And think of these offices
as roles and responsibilities given to different
individuals in the church to serve the church.
to equip it so that it can be edified and built
up. Evangelists preaching, pastors or elders
shepherding, deacons which this verse doesn't
mention but other passages in the New Testament
do, deacons serving, teachers teaching. God has
a plan for the organization of the church and
its different offices and this verse gives us
some of the details about that plan. If we want
to find the church Jesus built, we'll find a
church that is ordaining people into these offices
and people that are fulfilling these roles and
responsibilities according to the Scriptures.
What about doctrine? New Testament provides a
pattern for the doctrine that they taught in
the church Jesus built. To find the church Jesus
built today, we'll be looking for the church
that teaches that same doctrine. And doctrine
is important. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy
4 to preach the Word. Be instant in season, out
of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their
own lust shall they heed to themselves, teachers
having itching ears. Jesus built His church on
sound scriptural doctrine. So if we're going
to find that church today, we're definitely going
to have to pay close attention to a church's
doctrine and make sure that what they're teaching
is straight from the Word of God without any
additions or subtractions or without man substituting
his ideas or opinions for the Word of the Lord.
What about worship? New Testament has a pattern
or plan for how we worship in Christchurch. We're
going to talk more about that as we go on through
the meeting, but if we're going to find Christ's
church today, we will find the church that's
worshipping according to the New Testament pattern.
Jesus calls us to worship in spirit and in truth.
That's what he says in John 4, 23 to 24. The
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshiper
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God
is the Spirit, and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is seeking
the Bible says true worshipers and the true worshipers
according to Jesus are those who worship in spirit
and in truth So I hope I've been able to help
you clearly see That though we're almost 2 ,000
years removed from the time when Jesus built
his church We still have a pattern or a plan
for that church in our New Testament and we can
take that pattern and plan today and use it to
look in the religious world around us and find
that one church that Jesus built. We can take
that same pattern and plan and do our level best
to put it into practice. Despite our weaknesses
and imperfections, we can take that same pattern,
put it into practice, and we can be the church,
the very same church that Jesus built. As I start
to wrap it up, I want you to understand some
things. You know, there are some things in the
New Testament that are some things that are not
mentioned or given to us in the New Testament
concerning our faith, our doctrine, our practice.
For example, you know, the Bible tells us we
need to assemble on the first day of the week,
but the Bible doesn't tell us what time to assemble.
New Testament doesn't give any direction about...
the time of the assembly. And if there's no New
Testament scripture that tells us we meet at
a certain time, that means we're at liberty to
choose. In that regard, in the church today,
we can meet at 2 .30, 10 .30, 8 o 'clock. We're
at liberty to choose. You know, here's something
else we're not going to get wound up about or
upset about, whether or not we sit in pews or
chairs. You know, there's no scripture that says
thou shalt sit in church pews. Church pews are
nice. I like church pews. But, you know, we could
also sit in chairs. That might sound crazy to
some people. Oh, we could never sit in chairs.
We've sat in church pews our whole life. My daddy
sat in church pews. My grandpa sat in church
pews. Now, I'm going to sit in a church pew and
we, you know, sometimes people get, they get
hung up on things like pews and chairs, but we
shouldn't get hung up on that because the New
Testament doesn't tell us what to sit in. Let
me really rock your world. You know in some countries
they sit on the floor when they come to church?
They sit on the floor. There ain't nothing wrong
with that. We're in liberty to choose what we
sit in. Last thing we want to do is try to make
a law that we have to sit in church pews. That'd
be silly. That's legalism. We don't want to be
guilty of that. How many songs are we going to
sing in our assembly? You know Daniel called
an audible tonight and added an extra song. That's
all right. We're at liberty to choose that. The
Bible doesn't say thou shalt sing four, five,
or six songs. And where the Bible doesn't specify,
where the Bible doesn't give us pattern guidance,
we don't need to try to make a law and say it
has to be five songs or else you're not a Christian
or else you're not going to heaven. We need to
be good students of the Word. We need to look
to the pattern and in areas where God speaks,
Where he gives us pattern, we need to put it
into practice. In areas where he allows for our
own opinion or judgment, we need to allow for
that without being divisive. Did some research
the last few months about what modern -day Americans
prioritize when they're looking for a church
home. Read several different articles, several
different studies. Here's what I found. I want
to share those findings with you tonight. This
just gives us a glimpse, another glimpse into
the religious world around us today. These are
the top five things modern -day Americans prioritize
when looking for a church home. First thing is
a preacher that checks all the boxes. He's got
to be young. He's got to be the right build,
right? He's got to have a nice family. He's got
to be very energetic, very outgoing. He's got
to be a great public speaker. He's got to really
connect with people, very personable. When people
are looking for a church, the preacher is under
the spotlight. He's got to check all the boxes.
People also want a church that has an exciting
worship experience, okay? And the more exciting
the better to people. Lights, smoke, the band,
the loud music. That really appeals to people
today. They like that and they want an exciting
worship experience. People also today value the
modern comforts that churches offer them and
especially really new modern facilities. People
really like it. People really like the way the
church looks and how its landscape and you know
the higher the steeple the better. A lot of people
look for that and it's important to them when
they're looking for a church home. Number four.
People want the church that they've attend to
be in a very convenient location, right? Just
down the street. That'd be perfect, right? Within
walking distance. Some of y 'all can walk to
church. You're very fortunate, right? So a lot
of people, that's one of the most important things
they're looking for, the location. And then number
five, to round it out. This is really important
to people. People want safe and fun programs
for the kids. We knock on doors like I said,
we talk to people, we tell them about the church.
The top two things we usually hear from people
is, okay, who's your preacher? Tell me about
your preacher. That's number one. And then number
two, what do you have for my kids? That's number
five. These are the things that people value
and prioritize when they're looking for a place
to go to church. Now, we need to have good preachers
and teachers in the church. And I think this
congregation is striving to do that. We should
strive to have a good standard of solid Bible
-based teaching and preaching in the church.
That's good. An exciting worship experience.
I don't know about you. I get excited when we
come here and sing together. Singing tonight
was great. I get excited. I look forward to it
when we praise God together. It's exciting enough
for me. No lights, no smoke, no big band, but
I'm not concerned about that. Modern comforts
and facilities. We've got modest places to meet,
to worship and assemble. I tell you what, our
facilities are ten times better than a lot of
places I've been in Central America where they
meet for worship. Convenient location, there's
not a lot I can do to help you with that. Either
you're close or you're not. I drive like 25 miles
back home to get to where I go to church at the
New Harmony Church of Christ. I told you last
night I passed seven or eight other churches
to get there. You know why I do that? I could
stop at any one of those seven or eight churches
to worship before I got to New Harmony Church
of Christ. But you know why I go all the way
to New Harmony Church of Christ? Because in my
estimation of all the churches in my area, that
congregation is the one that is following the
New Testament pattern as closely as any other
group that I've discovered. That's important
to me. that I find a congregation even if I have
to drive a long way that's following the New
Testament pattern and trying to be the church
Jesus built. Safe and fun programs for the church,
we got that. There ain't nothing safer and better
for our kids than to them to be sitting here
by mom, by dad, by grandma and grandpa and listening
and learning and singing and taking notes and
learning how to pray. There ain't nothing safer
as far as what we have to offer kids than what
we do right here. All of us being together, worshiping
God as a family. That's a wonderful thing. It's
a beautiful thing. Now a lot of churches today
have moved on to what they think are bigger and
better things for kids. I'm here to tell you
the old paths are better. Walk in the old paths
and we'll be blessed. A lot of people prioritize
a lot of things when they're looking for a church
home. This really needs to be the most important
thing to you and to me and to everybody. The
most important thing should be finding a church
that's striving to be the church Jesus built
and everything else should be secondary to that.
This should be at the top of our list of priorities
that I won't be satisfied until I find a church
that looks just like the one I read about in
the New Testament. That ought to matter to us
more than anything else. our top priority. Find
a church that's following the pattern, the blueprint
provided for us in the New Testament. This is
the sad but inconvenient truth. There's far too
much man -made religion in the world today. And
case in point is the easy -to -understand flow
charts, right? There is far too much man -made
religious division and confusion in the world
today. And listen, with all due respect to people
who consider themselves members of all these
different denominations, I'm here to tell you
tonight, there is no salvation in man -made religion.
I know that's not the politically correct thing
to say. But I believe it's the truth. There is
no salvation in man -made religion. There is
salvation in Christ. There is salvation in Him.
There is salvation, I believe, in the church
that He built. I want to be a part of that church.
You can be a part of that church. Jesus condemned
man -made religion. He told the Pharisees in
Matthew 15 -6, He says, you've made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition. In verse
9 he says, in vain you worship me because you
teach for doctrines the commandments of men.
Jesus outright condemned the man -made religion
of the Pharisees. He had very straight and pointed
words for them, didn't he? He told them right
to their face, your worship is in vain. You make
the Word of God of none effect because you hold
to all these man -made traditions. That must
have hurt, you know? I think it did hurt because
later on in the chapter, you know what the Bible
tells us, Matthew 15 verse 12, then came his
disciples unto him and they said, knowest thou
that the Pharisees were offended after they heard
this saying? Don't you know you offended them
when you told them that their worship was in
vain? That it was empty, it was meaningless,
it was pointless, what they were, their whole
faith, their whole religion was meaningless.
You offended them, Jesus. Verse 13, but he answered
listen to what Jesus said every plant which my
heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted
up Let them alone They be blind leaders of the
blind and if the blind lead the blind what will
happen? We know both fall into the ditch Jesus
said leave them alone every plant which my heavenly
father hasn't planted will be rooted up He says
they're blind, leaders of the blind. If the blind
lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch.
That's true. What's that mean to you? What's
that mean to me? Here's what it should mean.
We got to make sure we aren't uprooted. Every
plant which the Father hadn't planted will be
uprooted. We got to make sure we're not uprooted.
We got to make sure we don't fall into the ditch.
We can't just blindly follow some church or some
preacher because they might be blind. And they
might not be walking in the path of truth. And
if we just blindly follow them, we're going to
follow them right down into the ditch. You can't
let that happen to you. You can't let that happen
to your family. We can't let that happen to each
other. Does finding the church that Jesus built
matter to you? It's the question I'll leave you
with tonight. Does finding the church that Jesus
built matter to you. I hope and I pray that some
of the things I've said tonight, some of the
scriptures that we've read would motivate you,
would encourage you, would inspire you to do
your own diligent search to make sure, make sure
that you find and you are a part and you are
a member of that one church that Jesus built.
God put us here. He give us time and opportunity
to be about this quest this search For the church
Jesus built and I hope and pray you'll take advantage
of that opportunity Let's encourage all those
around us to take advantage of that opportunity
to define and to be a part Of the church of Christ
the church that Jesus built. Thank you for your
attention tonight I really appreciate you being
here and listening to me and giving me your undivided
attention I'm very passionate about these things.
That's why I get excited. That's why I raise
my voice. I want you to know something is for
no other reason other than I care about these
things. I care about you. I want to make sure
people understand and get this information so
they can make good, wise, and informed decisions
about how they're going to serve God. And I hope
you, I hope we all will make good, wise, informed
decisions from the Word of God of how we serve
Him.