Matthew 28th chapter. We have been considering with you the life of Christ. We have dealt with the matter of His resurrection and His appearances after His resurrection. I want to pick up our reading about verse 11. Matthew 28, verse 11, Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came to the city and showed the chief priests all things that were done. Of course, this is about the false report about the resurrection of Christ. And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you." So they took the money and did as they were taught. This saying is commonly reported among the Jews unto this day. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee. Now this, of course, is after our Lord has appeared to them in the room there in Jerusalem, the exact time when this occurred after the Lord's resurrection, we don't know that, but this is not on the same day. And I just want to point out to you so you don't think that they're all events that happened on the same day. Our Lord had told them prior to His crucifixion that He would appear to them in this mountain. He would meet with them there. And so somewhere in Galilee where in that our Lord did much of His teaching. It may have been the very same mountain that we have record of in the early part of Matthew where our Lord called the disciples together and appointed them and constituted, I believe, His church. We have the term apostles used there. It means that those who were sent with authority. And we're told in Matthew, or we're told in Ephesians rather, in 1 Corinthians, that the apostles were set first in the church. That tells me that the church existed and they were appointed officers, first officers in that church. It is that same group that he met with in the upper room and constituted the Lord's Supper, the reason being one of the reasons why we hold to the Lord's Supper as being a church ordinance and that is for restricted to only those who are in fellowship with the Lord's churches. We here are closed communionists. We hold to only those being identified with this church and those ministers that we may invite from time to time to sit with us, but primarily we are closed communionists. Communionists, not communists, I hope I didn't say that word. And there's a very interesting article on strict communion as we hold to it on the Internet, but the leader of Rhodes has posted it up, and he would like to read it, and we have it also in our library. Now, that group then was the same group who probably were in the same room that our Lord appeared on the day of His resurrection, and there at night as they were together with a closed door for fear of the Jews, our Lord manifested Himself. Our Lord simply was there, came into the room with a real physical body, a resurrected body, a body that had flesh and bones, as He said, and as He invited Thomas to touch Him to prove that this was the very same body that was on the cross and that was put into the grave. That's the same kind of body I believe that we will have in the resurrection, which is a body that is visible, can be touched, but not a body that's dependent upon blood for its existence, but rather a body that will dwell for all eternity and exist for all eternity as a glorified body that Paul speaks about in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. So after that date, he sometime, and we know from Acts, that our Lord was 40 days upon the earth teaching and appearing unto his followers, one time appearing unto over 500 people, which Paul tells us in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, even some were still living in that time that he wrote that epistle. Sometime during those 40 days, we have the events of verse 16. Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had appointed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Some still had problems understanding about the resurrection. And Jesus came and said, and spake unto them, saying, All authority, you may have the word power, the Greek word means authority, All authority is given to me in heaven and in earth. Supreme authority over the universe is invested in Jesus Christ by the Godhead. He has not usurped that authority, but rather it has been given to Him by the Godhead. From eternity past, in the eternal covenant As Jesus Christ agreed to come to earth, be incarnated and die for the sins of his people, that indeed it was agreed that wherefore that he would, whereby he would be exalted and he would be given authority over all the universe. You'll read about that in Philippians chapter two. He rules and reigns today. I know that some people don't understand that nor believe it. But our Lord God rules and reigns in the universe. Some deny that. Some live in total disobedience or disregard for that. But the Word of God says the time will come, again quoting from Philippians 2, when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What God is doing, I believe, in time. He is bringing all of His elect to the knowledge of who Christ is. I believe that it is essential and it is indeed one of the characteristics and purposes of God in time that all the elect of God will be brought to the knowledge of who Christ is. Now, that's not going to be because some, quote, soul winner or some preacher converted them or did that. But if you ever know who Christ is, I again remind you, I believe it's because God makes a direct revelation and illumination to your heart by the Spirit of God. I quote that as authority from Matthew 16, where the Lord spoke to Peter and got that great confession from Peter wherein that Peter said, Thou art the Christ, or the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And our Lord said to Peter, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood have not revealed unto thee. Now, Peter was not ignorant of the Mosaic teachings. He was not ignorant about Jewish religion, but he was a man who did not know who Christ was fully. And our Lord says, flesh and blood have not revealed unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. Nicodemus likewise. who was a man very schooled and knowledgeable about religion, very active and zealous man, but yet he never was a man who had been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And our Lord said to him, except a man be born from above, he shall not see the kingdom of God. By that, I take the word to see to mean everything that is used in other contexts in the Bible, which means to understand or perceive or participate in. You have no part in the kingdom of God. And I declare again on the authority of God's Word that except the person being regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, they have no part in the kingdom of God. We are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit of God. And as we have set forth, we believe it is the work of the gospel upon regenerated souls to bring them to the knowledge of who Christ is and to bring them to faith in him. I could go on on that subject right there, but suffice it to being hopeful. So he says, all authority is given to me in heaven and earth. Speaking to this group, he says, go ye therefore into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen. From this text, I feel burdened to share with you the subject of what is a New Testament church. This past week, maybe last week, I'm not sure now, but last few days, I read an article on what is a Reformed church. The article was very truthful. It stated things that I already knew about the theology of other people, but I had not really read it in the context that was set forth. In the article, it was stated that a Reformed church is a church that has its beginning with the Reformation. Of course, they're talking about the Reformation in the 1500s that began with Martin Luther. And it talks about how the church, and they used the term the church, by that which they mean all Christianity, had become apostate in the Roman Catholic Church at that time, how it had become so corrupt that good men within the church felt compelled to leave the church and to try to bring about some changes. Of course, it is the idea that many have, or convictions many have, that Martin Luther never intended to leave the Roman Catholic Church, but simply to make some improvements on it, but ultimately he had to leave because of opposition to some things that he wanted to say. But in this article, first of all, it talks about how Martin Luther is the hero, and it speaks much about the good things that he had done. And I don't want to attack Martin Luther. That's not the purpose of my subject this morning. Except to point out that they honestly acknowledge that the Reformed Church, and by that I would say all Protestantism, I'll note to you that we have spoken to you on the subject before that Baptists are not Protestants. We have no affiliation with Protestantism. except, as we will refer to it later on, that there is within Protestantism, we believe, those who are the elect of God. And as such, they are part of the family of God, and I'll say something more about that in a few minutes. But we do not believe that Baptists ever came out of or ever part of the Reformation movement or that we are part of Protestantism. And in that article, though, it states doctrines that are held by, in general, by Reformed churches. First of all, it talks about the term soul of Scripture, by which they mean that they say that the Bible is the sole authority for all that believe and practice. I wish that were so. If that were so, there would be no prosodism. We all would be Baptists. I have no hesitance to say that. I believe that if you were reading the Word of God, And if you would leave out all of traditions of men and the philosophies of men, that all sectarianism and denominationism would be diminished and we would have one common faith as is set forth in the Word of God. There is one faith, as the Bible says. And it is tragic that the devil has devised various ideas about theology whereby that there is now denominationism. And that article, though, goes on to talk about covenant theology. And I don't want to deal with covenant theology today, except to say that we are covenant theologians, we are covenant believers, and that we believe in the eternal covenant, the everlasting covenant set forth in the Bible. We do not agree with covenant theology as set forth by Protestants or as the Lutherans and the Presbyterians. by which they see the church as being a continuation of the covenant given to Abraham. We believe the Abrahamic covenant was particularly for the nation of Israel, and the nation of Israel is a foreshadow and a type of New Testament church, but they are not one and the same. established his church during his earthly ministry. And so the very first thing that I would say about what is a New Testament church is, by that very definition, it is a church that has its origin with the ministry of Jesus Christ. Our Lord is the final teacher of truth and He is the one that was prophesied throughout all the Old Testament as being the one by which we were to have a full revelation of the mind of God given to us. In Hebrews chapter 2, Paul asked us this question. when he talks about how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation. And in that second chapter, he makes this statement, Hebrews chapter 2. He says, we ought to give the more earnest heed to things which we've heard, lest at any time we should let them slide away. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast in every transgression, and disobedient received a just recompense and reward, how shall we accept if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord? Now, I want you to note that. Which at the first had been spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by them that heard him. Now, was the gospel preached in the Old Testament days? Most certainly. It was set forth by are by God himself in Genesis chapter 3, when there was a prophecy given about the Messiah coming. And in all of the Old Testament worship and the sacrifices and so forth, the gospel and the truth of God is being set forth in symbols and types. In fact, the matter in this very first chapter, again of Hebrews, Paul says, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past on the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. So Christ is the final and full revelation of the truth of God, and the New Testament church was established by Christ. He said, Matthew 16, upon this rock I will build my assembly. I started to use the word church there, I wanted to use the word that our Lord would have used, which was, in the Greek, would have been ekklesia. Now, so what is a New Testament church? Now, in order to really understand that, I think that we have to have some definition of terms because the more terms get used and the more things get clouded, the more things become clouded. I have a book that I have here on the pulpit that I would recommend to all. It was written by a man by the name of Mike Gass, Dr. Mike Gass. I've never met the man. I've spoken to him by phone and commended him about the book. He's out in Oregon. But in the title of the book is A Glorious Church, A Study of the Origin, Identification, Heritage, and Integrity of the New Testament Church. But in this book, which I just said I recommend to all, it's very well written, but in this book he talks about the definition of terms. The first term he deals with is the family of God. We need to understand what the family of God is and that it is an entity. The family of God is composed and referred to in the book of Ephesians chapter 3 and chapter 2 also. But in Ephesians chapter 3, Paul is writing about the family of God or speaks about it in the 15th verse. I'll start reading in verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. And so you see what the family of God is. It consists of all of God's elect, regenerated people that are living on the earth at any particular time or who are in heaven. That is the family of God. You've been born again, a person has been born again by the Holy Spirit of God. They are part of the family of God, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. Now identify that coming into the family of God, but regeneration. I do not identify with election. Most certainly we do believe in election, we do believe in predestination. But election does not put you in the family of God. It really refers to the fact that you have been ordained to be in that family of God. We are all born sinners, we are all born to pray And again in Colossians chapter 1, Paul says that we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. And so there must be a transformation take place. If we were to die in an unregenerate state, we all would die and go to hell. And had not God chosen and ordained and predestinated that we would be in the family of God, we would die in the family of Adam and perish eternally in hell. but having been regenerated, having been chosen, elected, and because Christ died for our sins and we have been justified by the blood of Christ, God sends forth the Holy Spirit of God to His elect people and regenerates us, and we receive the spirit of adoption, what Paul speaks about in Romans chapter 8, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, and there is that manifestation that we are in the family of God. Now that's every born-again person, regardless of what religious denomination they may belong to. There are those who accuse us primitive Baptists of saying that you must be a primitive Baptist in order to go to heaven. No, I do not believe that. I wish most certainly and earnestly that all of God's elect people in time and living in the face of the earth somewhere were affiliated with a primitive Baptist church. But for whatever reason, that is not the case. And so all of the family of God are composed of those who are God's elect people, born again, whatever denomination they may be in, they are brothers and sisters in Christ to us. And we need to be mindful of that and treat them all as such as being brothers and sisters in the family of God. Now that does not mean necessarily that we all agree on everything, but that does mean that we are not to be antagonistic toward each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, in the family of God. There is a great statement made by Abraham in talking to Lot. He said, Let there be no strife among us, because we be brothers. Now, most certainly, there are differences of opinion and convictions, and I recognize that, and I most earnestly believe, as Paul said, or as Jude tells us, that we ought to earnestly contend for the faith. By that he means that we ought not to be antagonistic, but that we ought to be and setting forth what we believe, what we believe the Bible teaches. So that's the family of God. And please understand that every born-again person is in the family of God, whether they're living here in time or have already gone to be with the Lord. Then there is the kingdom of God. That's a statement that some people have a hard time understanding also. And that is the rule and government of God upon the earth. Now, it is a spiritual kingdom. We have not seen it yet manifested. There are those who believe that it's going to be for a thousand years ultimately, but I believe it's a much more longer time. There is coming a day and time when the Kingdom of God will be visibly manifested at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and it is an eternal Kingdom and will be for all eternity. But today, that Kingdom is not visibly manifested except as we may be able to see the Church in its visible form. I'm talking about the Kingdom because the Church of Jesus Christ which is always referred to in the New Testament and has its concept as being a local, visible, called-out assembly. The Bible has no idea of any kind of universal, invisible church. Now, indeed, the word at times is used, a few times out of the 121 times it's used in the New Testament, it is used a couple of times where it has what we refer to as being a general or generic sense. If I said to you that The television has had a great impact on the world. You would understand that I'm not talking about one big universal television. I'm talking about each and every TV in every home that they've had a great impact on the world. Well, that's exactly what we mean by the term the church as it's used in the book of Ephesians, for instance. Now that church is composed of born-again believers who have been scripturally baptized. I emphasize the word scripturally because there are many different ideas about what is scriptural baptism. One of the things that I appreciate even about this author of this book here, he identifies and points out that there are four qualifications for scriptural baptism. And those four qualifications must be that it is a proper candidate, a person who had indeed been born again. We believe that a person who would receive baptism is one who must profess faith in Jesus Christ as a result of regeneration. Therefore, we reject any idea of infant baptism. Of course, I've said that I would baptize a six-month-old infant if that child could indeed confess faith in Jesus Christ. Now, I do not deny that God can regenerate even an infant in the womb, but I've never met an infant two or three months old that could speak. There may be some out there somewhere. And if there is such an elect person who is a two or three month old infant that would profess faith in Jesus Christ, I stand ready to baptize. So it's not an opposition to infant baptism as we speak of it, but rather it is a restriction set forth in the word of God that it must be one who has been a believer and come to faith in Christ. And so it is believers' immersion that we adhere to. So that church is composed of those who have been properly baptized on the concept of having been regenerated, who have been immersed. We believe the Bible speaks of only one form of baptism, and that is by immersion. We also understand that that immersion must be for a biblical purpose. not to wash away sins, not to regenerate, but rather to manifest and show by symbolism what we're believing in and what we're trusting in as our salvation, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And Paul speaks about that in Romans 6 and relates the two together. Not only must it be for the very purpose of showing forth our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, but it must be by proper authority. And here again is a place where there is much controversy and division in Protestantism and Christianity as a whole, but it is strongly held among all of the old Baptists throughout the centuries since the days of Christ. And I could take you to various history books and confirm this, but you'll see. Note that it is by the authority of a New Testament church. And this is what we find here in Matthew 28. Our Lord is saying to this assembly of people, this very same assembly that He constituted the Lord's Supper with, He is saying to these people, Go ye therefore, teaching all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Now, there are two different Greek words here for the word teaching. The very first one is a word which would imply, which would tell us that proclaiming the gospel. Now we do not believe that gospel is a means of regeneration, but rather we believe that the utility and the purpose of the gospel is a manifestation of those who have been regenerated, is an instrument that God has ordained of conversion. And so the Lord tells us in Mark, for instance, 16th chapter, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Of course, I don't think and I don't know of anyone. Of course, I did read in history about a certain man who went out in the woods and was preaching to the birds and so forth, because he was preaching to every creature. Of course, some preachers all have limits. They're preaching out in the woods, preaching to the wild animals. But I'll leave that subject. But there is a book that I recommend to you, and it's written by a primitive Baptist by the name of Vince Hardy. the final commission of Jesus Christ. And in this book, he quotes some old primitive Baptist elders. For instance, he quotes Brother Thompson, and he also quotes Brother Potter, Elder Potter, which they set forth what we understand to be the truth about biblical evangelism, about this great, as it's called, the Great Commission, which there are those who believe that this commission terminated and was given only to the apostles. Well, if that's the case, then nobody anywhere has any authority to baptize nor is there any such thing as a continuation of the Lord's Supper. That's a false teaching. Then there is the idea that it is given exclusively to the apostles and to their successors. That's somewhat like the Roman Catholic position, which is a succession of the priest, Pope, and you must be in this succession of line succession in order to have this authority. So there are those who hold to that, which we deny also. And then there are those who hold that it is given to Christians in general. Well, and certainly it is in a general sense that all Christians, believers, are to be witnesses of Christ. But this is not given to Christians in a general sense. This is a specified action that is to be done by a particular class of people. It is for those who are in church relationship and it is for the ministry of that church to be doing this. Now you note I use the word ministry of that church. It is to the ministers of the Lord's churches that the Lord establishes that and calls and puts in that position as ministers that this is to be going ongoing. And so we do believe in biblical evangelism. Now note that I said biblical evangelism. We do not believe that Mission work is to be done to save a person from going to hell We do not believe in preaching the gospel to keep someone from going to hell We believe that every one of God's elect that their individual salvation was secured and has been secured by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary and not a single one of those whom Christ died will go to hell because they are chosen in Christ before the foundation of world to be heirs of eternal life We do believe that has indeed been ordained of God, that the gospel would be proclaimed and that these elect people who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God would come to the knowledge of who the Redeemer is. The gospel is glad news to those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. It is glad tidings. It is a confirmation, it is a means of confirmation of what God has done inwardly in the heart of that individual. And the proclaiming of the gospel is not for the purpose of keeping someone from going to hell, but it is for the purpose of manifesting what God has already done. So we believe a New Testament church then is a church that first of all understands what the gospel is. There are a lot of religious orators today who do not understand what the gospel is. They talk about the death of Christ, they talk about the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they talk about the cross of Calvary and many of those other things, but they all end up by saying, now this is what God has done, now you must do your part. We deny that. That is not the gospel. A person who is dead in trespasses and sins can do nothing, absolutely nothing in order to receive salvation or to add anything to it. We believe that salvation is totally, solely by the sovereign grace of God and God must do it all and He does do it all. to His own honor and to His own glory. And if you're ever brought to the knowledge of Christ as Savior, it is because what God has done in your heart in regenerating you and bringing you to that knowledge of Christ, that He will receive all honor and all glory. We do not believe that it is in the hands of a preacher or anyone else that they can do anything to get you to add anything to what Christ has done for your salvation. It's all of the Lord. I take, for instance, what Paul says in 1 Corinthians. He says, One hath planted, he's referring to his work of he and Apollos. He said one planted, another watered, but God gave the increase. Now, our Lord in Matthew, the 13th chapter talks about the sower going forth to sow. And he talks about four different types of soil that the sower sows on. And three of those types of soil, that there is some kind of response, some kind of response. Hardened, rocky soil, Seed just lays out there. Some soil, seed takes some temporary root and dries up. There is a soil that is called good soil. That is soil that has been prepared and made ready to receive the seed. Now, any of you who have done any farm work, you know very well that it is necessary to prepare the soil before sowing ever takes place. You go out and you plant corn, you plant beans, whatever it may be that you plant, you must somewhere or another prepare that soil in order to receive because it is not in the seed normally just to germinate and bring forth a harvest and certainly the kind of harvest that you hope to receive. And so that seed must be sown on soil that's prepared. And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. And that's what God alone can do and must do and will do in order that the gospel or the Word of God and the truth of God might be received by hearts that have been quickened by the Spirit of God, and thereby we might be blessed to hear, understand, and to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so we go forth sowing, but yet we all acknowledge, if we understand the true gospel, we acknowledge that indeed God must regenerate, God must draw, God must bring that person and give that person faith. to believe the truth of God in Christ Jesus. And so a biblical church, a New Testament church, is one that has the right concept of what the gospel is all about. It is not what God has done plus what you do, but it is that God has done all of it by His sovereign grace and mercy. And that it must be a church that understands the utility of the work of the gospel in a proper sense. Our Lord said, go into all the world and teach all nations. I believe the New Testament Church is doing that and must do that. Now, where we have some opposition and where we have some division from the so-called missionary Baptists is their idea is that you're not doing evangelism, you're not missionary unless, first of all, you're trying to keep people from going to hell. And so they establish various activities in societies. They send out missionaries to try and save some people going to hell. We don't want anything to do with that. We have no part of that. The fact of the matter that the division took place in 1832 among Baptists was partly over, not just solely over, but primarily over the idea that there are to be no auxiliary agencies in doing the work of the Lord and that in doing the work of the Lord we do not determine someone's eternal destiny. That's foreign to the Word of God. But we do believe in biblical evangelism. as I've tried to set it forth. And a New Testament church is a church that is doing biblical evangelism. Now the missionary Baptists say that we must be doing it to keep people from going to hell, and they also say that we must be doing it, you're not doing mission work unless you are doing it in foreign evangelism. I deny that. I believe that biblical evangelism is evangelism that takes place wherever you are and wherever a church is established and doing everything that you possibly can do. Now, in this modern day and age, churches have various opportunities to do things that we didn't have maybe a hundred years ago. And we need to use those opportunities. We are engaged in preaching the gospel and the Word of God by sermon audio. Fifty years ago, that was not available to churches. I would not say that a church that did not use sermon audio was not a New Testament church. We have facilities and means whereby we're doing it, and I thank the Lord for the people involved in helping us to do that, and so that's one of the means whereby that we're doing biblical evangelism. Of course, you know that I have been to other countries, and other primitive Baptist preachers have gone to the Philippines, have gone to Africa, and some right now are in India, And God has been pleased to bless the work there and manifest that there are His elect people there and New Testament printed Bible churches have been established in those places. But we've had the resources, the means whereby we could do it that maybe a hundred years ago we did not have. So I do not subscribe to the idea that you must be doing foreign evangelism in order to be a New Testament church. That is an issue that I strongly object to that the missionary Baptists advocate. And they denounce primitive Baptists because we are primarily not doing foreign evangelism. And yet all the while, they individually will say, indeed, it is work that we are to be done doing even at home. Now, when I speak about the missionary Baptists, I'm speaking about them in a general sense. There are those who I know and affiliated with and fellowship with among even the missionary Baptists that don't subscribe to all those things, and we would be in agreement with some of their doctrines, not all, but some, and they would be in agreement with some of ours. So a New Testament church is one that's doing biblical evangelism, whatever means and whatever means it can. It is doing what the Lord said, going and preaching the gospel. Now, I disagree with those who are opposed to preaching the gospel and who try to stifle the preaching of the gospel, regardless of what name they may go by, even some who go by the name of primitive baptism. I'm sad to say that I've heard about and read about those who are opposed to doing biblical evangelism. I pray that God would forgive them, convert them, and deliver them from their error. Yet at the same time, as I said, I do not believe that a church must be engaged in foreign evangelism in order to be qualified as a New Testament church. I urge and encourage every church, every New Testament church, every printed Bible church, everyone to be actively engaged to the point that they possibly can be. There are those who've helped us. Small congregation we are. could not do some of the things that we've done had it not been for other churches that have helped us, and we thank you for that. You could not go. A dear brother whose name I will not call right now who has contributed financially from time to time with the trips that I've made, and he said to me, lamenting, Brother Herb, I can't go, but I will help support. And I told him, I said, Brother, I could not go were it not for people like you. And so that individual, helped and was participating in biblical foreign evangelism. But not only is it a church that's involved in biblical evangelism, our Lord did not conclude just doing evangelism. And that's a misnomer, that's a misconception that many people have about this Great Commission. It does not terminate with just evangelism. Our Lord said more, and I've told you again about the young man that I I talked with one time with a graduate from a Bible college and I asked him what he wanted to do as he was graduating from Bible college. What do you want to do? I want to be a world evangelist. I said, that's great. Why? Why are you going to be a world evangelist? He said, because the Lord said go into all the world. I said, what else did he say? And this young man with five years of Bible college said, don't expect me to know what else he said because I've only been in Bible college for five years. Well, let me read to you what the Lord said, and I quote it to this young man. Go ye in all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them. Biblical evangelism involves scriptural baptism. I emphasize that. I read about various organizations that are doing various Missionary works, as they call it, and evangelism work, but they are not involved in biblical immersion of people. Some of them sprinkle, some of them are baptizing for the wrong purpose, and some of them are baptizing without proper authority. Those are invalid baptisms. That's not what the Lord said. Baptizing, immersing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Brother Harris was in Africa. And some of the converts there and some of the preachers there wanted to be affiliated with preeminent Baptists, but they were Jesus-only people, and they wanted to baptize people only in the name of Jesus. And there are those here in America that follow the same doctrine and teachings. We believe in the Trinity. We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and we believe that biblical Baptism involves a profession of faith in the Trinity in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those are very words that our Lord and Savior gave and we would not change it nor alter it and yet remain to be a New Testament church. We do not baptize in the name of Herb Hatfield or the name of any church. We baptize by the authority of, in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And we may say, as we do often times, and by the authority given to such and such a church, I do now baptize you. But he said not only that, in verse 20, teaching them to observe all things. I hope that you have already circled the word, the phrase, all things. Because our Lord said all things. There is nothing in the New Testament that we are not to be teaching and practicing today. Nothing in the New Testament that we are not to be teaching and practicing today. Now there are those who differ and there are those who take exceptions and there are those who have their own ideas about what we're to be teaching and preaching. But I submit unto you that Jesus Christ who has all authority and supreme authority and who is the head of his church and who is the lawgiver to the Lord's church, he said, teaching them to observe all things. The word observe does not mean just to simply to know about it, but rather to practice it also. I'll come back again to my struggles and still have struggles with the idea of writing. I've learned since that penmanship is not being taught in American schools today, and that's tragic. But I remember very carefully my teacher, in the third grade, I believe, was trying to teach me how to write. And she meticulously would take my hand and guide me in certain strokes. And she said, look at this right above you. Look at this word, this letter here. See those three lines? And some of you can remember those lessons. My teacher was not very successful, not because of her inabilities, it's just that through the years I've forgotten and lost some of the art of writing. I still write, but you can't hardly read it. But that practice of penmanship, training people, and we could talk about speaking, how that we talk about enunciation, how to pronounce words and vowels and all those things. We do that to train people in the English language. Of course, I understand the great controversy going on today in America about that very subject. But we teach people not only to have the knowledge but how to practice it. You have certain verbs and certain adjectives and certain way in which you use these words, they are to be done this way and said this way and used in this context. If we are to do observing the rules of grammar and enunciation properly, we are not only teaching but we are instructing those to observe this, do it this way. Now, people call that and want to try to Get away from that by calling it legalism. I agree to some degree if you will let me define the term of legalism. The word legalism, of course, comes as the idea of a law. It's law. Well, we are not antinomians. We are not without law. We have a law. We have the laws of Christ given to us. We call them commandments. They're the commandments of Christ. We're not exempt from those. We're not just out here trying to make up our own religion, our own philosophy and rules and regulations. No, we have a lawgiver, Jesus Christ. And those are set forth in the Word of God by the apostles. And whatever Christ and his apostles have given to us in the New Testament, we are to be teaching those things. And someone said, oh, when you're being legalistic, well, I'll plead guilty if you'll let me define what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the laws of Christ. That's His rules, His laws. I have no right to alter nor to change them. No man has any right or authority to change them. Again, a quote from John Calvin, writing about the baptism of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. He said very evidently, Christ and John the Baptist immersed their disciples, but we have no reason to be concerned about the mold today. John Calvin was maybe a good theologian in some aspect, but he's deadly wrong, seriously wrong on that particular aspect. No man, whomever it may be, has any right to change what Jesus Christ has given to us. You say, that doesn't pertain to us today? Well, most certainly. All the New Testament pertains to us today. Oh, there may be a certain particular aspect in the book of Onesimus, you know, in the book of Philemon rather, dealing with a particular issue with Onesimus and Philemon. We don't maybe have those two characters exactly in our churches today, but I'll tell you, we have similar situations and there are rules and regulations and lessons to be learned from that little small book as we have dealt with it before for New Testament Christians today. And that's the reason why it was included by the churches, first-century churches, in the canon of scriptures. So what is a New Testament church? It is a church composed of born-again believers who've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, who are gathered by God, Matthew 18, where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst. I was speaking to a pastor just yesterday. He called me on the phone, and we were talking about our church services, and he said, our church is small. And I said, yes, our congregation is small also. But he said, but the Lord promised for two or three or get it. I said, isn't it wonderful that the Lord did not say two or 300? You know, just think about that. What the Lord said for two or 300 there. I mean, you would say, well, I can understand. Got to have at least 200 people there. Everybody be trying to get that 200. No, our Lord just said where two or three are gathered, and that's significant, are gathered, that's passive, they're gathered by the Holy Spirit of God. It does not mean that just two or three people get together, that's how some people take that phrase, but just where two or three are gathered by God, in my name, by my authority, there am I. So we have the qualification definition of what a church is. Two or three are gathered, born-again believers, who are gathered, spiritually baptized believers who've been gathered together, brought together by the Holy Spirit of God for the purpose, primary purpose, first of all, of worshiping Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. Why do we come to church? What's it all about? To worship Him. Brother Aaron praying in his prayer, that we pray for the Lord's manifestation of His presence here with us because nonetheless if it's not, it's all vain. That is true. Our coming together is for the primary purpose of worshiping Him. If it is, then let us do it as He said to do it and as the pattern is in the New Testament. Oh, you and I have a problem and that is traditionism. social forms. And I submit to you the only traditions we ought to hold to and the only social form we ought to be concerned about is what is set forth in the New Testament. And we ought to be subscribing to and seeking to conform to that kind of pattern in the New Testament. And if we cannot trace our doctrines and our practices back to the New Testament, then we have no reason to hold to them authoritatively. I want to qualify that to leave myself a little wiggle room, I'll say. For instance, there's nothing in the New Testament that says that we have to meet at 1030 on Sunday morning. Now I know the Bible says forsaken not, but assembling yourselves together. We have patterns and principles that say that the New Testament churches met together on the first day of the week, on the Lord's day. But there's nothing that says we have to meet at 1030. We meet because that's an accepted time that we as a church have agreed to meet at 1030. But we could also change it. We could move it to 12 o'clock if we wanted to do that. We are not violating any scripture if we were to do that. We could move it to seven o'clock at night if that was the more convenient time for us to get together that we have not violated any scripture But in meeting together, we seek, first of all, to conform to the pattern and the teachings of the New Testament Word of God. And so a New Testament church is a church that, first of all, meets together to worship the Lord, and a New Testament church is one that puts the Word of God as supremely as its sole authority for doctrine and practice. The other day, I had a carpenter working over at my house doing some little bit of carpenter work for me. and he pulled out a plumb bob. Some of you know what that is, but make it very simple. It's just a string with a weight on the end of it. They're referred to in the Bible even, so they're old instruments of carpentry work. You won't get a plumb bob if you use it properly. You won't get it to lie to you. You want to get something plumb, You hang that string up with that weight on it and you will find out whether or not it's in line. That's the rule that you go by. Carpenter tubes are very basic. They're ancient, dating back even to the days of ancient Egypt. Square. My grandfather one day, my wife's grandfather, one day sat me down and showed me a marvelous mystery of the things that you could learn in mathematics of just using a square. A square is essential to doing proper construction work and a level also. All of those are tools that they don't lie. You can use them and ignore them and oftentimes when I use them I end up being out of level or out of plumb, but that's not because the instruments are wrong. But everything that we do in construction work is to be done in such a way that it conforms to these rules. Plumb, it's level, it's square. Those instruments are ancient. and they are authoritative. Such is the Word of God to God's people. We need to plumb and square and level all of our doctrine and practices by thus saith the Word of God. Not what ancestors taught and said, not what even my own family teaches and says, nor even my own preacher. And I have reminded you all the time, many times, to examine everything that I preach as the brilliance did by the Scriptures. And so we need to examine our doctrines and practices as a church and as individuals. What does the Bible teach? Now, why is that important? First of all, because that's what our Lord said, going to all the world, teaching all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you. And then He adds a promise to it. You will note that promise, please. And lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. You see, the Lord promised to preserve and to perpetuate His churches. And His churches are the kind of churches that are teaching and practicing the New Testament teachings that our Lord gave to us. Those kind of churches have been preserved by the Lord, those kind of churches have been perpetuated by the Lord, and those kind of churches will never go out of existence as long as time goes on. There are some people this past few weeks and past few months have been greatly What's the word I want? Disappointed. I'll use that word maybe. That doesn't cover all of it. But they put their trust in certain securities, invested a lot of money in stocks. They thought that they were preserved and they were saved. Of course, you know what our Lord said, put the inopportune treasures on earth where thieves and rust and breakthrough and steel. tragically many people have lost their whole soul, life's investments, mortgaged their homes and a lot of things because they put their money in something that they thought would give them a happy future. Our Lord said, seek ye first the kingdom of God. I want to tell you that there's only one thing that will give you any happiness in the future. That's in a person, Jesus Christ. It is in the work of Jesus Christ that you will be able to say, ultimately, I've never lost a dime. I've never been disappointed. Every dime that I've ever given to the Lord's He has given back a multiple. Now, I'm not trying to teach this prosperity doctrine that goes out over television. That's not what I'm talking about. But I'm promising you and telling you this, that everything that you ever give to the Lord, He multiplies it, He blesses it. And I'm talking about not only money, I'm talking about talents, I'm talking about energy, I'm talking about intelligence, I'm talking about your life. Do you think the Apostle Paul sitting in prison in Rome said, Oh, I just wish I hadn't taken this course. I wish I hadn't done all that I've done. I wish I hadn't. No. Paul writes to Timothy and says, I've finished the course. I've kept the faith. I've fought a good fight. Therefore there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, a crown of glory, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me that day. Oh, yes, Paul, I'm so glad that you've done all of that, you've got that. Oh, that's wonderful for you, Paul. Paul said, not to me only, but to all of them that love his appearing. Looking for the Lord to come, involves faithfulness today. My mom and dad used to leave home occasionally, and they'd give me some instructions and things to be done. Wanted me to get it done before they got back home. Well, you know, being kids and children and depraved, you know what oftentimes would happen. I'd figure, well, they're going to be gone for three days, and so I'd wait until the last day to do all this. You know what oftentimes would happen? I'd find out that I had more to get done than I could get done in that one day's time. And so I was hurriedly, dreading, trying to get done, dreading the thought that they might get back before I got finished. Oh, I wanted to see them, but I was fearful of the reckoning that might take place if they came before I got everything done. Faithfulness and loving the Lord's appearing means that you're faithful to Him day by day. Because you know what? Let me let you in on a little secret that you may have forgotten. The Lord's going to come when people are least expecting it. And the Lord's going to come, and you're going to meet the Lord, may happen just when you are most ill-prepared for it. I'm talking about from the human aspect. Teaching them to observe all things what I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Is it important what we believe and what we practice and how we live? I believe it is. I've written an article that is posted up on Sermon Audio about the tragedy of Penn State University. I'm not going into detail and tell you all about that little article, but terrible tragedy. But in a sense, it's just opening up the box wherein you see the priority of human nature. And you also see the false gods that we have in our modern American society. false gods. Why was this scandalous activity covered up, ignored? Why did it perpetuate itself? Because certain people were afraid to expose it because of the financial damage it would do to the university. Now they're reaping a whirlwind from it. And because The man involved, primary person involved was being successful in helping to promote the gods of our modern society, which primarily are materialism, entertainment, and sexuality. And you might say, And we might say, I'd never be any part of what went on there. We need to look in our own hearts. What's the God that we're serving today? A New Testament church is a church that has Jesus Christ as its head, as its Lord. and who seeks in every way possible to glorify Him in doctrine and in practice and in the lives of the individual members, they live for Jesus Christ. May God bless us and preserve us to that