Please take your Bibles and go to Matthew chapter 16, if you would please, Matthew chapter 16. I'm going to read one verse of Scripture from another passage. I'm going to read from 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15, and then we'll go to Matthew chapter 16 for our main text this morning. I want to preach a message entitled, The Local Church, Conviction or Convenience? The Local Church, Conviction or Convenience? In 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15 the Bible says, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. In Matthew chapter 16 verse 13 the Bible says these words, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I the son of man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Bernie Smith wrote the following, it's entitled, Someone Killed a Church. The other day I saw an abandoned church. It stood in the midst of a rural community, a large unpainted building, cracking at the seams, literally pulling apart. The leaning steeple was ready to fall, and a few of the stained glass windows were still intact. Several houses dotted the countryside, and I could not find another church near it. The mute bell in the silent steeple gave mocking testimony of death, for a church had died. Once this was a community center of spiritual strength. There was a time when people came and found help for hurting hearts. Their children learned of Jesus, hymns were sung, the Bible was read, the pulpit was aflame, and men found Christ. Once the steeple, white and erect, seemed to say, come, bring your burdens and sorrows and leave them at the place of prayer. but the church had died. How deserted and desolate it looked as the day died away and it was swallowed by the open jaws of darkness. No shaft of light broke through as the fearful frown of a starless night fell upon it. But the curtain of night could neither comfort the conscience nor cover the crime of the community. The church was dead. and all was dark, someone killed it. Someone failed to be loyal in attendance and others followed the example. Someone was too busy to pray. Someone with influence that could have been used for Christ unconsciously caused others to neglect prayer. Someone lacked faith. Someone forgot that faith is what miracles are made of. Someone didn't tithe. Someone thought it cost too much to have the church, but it costs more not to have it. Someone didn't want revival. Someone felt that evangelism was an outmoded as the ox cart. To say that evangelism is out of date is to say that Christ is out of date. For Christ and evangelism are inseparable. Someone watched that church die. Someone heard the death rattles, saw the spiritual decline, and apparently viewed the disaster without being disturbed. Satan would like to wreck your church. Don't let him do it. Follow the path of duty and loyalty. Prevail in prayer. Build a foundation of faith. Give as unto the Lord. Agonize for genuine revival. When we mention the local church, conviction or convenience, it's important for us to understand what we mean by the two words conviction or convenience. Conviction is a fixed or firm belief. Convenience, as the dictionary states, is the state of being suitable or opportune. And I believe that this, for many, really expresses the two attitudes towards the local church in this age. Some highly value the church, while others can take it or leave it. Sadly, we see that more and more are leaving it, and some of those who stay do it more out of tradition or the feeling of obligation. Vance Havner said these words some time ago. He's in heaven now. He says, we are hearing today about those who like Christ, but do not like the church. But Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. How can we like the head, but not the body? The groom, but not the bride. He goes on to say, most people would not want to live where there are no churches. but many of them live as though there were no churches. The local church, conviction or convenience? I believe it's about time that each of us really pondered that title. The local church, is there a firm belief in your mind and heart about its importance? Or is it just a matter of convenience? Is it just a matter of tradition? Is it just something that you do? It's something you've grown up with. And since you go Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night, you just keep up the tradition. Or do you really see how important it is in the mind and heart of God and how that Jesus Christ indeed gave himself for it. And as the scripture said, as we read there in 1 Timothy chapter three, it's the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. Sometimes we'd like to say, well, it really has to do with the universal church. And friends, let me just say something here. There's no such thing in this day and age as a universal church. When you think of a house, You may, as you anticipate building a house, you may get the windows from the United States. You may order some of the fixtures from Europe. You may get some of the doors from Canada. You may order the wood from BC. There are many places you may get the various parts to build a house. But you wouldn't say as you ordered that you have a house. You just have the parts of a house. It wouldn't be a house until it was all assembled. So with the local church, you say, well, all the Christians that are in the world make up the church. But the ecclesia, the church, is a called out assembly. This universal church that people refer to today just doesn't exist because we're not all assembled. We will be assembled one day, as Ephesians points out, When Jesus Christ comes in the rapture and calls us all together, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, then we're assembled and praise the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect one who will be our pastor. But until that time, he has put us together in local assemblies. This here is a prized possession. in the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ as we meet this morning in this place. I'm not talking about the building. I'm talking about people who have united together for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst. And we see here the importance of the local church. And when you see the context of the scriptures, you see it gives reference to the local church. As imperfect as she is, she has still been founded by the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to just mention some things this morning as we emphasize the local church in the messages today. Why he has me do that today and Sunday morning, Sunday night, as tonight I'll be preaching a message entitled, Who Are We Anyway? Who are we anyway when we think about the church? The first thing I'd like us to consider today is the first mention of the church. The word church is mentioned in our text passage of scripture in Matthew chapter 16. It's the first incident that we have in the New Testament where the word church is mentioned. Jesus founded and instructed the first church. Here we find that He talks to Peter, and you know the account well. And Peter gives testimony that Jesus is the Christ. And bear in mind, Christ means the anointed one. Some of your wrong translations would like to take Christ out of there. And folks, Jesus is the Christ. That means he is the anointed of God. And so it's important when the text says Jesus Christ, that it's translated Jesus Christ. because some would like to minimize the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. So they try to take Christ out of that. For many, it would seem just like a subtle change, and it is a subtle change, but it really changes who they're referencing. And they undermine the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the first mention we need to understand is here in Matthew. So the first mention of the church is Matthew chapter 16. And we're going to be talking a bit here this morning about the importance of the church. And we've got to be careful, as the scriptures point out to us, on how we handle the local church. Because if Jesus founded the church, then it is vitally important. Sometimes, and it's important for us to really put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis, and He puts great emphasis on the home. He puts great emphasis on marriage. He puts great emphasis on the unity of the family. But just as he places great emphasis on the family and the home, he also does about the local church. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 32, here Paul writes to this worldly church that's filled with problems. And he's trying to straighten out their theology as well as their practice. And he says, give none offense. neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God." And it's interesting how he emphasizes those three classifications. He says the Jew, the Gentile, that's the non-Jew, as well as the church of Jesus Christ. Now, when you think of the word offense, offense means not putting a stumbling block in front of. In other words, not to lead someone into sin. And so here conclusively in the scriptures, it says that you are not to give offense to those that are Jews, to those that are Gentiles, as well as those that are in the church of God. And sad to say many though, do not heed that admonition. The third point in the message is the early church had problems that arose, yet they worked at solving them. You see, when Jesus Christ found something, he wants it to continue. And just as I read from Mr. Smith, as we started the message about someone killing a church, we see in the book of Revelation, as many like to study future events, and you go to chapters two and three and have the letters to the seven churches, how sad is the day that the candlestick was removed from each of those cities. And if you were to go to modern day Turkey today, you would not find a local church. Because somehow, some way, they let the church die. And if you're not careful, you can let the church die. And I'm not trying to uplift something here that is self-serving. I'm not trying to say because I'm the pastor of Pima Valley Baptist Church that this is something that I have an ulterior motive to get across to you. I'm trying to preach the Word of God. And just as God has called me to this place, God, I trust, has called you to this place. And this is a place that God saw fit to establish. But bear in mind, the promises of God, many of them, when you get into Christian living and so on, are conditional. God says, you do this, and I'll do this. And in those seven churches, he told these seven churches that there were some things they needed to do. But he also told them, if you don't do these things, I'll remove your candlestick. And that's exactly what he's done. We can look across this great land of Canada and also the United States, and we can see where at one time there were churches that stood tall for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were illustrations of the reading that I had at the beginning of the message. And yet there are no more. I happen to have attended a church in the South that numbered usually on a Sunday morning, 6,000. They had a Christian school from K-5 up through seminary that had over 5,000 students at one time. And there now, if you were to drive to that place and you drive block after block that they used to have buildings and houses and students and people, They now have plywood over the windows. Other businesses have tried buying the buildings out. Where once stood a lighthouse for the Lord Jesus Christ is now abandoned, and that church is no more. Don't think that it can't happen. You say, but that's no big deal, I'm going to heaven. But my friend, God established the church. And there's a reason why we're in church planting in our missionary program. There's a reason why we're seeking to plant churches across this land and across the world. It's because there needs to be a lighthouse in every community that's clear on giving out the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And standing is the pillar and ground of the truth. Could it be that the reason why we see all the social move of the moral society has been eroded is because the churches are no longer the pillar and ground of the truth? Communities that once had a vibrant testimony for God no longer do. And then some that are still there have Ichabod written over, where Ichabod means the glory has departed. God forbid that the glory would depart from this place. The early church had problems that arose, yet they worked at solving them. You see that in Acts chapter six, where there are two groups of people that they felt like one was being preferred before another. They were thinking that one group was being neglected and the other one was being paid attention to. Rather than set it aside and say, let's just give up on the church, they said we need to do something about it. And so they did something about it. In Acts chapter 15, you find other problems had arisen within the churches there. They got together, they talked it out, there was some disputing that went on, but then they came in unity and they got the job done and they continued on in the work of evangelism of the then known world. To where even as they would go into certain communities, even just two or three of them at a time, they that have turned the world upside down, are come hither also. Sad to say we can have Christians that number in the hundreds, if not the thousands in a community, and people wonder about the Christianity in that community. Something's wrong, something's wrong. The local church, conviction or convenience? Number four, I see that Jesus Christ died for the church. When I talk like this, people have trouble wrapping their heads around this because they say, you mean He died for our local church? That's exactly what the Scriptures teach. You say, but aren't you being a little extreme? No, because God's not extreme. If you wanna say He's extreme, then He's extreme, and that makes us extreme. But I think He's right, and we just need to fall in line with that. Let's go to Acts chapter 20, if you would. Paul in the early part of Acts chapter 20 calls the preachers of Ephesus together. And he calls them together and he begins to give them some words of encouragement, some words of admonition. And I want to pick up the reading here in verse 28. The Bible here says, take heed therefore unto yourselves. Now he's talking to some pastors. You see, this was a church that had a staff to it, had a pastoral staff. If you were to look in Titus 1, 1 Timothy 3, 1 Peter 5, this passage of Scripture, you would find that these titles that are given here in the Scriptures talk about the same office. It's talking about pastors. That's the elder, that's the one who feeds the flock. The elder is a counselor and the bishop is an overseer. It's the same office, but it's the men of that church, the pastors of that church handling those different aspects of that church body. And so it comes here to Acts chapter 20, and he says these words once again in verse 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock." In other words, the pastors need to make sure that, as it says in Acts chapter six, that they give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. But it also states here that they need to be careful as well for their own spiritual condition, not just to feed the flock, but to make sure that they walk with God as well. And then the admonition is, and to all the flock. In other words, one of the responsibilities of the pastors is to make sure that the people are fed richly from the Word of God in the Sunday school hour, Wednesday night prayer and Bible study, and these morning and evening services, so that you can grow in your faith and be everything that God wants you to be. It says, and to all the flock over the witch, look at it, the Holy Ghost have made you overseers. The pastorate is not one that you seek for yourself. It's one that God calls you to. And so as you see this passage of Scripture, it says that the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. That's why when you get to a passage of Scripture like Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17, it talks about that the pastors will give an account of how faithful they are and giving out the Word of God. And it says here, to feed the church of God, look at this last phrase, which he hath purchased with his own blood. So what does that tell us? He's not talking about a universal body. He's not talking about all the Christians in the world. He's addressing the church at Ephesus. You get to 1 Timothy 3, the opening verse that we gave there in verse 15. and it talks about the pillar and ground of the truth, that entire book, those six chapters are dealing with a local church. And so these passages of scripture are dealing with each local church, each scriptural church. I'm not talking about a church being a church because they have church on their name. It has to match the scriptures on what qualifies as a local church. Not every group that calls themselves a church is a church. They need to adhere to the scriptural criteria that makes up a local church. But obviously here it's saying, hey, this local church and you pastors need to make sure that you look to yourselves and to the entire flock over the which the Lord has made you overseers. And he says, this is so serious. This is not a matter of convenience. It has to be a matter of conviction, being fully persuaded, being firmly set that this is the church that Jesus Christ gave himself for. Very serious. And so in our lackadaisical attitudes in society, we must be careful how we treat the local church. And I realize it puts me in a, A point of criticism, potentially, because I'm pastoring and I'm preaching like this, so it seems like I could be lifting myself up. Nothing could be further from the truth. Heavy, heavy, heavy. Seek not to be many masters. James chapter three, verse one. For ye shall receive the greater condemnation. I will be called into account for this church and how the leadership operates. You will be called into account is how this church operates and how you work within its boundaries. In verse 29, the Bible says, for I know this, Paul writes, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. When we think of perversity today, we think of blatant, blatant sin. We think of cursing, blasphemy, perverse. Another meaning for that that's used here is a distortion of the truth. And so you need to make sure that you handle your criticism properly. The Bible has much to say about whispers and backbiters and those who resist and those that hinder. And some people say, well, you know, God is God and he'll do whatever he wants to do. But may I remind each and every one of us that we can hinder the work of God. You say, but he's omnipotent. He's all powerful. However, he's given mankind a free will. And just as Jesus would go into His own community, and the scripture says He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. And just because God has worked in a mighty way here in days gone by, we must be careful that we trust Him to continue to do a mighty work in this day. We may not have tomorrow. but we have today and we need to make sure we walk with Him today and that we work within the framework of God's Word. Let's continue to read in verse 31. He says, therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone, night and day with tears. Many times when a preacher gets up and sounds out a warning, and tries to alert people to impending situations or trouble or beware of sin and things that may lead to sin. He's seen to be, you know, conspiratorial in his preaching. That he's just being too extreme and he's taking things to its nth and so on and so forth. And they have all kinds of verbiage with that. But the Bible tells us that we need to sound out a warning from time to time. And we need to come across very clearly in this leisure-ridden society that we have today. Jesus Christ takes very seriously what happens in the local church, your church. Sometimes we're concerned about what's happening at the church over here or the church over there, what preacher so-and-so is doing. What we need to do is make sure that we're doing right here. that we're praying here, that we're ministering the Word here, that we're trying to reach our Jerusalem as well as the entire world. Jesus Christ died for the church. Number five, the local church is Christ's organism founded by His Word to stand for the truth and send it into all the world. The local church is Christ's organism because it's alive, founded by his word to stand for the truth and send it into all the world. I wanna go to Jude, and I know I started before the first of the year, a series of messages through Jude, and you may have thought that I had forgotten. the last few verses of the book of Jude. And I have not, we will go back there in due time. But I wanna read from Jude verse three. The Bible here says, beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. You notice the plural word ye. Some people say they have difficulty understanding the King James Bible. I don't think so. You means you. Ye means all of you. That's pretty easy. And so he's talking here and he says, look, ye should earnestly contend for the faith. And that means there needs to be, as it coincides with 1 Timothy chapter three and verse 15, a place that stands firm on the Word of God and what is contained in the Word of God. We have to earnestly, seriously contend. That means we send out a warning. That means even though the winds of compromise blow, we don't bend to the winds of compromise. We are the pillar and ground of the truth. If the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men. And sad to say for many churches we've lost our saltiness and people are walking all over her. And there needs to be a place just like this place where we stand as the pillar and ground of the truth. Let's go to Mark chapter 16 if you would. Mark chapter 16. So there's that contending aspects aspect of the Word of God. But there also is the evangelism aspect. In other words, the Great Commission was not just given to an individual, it was given to a church. As I mentioned before, you go and you see where in the early chapters, if you were to look at Matthew chapter 16, and just before then, he's calling Peter, James, and John. He calls Matthew at the receipt of custom, and there he's bringing together These apostles that are gonna form that first church. He spends time instructing them. And then as he ascends to heaven, after the death, burial and resurrection, we find that then they are the ones that will take the gospel message and go throughout the then known world planting churches. They planted churches. They didn't just go to a community and make converts. They established churches, read the book of Acts. Everywhere they went, they sought to get a group of believers together to form a permanent lighthouse, the pillar and ground of the truth. Because the Jewish people as a whole had rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Gentile nations were worshiping other gods. And so Jesus said, there's gotta be a place for my people. And he formed the local church. This is for his people. This church here is for his people. You mean you're not gonna welcome everyone? Oh yes, we're a welcoming body. But my friend, we don't want you to come in as you are and leave as you were. We want you to come in, get saved, get strengthened in the Word of God, leave a changed people to reach a world for the Lord Jesus Christ. He says these words in Mark chapter 16 and verse 15, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Sometimes if we're not careful, a church will just see their Jerusalem, and that's it. But the flip side of that is equally true. Sometimes they get so concerned about world evangelization that they forget about Judea, Samaria, as well as where they are, Jerusalem. And we need to reach the world. Just flip over a few pages to Matthew chapter 28. You know it well, it's the Great Commission. As someone has said, the great commission for many has become the great omission. In Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, Jesus came and spake unto them, the church was meeting together. And he says, all power, all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. What are you to teach them? The gospel. We already have seen in past studies, where according to 1 Corinthians 2, the natural man cannot receive the Spirit of God, because they're spiritually discerned, neither can he know them. In other words, an unsaved person can't really understand the Scriptures. They can know the facts of Scripture, but they don't really understand the Scripture. They don't understand the Spirit and the heart. of what it's trying to say. They have to be saved. Because it's the Holy Spirit of God that illumines the mind, turns the light on. And we see here that that's the gospel. You need to give somebody the gospel before you get into all the other conversations about the Bible and the things contained therein. And so then it says, after someone gets saved, then it says here, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Then it says, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world, amen. What I'm talking about here about the local church this morning, your average unsaved person would not understand what I'm saying. And sad to say, many believers, if they're dull of hearing and they don't have a vibrant walk with God, they won't understand what I'm saying. It's the spiritual man. As they exercise the Word of God, practice the Word of God, then they're able to discern good and evil. How are you with your discernment? The Bible goes on to say, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Go to Acts chapter two, if you would. Acts chapter two, and verse 41. We find it over again and over again. Then they that gladly received his word, that's salvation, were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. And then they just scattered around and did whatever they wanted to do. Whenever they wanted to do it, they had a great Bible study at home. Noah didn't say that. It goes on in verse 42, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. It says, and fellowship. Sort of hard to fellowship with me, myself, and I, right? And so they got together, it's just natural for believers to wanna spend time with believers. And if you find the company of unbelievers more suited to your company, you need to check your salvation. as imperfect as Christians are, as imperfect as maybe the local church is, there's just something natural about saved people wanting to be with saved people. And we find that all throughout Scripture. As soon as the apostle Paul, who at that time was named Saul, trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior on the road to Damascus, he wanted to join with the believers. But the believers say, that guy has such a sorry reputation. He doesn't belong with us. And old Barnabas come along and said, you come with me, Paul. Come with me, Saul. Come with me. And he says, hey, this guy got saved. I can attest to his testimony. He's a born-again believer, and the congregation received him gladly. Christians, wanting to be with Christians. And so we see here where they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Hey, the local church, conviction or convenience? Ah, if it fits into your schedule, okay. But I got other plans. I got people to see, things to do, places to go. It's not really a big deal. It doesn't really matter my testimony within the church or outside the church. My friend, when you got up this morning, and if you've been going to church on a regular basis, do you think your neighbors know that? They see when you stay at home. They see you when you work like mad to get to work to make that loony. but you don't work quite so hard to get to the local church. And bear in mind, Jesus Christ never said that he gave himself for that place of employment. He gave himself for the church. We just read it in Acts chapter 20. So I'm not making any undue emphasis on the local church that Christ has not already made. He's paid a much greater price than I or you will ever pay for this church. Lastly, the decisions handled scripturally by the local church are honored in heaven. I've been thinking about that. I thought about 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. I know I've used that verse of scripture a lot in my preaching. And I thought about how the church being the pillar and ground of the truth. That's pretty serious. Why are we having some of the social debates that we're having today? Because the church is silent. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven, I'll forgive their sin and I'll heal their land. You see, righteousness is not dependent upon the unsaved world. It's dependent upon God's people being right. And so when we criticize our political leaders, and we criticize some of the laws that are before parliament, we need to understand something. It all started by the silence of the church. Oh, a few believers can wave the flag, but how about the churches of our land? As they stand up and they cry aloud against the sin of the land. The decisions handled scripturally by the local church are honored in heaven. Let me go back to our text passage as we close things up. If you'll look at this, it says, upon this rock, I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ is the rock. And he says, I'm gonna build the church on me. You remember in the Church of Laodicea in Revelation chapter three, I think it's around verse 14, or no, it's 320. He says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me. Now that's interesting. Because the church is only for those who are saved, spiritually baptized, and they're united together. That's what qualifies as a local assembly. And isn't it interesting that here we find in the Laodicean church, the end time church, the people's rights church. That's what it's named for. The people's rights church. I want my rights. And he's outside the church. He says, I'm at the door of the church and I'm not, I want into my church. Now we use that as someone needing salvation and that is an application, but that's not the interpretation, the primary interpretation of that passage. He's addressing a local church and he says, look, I'm on the outside wanting to get in. Let me in. We need to make sure that Christ is in. Sirs, we would see Jesus. Jesus needs to be seen in Pima Valley Baptist Church. And you notice what it says here in this passage of scripture. Look here at verse 19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. In other words, binding and loosing. When you and I here on earth act in a scriptural fashion, God honors that in heaven. That's pretty powerful. That's also pretty serious. We need to make sure we always act biblically and that we act biblically because that has serious consequences. God loves the local church. I ask these two questions. Since Christ started and shed his blood for the church, How serious should your attitude and actions be concerning her? The local church, conviction or convenience?