And then we'll come back and we'll give out notebooks. As soon as you get those passed out, we'll get the notebooks. All right? Good. And we'll do this every service because we'll have people coming in that are not with us here at the Sunday school hour, so we'll have to take a minute or two every service to make sure everybody gets this information to start with. Amen? Well, it's a joy to be with you folks. We have been looking forward to this now for many, many months and praying that God would just give us the right time, the right people, and looks like he's brought in just the right folks here this morning. We're delighted to have you and looking forward. One per family. One per family. If there's just one in the family, that's all right. Good. Yeah. One per family would be good. And they can share reading that. And as soon as you get that passed out, come right back, gentlemen. And we'll pass out some notebooks here now. All right? Need your help here with the notebooks. And these are the notebooks here. Now, everybody get one of these. There they are right there. And the books, they're open. Take those notebooks, pass them out. Very good. Excellent ushers there. Yes, yeah, there's some open right there on your right. and all. So pass those out. Get those handed out to everybody. Make sure everybody gets one of these. In the meantime, be opening your Bible, if you will, to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 16, and we're going to begin reading at verse 18. Matthew chapter 16. Matthew 16, we're going to begin reading at verse 18. I hope you've got a pen or a pencil. I want you to take notes. This will be a help to you. You're going to get a study guide here now. And that will help you to follow along and keep track with where we are and what we're doing here this week. Now let me warn you, this week will go by fast. We'll just get started and it'll be over. So what we do, we've got to do quickly and let me urge you now, don't miss one service. Don't miss a service. The service you miss That'll be the very one that you needed the most, so be sure you don't miss any of these services now, and be ready, and bring your notebook with you back, and we'll keep notes of these, and oh, we're going to have such a good time. It's going to be a wonderful week, and you're going to enjoy studying about the history of Baptists. That's what we are. We're Baptists, and we want to know where we came from, how we got here, and what all has taken place in the back of history. Let me tell you a little bit about herself. Mrs. Jones and I are delighted to be here. She's going to be teaching the children upstairs in the morning service, the night service, and the rest of the week. And she has lessons. on the level of the children, but she'll follow primarily the same lessons that I'll be giving out here, and oh, it's just wonderful for the children to learn these great truths. Also, I am a missionary evangelist, just got back from the Philippines last week, and had wonderful meetings there, the Lord really blessed. We had over 200 professions of faith, great meetings, and just enjoyed being there, preaching and all. So we're very busy traveling and going and all. All right, as soon as these men get this done, and they've done a good job, amen, what wonderful ushers, boy, I'll tell you, right on the ball. And gentlemen, I'll use you again now for the preaching guy this morning, okay? All right, very good. All right, you got your Bible, let's get started. Matthew chapter 16, we're gonna read verse 18. Would you stand please as we read the inspired word of the living God? Matthew chapter 16, looking at verse 18. 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 key of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. Please notice verse 18. Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church. Father, bless us now as we study together. We're grateful, Lord, for your blessings and thank you for letting us come and be back at this wonderful church. Lord, we're praying that you'll hinder Satan from handling these services in any way. Hedge about each one. Lord, may this be a great week, a week of learning and a week of inspiration. May it truly be a revival. May through all of the teachings and all that, through this, souls will be saved, God's people will get right. And Lord, you'll just speak to our heart. We're waiting on you, Lord. We pray you will be done. In Jesus' name, Amen. And Amen. Thank you. Be seated. Let me give you a little introduction. Let me say this at the beginning. This is a study of what we call church history. And this will take us back all the way to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a study back through the dark ages, and we'll come down through time and see the origin of the many different denominations that we have today. Did you ever wonder where all these different churches came from? Huh? I mean, you know, we got all kinds of denominations, we got all kinds of names. Well, how'd they all get started? And where did they come from? And then the big question is, which one is the true church, the church like Jesus said he was going to build, which one of those is the true church? And then how do we identify it? How can we identify the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, let me say this. This will be One of the most exciting, informative studies I think that you've ever experienced. You'll learn more about church history and about the history of Baptists and about the true church than you have ever heard before. And I don't want you to miss one service. So please promise me, promise the Lord here today, you're not going to miss one service, Lord willing, this week. Now, you're going to hear things taught that very few Christians and very few Baptists here today. Now this church is a little bit different because you do have a pastor that has been teaching these great truths all down through the years and so a lot of this stuff will not be new to you. But most of the churches I go to, the things that I teach is really new to them and so on. But this is the story. of the church of Jesus Christ, the most dramatic, the most thrilling, the most exciting story that you could ever imagine. I promise this will not become a boring thing to you, you will not go to sleep, and I pray that you will get a spark inside of you, and you will have a love for the Lord's Church like you've never had before in your life. We're going to be studying from the book called The Trail of Blood, written by J.M. Carroll. And that tells us about what Baptists believe according to the Bible, as well as many stories from history about Baptists and the awful persecution that they endured. The world has never seen anything to compare with the sufferings, with the persecutions that our Baptist brethren have suffered. We know that many people down through time, I read about Senator McCain, you know, he ran for president a few years ago. He suffered in a Vietnam prison camp for over five years. He was put through unbelievable, horrible, horrible torture and experience. Admiral Jeremiah Denton was held and tortured beyond anything imaginable for seven and a half years in the bamboo cages and so on. But none of these compared to what Jesus Christ suffered on the cross and what Baptists have suffered down through the years, especially the Dark Ages. Oh, what terrible suffering. They were slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held to. Now, Dr. Carroll in this book was converted, he was baptized, and ordained a Baptist preacher and lived in the early 1900s. During his ministry, he was a great leader among Texas Baptists and Baptists of the world. He wrote an independent study into church history. as to which was the oldest church and most like the church of the New Testament which Jesus built while he was here. He wanted to know. And so he put an intense study into finding out how could he determine which was the true church of Jesus Christ. Well, this is what he did. He set up a guide which he called the Marks. of a New Testament church. And he could go to these marks and identify the church that held closest to these marks in the New Testament. Now, as we see today, as we'll be lecturing on, he set up a guide. He went by these. Millions ago, Dr. Carroll came to Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where Clarence Walker was a pastor. And he taught these lessons. And of course, these lessons lit a fire in Pastor Clarence Walker's soul. And the lessons were put into a book and then published. You may have that little book that first came out. It was this little red book. I don't know if any of you all have ever seen this little book before, but that book was sent out. Millions, millions of copies of this little red book was mailed around the world and published by Ashley Avenue Baptist Church and Dr. Clarence Walker. Thousands upon thousands of them. I, when I was in Bible college, went to school at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. Had a little school, Brother Walker started it, called Lexington Baptist College. And he was there that I was introduced to these great truths. As a matter of fact, Dr. Walker hired me to be his assistant. I was, while I was in Bible college, I wasn't assistant pastor, I was assistant to him. He had had a stroke, and he couldn't drive a car anymore, and so it was my job to pick him up. I took him to funerals, I took him to weddings, I took him to his office. I was with him every day, every day. And of course he would teach me, and help me as a young preacher and all, and he lit my fire. about these truths that we're going to bring to you this week. And so, Dr. Walker published this little book here. Later on, of course, it's been republished and different companies have done it. Challenge Press in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and then Bryan Station Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. And someone showed me a book here by Victory Press. They've got a book here with a beautiful cover on it. Now, I've never seen that, but several have published the book. since Dr. Walker had this little red book published years ago. So now, let's get back to Dr. Carroll. Dr. Carroll could determine which was the true church of Jesus Christ by going by these marks, the marks of a New Testament church. He could go by these marks and identify the church that held closest to the marks of the New Testament. Now, what do we mean by marks? Well, illustration. Suppose you own a horse, and one day you left the door unlatched, and that horse gets out and wanders off. Well, you love that horse, and so you put a notice in the paper, lost horse, and you describe what he looks like. You say the horse was a white horse, it had a black tail, and it had a black ring around its right eye. reward for those who find it. Well, a few days later, you get a telephone call and somebody says, well, I think I found your horse. And you say, describe it. He says, well, it's a white horse. It has a black tail, and it's got a black ring around its right eye. You say, yep, that's my horse. That's what it looks like. That's the marks of my horse. And so that's a good illustration of how we can identify the true Church of Jesus Christ by these marks. Don't you want to be a member of the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Don't you want to be a member of that kind of church? Well, you know, we've got so many. We've got these praise centers. We've got the worship centers. We've got the community churches. We've got all sorts of different denominations. We've got the Catholics, the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Church of God, the Holiness, Seventh-day Adventist, Free World Baptist. I mean, all of these different, different, different denominations. Now, which one? is the true church of Jesus Christ. Well, we're going to identify it. We'll go to these marks. These marks identify the true church of Jesus Christ. Now, remember my text. Jesus promised a continual existence from the time he organized his church, that first church, during his earthly ministry. He's promised that he would be here His kind of church will be here until he comes again and raptures all of us out of this wicked world. Matthew 16, 18 again, And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. Did he do it? Did he build his church? Was he just putting us on? Did he make a promise to not hold it? Oh no, he built his church. So the true church of Jesus Christ has been here since then and it began with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's identify, let's see if we can identify that true church by these marks. Let's look at these. In your textbook, as well as in your notes and all, the marks of a New Testament church. The first mark, number one. is Christ is the head and founder. No other denomination can say that today. No, no other. All of these other denominations that I just mentioned and many more, they were begun by some man. No other denomination can say that Christ is the head and Christ is the founder. Let's look in our Bible at the book of Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. Notice what he says in Colossians 1 verse 18. Oh, this is a very important verse and a strong verse to prove that Christ is the head. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. Christ is the head. Notice, if you will. Do you have it? Have you found the verse? Colossians 1 verse 18. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now, neighbor, that's very clear, isn't it? Christ is the head of his kind of church. He's the head. He's the founder. And it's Jesus Christ, not Buddha, not Joseph Smith, not Martin Luther. Not John Wesley, not John Calvin, not Alexander Campbell. Christ is the head. And Christ organized his followers, his disciples, into a local church during his earthly ministry. Can I prove that? Can we prove that Jesus Christ, while he was here, did that? Oh, of course we can. Let's look in our Bible. We have scripture. Let's go to Luke chapter 6, verse 13. Luke 6, verse 13, which shows to you that Christ, while he was here, during his earthly ministry, organized his followers into a church. Matthew 6, Luke 13, after Jesus now has prayed all night long, prayed all night long, have you ever done that? You ever prayed all night long? My, my, my. It'd be great if we could do that, wouldn't it? Just start praying and pray all night long. I've tried it. I've tried it many times as a preacher in motels all across this country. I've decided, well, I've heard about Jesus praying all night long. I've heard about preachers praying all night long. And I thought, well, I'll try it myself. I'd go down on my knees about 10 or 10.15 in a motel room somewhere, and I'd start praying. I'd pray for everybody I knew. I mean, I'd start with my family, my wife, my children, my grandchildren. I'd just pray and pray and pray for everybody in our family. And then I'd start with the missionaries, all the missionaries I knew around the world. I'd pray for them and for their work and all that they were doing. And then I'd pray for all the lost people that I knew in the world. I mean, everybody. I pray for every president, I pray for the governors, I pray for everybody. I just keep praying and praying and praying and finally I think, well surely, you know, it must be getting early in the morning somewhere because I was just wore out just praying. And I'd look at my watch and guess what? I've been praying 45 minutes. I mean, you know, it's worth to pray all night long. But Jesus prayed all night long and look what it says here, Luke chapter 6 verse 13. And when it was day, He called unto him his disciples. And of them he chose or called out twelve whom also he named apostles. Now hold your place there. Go to the book of I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28. I Corinthians chapter 12 and look at verse 28. After Jesus prayed all night long, he calls out of all his disciples, he chose 12. And over in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, notice if you will, verse 28, and here's what Paul tells us happened. 1 Corinthians 12, 28. And God hath set some in the church, first, who? Apostles. first apostles. Over here in Luke chapter 6 verse 13, after Jesus prayed all night long, he called out twelve and named them apostles. Here Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, he placed first in the church, apostles. So I think this is a good place. There in Luke chapter 6 verse 13, I believe that that's the beginning of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ organized it. The common teaching today is the church started on the day of Pentecost. Most preachers that you would talk to today will tell you they believe that the church started on the day of Pentecost. Most Baptist preachers believe that it started on the day of Pentecost. And most of the time, those who believe that believe in a universal, invisible church. They have two churches. They have a church where all the saved make up the body, the church, they call it, of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they have a local church that you join and become a member of and are baptized and so on. But you know what? They've got that all mixed up. They're talking about the family of God. You know, there is the family of God. And then there is the kingdom of God. And then there is the church of God. So we're talking about the church of God. We're talking about the church that Jesus built while he was here. And so the Lord Jesus Christ, while he was here, during his earthly ministry, started that church. And I believe it was the beginning somewhere along here in Luke chapter 6 verse 13, after he had prayed all night long, and he called out. That's what the word ekklesia means. That's the Greek word for church. Ekklesia. It means called out assembly. And so Jesus now, out of all of his disciples, called out twelve, named them apostles, and Paul says he placed first in the church, apostles. So, I do not believe the church began on the day of Pentecost. I believe it began with Christ, while he was here, doing his earthly ministry. There are several reasons why I believe that. Number one is because the church that Jesus built already had a treasure. Who was the treasurer of the first church? Tell me. Yeah, Judas, that's right. And so how could you not have a church and still have a treasurer? They had a treasurer. And then, of course, they conducted a business meeting. In the book of Acts, chapter 1, after the death of Judas, he went out and hung himself. They decided they'd replace Judas and they elected Matthias. They had a business meeting. How can you have a business meeting and not have a church, right? And so this was before the day of Pentecost. They were instructed to practice discipline. Hey, look at this verse now. I'm showing you that the church started before the day of Pentecost. Look in, if you will, in Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15. Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15. Now, I gave you this notebook so that at the side there you can take notes and write these verses in and different things. Not all of this is in that notebook. But in Matthew chapter 18, look at verse 15. Talking about an offended brother. Talking about a church practicing discipline. And it begins by saying, Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Hey, let me stop here and say, isn't this a good idea? I mean, somebody offends you. Isn't this a great idea to go to that person and say, hey, look, man, you hurt my feelings. You offended me. And if that person's got any Christianity about him at all, he'll say to you, oh, I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? I didn't mean that at all. You just took me wrong. But please, if I've hurt your feelings, if I've done something to hurt you, would you forgive me right now? And it's settled. Amen? Did you know there are church splits all over this country, over this little thing right here? People get their feelings hurt. I've had people say to me, I'll never be back to this church again, and wham, out the door they go and slam the door. Why? Well, I don't know, I said something from the pulpit or hurt their feelings, but nobody ever told me. Nobody ever said, what hurt your feelings? But here's what Jesus said, hey, if you get offended, the first thing you do is you go to that person that offended you. And then if that doesn't work, if he doesn't get it right, look what he said then, verse 16. Then he said, but if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. So if it didn't work, you went to him privately, he didn't listen to you, said, well I don't think I've hurt your feelings, I'm not sure I said that and I didn't do that and so on, then you take with you another brother, maybe two. And in the mouth of two or three witnesses, the other commissioner said, hey, you hurt my feelings. You got this wrong. You should get it right. And that person still won't listen. Then he said in verse 17, and he shall neglect to hear them. What should you do then? Tell it to the church. But wait a minute, this is Matthew chapter 18. How could you tell it to the church? If the church hasn't started yet, it doesn't begin till we get to the book of Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost. I'm just saying to you, it makes sense to me that the church is already here. Doesn't it, you? I mean, it shows to us that Jesus, while he was here, doing his earthly ministry, has already established that church. Here they are, practicing discipline. There's another reason that it didn't start on the day of Pentecost. It's because they had met together on the Lord's day. In John chapter 20 verse 19, the first day of the week after the resurrection, contrary to the 7th day Adventist teaching, they met on the first day of the week. And it was Sunday evening. And Jesus appears. He comes into their midst. The church is met together. And they're in secret. And they meet together on the first day of the week, Sunday. Sunday night. By the way, guess who wasn't there? Who wasn't there? Thomas. Doubting Thomas didn't make it to the first service. Oh, what you miss, my darling, being on church on Sunday night. Are you one of those Sunday morning only's? I mean, really, you never come on Sunday night? Oh, look what you miss. You know, Jesus will be here tonight. Amen? The Lord will be here tonight. Look what you miss by not being in church. Look what people miss by not coming to church on Sunday night. And look what you're going to miss if you don't come Monday night and Tuesday night and Wednesday night and Thursday night and Friday night. Hey, I wouldn't miss. Brother, you couldn't pay me enough money to miss a service this week. I'm telling you. Unless I was sick or providentially hindered. Look, be in God's house. Thomas wasn't there. He missed one of the greatest experiences of his life. Jesus came. to that service. Well, we could go on. I'm telling you that the church was here before the day of Pentecost, and we could give many, many reasons. But let's go on. Let's just go to the next thing. Christ is the lawgiver. He gave instructions to his church recorded in the first four Gospels. By the way, you ought to read from the Gospels every day. You ought to read some chapter from either Matthew or Mark or Luke or John. You know why? Because these four Gospels, they tell us so much about the true teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he taught his church and the things that are needed in our day. And so Christ is the law giver. He gave these truths. He gave them already recorded in the four Gospels. That's the reason you ought to read them. Read from the four Gospels. Read a chapter every day from either Matthew, Mark, or Luke, or John. No denomination heads over this church right here. Calvary, Bible, Baptist Church, Christ is the head of this church here. No council, no board, no committee, no fellowship heads over this church. It is Christ who gave His church all He wanted them to have and to do. All the doctrines, all the teachings, Christ gave it to His church. Christ is the head. The church is the executive. not the legislative. We're here, this church is here, to carry out what's already been written in the Bible. We're not here to make new laws. We're not here to change the Bible. We're not here to change baptism. We're not here to change what Laird has already taught, what he's already said. No church is authorized to make any changes in the Bible or introduce any new doctrine. No, right here is all we need. This good book right here, amen? We got it all in the book. We will see as time goes on, and it won't be long after that first church is started, that they're going to make changes. They're going to make changes in salvation. They're going to make changes in baptism. And then on and on and on the changes will go. The changes in making new laws. No, no. We're not to make any new changes. We're not to make any new laws. Christ is the legislator. He's the one that gave us the laws. He's the one that gave us the book. Let's just carry on what the Lord has given us today. Amen? No church is authorized to make any changes. They have no right to make any changes in the Bible. And as I said, the church of Jesus Christ, Christ is the head. Not Martin Luther. not John Calvin, not John Wesley, Christ is the head of the church. That's the first identifying mark of a New Testament church. But let's look at the second. The second mark is, it's only read in practice is the Bible. That's it. That's all we have. That's what we go by. That's our textbook. When I joined the Navy, The first thing they gave me before I even got my uniform was what they called the Blue Jacket's Manual. It was a book a little thicker than my Bible here. And in it was everything I needed to know about the United States Navy and before it was over I was tested about everything in that book. I had to know everything in that book about the Navy and about what they stood for and so on. Well, we have a manual, don't we? We have a manual to go by. Well, here it is, this Bible, the Word of God. The Bible. What about the Bible? Well, the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Let's go to 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 15. 2 Timothy, chapter 3, looking at verse 15. And notice what Paul writes here. Paul is writing to Timothy in the book of 2 Timothy 3, verse 15. And this is what Paul wrote to him. We're talking about our only rule and practice, the Bible. We're saying the Bible is inspired word of God. And so in 2 Timothy 3, look at verse 15. And Paul says in front that from a child, Hey, wait a minute. You mean children are supposed to be taught the Bible? Huh? You mean our little children, little boys and girls, are to be taught the Bible? Well, that's true with Timothy. Timothy was taught from a child. He was taught the Scripture. Who taught him? Who taught Timothy when he was just a little boy? His parents, his mother, her name was? Eunice, his grandmother, what was her name? Lois, what was it Paul wrote there? And he said, when I call to remembrance the unfamed faith that was in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice. And Paul said, and I'm persuaded that in thee also. Hey, thank the Lord for godly mothers. Thank the Lord for grandmothers who teach their grandchildren the Bible. The Word of God. How many grandmothers here today? Let's see your hand. You're a grandmother. Ah, good. You teach your grandchildren the Bible? You teach them the Word of God? Every year, our grandchildren, we have four. One on the way. Could be today, tomorrow. We're waiting for the fifth one. But anyway, we have four grandchildren. Every summer we work out a week where we can take off my wife and I from traveling and we have our grandchildren come to our house and spend three or four or five days with us. Every morning, Mrs. Jones gets out her flannelgraph stories and sets it up on the back porch, and the grandchildren sit down for about 45 or 50 minutes, and she teaches them a story, teaches them from the Bible, teaches them from the Word of God. Ever since those little fellas were born, those little grandchildren, she has been teaching them the Word of God. And their mothers do the same thing. Their mothers do that, too. And so that's what happened to Timothy. His grandmother taught him, and his mother taught him the blessed word of God. But now back to 2 Timothy 3, verse 15, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scripture. Holy scripture. Hey, this book is holy, friend. Oh, what a book. Oh, how precious. Oh, how holy this book is today. Amen? How holy scripture. Thou hast known from a little child, Timothy, you've known the holy scriptures. And Paul said, they're able to make thee wise. Hey, that's why you read your Bible every day, isn't it? So you can be wise. Where does wisdom come from? Where do we get wisdom? We get it from the Bible, don't we? You won't find much wisdom in these college books. You won't find much wisdom in these new type of teachings that we have in our country today. No, you know where you get your wisdom? Right here, from the Bible. And that's why he said, Thou hast known the Holy Scriptures. They're able to make thee wise. They're able to make thee wise. Under what? unto salvation. Did you know the only book in the world that you'll ever find salvation is in this book right here? True salvation. How to get to heaven. Actually, that's the subject of the Bible, isn't it? You know, when I was in school, we used to have to outline text, you know, they'd give us a sign, read this book, and you had to make an outline of that book, remember that? You know, the first thing you had to do was to give the subject of the book. You know what the subject of this book is? The subject is Jesus Christ and how a person may go to heaven. The only book. The only book you'll find that. You won't find it in any other book. You won't find how you can go to heaven in any other book. You won't find anything about salvation in any other book. It's in this book. the Bible, the Word of God. So he goes on here, and he tells us that he said that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures, that we're able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. That's where our salvation is. It's by faith. For by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, that you give to God not of works, lest the enemy should boast. In verse 16 of chapter 3, he goes on and says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now what does that mean? What is inspiration? This book is inspired. But what does that mean? Inspiration means that God breathed into the nostrils of holy men of gold, and they wrote exactly what God told them to write. They didn't write their opinions, they didn't write their suggestions, they didn't write their characteristics, they didn't write their mannerisms, they wrote exactly. Word for word, what God told them to write. That's what inspiration is. And these men, holy men, God breathed into them, like you breathe into your hands and you can feel. Can you feel that? When you breathe into your hands, you feel that. God breathed into those men and they wrote those words. God inspired different ones to write them out. As a matter of fact, Approximately 40 men of a period of 1600 years wrote this book right here. 40 men. God breathed. Gave them the very words. They didn't write as I said their opinion. They wrote exactly what God, well somebody said, well Paul's characteristics was different than Peter. Yeah. God wanted it that way. That's the reason he chose Paul to write it. Because that's the way God wanted it written. God didn't write the Bible to fit them. God wrote the Bible to fit Himself. Amen? God made them fit the Bible. And so, holy men of God wrote as they were moved, and the Scripture was given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for what? Oh, it's profitable. Listen, man, this book is profitable. There's no question about it. The Bible is profitable. How is it profitable? Hey, am I wasting time getting up 15 minutes earlier before I go to work and read from the Bible? Am I wasting time? Would I be considered a fool to not sleep in? I'm tired, you know, and I feel tired, so maybe I ought to sleep in in the morning and get as much rest. No, no. No, it's a wise person. that'll take a chapter before he goes to work every day. Oh, how will that help me? Oh, look, there's so many verses in the Bible. Psalm 11, blessed is the man. who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, or standeth in the way of sinners, or sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate day and night, get this, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth its fruit in the season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall Prosper? You want to prosper? Read your Bible every day. Oh, how wonderful. Read your Bible. It's profitable. For what? For doctrine. The Bible is profitable for doctrine. Like a doctor shows you, hey, you're sick. You've got this wrong with you. You've got that wrong with you. You need help here. That's the way the Bible is. It's profitable for doctrine. God shows us what is right. God shows us what we need in our life. How to go to heaven. How to live a Christian life. How to have a scriptural baptism. How to think the Lord's Supper. How to go soul running. How to tithe. How to know the church of Jesus Christ. How to know the books of... By the way, you know the books of the Bible, don't you? You got them all down? You can stand up and say them right now, quote them. Yeah? Good, good. How about the apostles? You know the twelve? Well, what are you going to do when you get to heaven? There'll be those twelve apostles, you won't even know them. Might be a good idea to memorize them down here before you go, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be a good idea to memorize the twelve apostles? Huh? What about, what about the twelve tribes of Israel? 12 tribes of Israel, there they will get to heaven. We'll be trying to find out where's Joseph and where's Simeon and where's Levi and all that when we get to heaven. Hey, wouldn't it be a good idea to learn the 12 tribes of Israel before we go to heaven? Huh? What do you think? How about the Ten Commandments? Know those? I'm just saying it'd be a good idea if we didn't just spend a little more time in the book, don't you think? Don't you think it'd be a good idea? Spend a little more time in the book. So the Bible's profitable for reproof. It's guidelines to live by. It's profitable for correction. Hey, you don't have to read the Bible very long until it starts correcting. Not the preacher. Not the deacons. Not your mate. Guess who it starts correcting? Me. And that's the reason why I don't think I'll read it today. You know why? Because you know that book's going to correct you. You know you're not living right. You know you're not faithful to church like you ought to be. You know you're not tithing. You know you're not doing what you're supposed to do. So you don't read it because you know. It's profitable. This book is profitable for correction. Correction. It's profitable for instruction in righteousness. You know what the Bible says? You did wrong. You shouldn't have said that. You shouldn't have had that thought. You ever have the Bible speak to you like that? The Holy Spirit as you're reading the Bible? Yeah, you shouldn't have had those thoughts. You shouldn't have gone there. You shouldn't dress like that. You shouldn't act like that. You ever have the Bible correct you? Huh? Oh yeah, if you read it very long. Oh yeah. And of course he says, it's proper instruction for the man or woman so that we may be what? Perfect. Now, am I perfect? No. But I want to be, don't you? I really try. I want to be. And you know the best way to live a perfect life? Read this Bible. Memorize this Bible. Meditate in the Bible. Thoroughly furnished! You'll be thoroughly furnished! Somebody says, oh, I need a degree. Boy, I don't have a master's degree. I don't have a doctor's degree. You know how? You know how you'll be thoroughly furnished? Just by reading your Bible every day, meditating in the Word of God. That's what the Lord wants us to do. Now you see why it's so important to read it? Read your Bible systematically, habitually, every day. If you don't read it and follow God's Word, you're going to be constantly corrected. by the Holy Spirit. So, let's close by saying this, this morning. Sunday School is about over, but we're coming right back. As soon as we get a little refreshment here, we'll be right back in here at 11 o'clock. But God's having to be there sometimes instead of bless us. It would be a good idea to just start every day with the Word of God. Have you read it through? Huh? You read it through? Read it through every year. You should read it through every year. Maybe a couple of times every year. Oh, spend time in the Bible, beloved. Spend time in this book. This is the mark. This is the book we go by. Right here. This blessed word. That's the mark. of a New Testament church, the only rule and guide we have is this Bible. I'll finish up in just a minute. We'll come back, we'll talk a little bit more about the Bible, then we'll go on to that third mark. Are you with me? Everybody here? Nobody tired? Oh, that's what it's going to be. Yes, brother, what is it? Okay? By the Marks, M-A-R-K-S. The answer there, number eight, you can always find the true Church of Jesus Christ by the Marks. Marks. Number one, under Marks of a New Testament Church, number one, its head and founder is who? All right. He's the lawgiver. The Church is the what? Executive right down executive. It's all a woman of faith and practice is the Bible We'll get back to the rest of these. I love good food. Hey, the brothers following any and they're good. Praise the Lord Just follow along in this book now. We'll help you and Great. Are y'all in this exciting man? I'm thrilled and see all of you here. I don't want you to miss now. All right, let's pray and that's the