There is abstract art, and there is realism there is street ball
and regulation basketball, there is chaotic worship and worship
that is decent. And in order, there is the if it
feels it, if it feels good. Do it lifestyle.
And then there is the walking in the footsteps of Jesus
lifestyle. And when it comes to building
projects directed and supervised by the father, a series of
well-defined patterns emerge, we see this in both the Old
Testament as well as in the New Testament and it becomes clear
as we examine the scriptures that the abstracts chaotic, do
it, how you like it approach is clearly not the mark. of our
divine architect, he likes his buildings built according to his
plan and he likes them built according to his specification
and since Romans 15 14 says that the things written aforetime
were written for our learning, one of the things I'm going to
do this evening is go back to the Old Testament and notice
This one of the most obvious lessons and that is that the
master builder likes a plan. He likes to form, he likes a
model, a blueprint, a pattern, if you please, that's going to
look at. And I want to read just
Deuteronomy 12. A few verses from Deuteronomy 12
to introduce our study. Before we go to God In Prayer,
Deuteronomy 12. Look at verse 13 and 14.
Their, the Bible reads as follows.
Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt
offerings in every place that you see.
But in the place, which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes
there, you shall offer your burnt offerings and there you
will do all that. I command.
You verse 32 whatever. I command.
You be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it nor take
away from it. Brothers and sisters, I declare
unto you that that is pattern lingo and it's not the only time
it is something you find all throughout the Old Testament and
the New Testament. In other way we've put this we
find in First Peter chapter 4 11 If any man speaks let him speak
as the Oracles of God and other way that we have praised, this
is that we will speak for the Bible speaks.
We're going to be silent or the Bible is science.
That's what the things that makes us unique as God's people
as members of the Church of Christ will notice little bit
about that this afternoon. Going to notice this idea of the
pattern to look a little bit more about this idea of the
Altar and how important it was that would be built in this one
particular place by the pattern by the book.
Seems there is a very strange disconnect when we talked about
the idea of patterns and blueprints and models and forms.
It's not that the world can understand that idea.
Not that man cannot fathom and comprehend.
This thought just recently, I was made aware that clean films
is one of these companies that will take movies and they will
clean them up. They will take out all of the
profanity, all the nudity and the inappropriate scenes.
Think it's a star. To buy a lot of these Mormon
groups and in Utah, and then they would advertise them, sell
these movies or rent these movies.
Well, this is just been declared illegal and all these companies
have had to close down and shut down their businesses because
these Hollywood screenwriters have felt as if they have been
violated. Listen to what some of the
words. This is from the president of
the Directors, Guild Association.
He says these films Carrie Our name and reflect our
reputations. So we have great passion about
protecting our work against unauthorized editing.
Another man was saying one of these people, in this industry
audiences, can now be assured that the films that they buy or
rent or the vision of the film makers, of course, with all
their filthiness, who made them and not the arbitrary choices of
a third-party editor. The judge in the case said film,
Sizing causes irreparable injury to the creative artistic
expression in the copyrighted movies.
So the sum it up, the complaint was about unauthorized editing
of the intellectual property of the Hollywood screenwriters.
Now, in this particular instance, I don't have much
sympathy for these folks, but they understand the principle
and the principle that's being upheld.
Is this is their product. And nobody else should have the
right to edit to add or to take away from it.
They've set it up and it should be Hill upheld in the way that
they have installed it. But you know, it's quite another
thing. When men decide that it's okay,
to edit the prize building project of the Divine, architect
of God our creator. But that's exactly what's
happened is the height of arrogance for men to assert
that, he can improve upon the master Model, but that's exactly
what's happening today in the world of religion.
Well, let's go back. We read Deuteronomy 12 or 13
through 15. I believe it was verse 31 and
how was very important than a very particular place.
God would tell them where that would be where they were to
worship. That gives a little insight to
the discussion in John chapter 4, I believe.
Now, today it doesn't have to be in this particular or that
particular City, but they had a pattern back then that was set
up. It's a couple interesting
stories once found in Joshua 22. Last time I preached, I read
this but it's such a link to reading.
I think, I'll just sum up what happens in Joshua 22.
God's people have now entered in the promised land, the
two-and-a-half tribes that were settled on the other side of the
Jordan had come over and they helped to run out.
All of the invading are all the enemy people there and conquered
all of those Nations. And so God had told the original
two-and-a-half tribes, okay? You can go back to your
families. You can settle down now.
And everybody can live happily ever after.
And it should have been just a very glorious time in Israel,
but it wasn't very long until the sound of war was ringing
through Israel because they heard that those two and a half
tribes already have gone. And they've set up another
altar. They're going to worship God, in
a place that God has not assigned for them to worship.
They said suit up, boys. We're going to war and so they
loaded up. They packed up and they headed.
like they were going to fight it was gonna be a civil war, Unity
was threatened because at least their perception was Most folks
are Brethren have decided they're going to edit the
pattern. They're going to tear up the
pattern and and do their own thing.
Well, when they meet up, they find that, that's not the case.
Thankfully, they find out that they built this other altar, but
they never had any intention of worshipping there.
But they were only setting that up as a memorial to for them of
what God had done for them. But the point remains there was
about to be a battle there because God's people understood
that you don't change God's ways, you don't alter God's
patterns. And in another story, it doesn't
end quite so possibly read about a man that we don't read a whole
lot about in in second Kings. Chapter 16 verse 2 says, it's a
summary of his life. A has did not do what was right
in the sight of the Lord. His God, I don't know all the
things that he did wrong. I don't know all the areas in,
which he messed up and violated God's will.
But in the same chapter, we see the one thing, and perhaps the
big thing, In which he erred in second Kings chapter, 16, read
with me. If you will, in this this little
story and see what happened here.
How did he violate the pattern? Again, we're looking back to the
Old Testament at the things. Written, aforetime, what can we
learn from these stories? Verse 10, says, now King ahaz
went to Damascus. To meet tiglath-pileser king of
Assyria and saw an altar that was at Damascus and King ahaz
sent to your Raja, the priest, the design of the Altar, and
it's pattern according to all its workmanship.
He's over in Syria and sees their Altar and something about
it catches, his eye strikes and he says, you know what, I think.
I like that design a little bit better than the design we have.
And so he gets the pattern he gets the design.
He finds out all about the details of how it was built.
Verse 11 says, then your ride to the priest, built an altar,
according to all the king ahaz had sent from Damascus.
So your ride to the priest, made it before, King ahaz came back
from Damascus. And when the king came back from
Damascus, the king saw the Altar and the King approached, the
Altar and made offerings on it. So he burned his burnt offering
and his grain offering and he poured his drink offering and
sprinkled the blood of his For peace offerings on the altar.
He also brought the bronze altar, which was before the Lord
from the front of the temple from between the new altar and
the house of the Lord and put it on the north side of the new
altar. Then key hit King has commanded.
You ride to the precinct on the great.
New alter burn the morning, burnt offering the evening grain
offering the Kings burnt sacrifice.
And his grain offering with the burnt offering of all the people
of the land, their grain offering and their drink
offerings. And sprinkle on it all, the
blood of the burnt offering, all the blood of the sacrifice, and
the Bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by and Raja.
Did it like it was a big celebration a great and happy
time this new alter. But this is the reason why the
biggest reason, why his name goes down in infamy because he
decided he was going to switch things.
And when it came to the altar of the Lord, God had said there was
a very specific pattern but he decided to change.
That's one pattern, let's look at another let's go back.
Now to the Book of Genesis. And look at Genesis chapter 6.
Hey we're going to look at numbers are.
Now this was quite a building project ends up.
It's going to be just for men. Noah and his three sons that are
on this great project. But we find that there are
Specific Instructions give and there's not a whole lot of
details and Lisas, they're revealed to us in this chapter.
But there are some specifics. We do, get the blueprint, we can
see a pattern here. Genesis 6 verse 14, make
yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark and
covered inside and outside with pitch now to go by the pattern.
Once again have to do, he's going to have to use go for
would. Now I've got to just said, build
it out of wood, he could have used any kind of wood but he
specified. Go for wood.
Couldn't use any other kind of wood or he'd be violating the
pattern. Verse 15.
And this is how you shall make it the length of the Ark shall
be 300 cubits. 450 feet. Its width 50 cubits and its
height Thirty cubits. Those were not arbitrary
numbers. That was God's plan.
That's how I want bill and if no one would have done anything
other than build according to those instructions were to
happen. That but would have sunk and had
been the end of mankind as we know it verse. 16 say you shall
make a window for the art and he shall finish it to a cubit from
above and set the door of the Ark and its side.
You shall make it with lower second and third decks or
stories. That's the way it had to be
built. And Noah did not have the right
to change it. He was given God's blueprint.
Well, we have a lot more instruction when we come down a
little bit further on the scene of time, and we come to Moses.
You know, Moses. Was given the great privilege of
building the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was kind of like
a tent-like structure was a temporary structure as they were
traveling from place to place, but every time they set it up,
it was to be set up. Just a certain way.
And it's really amazing to notice all the details that are
given, we're not going to read all those details.
Will read a little bit though, from Exodus 20:5, if you would
turn to that place and here, he talks about the particular
Furnishings of the Tabernacle. He talks about the Ark of the
testimony, the table for the showbread, the golden lampstand
and all the details about the Tabernacle itself.
But in Exodus, 25 verse 9, we read the following words.
According to all that, I show you, that is the pattern of the
Tabernacle and the pattern of all its Furnishings.
Just so shall you make it They get trouble understanding that.
You think he had any interest in becoming creative and doing
things his own ways? Moses.
No, not our Moses. Look down to verse 40.
Same chapter And see to it that you make them according to the
pattern which was shown you on the mountain. 26:30.
They've got at the beginning, got it in the middle and got to
the end of these instructions, verse 30 says and you shall
raise up the Tabernacle, according to its pattern which
you were shown on the mountain. If it's quite clear, isn't it?
God wanted Moses and the children of Israel to
understand. I have patterned, you hear what
my pattern is? You see what my pattern is.
And you don't change it, you don't add to it and you don't
take away from this is my way. Can you imagine Moses tweaking
the dimensions or changing some of the materials in the
instructions that God gave? The thought is shocking the
wall. Of course, not Moses wouldn't do
that. Let me come a little bit further
down the stream of time. When we come to Solomon, David,
of course, wanted to build the temple, but the Bible says that
he was a bloody man, and for that reason, he was not allowed
to build it, but his son Solomon was Solomon built that Temple.
Now we have a permanent structure, a place where God was
to dwell. The Mercy Seat again.
We see those instructions and carried out with great detail.
Thanks Solomon. Altered changed any of those?
Thank you get a improved. Do you think he thought he could
improve? No, not Solomon.
David though, when it came to some of the instructions given
concerning the Ark of the Covenant going back.
Now to the Tabernacle when it came to the Ark of the Covenant
made a mistake, you'll remember that with us up and after that
mistake and the correction was made.
I like the words that did David uses in first Chronicles chapter
15 to describe the lesson that he had learned First Chronicles
15 verse 12. Fifteen.
He said to them, you were the heads of the fathers, houses of
the Levi's sanctify yourselves and make yourselves.
Holy you and your brethren, that you may bring up the Ark of the
Lord, God of Israel to the place.
I have prepared for it for because you did not do it.
The first time, the Lord, Our God broke out against us because
we did not consult him about the proper order or after the due
order. So the priests and Levites
sanctify themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, God of
Israel. And the children of the Levites,
bore the Ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles as Moses
had commanded. According to the word of the
Lord, they did it after the due order, they follow the pattern,
they did, they follow the instructions, according to the
blueprint, the form, the model and everything went.
Well, and so it is, we learned over and over and over again
when God says to build something he wants It built, according to
his plan, he wants it built a cording.
To his specification. If you don't learn anything else
from the Old Testament, that's one of the great lessons that
you should be able to learn. You know, many book, people
believe today. Now we're making a switch
because we've talked about some things were built in the Old
Testament, but in the New Testament, there's something
pretty special that God had designed to build, isn't there?
Jesus said, Matthew 16 Palm this rock.
I will build my church. Now these, these items here that
we see in the Old Testament were special.
They were holy, they belong to God, and he had special
instructions concerning them. But now, this was his crowning
creation. This was his greatest of all
designs. this greatest building project of all time, Would be
the church, his church. And so if after we look at the
altar and the are the instructions and the violations,
according to the pattern, the Tabernacle and the temple, we
come down to the New Testament even though yet we have not
noticed any new testament scriptures on the idea of the
pattern. Does it not stand to reason that
we come to the church, we look for pattern when it comes to the
Plan of Salvation it would allow one.
It's into the kingdom of God, the church when it comes to how
we would worship as we assemble as the body of Christ.
When it comes to the church government that we have within
the body of Christ, doesn't it stand to reason that we learned
something from the Old Testament?
And everything in the church. We look for the pattern.
Look for the model, we look for blueprint.
That makes sense, doesn't it? You know?
I read just the other day. In fact I see it in one of your
bulletins are one of your your works and quote about dr.
Leonidas Holland of Lipscomb University, talking about the
pattern even in God's creation. Maybe someone has mentioned that
here in a lesson before. But even then in the worldly
matters, you can see certain patterns emerge God's way and
how he likes things uniform and orderly.
Anyway, this professor from David Lipscomb, University
discovered that all rennes These little tiny birds, the South
Carolina wren, at least. Whistle thereto nor sing their
song or whatever you want to call it always in the key of G.
Peculiar thing, isn't it interesting?
I guess one of the beauties of that would be that they're
always on key and that would be nice.
Wouldn't it for someone with? We just knew that we're always
going to be on key disadvantage, I guess would be that it's
always the key of G but this is a demonstration of the
blueprint, God hadn't pattern and every single time you see
the same thing, but unfortunately, the religious
world doesn't look at things like that.
My mother sews and some of you sisters.
So here I assume If you had come up with a pattern of something
or you were using a patent, would show a certain amount of
disrespect. If you were to, I don't have a
pattern with me, just try to imagine this, you saw a pattern,
somebody asked you to sew it for them and you just ripped the
pattern that you were given torn apart, stomped on it.
Threw it in the trash. And I don't think I like that.
Design my own pattern. Or for those of you who have
worked on building projects, you've been given the blueprint
you're in charge of this specific aspect of the
construction. You see the blueprint and you
say I don't like that you just start scratching through this
particular design or these particular Dimension.
You start making changes How would the owner feel about?
That wouldn't feel too good about that the one who had asked
you or had contracted with you too.
So that particular outfit wouldn't feel too good about
that. Why is it that those are so easy
for us to understand? we can grasp those so readily,
but when it comes, to the Lord and his blueprint and his
pattern, all of a sudden, people think they can start ripping and
tearing and marking all over God's blueprint and God's
pattern, I hope everyone here tonight, understands Some of you
heard this so many times, but those of you who are young,
understand that God has a pattern, we've seen it in the
Old Testament. Let's look at it in the New
Testament, a lot of times in recent years.
I don't know how popular this is.
Now people go around saying, what would Jesus do?
What would Jesus do? And certainly that's a good
idea. What would Jesus do?
But in some of these things, when it comes to Salvation and
worship, what did Jesus say what did the apostles?
Say what did the church do ask those questions?
Find the answers to those questions and you have the
pattern that Jesus had provided for us in the church.
Let's look at a couple of new testament scriptures though.
That reinforce we've already learned from the Old Testament,
bring back some of these directly from the Old Testament.
The book of Acts. You remember in Acts chapter 7,
Stephen gave that that sermon before he was became the first
Christian martyr die for preaching that sermon.
Here's an excerpt in Acts 7 verse 44, He said, our fathers
had the Tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he appointed
instructing Moses, to make it, according to the pattern that he
had seen, it's brought to the New Testament.
Yes, it is because it's still important for us today.
Hebrews chapter 8, verse 5, beautiful book, comparing the
old and the new and how the old is perfected.
Under the new and Hebrews. 8 verse 5 Paul writes who serve
the copy and Shadow of the Only things as Moses was divinely
instructed when he was about to make the Tabernacle for he said
see that you make all things according to the pattern shown
you on the mountain and then Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1.
He shows that those those things in the old were shadowed, the
things better things to come and there's a connection made and
certainly we can see the connection between the old and
the new and the importance of the pattern.
And if you don't get that, then look at 2nd, Timothy 1 verse 13
there. The Bible says, Paul says, to
the young man, Timothy, hold fast.
Stay with it, hold fast. The pattern of sound Words,
which you have heard from me, in faith and love, which are in
Christ Jesus. It's not about a steadfast
adherence here, buying says, just as Moses made all things
according to the pattern and just as Noah built the ark.
According to all that God, commanded him Genesis 622.
So must we follow the Divine pattern found in the New
Testament? Colossians 3 verse 17, teaching
the same truth about the pattern.
Whatsoever, you do in word or deed do all in the Name of
Christ, Jesus, or do all by the authority of Christ Jesus.
Everything we do. In our worship, everything that
has to do with church government and over and over again.
In many different areas, we need to have authority, we need to
have the authority of the blueprint.
So, is there a pattern when it comes to Salvation?
Is there a pattern? When there comes when it comes
to Salvation? My sure there is.
Every time you will notice something very interesting.
It's not a coincidence and it's not an accident.
It's part of the plant the pattern that God had designed.
Every time you find the Forgiveness of sins salvation
And baptism. You always find that baptism
precedes, the Forgiveness of sins.
We have the pattern laid out so beautifully for us.
In the book of Acts and Acts chapter 2 on the day of
Pentecost, after that powerful sermon that Peter preached, the
men and women were astonished and the men cried out, they were
cut to their heart men and Brethren.
What shall we do? What was the response?
We see the same response. In different words with the same
facts are presented throughout the Book of Acts and throughout
the New Testament. Peter answered and said repent
and be baptized every one of you.
In the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the remission of
sins, the Forgiveness of sins. We're talking about the same
thing and acts 3:19 again. We see the emphasis placed on
repentance as you go through the book of Acts time and time
again. Again you see the same truths
stressed and emphasized in Acts chapter 8?
We notice the importance of the confession.
Remember Phillip was preaching to the Ethiopian unit.
He heard about Jesus. The gospel was preached to him.
He was Pete. He was preached Christ.
And when he heard Christ preach, what did he know when he saw
that water? He didn't want to wait till next
week or sometime when they grabbed up a bunch of bunch of
folks, 20 or 30. People would just go get
baptized sometime down the road. He says, I want to do this.
Now here is water. What doth hinder me to be
baptized? And it was something that had to
be done right now. Why?
Because He had to get his sins forgiven.
And so what was the response? If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest, he had to believe and that belief was
something that needed to be expressed.
And he said in Acts 8:37, I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, and then he went down into that water.
He baptized them, they came both app out of the water and he went
on his way rejoicing. We see the same pattern over and
over and over again. So why would we want to see?
Or Why would we want to tamper with that?
Why we want to say that? Well, now actually, we've got a
new design and we think we can enlarge the membership rolls.
If we just turn this up baptism right here, not into an absolute
necessity, not something that is essential for salvation, but
let's just make that. Let's just make that optional
and let's just say instead of Being baptized.
Let's substitute something else in here.
We're going to put something else in here and we're going to
call it the sinner's prayer. How about that?
Now that change prayer is a big thing in the Bible prayers.
Talked about a lot, isn't it? I sure will just slip that in
there in the place. And that's a lot easier.
In fact, we can have people, just send us a little letter or
tell us over the phone that they put their hand over the, the TV
set or the radio. And they prayed that sinner's
prayer with us. And look at how fast fast.
Our ministry is growing, but would that be That would be in
addition to the patterns and a subtraction and addition we can
see that that wasn't tolerated under the new Under the Old
Testament and we can see when we look at the Book of Genesis and
the building of art that would be absurd to make any changes.
Why is it We try to make those changes or that we would accept
those changes in the New Testament.
Well, you know, one of the problems is the average
rank-and-file member some of our friends and Neighbors in town,
they don't know what the pattern is because where they've been
going, they hadn't heard what the pattern is.
That's why it's our job to get the pattern to them.
But what about when it comes to worship their pattern when it
comes to worship? Some people say what?
They don't have music. Beautiful music.
Then the body of Christ. We love music, God's people, in
the Old Testament, New Testament.
We have always loved music, we love music back home.
And I know there's people here that are down enough to do that,
we have professional musicians, make their living.
But when it comes to the worship, when we gather as God's
people, we don't just offer up God.
Anything we don't just do. We just don't do like a has did
and go. And look at that the Pagan Altar
and say, well, you know what? I I like that.
I think will bring that in, and I think we'll use that to
worship God. He act like he was still
worshipping God. And honoring God, great
celebration, a has stopped, but he wasn't honoring God.
Wesley, because he strayed from the path, when it comes to music
was the Bible. Tell us clearly we find it in
Ephesians 5:19. Colossians, 3:16 Hebrews 2:12.
First Corinthians 14 and 15 over and over and over.
Over again, the pattern. Call score singing.
So that's why that's all you're going to.
That's all you're going to hear it here in the Lord's Church.
Because it fits the pattern when it comes to the Lord's Supper.
Sometimes people will visit from. other congregations of the
Church of Christ, and they'll come in and they'll look And
when that tablecloth is lifted and they see only one cup,
they're confused. And some of them are startled.
What is going on here? These people are a little behind
the times. What are?
Why are they using just one cup? I'll tell you what.
We just use one cup because there's not any confusion
really. When you go to Matthew 26 and
you read verse 26 to 29 and you read, Mark 14, verse 22, through
25 and Luke 22, 19 and 20. And First Corinthians 11 23
through 29. There's not really any
confusion, you know, how many cups you find there.
You find one cup. Containing the fruit of the
vine. That's the pattern.
The Bible doesn't have to say what it does.
Say the Bible doesn't have to make it as clear as the Bible
does make it. Because we have a pattern and we
know what the Lord used in instituting that supper and
we're going to keep it just the way he kept is, what about in
the teaching. And First Corinthians 14 and
First Corinthians 11, their pattern.
There, when it comes to the teaching, you know, what
happens, they all came together in one place.
They all came together into one place.
That was a pattern established way back in.
They didn't divide up into a whole bunch of classroom.
With send the little kids over here, and let's put the women
over here and then the younger and it a little ones and divide
all up like that and do that. They all came together in one
place and one person was teaching at a time, not a whole
bunch of people and First Corinthians. 14 verse 34.
Of course, we have the pattern of just one man, speaking of at
a time but he also adds that it's a shame for a woman.
Even to speak in the church. There's a pattern there when it
comes to the teaching and you can follow this down when it
comes to the worship and you can follow this down when it comes
to church government. That's the last thing.
We'll notice that an idea that is just An area in which the
religious world has just totally abandoned the pattern.
You see this word? What do you think?
What do you think of it? When you see this word, what do
you think of? When you see either of those
words, one of the words that you should also think of is this
word right here? You know why?
Because the Bible makes it crystal clear that the pastor is
a bishop and the bishop is an elder in.
The Elder is the pastor and the Elders of Bishop are all talking
about the same office. But we've got, we've got
religious institutions, the largest Christian professing
institution that has turned this bishop into some ruler over
several churches. One man over several churches
listen folks That doesn't fit the pattern.
God has established his pattern when it comes to church
government. Just like he did in the Old
Testament. He's done it with the church.
Next 20, verse 17, through 31, you can see this clearly laid
out when the Apostle, the Apostle Paul called the Elders
of Ephesus to meet him at my letus pastor.
It's just the same form of words.
Shepherd, shepherd Pastor, Bishop, an overseer, same thing.
And that is what the Elder is responsible for doing.
He is a pastor, he is an overseer.
You know, we've got today. People say Pastor, you know,
they're talking about, they're talking about Pulpit ministry,
that's not going to get it. And sometimes I think in some of
our congregations, we think that a teacher is just a, somebody
who's a Pulpit minister. Because we got a lot of places.
Oh, let me teach. I want to teach.
Let me teach this time. I was in a congregation one
time. I thought we had a real good
meeting and I left and I called back about six months later to
see how things were going. And the brother said that I
called said, well, I've quit the church.
Something big something big is happening here.
So what happened? So well.
They still don't have me teaching on Sunday morning, he
quit the church because they didn't have him teaching on
Sunday morning folks. I'm talking about teachers, but
some of the greatest work that we can do is not going to be
done standing up in front of everybody here, but can be done
in private. Even the great Apostle Paul
said, I have taught you publicly and from house to house, and
we've got people lining up to teach publicly.
But in some places, we can't find anybody.
Who'll go house to house. We can't find anybody that will
be studying on a one-to-one basis or with a couple of
different people in a small setting.
And the church is suffering, when that's happening.
Listen, I'm Pastor is not somebody.
If we ever get to that point, we have them in our congregation in
the congregation, here, pastors, Elders.
Bishops are talking about people that are looking after the Flop.
Pastor is a Shepherd, he's caring for the sheet.
He's looking for the after the sheep and he makes sure those
sheep are okay. The religious world is totally
lost sight of the Bible pattern when it comes to church
government. There's suppose to be a
plurality of Elders. There's a religious group Very
growing religious group, even carries the name, the Church of
Jesus Christ. As part of their name, has men
calling themselves Elders at the age of 18.
Have not met the most fundamental of the
qualifications that are given in first Timothy 3 and Titus
Chapter 1. Listen folks, God has a pattern,
God has a pattern, just like he had patterns in the Old
Testament. When it came to the art, the
alter, the tab Michael the temple.
He has patterns in the church. There is a particular pattern
for salvation. There's a special pattern that's
presented to us when it comes to the aspects of our worship.
There's a pattern when it comes to church government.
I'm sure you can think of other patterns and you need to look
for patterns in the New Testament.
In Jude verse 3, another scripture that teaches us the
pattern pattern concept. The writer says earnestly
contend for the faith. Once delivered to the Saints, it
doesn't change every hundred years.
Every 200 years again. In Matthew 28 verse 20.
There's a pattern given Let me simplify it for you.
Th baptized teach when he sent them out before he ascended.
After his resurrection because I want you to go teach, I want you
to baptize those that you teach the receive the Gospel and then
I want you to teach them to observe all things whatsoever.
I have commanded you there's a pattern here.
This pattern should not change, should never change until Jesus
comes back, and we're not going to let it happen.
We're going to let it change here, we teach them, we teach
them the truth. Those who respond to the truth.
Baptized after they're baptized then we teach them to observe
not some things but all things whatsoever I have commanded you
and these people that have been taught.
All things. You know they're going to do.
They're going to start this over there, going to teach them,
they're going to baptize in, they're going to teach them at
what point can this cycle be broken?
Never never if we want to honor and we want to glorify God.
I hope this evening that the study has been helpful to you.
Been a reminder to you of how serious God is as an architect.
He's got his projects, he's got his projects in his most
precious building of all. It's the Church of Jesus Christ.
Are you a member of that church, that great institution?
You don't have to be voted on to become a member.
You don't join this church and Acts chapter 2.
We find that those who are baptized were added to the
church. All you have to do is follow the
same instruction, the same thing that made Christians back.
Then I'll make you a Christian today.
You believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and you're
willing to make that confession before men, you're willing to
turn from a life of sin. In.
Now, you don't have to be the most wicked sinner in the world
to turn from sin. We've all sinned and fall short
of the glory of God. If you reach the age of
accountability, you have sinned. You need to turn from sin.
Turn your life over to God. That's what he's talking about.
After you've done those steps. You're a fit subject for
baptism. What if there's someone here,
who has not obeyed? The gospel plan.
God's Plan of Salvation. You've heard it tonight.
We encourage you, if you have not obeyed it to come forward,
as we sing this song and become a child of God.
We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you
would like any additional information or you would like to
receive a free Bible correspondence, course by mail.
Please email us at info at True Church of Christ
Bakersfield.com. Our service times are on Sundays
at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Please make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our
honored guest.