Sardis and The Hidden Treasure

Temple Baptist Church - 3-8-2020

Revelation 3:1-6; Matthew 13:44

Introduction:

A.  The presence of Biblicists (Biblical Succession) during the Protestant Reformation.  Roman Catholicism named those who disagreed with them Anabaptist or Re-Baptizers. 

1.  These Anabaptists were maligned and hated by both Catholic and Protestant!   Most of the early Anabaptist leaders died in prison or were executed.  The so-called Reformer leaders often gave their voice against the Anabaptist.  Anabaptist people were called radicals and their doctrines were also known as the Radical Reformation.  They were separatists and non-conformist.

2.  The Anabaptists were distinct because of their assertion of the necessity of adult baptism, rejecting the infant baptism practiced by the Roman Catholic Church. They believed that true baptism required a public confession of both sin and faith, which could only be accomplished as an adult exercise of free will.

3.  Another defining characteristic of Anabaptists is their belief in the separation of church and state, and the concept that the church represents the community of saved. 

Hutterites (Germany), Brethern (Germany), Mennonites (Friesland Holland), Albigensian (France), Waldensian (Southern France), Huguenots (France-suffered heavy persecution from Roman Catholics- 1572-Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day-30k to 70k), Puritans (England).

4.  We are not in total agreement with many of these Anabaptist movements because, though they stood against the Roman Catholics and baptized believers only, many of them also had a measure of doctrinal error.

B.  We are not Protestant; we are not Calvinist; we are not Arminian; we are Biblicists. 

Biblicist defined:  adherence to the letter of the Bible.

C.  We do not believe in Baptist succession. 

1.  John the Baptist was not a Baptist and Jesus Christ was not a Baptist because He was baptized by a Baptist.  Baptist Briders push this line of thinking but there is no biblical basis for their teaching.  We believe in Biblical Succession.  That is, that throughout history, God has always had a people who have followed His Word and remained in the Old Paths trodden by their spiritual fathers. 

2.  These Biblicists have always been “few” in number and “few” there be that find it. 

Revelation 3:4-5  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.  (5)  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

3.  Why?  Because they are a “treasure” hidden in the field of this world.  They are hidden for two reasons.

a)  Because the Religious Crowd does not want their people to know the truth!  The truth is not found in their denomination, seminaries, or creeds.  Truth is found in the Bible!

b)  Because those who do not want there to be a God are not going about looking for it!

D.  How do you find that treasure?  Matthew 13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field;, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

1.  There Must Be A Definition Of Treasure – “the which” Matthew 6:19-21  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Your Treasure – what is important to you?)

2.  There Must Be A Desire For The Treasure – “when a man”   Matthew 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

3.  There Must Be A Diligent Search For The Treasure – “hath found”  Matthew 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

4.  There Must Be A Defense Of The Treasure – “he hideth” – Revelation 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

5.  There Must Be A Determination Of The Treasure – “for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” – Philippians  3:7-11  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  (8)  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,  (9)  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  (10)  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;  (11)  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

The Local Church and Teaching

Temple Baptist Church - 3-8-2020

Matthew 28:18-20

Introduction:

A.  Homecoming Month.  What a special time for God’s people here at Temple.  We have something very special here.  God has blessed this church over the past 33 years.

B.  This month, I am looking at the purpose of the local church lest we lose sight of what we are here for.  Last Sunday, we saw the first purpose is Exaltation or Worship.  This morning, I want to look at Education or Teaching.

C.  The local church is a called-out assembly of saints. 

1.  The local church is a place of God’s Desire.  Matthew 16:18  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.  (The local church is important to God!)

2.  The local church is a place of God’s Design. 1 Timothy 3:15  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.  (Order is important to God.) 

3.  The local church is a place of God’s Doctrine.  Acts 2:42  And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.  (Sound doctrine is important to God.)

D.  I want to look at the aspect of teaching and preaching this morning.  There is a difference between teaching and preaching.

1.  Teaching involves information or fact to inform the intellect. 

2.  Preaching demands a response or decision.

E.   In the Great Commission or Commandment, our Lord Jesus said, “ (1) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  (2)  Teaching them to (3) observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  (Matthew 28:19-20)

1.  The Obligation of Missions.  “teach all nations, baptizing them”  Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

a.  Home Missions.  Mark 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  (For every creature to receive the gospel, it requires every child of God to carry the message.)

b.  Foreign Missions.  Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  (For the entire world to hear, there must be those who go.)

2.  The Obligation of the Pastor.  “teaching them to”

a.  The Man of The Word.  Ephesians 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

1 Timothy 3:2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

b.  The Ministry of The Word.  The Acts 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.  Doctrinal teaching is of the utmost importance in these days of doctrinal ignorance!

Titus 2:1  But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:  (Sound-uncorrupt, whole, true, healthy, uncompromised)

c.  The Method of The Word.  2 Timothy 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

1 Peter 5:2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

2 Timothy 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

3.  The Obligation of the Saint.  “observe all things”  There is a difference between Observation and Observe.

Observation - the action or process of observing something or someone carefully or in order to gain information.

Observe - to conform one's action or practice to (something, such as a law, rite, or condition): to comply with.

a.  The Responsibility of the Saint to Hear The Word – Hebrews 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  (You cannot hear or learn if you are not faithful to attend.)

b.  The Obligation of the Saint to Heed The Word.  Hebrews 5:11-12  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.  (12)  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

Conclusion:  Colossians 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

The Gospel Preached Unto Abraham

Temple Baptist Church - 3-4-2020

Hebrews 11:13-19; Genesis 22:1-19

Introduction:

A.  Hebrews 11:13 - “These all died in faith!”

1.  An Evidential Faith.  Hebrews 11:1-3  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  (2)  For by it the elders obtained a good report.  (3)  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

2.  An Enduring Faith.  Hebrews 11:13a  These all died in faith

3.  An Embracing Faith.  Hebrews 11:13b  Not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

B.  In these verses, we find the amazing faith of Abraham mentioned.  This was no small act of faith that Abraham exercised in Genesis when God gave to him the promise of the “Seed.”  When we get to Genesis 22, we find the depth of his faith in the testing of the sacrifice of Isaac.

Hebrews 11:17-19  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,  18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:  19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

Galatians 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

C.  God promised Abraham a son named Isaac through which the godly line would continue until the “Seed” should come which was Christ.  The Old Testament saint knew that the “Lamb of God” would one day come to take away (not simply atone) for the sins of the world.  Isaac had no children; therefore, he must continue to live in order to bring about the accomplishment of the “seed of the woman.”

D.  This meant that if Abraham sacrificed his son, then God would have to bring him back to life again.  What faith!

Turn to Genesis 22 with me.

1.  Pre-determination Plan – vs. 2 “offer him” - Acts 2:23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

1 Peter 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

2.  Pre-determined Person – vs. 2 “thine only son” - John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Matthew 17:5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

3.  Pre-determined Place - Genesis 22:2-4  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.  3  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.  4  Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

Luke 23:33  And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

4.  Pre-determined Price – vs. 2 “burnt offering” - Leviticus 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Hebrews 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

5.  Pre-determined Process – vs. 3 “clave the wood” - Galatians 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Philippians 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

6.  Pre-determined Pact – vs. 6 “both of them together” - John 8:29  And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

Isaiah 53:10-11  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

7.  Pre-determined Path – vs. 6 “the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son” - John 19:17  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Colossians 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

8.  Pre-determined Provision – vs. 8 “God will provide himself”- 1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

9.  Pre-determined Propitiation – vs. 13 “Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son” - 1 John 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Hebrews 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

10.  Pre-determined Promise – vs. 19 “So Abraham returned unto his young men” -  1 Thessalonians 4:16-18   For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Sardis – The Dead Church - Part 2

Temple Baptist Church - 3-1-2020

Revelation 3:1-6

Introduction:

A.  Last week, we saw 7 major happenings that brought about the Protestant Reformation:

1.  The Renaissance Period. 

2.  The St. Peter’s Basilicas and Sistine Chapel financial fiasco.

3.  The false doctrine and abuses of Indulgences.

4.  The invention of the Printing Press that placed literature and God’s Word in the hands of men in general.

5.  The Reformation or intent thereof of the Roman Catholic Church along with the excommunication of Martin Luther.

6.  The entrance of various translations of the Bible into German, French, and English.

7.  The abiding presence of churches with biblical succession from the Apostolic churches.

B. Tonight, I want to look at the results of the Protestant Reformation.  The Protestants (Martin Luther-Germany, Ulrich Zwingli-Switzerland, John (Jean) Calvin-French, Jacobus Arminius-Dutch, John Knox-Scotland, John and Charles Westley-England) tried to do a right thing the wrong way.  Reform but not separate! 

C.  What caused the deadness of the Protestant churches which had a combination of right and wrong doctrines.  Though they got some things right, they continued to have some parts of Roman Catholicism in their doctrine and worship.  This past week, we have seen the Protestant churches plus the Southern Baptist churches observing Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and setting up their ecumenical Lentin Services.

D.  Mainline Protestant Churches born out of the Protestant Reformation. 

1.  Lutheran – Branches out of it: Evangelical Lutheran. 

2.  Anglican (Church of England) – Congregational, Episcopal, Methodism. Out of Methodism: United Methodists, Wesleyan, Holiness, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Non-denominational.

3.  Protestantism - Reformed Churches, Presbyterian, Church of Scotland.

E.  These mainline Protestant denominations continue with the use of vestments, liturgical services, along with pedo-baptism and the acceptance of sprinkling instead of immersion for baptism.  Some of these teachings vary in individual churches.

F.  Later Protestant Churches – Presbyterian, Methodists, Church of God, Assemblies of God, A.M.E., evangelicals, etc. along with a variety of off-shoots.  Most of these denominations split along the lines of:

1.  Baptism.

a)  Some still practice pedo-baptism while most do not.

b)  Some allow sprinkling, pouring, or immersion as methods of baptism.

c)  Again, these practices can vary from church to church.

2.  Calvinism vs. Arminianism.

a)  The teachings of John Calvin - Calvinism or Reformed Theology (TULIP Theology).

b)  The teachings of Jacob Arminius – Armenism.

G.  Calvinism vs. Arminianism.

Calvinism                                                                           Arminianism

1.  Total Depravity or Total Inability.                                1.  Free Will or Human Ability.

2.  Unconditional Election.                                                2.  Conditional Election.

3.  Limited Atonement.                                                       3.  General Atonement.

4.  Irresistible Grace.                                                           4.  Grace Resisted.

5.  Perseverance of the Saints.                                           5.  Uncertainty of Perseverance.

h.  A true biblical perspective:  Protestants say that you are either Arminian or you are Calvinist.  We are not either!  As Bible believers, we cannot agree with any point of Calvinism and are not Arminian. 

1.  Total Depravity or Human Ability.  God has given man free will and faith to be exercised.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Revelation 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

2.  Unconditional Election or Conditional Election.  Salvation is based upon repentance and faith.

Acts 20:21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

3.  Limited Atonement of General Atonement.  Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world.

1 Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 John 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

4.  Irresistible Grace or Grace Resisted.  Man’s free will allows him to resist the wooing of the Holy Spirit.

John 5:39-40  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  (40)  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Acts 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

5.  Perseverance of the Saints or Uncertain Perseverance.  At this point, the Bible departs from both Calvinism and Armenism.  Calvinism teaches that the elect will persevere because they have no choice while Armenism teaches that the saved can become lost if they do not endure to the end.  The Bible believer rejects perseverance and embraces preservation. 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.