Back to the Basics

By: M. S. Shiflett

This message was preached at Calvary Independent Baptist Church in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

We will be looking at a portion of Scripture from Hebrews chapter five.  This message has been on my heart for quite some time, and I am glad to finally be able to share with you what God has laid on my heart.  I remember when I was in school as a child, the teacher would announce that we were going to have a ‘review'.  After weeks of classes and instruction, the teacher would stop and have a review and would see if we had learned anything.  Many times, those reviews did not turn out the way I wanted them too!  Sometimes the teacher would have a ‘pop-quiz'. A ‘pop-quiz' is when you walk in and sit down and the teacher says "Alright, take out a blank sheet of paper and close your books."  That is not what I wanted to hear!  What the teacher was doing was seeing if I had been paying attention.  This message is going to be a review of some things I have dealt with in the past.

Earlier, I was helping my youngest daughter with a basic simple task.  She is a very smart and bright child, but she was so glad to have my assistance.  As I was helping her, the Lord brought these verses in Hebrews chapter five to mind.  God reminded me that sometimes as Christians, it is necessary for us to ‘review' some of the things that we have learned along the way.  Sometimes I feel that I am to blame for assuming that people know more than they actually do.  This message is going to be just a simple reminder of some very important issues that should never be forgotten.

When my twin sister was in school, she had a difficult time reading.  After some extensive testing, it was discovered that she had missed some vital lessons in phonics.  You know as well as I do that if you miss phonics, you are always going to have problems reading and writing.  Those are the basics. You must learn the basics!  You have to learn the elementary things early on so that as you live from day to day, you can incorporate those basics into your daily life.  Each and every day, whether you realize it or not, you are relying on those basic, elementary facts. 

Could you imagine living today and not being able to read and write?  Could you imagine walking into a restaurant and not being able to order from the menu because you could not read it?  Could you imagine not being able to read the newspaper?   Imagine not being able to know what was going on and living your whole life handicapped because you missed simple little things like learning how to read.  Unfortunately, many church members are equally handicapped because they have failed to grasp some basic, Biblical truths along the way.

I'm afraid that many times as a pastor, I fail to emphasis the basics because I take for granted that people know them.  Maybe you do know them and are just not doing them.  If that is the case, then we will deal with that as well during the course of the message.

In the book of Hebrews 5:11, the Bible says:

• Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

The writer of Hebrews starts out by saying "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered..." or ‘hard to be expressed' or ‘difficult to get the point across'.  He is saying that he has a lot of things that are not that easy to explain.  We are not 100% sure who wrote the book of Hebrews.  I'm leaning towards Paul being the author.  It has been a debate down through the centuries.  For argument's sake, I am going to say it was Paul.  In essence, he is saying, "I have a lot of things that I want to say to you.  I have a lot of things I want to share.  I have a lot of things I want to teach.  I have a lot of things I want to convey to you.  However, some of it is difficult for me to explain.  Some of these things are hard to be uttered.  But, there is a problem.  The problem is not that I am not eloquent enough, or experienced enough to teach it; the problem is you are dull of hearing."  He said there are things I want to say, there are things I want to preach but you are not listening. 

Hebrews 5:12 says:

• 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.

He is making a very profound point here.  When the people should be teaching, it has become necessary for them to re-learn.  He had already taught them, but now instead of them taking what they had heard and helping someone else, they had to be taught all over again!  If you have ever been a teacher, you can imagine the frustration!  If you know very well that your student know how to do it, but they refuse to do it, that really bothers you.

Years ago before God called me into the ministry, I owned a construction business.  I hired many young men and I trained them.  As I was training them, I would be very careful to make sure that they were watching and learning, so that when the time came for me to leave them to do a task, they could do it properly and safely and effectively.  It never ceased to amaze me at the many times I would start to walk away, and they would tell me that they didn't know what they were doing!  After weeks of watching and working alongside me, they weren't paying attention!!  How frustrating! 

Paul said there are some that by now should be teaching, but they are having to hear it again.  The first principles - the basics - have been forgotten!  Now, he says in Hebrews 5:12b-14:

• ...and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Now the text verse I wanted to point out is Hebrews 6:1-2:

• 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, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

When you are reading your Bible and you see the word ‘therefore', I suggest that you stop and see what it is ‘there for'.  He started chapter 6 verse 1 based on what he just said in the last part of chapter 5.

Now here is what Paul is saying in chapter 6.  I'm going to break it down for you just as simple as I possibly can.  He's saying "Let us leave the first principles and grow up!"  However, there is a problem.  You can't go on to maturity until you grasp the first things.   You cannot progress or excel until the basics have been heard, obeyed and incorporated. 

Allow me to quickly give you an explanation of what he is talking about in chapter 6 verses 1 and 2.  Remember, he is talking to the Hebrew Christians.  He is talking to the Jewish Christians. The point he is trying to get across to the church or to the Hebrew Christians is this:  Things have changed. 

The ‘doctrines of baptisms' that is mentioned in verse 2 is the washing of the Old Testament sacrifices and the rituals.  The ‘laying on of hands' is the scapegoat described in Leviticus 16.  That is the laws that deal with the occasion where they call the scapegoat and they whisper all the sins of the nation of Israel into its ear and they take it out and they leave it in the desert place where it dies and their sins are not remembered any more.  It is a type and an illustration of what happened at the Cross.  What he is saying here is this; it is time to move away from all those things, your traditions and the way that things were done for thousands of years.  All those things had a purpose and all those things were fine, but it is time to leave that and go on to something new.  The Hebrews couldn't let go of the Old Testament things; they couldn't let go of all the pictures and types and foreshadows.  They couldn't get a hold of the fact that when Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was rent in twain and that there was no longer a need for the priest and sacrifices and offerings.  It was now all about Jesus Christ!  What Paul is saying to them is "You should know all of this by now.  You have got to leave these basic principles and go on to perfection.  Perfection here means maturity, being properly equipped, being properly enabled to do what you are supposed to do.

I know a lot of Christians that are like a 4-wheel drive vehicle that is bogged down in a mud puddle.  If you have ever driven or owned a 4-wheel drive, then you know that a 4-wheel drive is not supposed to get bogged down anywhere.  That is the purpose of an all-wheel drive.  It is supposed to pull out of mud.  It is designed to pull out of a hole!  I had a friend of mine that had a 4-wheel drive truck, and he told me that when he died, he wanted to be buried in that truck because it had never been in a hole that it could not get out of!  I feel like sometimes people are bogged down over some of the simplest, most basic principles of Christianity.  They shouldn't be, but they are.  That's why they are not growing.  I want to summarize the Christian life with three words, and we are going to look at each one of them.  This is basic Christianity summed up in just a few, simple thoughts.  Let us first look at the Christian's identification. 

A.  Identification

You identify with Christ.  Jesus set an example for all believers when he allowed himself to be baptized by John the Baptist.  Jesus plainly told John that he needed to be baptized in order to fulfil all righteousness. 

Matthew 3:14-17

• But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

       1. You Identify with Christ through Baptism

The first thing that every single New Testament believer did when they got born again was they got scripturally baptized (immersed in water).  Look in Acts 2:41:

• Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Three thousand people got baptized immediately; the same day - right then - right after they got saved!  They didn't make excuses or pray about it or think about it; they just did it!   Just as soon as they got saved, they went straight and got baptized.  Three thousand people! Get this: I doubt very seriously if any of them just ‘happened' to have another change of clothes and a towel with them when Peter started preaching!!  They got saved and were baptized right then and there!!   No shame; no embarrassment; no arguing; no hesitation.  If we insisted on baptizing people the same day they get saved, we'd be accused of being fanatics!  I'm convinced that not only is baptism after salvation totally Biblical, but being baptized immediately after salvation is Biblical.  The sooner the better! 

I must clarify something while I am dealing with this subject.  According to the Bible, baptism IS NOT required for salvation.  We have been very clear about that in our preaching, teaching and all the literature that we have written and printed here at this church.  Baptism is a requirement for OBEDIENCE; not for salvation.  Anybody that adds baptism to the salvation process is adding works to grace and is guilty of Legalism.  We are not legalist around here - we are Baptist.  Furthermore, we are Bible-believing, Bible-practicing, Jesus-loving Christians, hence our willingness to follow His example of being SCRIPTURALLY baptized in water.  I just wanted to clarify that because there have been a few that have refused to be scripturally baptized, and after hearing me preach it and teach its importance, they have left this church and told people that we require baptism for salvation and that is completely untrue.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

This basic Biblical principle of identification carries on right through the book of Acts.  Look at Acts 8:36-38:

• And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

He was so excited about being baptized that he almost got baptized before he got saved! Philip said "Hey, you can get baptized, that's not a problem, but let's get saved first!"  Notice the fact that they were riding in a chariot.  He got saved and they stopped the chariot right beside the lake, river, pond, or whatever it was.  He got baptized right then, five minutes later.  He didn't get a little Methodist or Dutch Reformed sprinkling! He didn't stand up in front of the church and have them sprinkle him on top of the head.  He went down into the water.

Acts 8:38-39:

• And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

It is perfectly clear how you are supposed to be baptized and when you are to be baptized.  You get baptized IN WATER and you get baptized AFTER you get saved.  Amen!  Now, if you'll just quickly follow me over to Acts 10:47-48, we will see what happened at the house of Cornelius when they got saved.

• Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

There you go.  They got baptized immediately after they got saved.  Let us keep reading.  Go to Acts 16:14-15.

• And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

She got baptized immediately.  Right then, right there.  If you think I'm making an issue out of nothing, then watch this.  It gets better.  Notice with me the Philippian jailer, in the last part of chapter 16. 

Acts 16:31-34

• And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

They were baptized in the middle of the night!  He and his whole family got saved, and at midnight, they left the house and found a place to be baptized!  I'm not saying you must get baptized five minutes after you get saved.  What I am saying is that you need to get baptized right after you get saved, and the sooner the better!  Getting baptized and identifying with Christ is the first thing you do as a Christian!

This is the first thing you need to do if you have been saved but have not followed the Lord's example in believer's baptism.  This is the first day of school, and we're doing a serious review of the basics. Number one, you get saved and number two you get water baptized.  That is what the Bible teaches.  You can argue with that until the cows come home, but it will not change anything!  God's Word is the final authority!!

There are people today that say baptism has replaced the circumcision of the Old Testament and since we do not have to get circumcised any more, then baptism is not necessary. The only problem with that theory is that is totally fabricated and Biblically unfounded!  There is absolutely no proof that is the case!  Baptism does not replace circumcision, because they did not circumcise girls and women!  However, we just read where a woman got baptized.  So, that little excuse will not stand under the microscope of God's Word.  Are we clear on this?  Baptism did not replace circumcision.  It doesn't make you saved, and it doesn't make you more saved.  But, if you are baptized it makes you more obedient and if you are not baptized it makes you less obedient.  Amen!  You get saved, you get baptized.  We are talking about identification.  You identify with Christ by being baptized.  This is taught in Romans 6:3-5.

      Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Baptism is a picture; it is a type.  You are standing in the water, then when you are lowered into the water you are ‘buried'. When you are raised up out of the water this typifies that you are ‘resurrected'.  This now pictures that you will live a new life.  You are a new man in Christ.  It is just a picture, a testimony.  So then, if you as a believer are going to grow - if you are going to mature, then the first thing you need to do is get baptized.  By doing this, you are identifying with Christ.  Secondly, you need to identify with the local church.

       2.  You Identify with the Church through                       Membership

The second part of the identification process is when you voluntarily decide to identify with the church through membership.  It is scriptural and it is Biblical to become a part of the local assembly.  Now when I say "become a part" that means to actually put your name on the roll and let your name be added to other names.  Go back to Acts chapter one where this is very clear when it refers to the list of names being about 120.  You can't be a member of the body if you are not officially and properly attached to the body.  I've got a lot of body parts up here.  I did not leave any at home; they are all here.  They belong to me, they are my body and they are my body parts.  They are attached and they are in there and they are doing what they are supposed to do.  When my wife and I hold hands, her members are in close proximity to mine, but that does not make her hand part of my body!  Neither does just visiting a church make you a member.

How does one become a part of the McDonalds organization?  By eating there?  No!  They become a part of the organization by going in, reading the qualifications of employment, signing their name and getting hired.  Once they are hired, then they can wear the uniform and be a representative of the organization.  How does a person become a member of the church?  By just visiting?  By just sitting down in a church and listening?  No!  They come forward, ask for the doctrinal statement, read it, agree with it, and put their name down as a candidate for church membership!  The other church members listen to their testimony, the pastor will make sure they have been scripturally baptized, and if so, then they become a member by a vote of the other, existing members.

There are a lot of people that fail to recognize that the failure to join a church totally negates the Biblical doctrines of church discipline, pastoral authority, unity and accountability!  If you are not a member, how can a church  perform church discipline?  If you are not a member of the flock, what authority does the pastor have to rule over you?  How can a church have business meetings, make new policy, elect pastors and officers and conduct itself in a proper, orderly fashion if just anybody that walks in is considered a member just by being there?  That whole philosophy is not only flawed scripturally, but it is flawed logically!

Acts 2:41

• Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

They were added unto them.  Added unto who?  The believers that pre-existed!  The one hundred and twenty that were meeting together in Acts 1.  There were a hundred and twenty members.  After Peter preached they had a major influx of church membership.  They went from 120 members to 3,120.  They were added.  Look at the last verse of the chapter, Acts 2:47.

• Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

So let's review.  1. You get saved, 2. You get baptized, and then 3. You join the church.  You become a part of the body.  Amen!  Now listen, the reason why I say this is because a lot of people don't like to join! They like to feel free to float around.  But like I said, I didn't leave my body parts at the house; they are all here. 

In fact, if you read the book of Acts and you read it closely, you'll find out that Paul didn't start churches.  The new converts started churches.  He preached, they got baptized, he left and they started a church.  Why?  That's what people do.  They get saved, they get baptized, and they start going to church.  They become a part of the local church.  God is working with the church and through the church. 

The church is God's agent that He is using to evangelize the world. It used to be the nation of Israel, and in the 7 year Tribulation period, He will use the nation of Israel again because the church is going to get taken out at the Rapture.  But for now, He is using the local church. 

If you are a part of the body of Christ, you need to be a member of a local, Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching, separated, Spirit-filled church.

       3.  You Identify with Christians by Fellowship

You identify with Christians.  You proclaim to the world who you are and what you are all about!  Acts 11:26:

      And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Now understand that was not a popular name in those days.  Being called a Christian was a derogatory, insulting remark.  "Oh, there is a Christian!  There's one of those little Christ followers."  It became a label and it became their identification.  They were called Christians by the world.  They didn't call themselves Christians.  They were called Christians, but only after they had been taught and assembled for a year with the church and started to find out what Christ was all about.  The more they learned about it, the more they obeyed Him and the more they followed Him.  Eventually, the world said, "Look there! Those people are Christians."  Today, people say they are a Christian, but they won't identify with Christ and they won't identify with the church.  I've got a problem with that.  God does too!  That brand of Christianity is not found in the Bible.

It is amazing how that God has set it up.  You can go to America and you can get a visa and you can change your citizenship and you can become an American.  However, I can come to South Africa and get myself a green ID book and it still doesn't make me a South African.  To become a Christian, you don't just take the name and slap it on your shirt and on your coat or on your T-shirt or sew it on a little patch on the pocket of your pants, and say "I am a Christian."  No, no, no, no. There is more to it than that.  It's an identification process.  You are identified as a Christian; you are identified as a child of God by fellowshipping and associating with the local church.  That's how it works.  That is how it has always worked, even from the beginning of Christianity! The first thing that a Christian does is he goes through the three part process of identification. They learn identification. Next, they learn participation.

B. Participation

Now this is where a lot of people will fall off the wagon.  They don't mind coming to church, they just don't want to do anything.  They want to find a nice church where the Word of God is preached and the Spirit of God is working in people's life, but they have no desire to get involved.  Well, you know what?  That is not Scriptural.  Because when you read the Bible, you'll find out that we are all members of the body, and all of us have a function. 

Let me illustrate my point.  If I cut my toe off, it would not kill me.  If I cut my leg off, it wouldn't kill me.  I've seen people with no legs and I've seen people without both legs.  I saw a person with no legs and no arms.  He had been in the army in Vietnam and had stepped on a land mind and it blew him all to pieces and he was still alive.  He was missing quite a few members of the body, but it was still functioning.  It was functioning under a load, and it was having a hard time doing it, but it was functioning.  Likewise, as a member of the body, you have something you need to be doing in order to keep things running smoothly and effectively.

1.  In the House of God

Christ is the head of the body according to the book of Ephesians.  Christ is the head of the church.  I am not the head of the church.  You cut the head off and the body dies.  I don't care how good your feet and legs are working. I don't care how hard your heart is pumping blood.  If the head dies, the body dies.  I am a part of the body, but I am not the head.  Christ is the head of the church, and there is no debate about that fact.

My question to you is this: what part are you performing in the body?  Are you a vital organ that is really, really doing something and contributing to the church, or are you just a toe?   I know a lot of people who I believe are like the toe.  They often get stubbed, and make a lot of noise and cause a lot of pain to the rest of the body, but don't really have a major function.  I don't really know how you decide what part you play in the body.  I haven't figured that one out.  My guess is that the person that God has saved, they just jump in with both feet and they go for God and He puts them in the place where they can do the most good.

When you are not in church, it can not function properly.  If I was up here trying to preach this morning and I had a couple of vital body parts lying at the house, it would really affect my preaching, don't you think?  Yes it would!  You don't think it's that important if you are not here.  That is where you are wrong.  You underestimate how important you are to the body.  What if I didn't show up?  What if I just didn't even come?  What if the piano player didn't show up?  We would be scrambling around trying to make a plan.  Well, you know what?  How do you know we don't do that when you are not here?  If you're not here, you have no idea how your absence affects the service!

You participate in the house of God and you participate in the Word of God.

       2. In the Word of God

You may be curious as to how you participate in the Word of God. It is actually quite simple.  The Word of God goes in, and the Word of God goes out.  It's a process.  A lot of people are not a stream - they are a reservoir.  The water of the Word goes in and it sits there.  I tell you what you can do.  You find a pond that doesn't have an outlet, and I'll show you a pond that has that ugly, nasty, green algae on top of the water.  If there is no outlet, the water stagnates.  You must be participating!  When you hear the Word, and you learn something, you need to act on it.  You don't fold it up and put it in the closet somewhere.  You need to read it, and heed it because you need it!!

Now, unfortunately when I was in school, they taught me a lot of things that I did not need.  I am in my thirties, and I have never had to use algebra.  Never!  Never have I had to use that x+y=z stuff!  Never!  I had to learn axioms and theorems when I was studying geometry.  I hated every minute of it, and I was glad when it was over.  I've never needed that.  But you know what?  The Word of God is not like that.  The Word of God is all essentials.  It is all important.  That is one reason why we have so many church services during the week! The Bible says that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word!  I need all the faith I can get, so therefore I need a lot of the Word!   Paul said he had not kept back anything that was profitable.  Everything that he said was something that they needed to help them. 

Let's review now. 1. Participation in the house of God, 2. Participation to the Word of God, and 3. Participation in your time with God.

       C.   In Your Time with God

You must spend time alone with God.  Do you read your Bible?  Do you pray?  Do you commune with God?  Do you fellowship with God?  If you are not doing that, then you need to start.  This is very important.  This is basic, simple steps to maturity.  They may sound unimportant, but you are not growing until you do them. 

       D.  With the Man of God

I realize that I am not the greatest pastor in the world.  However, I am the one God put here, and I am the one that God has put over this flock.  I heard something many years ago and I never really understood it until recently.  It's really profound words.  "Sheep reproduce sheep; shepherds do not reproduce sheep."  Stay with me now.  This is a basic science lesson.  Daddy sheep plus mamma sheep equals baby sheep.  Shepherd plus 10,000 sheep do not equal more sheep.  Sheep reproduce sheep. Sheep bear sheep.  Sheep follow a pastor (shepherd).  The shepherd walks forward and leads the sheep in the right direction.  Sheep follow the shepherd, and while they follow, they are having babies.  If the mom and the dad follow the pastor, then their children will follow the pastor.  This is so simple and so basic, but it is extremely important.  I will say this without any hesitation.  God will not support a church that does not support His man!

The church is not going to go forward until sheep start producing sheep.  I've yet to find a pastor that can build a church all alone.  I've yet to see one.  It's just like I said earlier.  Paul didn't start churches.  He got people saved, and they started churches.  There is an old song that we used to sing that goes like this.

"Tell me what kind of church would my church be if every member was just like me? Tell me how many souls would be saved today if it all depended on what I say? I wonder how many prayers would my Lord would have to answer if all that He heard came from me.  I wonder what kind of church would my church be if every member was just like me?" 

That is a sobering thought isn't it?  I wonder how many more people are going to be in Heaven because of you?  Do you ever think about that?  Do you ever think about a way that you can contribute to the body of Christ?  It isn't just the preacher's job.  I will not be here for ever.  You are helping establish something that will be here for ever, Lord willing.  Are you doing your part?  Are you participating with the man of God?  

I don't mind doing work.  I can work as hard as any body, but I don't like doing all of it.  I want you to pull your fair share.  A lot needs to be done.  There's a city full of people that are dying and going to hell without God.  I can't reach them all by myself.  I don't work with the same people that you do.  I don't live on the same street you live on. 

When you read Acts 20, you will find that Paul delegated the future success of the church at Ephesus to the people of the church.  It is sad that a lot of times we do not take it serious until it is too late.  Let me illustrate what I'm trying to say.  I grew up in church, grew up on the mission field, my Dad was a pastor, and I went to Bible College and all that.  But guess what?  I finally got real serious about the Bible when I got here!  I could not believe how much I did not know.  Not everybody will be this honest, but I have learned a lot in the past few years, and I do not mind telling you that I do not know it all!  When it came to the Bible, I had heard it, but I was dull of hearing on many things.  All of a sudden, I was sitting somewhere half-way around the world and I needed to know God's Word and provide answers for people, and I was frantic because somewhere along the way I had heard it, but I couldn't remember it.

I hope that it doesn't take a drastic, major change to cause you to wake up and realize that this is the church of God.  It is not our church.  You might say, "But I like this church because the Spirit of God is here."  I agree with you one hundred percent.  The Spirit of God is here.  Have you ever stopped to figure out why the Spirit is here?  Why is the Spirit of God in Calvary Independent Baptist Church, and not in every other church down the road?  Why?  God doesn't flip a coin and say I guess I'll just go and be in this church today.  That isn't how He works.  Have you ever figured out why the Holy Spirit of God is here?  Let me ask you another question.  This is pretty pointed and pretty blunt, but I'm going to ask it any way.  Is the Spirit of God at Calvary Independent Baptist Church because of you?  That is a good question!  

The Bible says "...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."  Liberty to do what?  What you want to do?  Not hardly.  There are plenty of churches today that do what they want to do and the Spirit of the Lord isn't there.  The liberty the Bible is talking about is the liberty to preach and to teach and promote the truth.  We can have liberty in this service with just three people as long as I can get up in this pulpit and I've got the liberty to preach the Word of God without fear or favor.  But the minute I cannot preach what I want to preach and the minute I have to preach with fear of somebody getting their feelings hurt and I have to withhold truth and I can not say certain things, then that is when the Spirit of God gets cramped.  The Spirit of God is in this place because the Word of God rules in this church.  It isn't because of you and it isn't because of me, it's because I preach by the Word of God and I live by the Word of God.  Can you say that?

C. Preparation

Are you preparing for the work that God has for you to do?  Are you busy preparing?  Some universities have classes starting at 7:00 in the morning and they go until 7:00 or 8:00 at night.  Some universities only have night classes.  Our Bible Institute here at our church has classes for just a few hours each week.  What is your level of preparation?  Is it just a couple of hours a week?  Is it just a few minutes during the week?  Are you full time?  Are you really, really preparing?  You've got a job to do.  You know that and the only way you are going to do it properly as a mature Christian is you must be equipped.  You are never going to grow until you get saved, baptized, join the church and start participating and growing and preparing yourself to do more.  Only then will you grow. 

Preparation is a process.  It is a process of hearing, listening, obeying and incorporating.  I wonder how many Christians cannot go forward because they refuse to let go of the things that are in the past.  They cannot let go of the traditions.  They cannot let go of the things that they have always heard that really wasn't Biblical.  You might say, "I just wasn't taught that way."  Well, I'm sorry.  "I have never heard this."  Well, I just showed it to you.  I can't help it if you were taught wrong or grew up sitting under false teaching.  I can't do anything about that.  If you didn't know it, if it's new to you, then just remember, it was new to those in the New Testament too!  That is why Paul rebuked them for neglecting to heed the truths he had been preaching to them.  He told them they were slow to hear.  Why do you suppose they were so slow to heed the preaching of the Apostle Paul?  It is because they had never heard it before, and they didn't want to change!  They couldn't grasp the fact that the Old Testament way of doing things were over; God had a better way.  If you are hearing some of these basic, Bible truths for the first time, then don't rebel and don't ignore what God is trying to teach you.  There is nothing honorable about clutching desperately to false teaching.  If you have never had the privilege of sitting under the truth, then don't use that as an excuse to ignore it when you God does let you hear it!  Submit to the Word of God and allow God to change you into the Christian he wants you to be.

Sheep reproduce sheep and as sheep, if you follow the shepherd, God will bless you.  Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ."  As I try to follow God, as long as I'm following God, you should follow me.  Sheep are not supposed to go chasing after other sheep that has strayed away from the fold.  You are supposed to stay with the shepherd. I thought about something I want to share with you.  Sheep are supposed to be following the shepherd.  Suppose you get one sheep mad at the shepherd and he decides he is going to leave the flock and he goes off over yonder someplace.  You know what happens a lot of times?  All the sheep go after that one disgruntled, disobedient sheep and chase him down. However, instead of bringing him back, they stay out there and talk to him and fellowship with him. Needless to say, that is not right.  You know what happens?  If you reproduce while you are out there with that disgruntled sheep, you are not going to reproduce sheep that are following the Shepherd!  You are going to reproduce sheep that are following the one that got mad and left.  You will eventually see that disgruntled sheep start his own little flock out there.  That is what Paul was talking about in Acts 20 when says look out because there's going to be those among you that's going to draw disciples unto themselves cause they are not following the man of God.

Rebellion and division is nothing new.  It has been happening for centuries.  It happened back during Paul's day.  People get mad at the doctrines of the church, they get mad at the church, they get mad at the man of God and they leave and everyone goes and puts their arm around them and tells them how much they love them, as if the preacher does not love them.  I was telling them I loved them a long time before you were!  The point is not that they are not loved!  The point is that they don't love the Word of God.  That is the point.  You can go hug up with them; you can go and fellowship with them and have fun with them all you want, but you are not helping them until you bring them back into the house of God and help them get right!  Loving someone is one thing; encouraging them in their evil deeds is another thing.

II John 1:9-11

• Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

I'm still talking about participating with the man of God.  Imagine being a shepherd and trying to lead a flock of sheep across the field and one gets mad and starts wandering off. Then to make matters worse, there goes ten or twenty sheep following along after him.  What are you going to do?  You are the shepherd.  You are going to have to stop everything and go get back and try and turn everybody around and get them all headed back in the right direction.  The flock is getting split up and it is being diverted. That one disgruntled sheep is now becoming a distraction to the safety and the well being of the flock.  The sheep must learn to follow!

Conclusion

As a Christian, you must realize that sometimes, the secret to growth is not something complicated and difficult. Sometimes, you just might need to back up and do the simple things.  Until you follow God's formula for Christian growth, you will never achieve it.  Christian growth is not determined by how many years you've been saved or how much you know about the Bible.  Growth is determined by hearing the Word and doing it. 

James 1:25

• "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

Get back to the basics, and watch God bless!  What you need to do is decide today to return to the simple things that God has reveal to you in His word, and embrace them with the fervency and zeal of the early church.  When He speaks, just listen and follow.  Don't get in the habit of arguing with God and reasoning with Him.  He doesn't want your excuses and logic; He wants simple, childlike obedience in the basic, elementary teachings of His word.