John MacArthur - Do I really need to go to church? - WORTH SEEING!

look how long do you stay in a church first of all don't be in a big hurry to change churches i don't like that i don't like church hopping all the time going here going there jumping here jump in there you need to be a part of a community of people that you you become intimately acquainted with that you're personally involved with that you minister to minister with love and are loved by and and you use your gifts and you fulfill the one and others and well you're not going to find a perfect church you're not going to find a perfect pastor and i understand there's a downside to the ubiquitous nature of people like me uh because it's uh you know people like you tend to compare your pastor to me and that's that i don't like that i don't feel comfortable with that because pastors are my favorite people in the world they need your support they need your love they need your help they need your encouragement so find a place and land there you're not perfect that place isn't perfect he's not perfect i'm not perfect find a place where you can serve and use your gifts you say what kind of a place a place where the word of god is honored and christ is exalted okay the word of god is honored christ is exalted and that can come in a lot of different packages and where the leaders are trustworthy and stay there and don't leave because you got ticked off at a meeting don't leave because somebody made a decision that made you mad don't leave because you didn't like the fact that they put somebody in this responsibility and should have been you or somebody you wanted don't don't let it get petty i i would just encourage you that if you were living in the in the new testament time let's assume you might have been living when the new testament was written and let's say you lived in ephesus uh you had one church church at ephesus right that was it if you lived in laodicea you had one church if you lived in laodicea you were in a difficult situation because you were in a church that christ would spew out of his mouth you lived in ephesus you were in a church that had left his first love if you were in sardis you were in a church that was virtually dead you didn't have an option and throughout those seven letters to the churches in revelation 2 and 3 the lord always says blessed are those who have not soiled their garments there may be situations where it's the best you have it's all you have that's been true throughout history that's true today in many parts of the world you either go to the church or you don't go to church and that's not an option and i always like to give people advice too don't look uh just because you you have a pastor that's doing things that you really don't like and he's driving you crazy and he's disappointing you and he doesn't handle the word of god don't don't pack up and leave stay long enough to see if he leaves first because so many times people pull out start another church and the guy leaves and now you've got two churches when if people were more patient to let the lord do his work over a period of time might have taken care of itself so just be very judicious but if the word of god is not honored and not rightly proclaimed if christ is not exalted if the leadership is not trustworthy find another place you're not obligated there now you said you it's really not an option not to go to church you don't go to church you are the church you take the church to the place but it's not it's like hebrews tells us forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is don't be like the people who don't go go to church go there go there because you love the word you love the truth you love the people of god whoever loves god loves the people of god john says so you don't approve uh if people stay home and watch the streaming video from grace church if you if you're sick or if it comes on at a time when you're at home you need to be in the church you can't exist in isolation god never intended that for you find a group of people that you can love and serve and minister to and be a part of it and be faithful and be loyal and if you have a pastor that's disappointing everybody pray that the lord will get him out of there you know pray him out but i you know what happens in churches like that pastors often will come into a church and disappoint so many people they drive the good people out of the church and then of course they get disillusioned because it's not going the way they want it to go they're not seeing success and the next guy comes in and he's not any better and there's not anybody there to make him any better because all the good people have already left and it's just a downward spiral so don't be in a big hurry to leave [Music] unless you know the word of god is being compromised either in the teaching or in the living of the leadership now the word of god being compromised uh is subjective because you already said there are picayune things there are yeah yeah no i don't mean subjective i don't i don't mean it's as style or his technique i mean you are not being taught the word of god accurately he is not faithful to what i call the drivetrain of the gospel look he may have a different view of of the fall of angels you may have a a different view of baptism it may have a different view of eschatology and that might be the best shot you've got that might be the best church there is there but what the questions that need to be asked are is he faithful to the core of the gospel which is a triune god deity of christ deity of the holy spirit deity of god the father the virgin birth the sinless life of christ substitutionary atonement literal resurrection salvation by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone that's what i call the drive train if those things are right you might have to tolerate some of the other things that aren't nearly as absolutely critical as those are

Channel: Faith, Hope & Love.

Views: 20,988

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Id: ZDN-4brgWUY

Length: 6min 24sec (384 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 24 2020