You would take the seed that was growing in and around Jerusalem, carry it up to Corinth, plant it, and you’d have the same seed. If you kept the same seed from Jerusalem, to Samaria, to Corinth, to anywhere else, you’d have the same product—the same wheat! Now, if you mixed and mingled that by what we would now think of as “cross fertilization,” whatever, you would change the wheat. But, so long as you kept the pure seed there would be the SAME wheat grown, wherever it was.

Now, Jesus put into the Word of God a power that rises above the ability of man’s mind to fully understand. We don’t even understand, in every detail, precisely what it is that causes the seed to bring forth after its kind, other than the fact that God said it is so.

Now, in establishing the church, here we are in touch with a most vital Truth. The Truth of it is that, the church is established by the Word of God. Somebody comes into a town, preaches the Gospel, and those of an honest and good heart hear that Word. They respond to it from the heart in obedience to the Gospel. The become Christians. They become members of the church of which Christ is the head. That is brought about, not by the approval of men, not by the act of men other than their preaching of the Word of God. And when these individuals—Christians—when they begin meeting together in order to glorify God in the CHRUCH, in harmony with His Will, that becomes a particular congregation of the entire brotherhood of Jesus Christ throughout the world. Here is how it happened in Jerusalem, in Samaria and in Corinth. And this is how it has happened in Albuquerque, in Lawrenceburg, or wherever.

If you were to take the Gospel to a group of people who had never heard it before (or, if they had heard it before, they had no interest in it), and on this occasion, they hear preached precisely the same Message as was preached on Pentecost, and they were taught to believe and obey that Message today, and they did so, this group of people would be the church of Christ in that particular place. And by “the church of Christ” I do not refer to the building. I refer to the men and women who, out of a true and honest heart, have submitted and continue to submit themselves to the headship of Jesus in the church.

I’d like to say more, but I know about timeframes. Won’t it be something when all of us get to heaven, and some of those old preachers who preached so long will never know when to quit! [The congregation laughs at Brother Woodson’s teasing. He responds,] Well, we won’t have anywhere to go! Might as well preach! John [Brother Woodson addresses John Phillis in the audience], I don’t know where you and I’ll be, but I know a few fellas way ahead of us that are going to be up there clamoring for first place. But, I’ll enjoy hearing some of them preach. Wish I could hear some of them today.

In a moment, we’ll be singing an invitation hymn. In the New Testament, we read of God “calling” people, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14. The “call” is in the Gospel. And that Gospel call is an invitation…an invitation to a person who is not obedient to Christ to become obedient. In order to be obedient to Christ to become a Christian, the New Testament tells that one is to believe in Jesus, God’s Son; is to repent of sin; is to confess his faith in Christ; and is to be baptized in water for the remission of sins, that his sins may be forgiven, he may be added to the church, and arise to walk in newness of life. That is what has happened in the lives of most of us here today. But, there may be one or more who need today to render due obedience to the Gospel to be saved.

There may be those in the audience who have been baptized into Christ, but for whatever reason have not lived in harmony with His Will, and your mistake is of such a nature as to bring shame on the body of Christ—a public wrong.    You need to repent of that sin, confess it unto God and ask brethren to pray with and for you that you may be forgiven.

As we sing this hymn, we invite you to come. May we stand.