Month: April 2010

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;” (Ephesians 2:19-20)

As a minister, one of the frequent questions I am asked is “Why are there so many different denominations? Aren’t they all basically the same?” The answer is “yes.” Coming from me, this answer might surprise you somewhat because Berean Baptist is definitely not the same as most churches. Strictly speaking, we do not even belong to a denomination. We are an autonomous, independent church with no other head than the Lord Jesus Christ. We are quite different because we still hold to historic Baptist doctrines that have been faithfully taught all the way back to the time of Christ. We do not claim to be Protestants because we predate the Protestant Reformation. We certainly do not claim to be Catholic because our history goes back to Christ, not to the wedding of apostate churches to the secular government.

This makes us very different because in the past 150 years not only have Protestants retreated from the doctrines that made them so different from Roman Catholicism, but most Baptist churches have as well. The result is a melding of doctrines to the point denominational lines are blurred which has produced generic Christianity that looks very much the same no matter what the name over the door. Now, there is unity, which many have strived for, but the unity is much different than the desire expressed by Jesus and the apostles. The basis for unity according to scripture must be correct doctrine whereas the modern church movement seeks to remove any doctrines that would divide.

Berean Baptist is not opposed to unity. However, we are opposed to unity if the price is the truth of scripture. To us, the name “Baptist” means something. We maintain the historical doctrines of the faith. Our name “Berean” is a scriptural name taken from Acts 17:11 and those people in the city of Berea who searched the scriptures daily to determine whether doctrines taught by Paul were actually true. When they had examined scripture and found that Paul spoke truth, they gladly believed. We seek to do no less at Berean. We test every teaching by the Word and if it does not match we go no further. If this makes us different, so be it.

So, who is right and who is wrong? This can only be determined by the Berean method of Acts 17:11. Anything less may turn out to be a fun fellowship, but it is not the same as the church built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

In September 1885, the great English Baptist pastor, Charles Spurgeon, preached a message on the text of Matthew 6:33. The venue for his message is quite interesting because the occasion was a monthly meeting of the London Banks’ Prayer Union. Spurgeon was asked to give a speech to this group, and in reading his opening remarks the reader is struck by his humor. He laments that his weakness is that he cannot give a speech without turning it into a sermon. In itself, this is not so remarkable because Spurgeon was the most prolific preacher of the last two thousand years. His sermons are a staple with any conservative Bible believing preacher and he is quoted by many liberals albeit without understanding the man and the importance of his theology. The sermon form is quite understandable but the venue for his address surely escapes most of us today.

I cannot even entertain for a moment the thought that a conservative, Bible believing Baptist preacher would be asked to speak at a meeting of bankers. Further, I cannot imagine that the CEO’s of JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank and others would ever get together to hold a prayer meeting! Such is the difference 125 years of history makes.

The title of Spurgeon’s sermon was “First Things First.” I do not know the true spiritual condition of the bankers present on that day, but Spurgeon must have had some insight when he began his message thusly: “Possibly I address myself to some who have hitherto lived at hap-hazard; and if so, I invite them to a more hopeful method of living. To have a great many aims and objects is much the same thing as having no aim at all; for if a man shoots at many things he will hit none, or none worth the hitting. It is a grand thing to know what we are living for, and to live for a worthy object with the undivided energy of our being. Shall we, when the end comes, have made a success of life? Has our object been a right one, and has it been wisely pursued? Are the results of our conduct such as we shall wish them to have been when the conflict of this mortal life is over? These questions deserve consideration at once.”

From this statement, Spurgeon launched into his sermon showing that the most important pursuit of life is God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Spurgeon’s sermon is flavored with brilliant commentary, such as: “Hypocrites swallow religion in lumps, inviting all to admire the quantity; but sincere seekers after righteousness quietly dissolve their godliness in their lives and sweeten all their common relationships therewith. The real saint flavours his ordinary life with grace, so that his wife, and his children, his servants and his neighbors, are the better for it. Mr. Rowland Hill used to say that a man was not a true Christian if his dog and his cat were not the better off for it. That witness is true. A man’s religion ought to be to him what perfume is to a rose, or light to the sun: it should be the necessary outcome of his existence. If his life is not fragrant with truth, and bright with love, the question arises whether he knows the religion of our Lord Jesus.”

How blessed it would be if our Baptist pulpits were graced with such eloquence, and that we would once again have Spurgeon’s opportunity to preach in such places. There was no fear to speak truth straight from scripture no matter who was in attendance. Spurgeon called men to holiness, to live the religion they professed. Bankers need to heed the message, but how much more is this message needed for members of Berean Baptist Church! Christ not only expects this from us, He demands it!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

Today I want to relate to the entire church the importance of the spiritually uplifting experience I had in participating recently in the recommendation of a young man to be ordained to the ministry. On Saturday, April 10th, Bro. Lino Zamacona and I traveled to Modesto as guests of the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church to sit on an ordination council. Since I know the pastor of this church, I expected that the young man being ordained would have a fair grasp of the scriptures and would be able to defend his beliefs. Previously, we had been supplied with his doctrinal statement, which I thought was well written and fairly expressed the correct doctrinal interpretations of scripture.

One of the interesting aspects of an ordination council is the variety of preachers that attend, each coming with some interpretation that may not be agreeable to all present and especially not agreeable to the candidate for the ministry. This means the candidate will have to answer questions that come from a different theological bent and in so doing he must be so well versed in his own beliefs that he is able to refute a different interpretation. This is often the downfall of many ministerial candidates. An unprepared candidate and one that has simply memorized his own statement of beliefs cannot bluff his way through opposing arguments especially when the questions are unforeseen.

This is one purpose of the council. Does the candidate really have such a grasp of the scriptures that he can skillfully use them and substantiate his interpretations of scripture? In this case, the answer was a resounding yes! I have been distressed for quite some time about ministerial candidates that come out of independent Baptist schools with an inadequate grasp of necessary theological concepts. This candidate could very well articulate the importance of justification by faith alone and the correlation of the imputation of Adam’s sin to the human race and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to those who receive Christ by faith. Going beyond this, there was discussion about regeneration and why repentance and faith are fruits of regeneration and not the cause thereof. The scriptural proofs of this are not for novices.

These are only a very small part of the four and one half hours of examination. But perhaps the most telling part came in the very beginning. After this, we knew we were in for a treat. This young man started his doctrinal statement with a doxology in which he proclaimed his absolute surrender to the sovereignty of God. He expressed that salvation was not first intended for us but for God’s glory. This was especially refreshing since there is so much coming out of schools today that ignore this and give man primary consideration in salvation. A person’s viewpoint of the sovereignty of God will permeate his entire doctrinal outlook. Is regeneration monergistic or is it synergistic? Clearly this young man gave all glory to God alone.

So, this is my praise for this week. Thank God that He is still raising young men to preach the Doctrines of Grace and to lead a new generation of Christians in the truths of God’s Holy Word.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

This week I begin a series of three messages on the subject of worry. I can’t think of a more appropriate time to speak on this issue since there are so many in the congregation that have been affected by the economic downturn. It seems that each week we are getting new prayer requests for people that have lost jobs, and so the tension and anxiety levels are building until it appears there is nothing other to do than worry. The Lord knows how prone we are to this; it is a natural human trait. And here is the key—it is a natural trait, and what Christ came to do is to change our nature.

I don’t know how to put this any other way; I would like to be delicate, but our Lord is not delicate when He deals with this issue. Worry is sin because it grows from lack of faith. Worry impugns God’s character because it denies the veracity of God’s promises. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is gentle enough to use logical arguments to impress upon us the foolishness of worry, but He does not stop short of calling worrywarts people of little faith.

Worry is not trivial because it has such great power to alter your personal peace and to destroy the effectiveness of your testimony. Worry invites the troubles of tomorrow to invade your world today, and if you are too powerless to take care of the present how will you ever influence the future? Most people will enter into sin because they derive some momentary personal pleasure from it even though they know it will have disastrous consequences later. Perhaps in the stupidity of our hearts we can rationalize sin for momentary pleasure; but worry is a sin that defies all rationalization. There is no pleasure in it today and there is none tomorrow. The almost eager propensity to worry defies any logical explanation.

As we will see in these next three weeks, Christians have been released from anxiety by a Father who truly loved us enough to send His own Son to die for our sins. As the apostle Paul said, a Father who would do this would not withhold any lesser gift. If Christ died to redeem you, would He then turn and abandon you? We may be so foolish, but let us never accuse God of such irrationality.

It is Jesus’ intent in His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount to destroy the personal demons that hinder our service to God. People with little faith do very little. This is why Jesus so carefully illustrates the rationale behind releasing your troubles into the care of God. Never forget that natural traits are always trumped by the supernatural God.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”

(1 Corinthians 11:26)

This week we have the rare opportunity of celebrating Easter on the same Sunday that we observe the Lord’s Supper. The scriptures do not give an imperative command concerning the frequency of the Supper, so we are in no way obligated to partake of the Supper in conjunction with Easter. Neither do we consider the celebration of Easter an imperative since the scriptures do not command us to preserve one Sunday per year to be especially dedicated to remember the resurrection of Christ. Rather, every Sunday is a commemoration of the resurrection and was denoted so by the apostles as the specific day of the week to gather for corporate worship.

As a matter of solemn importance, the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ to be a memorial of His death on the cross. Each time we take the Supper we remember His body that was bruised and broken and His blood that was poured out for our redemption. The nature of the Lord’s Supper precludes the participation of anyone that has not received Christ as Lord and Saviour. Those who partake do so because of their love, allegiance, and obedience to the Saviour. Since the Supper was given to the church as an ordinance, only those who have received Christ by faith and have joined themselves to the local, visible New Testament Church may participate. We believe the communion is for those who are in close fellowship with the church which can only be judged by those who have committed themselves to the same local body. Therefore, the Berean Baptist Church invites only members to participate and expects that members of other churches will be present to observe the Supper with their own congregations. We believe church membership is vitally important and we therefore teach accordingly.

We realize this interpretation of scripture is not popular. However, this has been the practice of Baptist churches up until the last generation when the ordinances of the church began to be reinterpreted. We see no scriptural reason to change this doctrine which is biblical and comes from the original institution of the Supper and from the heritage of our Baptist forefathers. This evening, before the church observes the Supper, the message will concentrate on explaining these doctrinal considerations. If you are not a member of this church, we invite you to come for instruction.

It is the desire of our church to keep the commission of Christ. We preach the gospel for the salvation of lost sinners; we baptize for identification with Christ and for church membership; and we teach believers to observe the commandments of Christ. Paul said to redeemed, baptized church members, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”

Pastor V. Mark Smith