Month: May 2011

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  (2 Timothy 2:15)

The letter of 2nd Timothy is one of three Pastoral Epistles written by Paul to instruct both Timothy and Titus in their duties of leading the church. The term “pastor” means “shepherd.” The chief duty of a pastor is to shepherd the flock of God. When Jesus was speaking to Peter after the resurrection, He asked, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?” Peter responded, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee,” to which Jesus rejoined, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15). This statement is equivalent to, “If you love me, shepherd my sheep.”

Our King James Version has rendered the first part of 2 Timothy 2:15 as “Study to show thyself approved.” This translation is good if we understand what “study” meant to the translators. Commonly, we take this to mean, study as in hitting the books to prepare for a final. The word actually means “Be diligent.” Paul is instructing Timothy to be diligent about teaching the people of God. He is to use all physical and spiritual means to search the scriptures and impart truth to God’s people. This diligence will cause him to receive God’s approbation.

Superimposing Jesus’ words to Peter upon this text, Paul instructs Timothy to shepherd the sheep with the utmost care and concern for their spiritual welfare. A pastor wears many hats and is charged with many responsibilities, but the most important of these is teaching the Bible. Our spiritual strength comes from God’s word. Even regeneration itself is a product of the Holy Spirit’s work using the scriptures to bring us to repentance and faith. Peter wrote: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). After salvation, the Bible continues to be the Christian’s strength for daily living. Later in 2 Timothy, Paul writes that scripture is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The result of knowing scripture is that we become mature in the faith and equipped to perform every good work imposed upon us by virtue of our salvation in Christ (2 Timothy 3:17).

With these facts in mind, the meaning of 2 Timothy 2:15 for the pastor, is unmistakably clarified. The pulpit ministry is the most important part of the church. We can do without programs if we must; we can do without socials if we must; we can do without any of the peripherals of ministry, but we cannot do without the Word. The pastor will stand before God and give an account of how faithfully and diligently he fed the people with the Word.

I am concerned that we are very clear about the doctrines of the Bible. We will not abandon the teaching of justification by faith alone; we will not abandon God’s demand for righteous, holy living. We will not abandon the call to complete repentance from sin, nor the wrath of God because of sin, or the punishment of eternal hell for unbelievers. Accompanying these doctrines, this church will do its best to teach the people to know Christ better. Faith is increased by knowledge and knowledge comes from being a diligent student of God’s word.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,  (10)  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:  (11)  Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.  (12)  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  (13)  Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:9-13)

Often when speaking to visitors in our services and to prospective members, I like to tell them that we are historical Baptists. In this day, it is common to find churches that march under no specific banner but are what we sometimes term “generic Christians.” This means they fit in well with just about any group, especially those that have abandoned the teaching of specific Bible doctrines that would define their theological bent.

As historical Baptists, we observe the time honored confessions of faith that our Baptist forefathers have stood for. However, we do not believe creeds and confessions are superior to the Bible, and we observe them only as they agree with true Biblical teachings. Three very important confessions of faith reflect the interpretation of scripture as held by Berean Baptist Church. These are the First London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1644, the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, and the New Hampshire Confession of Faith of 1833. While we are not in agreement with every minute detail, these confessions largely represent the teachings of our church.

If I were to pick one portion of scripture that contains many of our specific teachings, I would choose 2 Timothy 1:9-13. Here are found these important truths: (1) Salvation is not by human effort but only through the grace of God bestowed upon depraved, unworthy sinners (v 9). (2) The means of salvation and those who receive it were determined by God before the world began. This determination was not based upon the condition of any foreseen goodness in man including faith in the gospel, but was based solely upon the grace of God and the good pleasure of His will (v. 9). (3) Salvation is in Christ and Him alone (v. 10). (4) Those that God has chosen are effectually called by the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the preaching of the gospel (vv. 9-11). (4) All those chosen, effectually called, and justified, are forever preserved in the faith so they can never fall away (v. 12). (5) Believers are not only preserved in the faith, they must also persevere in the faith (v. 13). Their continuance in the faith is evidence of their true conversion.

All of these beliefs are expressed in the aforementioned historical confessions of faith. We affirm these as important truths of scripture, and to deny these is not only denial of these historical statements of faith, but more importantly is denial of the Holy Scriptures. Because of 2 Timothy 1:9-13 and many other confirmations of the same truths spoken elsewhere in the Bible, we cannot be “generic Christians.” Paul, the apostle, encouraged Timothy to hold on to the sound truths he was taught (v. 13). These words are recorded and preserved for us that we might also receive the same encouragement as Timothy.

We make no apologies for believing, preaching, and being identified with the same truths our Baptist forefathers taught. If Christ and the apostles taught these doctrines, we want them to be our doctrines too!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

We welcome everyone to our services today as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We remember this day as the most important day in the history of the world. Many great men have lived and died since God created the world, but no life and death has meant as much to people in every age and on every continent as that of Jesus. The birth of Jesus was a miraculous, significant event; His life was remarkable for its perfection and its miracles. His death is memorialized because His blood was the offering for sin—but His resurrection is the most important of all because it validates the eternal purpose of God. The resurrection is God’s stamp of approval on the work of Christ for the redemption of man.

The resurrection defines Christianity. It is the foundational underpinning of all the doctrines that comprise the Christian faith. Christianity is a wonderful religious system as it concerns morality and the inter-personal relationships of humans; but without the resurrection there is no more hope of eternal life than found in any other religious system. Life beyond the grave is a component of all the major religions because every person has the innate sense that this life is not the end. Coupled with this sense of eternity is the belief there is a God and in some way we are accountable to Him. Of all the world’s religions, Christianity is unique in that it addresses the corruption of the human nature and offers a way for humans to be just with God.

How to be sure of justification is a puzzling matter for religion. Ancients would go as far as offering human sacrifices to appease the wrath of their gods, and even then they were not sure it had actually been accomplished. Christianity is the only religion that offers proof that God is satisfied and peace with God is attainable. The offering of Christ as a sacrifice for sin is the method by which God is satisfied, and Christ’s subsequent resurrection from the dead is God’s statement that He accepted the offering. Paul said in Romans that Christ was “delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification” (4:25). John wrote that Christ is “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2). “Propitiation” is the appeasement of wrath.

This means the resurrection is the indispensible key to the knowledge that it is possible to have a relationship with God. For this reason, the resurrection was accompanied by “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3), including over five hundred eyewitness accounts (1 Cor. 15:5-8). It is possible to know with certainty that we can be just with God. Christianity is also unique in this way because it is a verifiable, objective faith. There are no unsubstantiated claims.

We are blessed that God has revealed His plan for our salvation in this way. Although “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1), the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, was seen. He was born, He did live, He did die, and He did arise from the grave. These are indisputable facts. Faith for us is not a leap into the dark. We celebrate today with confidence in the risen Lord!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

In the next few weeks in our Wednesday evening Bible study, we are spending some time dealing with the issue of assurance of salvation as found in the epistle of 1 John. This is a very important doctrine and one that is quite controversial among various “Christian” groups. The issue centers on one of the core doctrines that makes Baptists different from many others. We have always taught that once a person receives Christ as Saviour, he is eternally secure in his faith. Some have described this as the “once saved always saved” doctrine, which is a true description yet does not do justice to the whole story.

Most of the time the emphasis is placed on the last part “always saved” rather than the first part “once saved.” The epistle of 1 John deals with both parts but with strong emphasis on the former part of the statement rather than the latter. We must be sure that we are “once saved,” and John proposes various tests to prove we are “once saved.” When this part has been convincingly discovered, only then can we begin to seek assurance in the doctrine “always saved.”

The method John uses to approach this problem lies on two fronts. He argues against those that are convinced they are saved with no real evidence as proof, while at the same time using evidence as a means of assuring our hearts before God (3:19). Since lack of assurance is a common problem among Christians, it stands to reason there are barriers in the way of assurance. We discussed some of these on Wednesday night and I believe they are important enough to repeat here for those that did not attend.

We discussed three pitfalls in the way of assurance: God’s presence, God’s perfection, and God’s punishment. God’s presence is His watchful eye over every moment of our lives. In scripture, those that were aware of God’s presence were often traumatized by it. Every person should fear God as the omnipotent Creator who holds life and death in His hands. God’s perfection refers to His insistence of strict obedience to His commands. God’s law contains no basis for forgiveness. Every transgression has a just recompense of reward (Heb. 2:1-4). This leads to fear of God’s punishment. The scripture says “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

These are legitimate barriers that stand in the way of assurance. It is a foolish person that does not rightfully understand nor carefully consider each of these. How are these barriers overcome? Truthfully, they are hurdles far too high for anyone to surmount; and yet assurance of salvation is dependent upon crossing these barriers. If you are the least bit curious to understand the answer to these problems, I encourage you to come to the Wednesday evening Bible study. Complacency concerning these pitfalls is one marker that you are in the group of those convinced of salvation with no real evidence as proof.

Pastor V. Mark Smith