Month: April 2025

               With last week’s bulletin article, I gave you a brief introduction to systematic theology. There are a few reasons I am set on this course of thinking. One of these is there is not a day that goes by that I am not working in the middle of the doctrines of the faith as I study for sermons and enrich myself with personal reading and studying. In my younger years, I read the many needed secular books that were for rounding out my education and which were in many cases enjoyable. Others were, in my opinion, glorified trash (not the usual way I use the word) and not worth the time except that somebody would ask about them on a test. On rare occasions, I still pick up some of the classics to read, but most of the time I do not have time. Surrounding me at my desk are theology books of different sorts with several of them being systematic theologies authored by various giants of the faith. These books have almost all my attention and remain my favorite attractions.

               Many weeks can go by in which I routinely do what I do without thinking too much about how significant this knowledge is to my personal happiness and the ability to rise to the occasion when someone asks a question. There are other times when I realize it has been a long time since I thought about a particular doctrine, and I realize I must refresh myself and make sure I understand as thoroughly as I should. I had this situation a few weeks ago when a complicated question needed a complicated answer. I heard the remark that there are questions the Bible does not directly answer but need determination by correctly assembling theological parts. For this, you can score one point for systematic theology. Many times, answers spread across theological disciplines need stitching together, and then logical deduction. I promise if there was too much of what we need to know that needed discernment in this way, not too many of God’s people would know much at all. However, those who have knowledge to do this have minds systematically organized.

               This complicated question put me on this course, but the answer did not truly need unusual understanding to discern. Often the answers to questions are elusive because we have an answer we prefer to hear and then we seek ways to justify it. I exaggerate only slightly when I say some will hold the Bible upside down and sideways then read right to left muddling the picture and seeking what they want that is not there. Most of you know more systematic theology than you realize. A sanctified mind is the best means of approaching the proper organization of what you know. In other words, the Holy Spirit has provided the tools you need and the gifts to use them. A little more time in theological offerings will go a long way towards discernment that secular contributions will never help.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

For the past few weeks, I have used my nighttime devotions to review the doctrines of the faith in the format of systematic theology. Some of you may not understand these terms and are not clear what we mean by systematic. Do not feel too bad about not knowing this technical term because you are not alone. I remember speaking to a pastor at the Shepherd’s Conference a few years ago who was making his first trip to this type of conference. As we discussed the differences between the Shepherd’s Conference and the typical conferences he regularly attended, I mentioned that the Shepherd’s was far more beneficial to me because of their commitment to systematic theology fit my method of preaching. He looked at me strangely and said, “What is systematic theology?” If you do not know the meaning, you have plenty of company.

Before I answer this question, it is necessary to understand the meaning of theology. A simple definition requires breaking the word down into its two Greek roots which are theos meaning “God” and logos meaning “word.” Often you hear me say that Jesus Christ is the divine living logos, which means the divine living word. The written word of God is the Bible, and it is from the Bible that we derive systematic theology or the organization of the teachings of the Bible into similar themes. For example, sections of systematic theology would include such topics as the Trinity, the doctrine of Christ (Christology), the doctrine of man (Anthropology), the doctrine of the church (Ecclesiology) and one that for many people is the most popular, the doctrine of the end times (Eschatology). A systematic theology divides each of these into subtopics that describe the various aspects of the category. There are more than I have mentioned, but these help you understand that systematic theology is not complicated in concept but only involves gathering doctrinal topics from the Bible and organizing them into their shared areas of study.

Most Bible students will readily recognize the advantages of this type of study because in the process we learn the entirety of the Bible on its many subjects. We learn how these many different topics mix and complement each other and blend into the whole picture of God’s relationship with man and how He works in His entire creation. As we study the word of God this way, we learn the complete Christian faith and the complexity of it.

Although you might not recognize the term, members of this church most certainly recognize that systematic theology is our method. For years we have broken down the doctrines of the faith into preaching series and even in our verse-by-verse expositions of the Bible I separate the doctrines encountered as we go through each chapter and explain what these doctrines mean in the context of each narrative and their relationship to other parts of the word of God. When you hear me call out scriptures that take us back and forth across the pages of the Bible, you are hearing the unfolding of the doctrines of the faith.

One of the blessed advantages of studying the Bible this way is to reach a better understanding of our God. Many Christians are content to know they are on the way to heaven but are not too much concerned about the intricacies of God’s marvelous plan for getting them there. This is not my time to preach, but at least you should be pleased to know that from here to eternity God marked a path to follow and whether you understand every detail, He will not fail to accomplish the completion of the journey for your good and His glory.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Last week’s message brought us to the ending of Mark chapter 8 in which Jesus introduced the radical thought that He would soon die on the cross. If you will allow me to expand, I want to take us back there. As we examine verse 34, Jesus did not directly say His manner of death would be a cross, but rather that anyone who would follow Him must be willing to deny himself and take up his cross. Whether the disciples fully understood His abstract usage of cross was a sign of His literal manner of death is debatable. Although Jesus had spoken of the reality of His death, He had not yet defined the method by which He would die. If this way of speaking struck no chords of meaning during His life, they certainly did when the Holy Spirit came to teach them and cause them to recall all the words Jesus had spoken.

               The disciples learned that cross-bearing is a sign of true discipleship, for the one who rejects this call upon his life rejects the will of the Father to exalt Jesus Christ as Lord of all. Salvation means agreement with the Father and submission to the Saviour as the one who has ultimate control over the sinner’s life. There is no salvation unless there is commitment to Him as Lord. This statement is fundamentally basic, simple, and plain, yet much of the evangelical world rejects a gospel that says the sinner must receive Jesus as Lord of our lives. They erroneously claim we can receive Him as Saviour without the necessity of knowing Him as Lord.

               For the good faithful members of Berean, this thought is as foreign to us as hearing the Mormons preach that one day we will live on and rule our own planet. Yes, rejection of Christ as Lord is almost plain silliness if it not for the tragedy that many who have Baptist over their church doors believe and teach this. Thus, the plea to lost sinners goes out: “Will you receive Jesus as your Saviour?” However, the Bible never asks this question. The scriptures call Jesus Saviour ten times, while over seven hundred times they call Him Lord. Paul wrote in Romans, “Whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” and Jesus said, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The connection to Jesus as Lord is the connection of doing the will of the Father. In other words, receiving Him as Lord is indispensable to the salvation of our souls.

               Taking us back to Mark chapter 8, Jesus demanded for the sake of their eternal lives, the disciples must assume a life of dying to their old desires and walking in the newness of life in Him. There can be no shame or reservation in following Him else the Saviour whom we reject as Lord will reject us in the presence of His Father.

               Many commentators describe Mark as a fast-paced gospel. Mark hits his doctrinal nails squarely on the head and drives them home without repeated or glancing blows. When the doctrine is this concise and spoken with such clarity, there is little room for conjecture and argument. Who can read these last verses of Mark and conclude Jesus does not demand absolute full commitment to Him? Neither the disciples nor anyone else will accept the way of the cross unless they sell out their lives fully to Him.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

               Our Sunday morning subject last week and again today relate to the command of the Lord Christ to hoist up our cross, to take it up and follow Him. We learn in these messages that living for Christ is not an easy road to travel and will often leave us scarred, harried, and worn out from the struggles of mounting obstacles that are nearly impossible to overcome. When we think of the cross, the picture comes to mind of Christ carrying the cross that was built for Him by cruel men who beat Him unmercifully and then demanded in His painful, weakened condition to carry that same cross to the place where they would nail Him to it, raise it into the air, and drop it a hole with a bone jarring thud. It is utterly amazing that anyone seeing such a spectacle would think for a moment it is the life they would choose.

               This description of the cross is one needful for us to hear because none of us has seen such a horrible event. Our justice asks for no cruel and unusual punishment, while demanding a man on death row should receive the finest last meal and then have the sentence of death conducted as painlessly as possible. In fact, we shudder at the pain suffered in death sentences to the extent that extremely few criminals receive a sentence of death.

               People in the first century were well acquainted with death on the cross as Rome executed their sentences to strike fear into the hearts of those who dared resist Roman rule. The cross was not a piece of jewelry to wear around the neck but a frightening proposal for all who dared think of it. This view of the cross is what challenged the apostles daily as they spoke of Christ the Godman who did in fact suffer this cruel death. Imagine this vivid picture in the mind’s eye of a potential convert and then for God to task you with the responsibility of convincing them this is what they should choose for themselves. None of us would think we could do it—and we are right. My description, though, is not quite right. Yes, the apostles were responsible to speak the necessity of Christ’s death for the salvation of souls, but they did not have responsibility to convince anyone to believe. This is impossible and requires divine intervention by God’s Holy Spirit.

               The same is true of taking up our cross to follow Christ. We will not do it in our natural human strength. We cannot lift this heavy load any more than Christ could physically lift His cross in His excruciatingly painful weakened condition. To lift our cross requires the Holy Spirit to fill us and to deaden our natural senses until we can resist the pull of the world on us. The evil forces of darkness against us implore us to forget our commitment to Christ and to follow our natural desires. They never encourage us to forsake self and give all to Christ. To do this, we must always remember, “Greater is He that is you, than he that is in the world.”

               Following Christ faithfully without wavering from the path of righteousness is beyond difficult. To endure the difficulties, the place reached by treading this path must be exceedingly better and grander than the place we leave behind. I have no trouble with this part. We have our incentive to endure to the end because of God’s promise of the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and never fades away. We must pick up our painful cross, but then the Holy Word of God promises we will at last lay it down in in the glorious victory of the triumphant cross.

Pastor V. Mark Smith