Author: Berean Baptist

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Recently, our country celebrated its two hundred thirty-fourth year of independence. I am sure that everyone in attendance today is proud of our country’s heritage and you are thankful that you have the freedom to come to church and worship the Lord according to your faith and conscience. Religious freedom is one of the hallmarks of our independence.

As we look back on the founding of our country, most are aware that our forefathers were “Christianized,” if not in fact Christian. Among our founders were Deists and Universalists and some were agnostics, none of which are truly Christian, and yet nearly to a man the founders understood the value of the Bible and the importance of moral values. The Ten Commandments were accepted as a moral code and the foundation of all laws especially of our Constitution.

But the question remains, “Are we a Christian nation?” Most Bible believing evangelicals immediately take up arms when anyone suggests otherwise. If you take a closer look at Revelation 11:15, the implication of scripture is that there are no Christian nations. Every nation is against God and is under the domain of Satan who is the god of this present world. The world is waiting for the time when it is redeemed from the curse of sin and then all nations will surrender to the power of Christ whether willingly or reluctantly.

We may like to call ourselves a Christian nation and perhaps we are still “Christianized” like our forefathers, but a visit to the halls of Congress and even to the office of the president himself will reveal that we are nothing like what the Bible terms as Christian. With an agenda that supports nearly everything immoral and indecent, how can anyone say we are Christian?

The United States is fundamentally in its heart like all nations of the world. We have set ourselves against God and His Christ and there is no changing unless the Holy Spirit of God convicts the heart and turns our people to faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. In the consummation of the ages if this country still exists, it will be forced to bow the knee to Christ. Then and only then will it become a kingdom of our Lord.

Meanwhile, you and I who are born again believers in Christ are already a part of His kingdom. We are in His spiritual kingdom which one day will become a physical kingdom where Christ rules in perfect righteousness. It is our work to call all people to repentance and faith in Christ so that they may become a part of His spiritual kingdom, for this is the only real Christian nation.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
(Romans 8:2)

Years ago in our church in Kentucky we used to sing a hymn that began this way:

“Free from the law, O happy condition, Jesus hath bled, and there is remission;
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all.”

I haven’t sung that song for years, but it comes to mind each time I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Is there a contradiction when Paul says we are free from the law and yet Jesus upholds the law? These are not different viewpoints, but complimentary viewpoints.

Christ speaks of the law in terms of its high demands in reflection of God’s righteous character. The law is against sin; whatever is opposite the law represents the commission of sin. John wrote, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Since sin is the transgression of law, sin brings the condemnation of God’s justice. There must be a penalty for breaking the law, and that penalty is death. Jesus Christ is God so He can do no less than to keep all of God’s laws perfectly. This He did through His sinless life.

Now we see where Paul’s viewpoint compliments Christ’s statement. Because we cannot keep the law perfectly, we are under God’s righteous condemnation. However, God in His grace has allowed the life and death of Christ to become our righteousness. Through our faith in Christ, His satisfaction of God’s law becomes our satisfaction. His death for our sins makes us free from the law’s exacting demand which is the penalty of death. Christ’s blood paid sin’s penalty. When we trust the sacrifice of Christ for the payment of our sins, Christ transfers His righteousness to us and we stand perfectly justified before God.

The old hymn also says, “Grace hath redeemed us once for all.” Christ’s sacrifice is all that is needed. We are eternally justified by faith so there is no possibility of falling and coming under the condemnation of God again. This is why Paul says we are free from the law of sin and death.

Have you been set free from sin’s penalty? Have you received God’s full and free pardon? You can be free today through faith in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Then you can sing, “Free from the law, O happy condition!”

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Immediately after Jesus spoke the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, He began to speak about the disciples’ obligation to the world. The Christian life was never intended to be one of isolation and solitude, but it is to be one that is an open book for the world to see. Most of you have heard the saying, “Too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good,” and this is the way some approach Christianity. They think so much about heaven that they forget about their duty to their fellow man. This has led some into monasticism which isolates the Christian from the world.

This is against the teaching of the scriptures because Christians are here to influence the world. We cannot withdraw into a shell and have no contact because in that way we have no influence. But we must also be aware that if our lives are an open book, they mustn’t read like a dirty novel. We must be pure and clean. We must influence in a godly way.

Jesus used two similitudes to express this. In the first, He addressed the passive side of our lives. He said we must be like salt. As salt preserves, so Christians retard corruption by living holy lives. But then He followed with the active side. We must be light. We must shine out, reach out, speak out the gospel and turn hearts to the Lord. The passive side is sometimes called “relationship evangelism” while the active side is termed “confrontational evangelism.” Both are needed if we are to make a difference in our world.

When Jesus was on earth, He said, “I am the light of the world.” He is the one that illuminates the darkness of the soul and turns spiritual blackness into the light of salvation. But He also said in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world.” He is the light source and we are light reflectors. Some use the relationship between the sun and the moon as a way to explain this. The moon is not a light source, but it shines because it reflects the sun’s rays.

How well do you reflect the Son of God? Have you pulled a curtain across your life so that no one sees Christ in you? Sin veils the majesty of Christ. Let your light shine through a life of good works. The best you can do for anyone is to give them the light and life of the gospel.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (Matthew 5:13)

Today in our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we transition from the Beatitudes to the practical application of living in the world as citizens of Christ’s heavenly kingdom. Each of us that have received Christ as Saviour has been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. A change has taken place in which we have been raised from our spiritual death in the corruption of sin to spiritual life in the holiness and righteousness of Christ.

This change affects our relationship with the world. According to the last beatitude, it invites persecution because there is a vivid contrast between our way of living and the world’s way. Jesus depicts this contrast in Matthew 5:13 through a similitude. He compares Christians to salt. Salt is a savory substance that changes the way food tastes. It improves the taste; it takes what is bland and unsavory and makes it palatable.

Similarly, Christians are to influence the world for good. We can help retard the corruption of the world by seasoning it with righteous living. One more sinner saved is one more sinner that no longer adds to the world’s corruption. At least this is the way it should be. But sadly, there are many Christians that lapse into sin and lose their godly influence. They live like those who are unregenerate and in so doing they lose their savor. They lose the contrast and thereby the gospel is hindered.

If salt is not salty, what good is it? Why use it if it makes no difference? These verses are intended to alert us of the need to maintain a good testimony. We are the only witnesses God has. He has chosen no other means to spread the gospel. If we lose our ability to be effective with it, who will win the lost? If we are not salt, who will be? Examine your life and determine the quality of your influence. Are you making the right kind of difference?

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)

In today’s message, we come to the last of Jesus’ eight dynamic statements called “The Beatitudes.” These sayings are the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount and they are descriptions of kingdom citizens. Christ’s kingdom is one of happiness and thus “beatitude” means happiness, for those who possess these qualities have found joy in the salvation of Christ.

No one comes by these qualities naturally. They are begun in the Holy Spirit as He moves upon the heart through the gospel of Christ. In each beatitude, whether poverty of spirit, meekness, mercy, purity of heart—each one requires a special work of God’s Spirit. The last beatitude is perhaps the most difficult because we can never imagine how happiness comes from pain and suffering.

And yet, nothing was modeled more convincingly as a means to happiness than Jesus’ suffering. Hebrews says that Jesus endured the shame of the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. Isaiah wrote, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11).

Christ’s joy was in the redemption of His people. It could not come without the suffering and death of the cross. It is impossible to imagine with an unregenerate heart how this could ever be. However, the apostles who lived it affirmed it. They counted it joy to suffer for Christ (James 1:2). There was pleasure in it (2 Corinthians 12:10). There was rejoicing and glory in it (Acts 5:41, 1 Peter 4:13-16).

This is the product of a heart made new like Christ and a mind renewed in the spirit of holiness. Those who have not been changed will not hold up in times of testing. If faith is not genuine, it will fail. Thus, enduring trials and persecutions is evidence of saving faith. Joy comes when we feel God’s strength surging through our veins.

The tendency of those who are not real in the faith is to shy away from declaring their faith in hostile situations. If you are able to stand strong, if you don’t waver, if you feel God’s power, rejoice! God has just claimed you as one of His own!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Our study today brings us to the Sermon on the Mount’s seventh beatitude. I have chosen the title “The Pacific Beatitude” for today’s message which may be somewhat confusing to many of you. The word pacific simply means “promoting peace.” It seems somewhat ironic that Ferdinand Magellan the great Portuguese explorer named the largest of the world’s oceans, “The Pacific Ocean,” meaning “the peaceful sea.” The mighty Pacific has claimed the lives of thousands, and many of the early explorers were never able to cross its expanse without losing their lives.

The world today can be compared to the Pacific Ocean because there are days when we can travel to the beaches near here and gaze out over the beautiful, serene, deep blue sea and whisper to each other, “How lovely, and how peaceful.” There is a quiet and a calm that can lull us into thinking that every day will be peaceful and calm. But those who sail the seas know far differently. There is no lasting peace on the sea. A peaceful day can very quickly turn into a raging storm.

Likewise, there is no lasting peace among the people of the earth. Politicians promise they can achieve it. Groups and committees are formed to promote it; nations join together in bodies like the League of Nations or the United Nations; but in the end, every peace that is forged breaks down into hatred and strife. It is simply not in the heart of man to be at peace because in all of us evil lurks. A storm is waiting to break out and given enough time, it always will. We can no more tame the human heart than we can stop the wind from making waves on the sea.

Why then does Jesus say, “Blessed are the peacemakers?” It seems He promises an unachievable blessing. Not really—for the one who is able to calm the seas is the one who can give a new heart. He can change our hearts through the gospel. Real peace will never come with the efforts of any Nobel peace prize winner or any human government. Only Christ can bring lasting peace. So, Jesus says “Blessed are the peacemakers.” These are those who herald the life changing, heart cleansing gospel of Christ. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Today as we look into the sixth beatitude, we come to the apex of these eight sayings of Christ. All of these sayings are critical, they go together, and are present in every true believer. This one, however, is the blessing from which all other blessings flow. We cannot possess any of the others inwardly or outwardly without purity of heart.

This beatitude speaks to the change in nature of the believer. We are all born in sin; we have a sinful nature that was passed on to us by our earthly father, Adam. This nature prevents any of the beatitudes from being a natural characteristic of humans. To realize poverty of spirit, to mourn because of it, to be meek and humbled by it, to seek to remedy it by pursuing righteousness, and to demonstrate with mercy that we have been changed from it, requires a new heart, a new nature that comes only from God above.

It is also a pure heart that enables believers to be peacemakers. We do this by giving others the only thing that will bring peace—the gospel of Christ. Strangely enough those with pure hearts are persecuted for it. It is precisely because our hearts are changed and we are different from the world that we are persecuted. Men need peace because their hearts are not pure, but they seek it in all the wrong ways for this very reason—they are not pure in heart. Do you see why this is the cardinal beatitude?

A pure heart is one that is as God, meaning it has been purified by the washing of regeneration by the Word of God. This is a heart that has been given the perfect righteousness of Christ through faith in Him. Essentially, we can say this is the person that has been justified by faith in Christ alone.

“They shall see God.” They see Him now in the Word. They realize His presence by faith, but they shall see Him face to face. As the hymn writer said, “And I shall see Him face to face and tell the story saved by grace!” If you have a pure heart, one cleansed by the blood of Christ, you shall see God!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

In my life, I have had the privilege of visiting nearly every part of the United States. I have visited every state but Alaska, which is on my agenda sometime before I end up on the wrong side of the grass. I love to travel and I find beauty in every type of landscape. I like mountains and I like the desert. I like oceans and I like forests. But perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of the country to me is the wheat fields of Kansas.

My family is originally from Kansas and as a child I loved to visit there. I especially liked the time of wheat harvest because when the winds blow across the plains, you can really see the “amber waves” as they ripple across acres of ripened grain. The plains states are known as America’s “breadbasket.” We produce food in abundance and we feed ourselves as well as many other places of the world.

While very few in this country actually go physically hungry, there are millions who are starving spiritually. Although spiritual hunger pervades our society, there are very few that are looking to satisfy this hunger. People die every day never having tasted the righteousness that will satisfy their souls. Jesus asked, “What are we profited if we gain the whole world and lose our souls?” He promises that those who seek to satisfy their spiritual hunger with His righteousness will receive not just some righteousness, but all righteousness. They will be filled and their souls will be saved.

But satisfying this hunger is not done by your personal efforts. You can seek it, but you cannot satisfy it. You cannot feed yourself; only Christ can feed you. Do you recognize “the hole in your soul” that needs to be filled? Jesus will fill it if you give up on self and seek Him alone. Perhaps America does not have the resources to feed all the physically hungry in the world, but God certainly has the resources to feed all the spiritually hungry. His word says, “He hath filled the hungry with good things.” If you seek Him, you too shall be filled.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

What does it mean to be “poor in spirit?” Most people have the idea that Jesus is speaking about taking a vow of poverty. They give this beatitude the sense that there is some holiness attached to forsaking all worldly goods and living a meager existence. A vow of poverty can actually be antithetical to Christian teaching especially if it robs us of industriousness or the ability to earn money to be used in the service of God. If Jesus were speaking of material poverty, there would never be any hope for sending out missionaries, supporting pastors, building church buildings, conducting Christian schools, or any benevolent works. The simple truth is the poor cannot feed the poor, missionaries cannot travel without money, pastors cannot physically live on prayers and good wishes, therefore if everyone tried to be blessed by being poor many of our Christian works would never be accomplished.

Holiness achieved by poverty would actually rob the richness of the true meaning of this beatitude. Jesus is speaking of spiritual bankruptcy. We are depraved, vile creatures with no personal worth that commends us to God. It is only when we recognize how destitute we truly are that we are driven to the cross of Christ. We have no hope but in Him. We cannot achieve holiness by giving up anything because we don’t have anything to offer God. “In my hand no price I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling!”

Pastor V. Mark Smith

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (Ephesians 5:23)

One of the most difficult principles for marriages today is the biblical command for a wife’s submission to her husband. Most husbands gladly seize upon it without understanding the tremendous responsibility it places upon them. Before a wife is willing to submit, she must have a husband who is willing to lead in a loving, Christ-like manner. Ephesians 5:22-33 has 2 ½ verses dedicated to submissive wives and 8 ½ verses dedicated to how the husband should lead his wife.

Among these verses is a very interesting statement made in verse 23. The husband is the head of the wife and he stands in relation to her as Christ does as the saviour of the body, His church. The wife submits to her husband because he is her saviour. Does that statement blow your mind? The husband is the saviour of his wife? How is that possible?

We have to look closely at the word “saviour” because this does not mean saviour as in the sense of personal salvation from sin. The word here means “preserver.” Paul uses “saviour” similarly in 1 Timothy 4:10: For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Some would love to argue universal atonement from this verse meaning that Christ’s atonement is intended for every person without exception. But the last phrase, specially of those that believe, would make no sense if the atonement is in view. Universal atonement logically infers universal salvation. Since there is no universal salvation, this verse must be interpreted in the sense that Christ shares benefits with believers and unbelievers. The only explanation for this is God’s common grace.

The Bible says God sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Whether you are saved or lost you receive benefits from God because He is the one who gives “life, and breath, and all things.” In 1 Timothy 4:10, “saviour” means that Christ is the preserver of all men in sustaining their physical life, but He is the saviour of those who believe in a much greater sense in that He gives them not only physical life but spiritual life.  The first sense is what the husband is for the wife. He is her protector and preserver. Because he is the one protecting, she should offer submission to him.

So, the idea of submission is a godly principle. It is a Christian principle, a creative principle, and a church principle. It is taught in scripture; it is to be obeyed; and a woman who seeks the filling of the Spirit will gladly put herself in her God given role as a submissive wife. Do it because it glorifies God; and when you do, it will be a blessing to you.

Pastor V. Mark Smith