Christ’s Love for His Church

Berean Baptist on December 2, 2019

Next month is our quarterly observance of the Lord’s Supper. Thinking of the Supper, I was prompted to write this article about the great salvation we have in Christ and the wonderful blessing of being a part of the Lord’s church. The observance of ordinances plays a critical role in the expression of our belief in Christ and the appreciation we have for what He has done for us.

Our study in the second and third chapters of Revelation concerning the seven churches of Asia should be a reminder of how important the church is to the Lord. His work in this world is done only through New Testament churches, as no other organization is ordained to preach His gospel. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15), which helps us understand why the Lord took care to dictate seven letters to the apostle John about the faithfulness of these churches and the problems that needed to be addressed.

It is impossible to ignore the significance of membership in the church. The essence of Christianity is the church because it is Christ’s body on earth. To explain how intimate Christ is with His church, I would begin with Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:25: “…Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.” This informs that the church is extraordinarily important to the Saviour. While the scriptures never say our salvation is dependent upon our membership in the church, we cannot miss the significance of this statement. The church is special to Christ and whatever is special to Him should be very special to His people. Many of the New Testament epistles were written specifically to churches. In fact, over 95% of the time the word church is used in the New Testament, it references the local assembly.

One of the best arguments in favor of membership is the administration of church ordinances. These are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached a stirring message in the power of the Holy Spirit which resulted in the conversion of three thousand people. These converts were immediately baptized and added to the church. From this scripture, Baptists have taught that water baptism is an act that signifies our faith in the gospel and our union with Christ in His church. Baptism was given to the church as this sign and is administered only under her authority. The commitment to the gospel demonstrated by baptism is expected of every believer. It is not an optional command because it is our public identification with Christ. Since the church is the only authority for baptism and it is the entrance into the church, membership is automatic upon reception of the ordinance.

Likewise, the Lord’s Supper is committed only to the church. It is a special privilege reserved for those who are members of each individual body of Christ. We certainly could not condone the reception of the Supper by those who have refused the command for baptism and thereby disobeyed the apostolic precedent for church membership. This would be in direct conflict with Paul’s command that each participant examine himself so as not to partake of the Supper unworthily. Refusing obedience to Christ’s command renders a Christian unworthy to partake of the symbol of His suffering. In New Testament times, an unbaptized, unchurched believer was unheard of. Paul also stated the church is to observe the Supper until Christ returns (1 Cor. 11:26). A Christian that ignores church membership is missing the great privilege of honoring Christ’s death as a sacrifice for our sins.      

If you are a Christian and you are faithfully attending church, please carefully consider your obedience to Christ in commitment to a good Bible believing church. Next week, we will observe His ordinance which shows His body and blood given in sacrifice for our forgiveness. Christ loves the church and so should you!

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Supremacy of God’s Word

Berean Baptist on January 1, 2018

Psalm 119

 

The 119th Psalm which is rightly called “The Ode to the Word.” Here are 176 verses of the psalmist’s praise for the Holy Scriptures which are the source of life for the Christian. Peter said we are born again by the Word of God, which shows the indispensable nature of God’s perfect revelation. The Holy Spirit uses the truth to speak to the heart and with the Word He regenerates to make us new creatures in Christ.

Upon conversion, the Word does not stop its powerful influences. It also sanctifies us (John 17:17) which means it perfects us in the holiness of God. Throughout our Christian lives, we can never depart from its usefulness for without it we have no means to discover how we can be pleasing to God. The Word declares Christ who is the Son of God, and is the model of God’s expectation for every son of God. It is the revelation of precepts by which we are given understanding of all false ways (119:104).

All roads to successful, victorious Christian living run through the scriptures. There we find all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The psalmist makes this same point repeatedly. Each section begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet which is God’s way of showing us His word is A-Z of divine revelation. Everything that can be said in English must be said with 26 letters from A-Z. Our Bible is God’s complete revelation so that everything God has to say to the human race is contained in these 66 books we call the canon of scripture. There are no other revelations that will be given. There is no outside source that will discover to us anything more God wants us to know. Paul wrote that scripture is able to furnish unto all good works, so there is no area that needs further elucidation to increase our understanding of Him and make the servant of God complete (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible’s internal claim holds great significance. It at once dismisses the doctrines of cults that are claimed authoritative by their extraneous revelations. When groups like the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses knock on your door with a claim they have another testament, another communication from God, you can dismiss them at once without further investigation. They are deemed deceivers by this criterion alone. Likewise, those who seem to be more orthodox can be turned away. Pentecostals must be rejected because they seek more revelation through tongues, dreams, and visions. Roman Catholicism must be rejected because the traditions of their church are claimed to be as authoritative as scripture. One thing is abundantly clear about this psalm—the psalmist has no patience for anything considered more valuable than scripture. He finds in it all he needs.

As I write this article, there is a knock at my door. The Jehovah Witnesses are peddling their literature. To them I say verse 29: “Remove from me the way of lying.” I say to them verse 95: “The wicked have waited for me to destroy me.” I say to them verse 115: “Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.” And finally I say verses 118 and 119: “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.”

I advise you to love the Holy Bible as the psalmist loved it. Feast on it every day. It has the power to change you and make you righteous. Let nothing come between you and the Word. To do so is to let something come between you and God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

God’s Providence in a Child’s Conversion

Berean Baptist on August 13, 2017

John Flavel has long been one of my favorite Puritan authors and his masterpiece on God’s providence is one of the first of his books I read. Providence is a very important concept in scripture as it describes how God works all things after the counsel of will and knows how each detail of His creation works together for the blessings of His children. In other words, providence comprehends more than the predestination of God’s people to salvation. It considers His total control of all His creatures to bring about His sovereign purposes. Among its many properties is the confirmation that all things consist by the power of God and that no creature is self-sustaining.

In chapter 3 of Flavel’s book, he deals with God’s providence in salvation. Flavel seems enraptured as he expounds on the way God orders all the occasions that bring His people to belief in Him. There are no accidents in our conversion. Each step is carefully planned by God. Of all the good God does for us, nothing compares to His meticulous care to bring us to salvation.

The point of this chapter is the gratitude and the testimony of a Christian because of what Christ has done. And yet Flavel points out that all testimonies are not equal. All experiences of conversion are not the same. Every Christian does not tell the same story or give as much detail in relating what happened in their lives at the time God saved them.

This interested me because I have experienced exactly what Flavel describes. I was saved when I was very young. My father was a Baptist preacher and I grew up in a Christian home. The first place I was taken as a child was to church. My name appeared on the cradle roll of South Broadway Baptist Church when I was just a few days old. There has never been I time when I have not been in church, and at the age of seven I trusted Christ as Saviour. Believe me, that was a long time ago.

If you ask me to provide the details of my conversion, to tell you the sermon, the songs, to relate what happened afterwards, to tell you how I felt—I cannot. I do remember the conviction, but that is all. Because I can’t remember the details, does it mean I am not saved? Surprisingly, I have heard preachers say if you don’t know the day, the hour, and the minute you trusted Christ, then you aren’t really saved.

Your experience of coming to Christ may be different. I have heard many testimonies of people who were in deep sin when they were saved. Some were in drugs, alcohol, adultery, pornography—and each has a very clear recollection of the day God brought them out of those horrible lives of sin. And there lies the difference. I was young and had very little life experiences. I needed salvation as much as anyone, but I don’t have that riveting, interesting, enthralling story that causes people to shout, Praise God! I don’t believe anyone ever said ooh and ah at my testimony.

Here is the point. An exciting testimony is no more proof a person is saved than a dull, vague, boring memory of a child who came to know Christ. In fact, you should pray to God every day that your children end up with a boring story of conversion rather than a spectacular turnaround. When a child is saved, it is the most exciting salvation of all.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith