The Biblical Baptist Identity
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. …he that sent me to baptize with water.” John 1:6,33
Baptist in the New Testament is the identity God gave to the agent by which He sent the New Testament (covenant) seal = baptism. “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea” Matthew 3:1. John was identified as a Baptist when he came preaching, not after he had baptized for a while.
John came as Christ’s forerunner, “…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” Luke 1:17. From this prepared people, Jesus called and ordained His apostles, and set them first in the church that He built during His earthly ministry. Peter and the apostles, and the 120 first church members, had only the baptism of John, and they only administered the same baptism they had received. Jesus Christ, who went to John to be baptized of this heaven sent, New Testament Baptist baptism, declared it necessary to do so in order to fulfill all righteousness, Matthew 3:15. Before His ascension, Christ made the New Testament Church He had built the agent of this Baptist baptism, Matthew 28:19-20. All who rejected the baptism of John were declared to have rejected the counsel of God against themselves, Luke 7:30. Thus, there is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism – Ephesians 4:5.
There is no saving grace in the Baptist identity. But it is embraced due to following the operation of God in identifying the baptism of the New Testament, sent from heaven, which Christ set in His church. To accept the one baptism which God sent from heaven, gives us every reason to accept the God given identity of the agent of that baptism, which is no longer John, but now the New Testament Baptist Church.
The rejection of Baptist as being the identity of God’s agent of New Testament baptism, is first due to the rejection of the baptism itself. Those who reject the Baptist identity for the agent of New Testament baptism, first reject the truth that the baptism God sent from heaven by John, is really New Testament baptism. They throw things out like, “Well, John’s baptism belonged to the Old Testament, etc.” NOT SO, because all that belonged to the Old Testament was given to Moses on the mount! “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” Matthew 11:13
SHARINGWhy A Christian Should Be Encouraged In Days Of Difficulty
BECAUSE he has a Father in Heaven who loves him, cares for him, and has blessed him with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (John 16:27; Luke 12:22-28; Ephesians 1:3)
BECAUSE he has a Great High Priest in Heaven to sympathize with him, succor and support him, and to conduct him into the enjoyment of heavenly things (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:14-16; 8:1-6)
BECAUSE he has a Great and Good Shepherd to lead him, care for him, protect him, and sustain him until the time when the Lord takes him Home to Glory (Psalm 23; Hebrews 13:20-21)
BECAUSE He has an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who pleads his cause and always prevails (1 John 1:8-10; 2:1)
BECAUSE he has a Divine Counsellor to go to for counsel or advice at all times who will give him understanding and lead him in the right path (Isaiah 9:6; Proverbs 3:5-6)
BECAUSE he has an Abiding Comforter (the Holy Spirit) to guide him in his understanding of the Word, to teach him spiritual truth and to take of the things of Christ and show them unto him (John 14:16-17; 16:13-14)
BECAUSE he has a Throne of Grace to go to at all times, for grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 5:14-15; Philippians 4:6-7)
BECAUSE he has the Holy Scriptures to search and study which testify of the sufferings of Christ and the glory to follow; they also empower and transform him into Christ’s likeness (1 Peter 1:6-11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:4-8)
BECAUSE angels minister unto him in response to his Heavenly Father’s command, being an heir of salvation (Hebrews 1:14; Psalm 103:17-21)
BECAUSE he is an heir to an incorruptible inheritance, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven, and is kept by the power of God until he comes into possession (1 Peter 1:3-5)
BECAUSE he has before him the Blessed Hope of the Lord’s imminent return to catch away His saints to comfort him in times of difficulty (Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:9-11)
SHARINGGeorge Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789. (signed) G. Washington. From Spark’s Washington, Vol. XII, p. 119.
SHARINGCorrect Thy Child
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
The fact is clearly set forth that what we allow or disallow in our children, has long term effects upon their lives. But an even greater reality is the endurance of truth. The truth will withstand all attacks against it. No matter what a person does, thinks, or where they go, the truth will endure forever. Even if truth is denied with the mouth or one’s actions, it still remains the truth indelible in the heart.
Combine the power of truth with the mold of training, and this will become a force that will accompany the individual their whole lifetime. Reality teaches us that God’s creative power, His authority over His creatures and His training of them, did not make them incapable of wrong doing. By choice, the exercise of their own will, they followed Satan’s devices in sinning against God. We must not puff ourselves up into thinking we can do more for or with our children, than God could do with Adam and Eve. But we must also realize that through proper training, we are imparting unto our children that which will bear with them forever, being an inseparable part of their being.
Wherever you see people being saved, morality and uprightness being exhibited, it is due to the power of truth. Wherever you see proper conduct and conversation in action, it is the fruits of training. “Permissiveness” is the devil’s way, “correction” is the way of God. The devil does not want children to be corrected, nor trained, nor taught the Word of God. Here is what God says:
—“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” Proverbs 29:17
—“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” Proverbs 22:15
—“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” Proverbs 23:13-14
I remember when I went to school, there were no shootings or killings. School was a safe place. Teachers were in control. Misconduct was quickly extinguished. What was different between then and now? The school was an institution of training, discipline, correction, and moral principles, where God’s Word and prayer were revered. You were made to know right from wrong, if you already didn’t know it. AND you knew you could not get by with rebellion and misconduct, because the principal’s rod of correction (and then the parents’, when they would find out about it) would make it unprofitable. You also feared the shame and disgrace of being a wrongdoer. THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
SHARINGWhat To Look For In A Church
What should we look for in a church, is the right question. And, being the right question, it deserves a right answer. To go to the “court of public opinion”, will produce such a variety of opinions, so as to make a right answer obscure. But to get the right answer, we must not look to man, but rather seek unto God.
The rightness of a church is not found in that which man approves of, but in that which God is the author of. In almost every case, what pleases men will be the opposite of that which is right with God. For example, Jesus Christ is the Founder, Builder, and Head of the New Testament Church, yet the Jesus Christ of the Bible…“He is despised and rejected of men.” Isaiah 53:3
The concern of a New Testament Church is not with pleasing man, but in being approved of by God: “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
The ministry of the New Testament Church is not to entice people through attractions, but is to preach the Word: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The mainstay of the New Testament Church is sound doctrine, not self-gratification: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” SO, “Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:3,2
The beauty of a New Testament Church is seen in her spiritual and moral purity, according to the standards of God’s Word: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27
“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Luke 6:26
SHARING