Baptist

Rejoice, Because Your Names are Written

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Luke 10:17-20

1.  The seventy disciples had returned from their missionary journey;

2.  They were rejoicing over the miracles which had transpired through their ministry;

3.  Jesus reminds them that the power and authority was from Him;

4.  Jesus also reminds them that there is a greater thing than miracles and power.

I.  SATAN NO LONGER HAS POWER AND/OR AUTHORITY OVER THE BELIEVER’S LIFE – JESUS WITNESSED THE FALL OF THE DEVIL (v. 18; Isaiah 14:12-14;  Ezekiel 28:12-15).

II.  THE BELIEVER HAS POWER TO TREAD ON THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONS (v. 19a; Isaiah 59:60).

III.  NOTHING CAN HARM THE FAITHFUL BELIEVER, FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST (v. 19b;  Isaiah 54:17).

IV.  DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE SENSATIONAL,MIRACULOUS WORKS OF GOD; RATHER REJOICE THAT YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN – BY GOD (v. 20; Ephesians 6:10-12).

i.  The power of Satan was diminished by the power of the cross of Jesus Christ; by the resurrection the head of the serpent was crushed.

ii.  As heirs of God, and joint heirs of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17), the enemy is under the feet of Christ.

iii.  We must trust the strength and power of our Lord to protect, and keep us during the trials of life.

iv.  We cannot let emotional sensationalism, signs and miracles detract us from what is truly important, and that is that “Your names are written in heaven”.

v.  Be sure, by placing your faith and trust in the finished work of Christ today.

L. R. Scarborough and Non-Baptist Baptism

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The following is a quote from L. R. Scarborough.  I received it from the Landmark Southern Baptist Group and Ben Stratton whom I thank for sending this.

2. Another way by which the fountains of truth and life of our churches can be poisoned is by doing violence to the ordinances of Jesus Christ, in depreciating their value and emasculating their testimony. This is done when a Baptist church receives baptism administered at the hands of some other organization than a Baptist church. If a Baptist preacher admits into the fellowship of his church Christians who have received baptism at the hands of pedobaptists, without requiring them to be baptized by a Baptist church, he violates the truth of God and is guilty of a heresy in ecclesiology which will eventually ruin the testimony of the ordinances and vitiate the witness of Christ’s churches. Such practice eats at the very heart of the life of Christ’s churches. Such a practice will not only injure the life of the church practicing it, but will eventually poison the fountains of truth in all of our churches

A pastor of one of the leading churches of Texas told me recently of a member from another Baptist church in Texas seeking admittance on a letter from this church, but when questioned as to her baptism she reported that she came to this other church on the baptism from a certain Campbellite church and had not been required to be baptized by this Baptist church. This pastor tells me that he promptly refused to admit this woman into the fellowship of his church. I think he did right.

There lies at this point a great danger and we should guard the fountains of truth from the poison that will come by the emasculation of the ordinances of Jesus Christ.  L. R. Scarborough
(L.R. Scarborough [1870-1845] was president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1914-1942 and president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1938-1939.  You will notice that Scarborough believed that baptism was only valid when it was administered at the hands of a Baptist church.  The quote is from his article “Poisoning the Fountains of Truth” which was published in the January 1922 Southwestern Journal of Theology.  I am also glad to hear that this article was republished in the most recent Southwestern Journal of Theology, “Baptists and Unity.”  A special thanks to the good folks at http://sbctoday. com for making us aware of this quote.)
It is of the utmost importance in the day which we live to continue to maintain doctrinal integrity in our preaching, polity and ecclesiology
-posted by Tim A. Blankenship

The King is Coming

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The title of this post was the theme of our Barry County Southern Baptist Associational Annual meeting.  We had four sessions beginning Monday evening with the preaching of the Annual sermon by Hubert Conway, interim Pastor of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in the Northeast part of our Association. 

The meeting was held at the Arnhart Baptist Church, and was well attended.  The songs, the singing, the sermons were all great, encourageing, and uplifting as well as challenging.  Every message was a reminder of the coming of our Lord.

Last night Dr. Stan Norman from SBU in Bolivar spoke on the final judgment of the Great White Throne, and challenged us to have the heart of Paul concerning our witness and testimony.  Paul wrote in Romans, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”  Romans 9:1-3 (KJV).  To wish ourselves accursed for the sake of another soul.  That is challenging.

Would we, are we as Baptist, and as Christians willing to be willing to endure the fires and torment of hell, so that one soul or many souls might be saved?  Would I, if I could, give up my salvation for a lost soul to enter heaven for eternity?  I am still thinking about that one.

If we had the heart of Paul and of Jesus Christ there would be a great influx of souls coming to faith in Christ, as the Spirit of God would be moving in great power and glory to Christ.  Let’s think hard and pray long and diligently concerning our hearts and the souls of the lost in our communities, and around the world.

-Tim A. Blankenship