The Significance of Baptism
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 We hear religious people express their love and gratitude for our Savior Jesus Christ all the time.  And He certainly deserves those affections.  It does our hearts good to know there are people in this world that have that sort of affection for the "author of eternal salvation." 

 When Jesus was on this earth, preaching and teaching he found numerous occasions to be stern with the religious leaders of the day.  They had twisted scriptures, they had formed their own doctrines, they had lived how they pleased and still had the gall, the arrogance, to call Jehovah their God.  In the book of Hosea it tells us in 4:6 that God's "people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  Because they have rejected knowledge --- because they have --- forgotten the law . . . of God. In Matt 23 we see verse after verse condemning the practices of the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus expresses woe upon woe as he enumerates their actions.  Their thinking, their actions were skewed and unfortunately their souls were going to suffer.

We find today that many have their own views, their own doctrines they practice, in order to worship God. And all want to claim Jehovah as their God. People express their heartfelt feeling concerning their faith and go on in life expecting to spend eternity with God. Those scribes and Pharisees felt the same way. They were condemned for doing their will and not God's. We, today, must not fall into that same trap.  If we do our will, or the will of other men, we will stand guilty of rejecting the word of God. 2 John 9 says, Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. From that passage alone we can see the importance of serving God, not how we want to, but how He wants us too. One doctrine of our Lord, water baptism, has been so twisted and skewed as not to have the significance He intended it to have.

Much has been said about baptism, much of it far from truth.  But as always we want to turn to the word of God for our answer.  We do not want to be condemned for lack of knowledge. Notice what Matt 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Before we continue, in light of these verses, we must ask a question is it or is it not a doctrine of Christ to be baptized to become a disciple, a follower, a Christian?

If you answer no, then you might as well  close your Bible right now and put it away.  If, however, you understand that in order to be in a covenant relationship with God you must abide in the doctrine of Christ and not man, then please,…let us continue our study.

Faith in Jesus as the Son of God:

Baptism is for those who have faith in Jesus as the Son of God.  For a person to be baptized in a scriptural manner, he must first indicate that he does believe in Christ as God's Son. Baptism is not an act that may be engaged in by those who do not believe.  It would be of no benefit to an unbeliever. What does it mean to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?  Note John 8:24, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” In this verse, the word HE is italicized, inserted for smoother reading.  Jesus actually said, "for if you do not believe that I am,” meaning God in the flesh, One who always was.

To believe carries with it your knowledge of the Christ as God, born of a virgin, not procreated by man, but the creator of all.  How can a child, or an untaught adult, comprehend the significance of that? When Philip was instructed to join himself to the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, he preached Jesus to him from Isa 53.  Beginning at Acts 8:35-37, we read, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Here is an expression of this man's faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God that enabled Philip to baptize him. When was it that Philip baptized him, it was only after the eunuch expresses his confidence in the Lord, his faith in Him as the Son of God. We plan to continue our study next week.

Carlos Aguilar

Home and Family:

Your Parents Can’t Make You Go To Heaven

One of the great miseries of being a child is being made to do things that a child does not want to do. Eating vegetables, brushing teeth, taking a bath, cleaning one's room, going to Aunt June's, going to school, and attending worship and Bible study--these all rate high on the list of things that many children and teens do not like to do at some time or another.

As children get a little older, they often can see the wisdom of brushing their teeth or taking a bath, and many like going to school, even if it is not because they see the value of a good education. But mom and dad still make them attend church, even after they've complained sufficiently to be exempted from visiting Aunt June. Why?

Some young people feel as though they have finally broken the "stranglehold" parents exercise over children, when they have removed themselves from parental power to make them "go to church." A number of older people have told me that the reason they do not attend church in their adult years is because their parents made them go when they were children. Most of us know that that really is not the reason. The real reason is usually twofold. One, the young person was not made to see the need for attending worship or Bible study as he/she was growing up, or the child simply didn't learn the lessons taught. Two, the young person has grown and has made a decision that he/she doesn't need God in his/her life. His or her interests are simply not served by religion. In the growing process, the wisdom of eating properly, bathing, and brushing teeth made sense, but somehow God was never made as real or as sensible as those other things? Why?

Well, growing up is more than just getting older and bigger. There is a maturing of the mind (a true sense of seeking for answers to the questions of "Where did I come from? Why am I here? and What happens to me when I die?") When we really grow up, there is a soberness about life's purpose and death's destiny with those who are truly mature. Young people, it's not easy to force yourselves to think about these things, but it is important that you do so!

As you develop and grow older, try to grow in wisdom, too. When you become a young adult, your parents cannot make you do many things they used to do. You may be happy about that, but your parents did what they thought was best for you Heb 12:9-11. There is one final thing that your parents cannot make you do! They cannot make you go to heaven. As much as they would like to see you there, they cannot make you go! That is a decision that you get to make. You don't have to go, if you do not want to go. Rom 14:12 and 2 Cor 5:10 say that "each one of us will give an account of himself or herself." Growing up is great! The adult life is a continuing education. There are tremendous and eternal consequences attached to the decisions you make as young adults! Use your freedom to make the right choices for yourselves. 

~by Ted J. Clarke 

We DARE YOU TO MISUNDERSTAND THIS ARTICLE

Let us suppose that an evangelist comes to our community to conduct a religious meeting and proceeds as follows: At the first service he declares that salvation is by faith only, but at the next one he contends that it is by faith exercised in obedience to the gospel rather than by faith alone.

At the third service he declares that either sprinkling, pouring, or immersion is baptism. At the fourth service he plainly shows that immersion only is scriptural baptism. At the fifth service he tells the people that they ought to baptize their babies, but at the sixth he says that penitent believers are the only scriptural subjects for baptism.

At the seventh service he preaches "once saved, always saved"; but at the eighth he tells the people that they can be lost through unbelief after they have been saved. At the ninth he says that it is all right to have a human creed, but at the tenth he affirms that we should take the Bible as our only guide in religion.

NOW, No thoughtful person would continue to listen to ONE preacher like that, but the majority of people are perfectly willing for TEN preachers to preach these conflicting ideas.

They agree that if ONE man should preach that way he would contradict himself and be inconsistent; but what kind of a God do they suppose we have, IF HE ENDORSES ALL THESE CONFLICTING DOCTRINES AND HAS SENT OUT PREACHERS TO PREACH THEM? HE HASN'T. It does make a DIFFERENCE what we believe and preach!!!

~By Jim Sasser

Abs:nt::ism

Th: k:yboard on my comput:r is an old mod:l. But it works quit: w:ll - :xc:pt for on: k:y. I hav: wish:d many tim:s that it work:d p:rf:ctly. It is tru: that th:r: ar: forty-fiv: oth:r k:ys that function w:ll :nough. But just on: k:y not working prop:rly mak:s a big diff:r:nc:.

Som:tim:s it s::ms to m: that that is a big probl:m with th: church today. Too many f::l that th:y ar: unimportant and not n:c:ssary to th: work. This is sorta lik: my k:yboard - not all of th: diff:r:nt and uniqu: p:opl:, ar: functioning prop:rly.

W: may say to ours:lv:s, "W:ll, I am only on: p:rson. My p:rformanc: won't mak: or br:ak th: church." But it do:s mak: a diff:r:nc:, b:caus: for th: church to b: :ff:ctiv:, it n::ds th: att:ndanc: and prop:r functioning of :v:ry m:mb:r.

So th: n::t tim: you think that you ar: only on: p:rson and that your :fforts ar: not n::d:d, r:m:mb:r my k:yboard and say to yours:lf: I am a k:y p:rson in th: church and I am n::d:d at all tim:s for it to function as th: Lord plann:d.

(adapt:d from an old articl: of unknown sourc:)

DID YOU EVER SEE?

A "Christian" wave his arms and yell at a ball game then go to sleep while the gospel is being preached on the Lord's day?

A "Christian" who gets all steamed up about civic duties and such like, but always occupies the back seat at the house of the Lord and never offers to take a hand in anything religious?

A "Christian" who would not dare miss work because of rain, a slight headache, company or an ailing wife, but who misses the services of the church at the slightest cause?

A "Christian" who would talk about the value of prayer and yet never find time to pray himself?

A "Christian" who says all men need the Word of God but never reads the Word himself and will not accept it when it disagrees with him?

A "Christian" who talks of going to heaven and acts at times as if he might like to go there, but does very little toward planning to go there?

A "Christian" who would rather hear something bad about another person, rather than something good, and who would rather say something bad than good about a person?

A "Christian" who would criticize others for the things he does himself? (Do as I say and not as I do).

~ by Jim Sasser

Sentence Sermons

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word darkness on the walls of his cell."

--C. S. Lewis