Preach the Word. Seeing Jesus. Considering Faithfulness. Whenever the Gospel Is Preached

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1 Preac te Word By Jason Sults of Wasington, Illinois And tat from a cild tou ast known te oly scriptures, wic are able to make tee wise unto salvation troug fait wic is in Crist Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in rigteousness: Tat te man of God may be perfect, trougly furnised unto all good works. I carge tee terefore before God, and te Lord Jesus Crist, wo sall judge te quick and te dead at is appearing and is kingdom; Preac te word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exort wit all longsuffering (Continued on page 218) Wenever te Gospel Is Preaced By Curtis Pug of Poteau, Oklaoma God s man Paul faced muc opposition from te Jews. Some of tem mocked im by repeating wat e preaced in an insulting manner. Te faitful apostle ad tis to say by te oly Gost: Some indeed preac Crist even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: Te one preac Crist of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But te oter of love, knowing tat I am set for te defence of te gospel. Wat ten? notwitstanding, every way, weter in pretence, or in trut, Crist is preaced; and I terein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice (Pil. 1:15-18). Paul rejoiced wenever and owever te (Continued on page 214) By Timoty J. ille of Asland, Illinois Jon 12:20-50 And tere were certain Greeks saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Tese tings said Esaias, wen e saw is glory, and spake of im. And e tat seet me seet im tat sent me (Jon 12:20, 21, 41, 45). Te last official passover feast of te Jews was about to take place, and God s Passover Lamb was about to be sacrificed and By Donnie Burford of Irvine, Kentucky Seeing Jesus te blood tat delivers from deat sed for te remission of te sins of God s elect (Jon 12:1). Tere were present at te feast Greeks, or Gentiles, non-jews, wo were converts to te Jewis fait. Tey came up to worsip at te feast. Watsoever manner of proselytes to te Jewis religion tat tey (Continued on page 221) Considering Faitfulness Not forsaking te assembling of ourselves togeter (eb. 10:25). It is sure, tat one of te greatest concerns in te ministry today for te man of God and even te faitful curc member is, Wy are so many wo profess Crist as teir Lord and Savior so easily moved to forsake te assembling of temselves togeter wen teir curc meets? My friend tis is no small matter, as so many today ave come to believe. In fact it is an indicator of a far more serious and spiritual problem tat many today wo profess to love te Lord, and tink tey are being faitful to im, seemingly are infected wit. Let it be stated as clearly as possible: (Continued on page 223) If you cannot find water in te sea, were will you look? If God does not elp you, wo can? Wy go to te streams wen te ocean of mercy is before you? God is our refuge and strengt, a very present elp in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

2 Page 214 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 October 5, 2014 Volume XXXIV, Number 10 Wole Number 423 Editor: Cristoper Cockrell Staff: Seron Cockrell, Marsa Kiser, Virginia Cockrell TE BEREA BAPTIST BANNER (UPS ) is publised montly for $6.00 per year by te autority of te Berea Baptist Curc, 3881 igway 363, Mantacie, Mississippi Periodical Publication postage paid at Mantacie, Mississippi. POSTMASTER: Send address canges to TE BEREA BAPTIST BANNER, P. O. Box 39, Mantacie, Mississippi PUBLICATION POLICIES: All matter for publication sould be sent to te editor. All manuscripts are to be typed and double spaced. All suc material becomes te property of BBB and will not be returned unless requested by te writer. We reserve te rigt to edit and condense all materials sent to us for publication. Te publication of an article does not necessarily mean te editor is in complete agreement wit te writer, nor does it mean e endorses all tis person may ave written on oter subjects. COPYING PRIVILEGES: Unless oterwise stated any article publised in tis paper may be copied by oter publications, provided tey give proper credit line stating tat suc was copied from tis publication, and te date of publication; provided tat suc materials are not publised for profit. If we are not on an excange list wit te publication copying, it is requested tat a copy of te issue containing te article be sent to our address. All copyrigted materials may not be copied witout written consent. PUBLISED MONTLY wit paid circulation in most states in te U.S.A. and some foreign countries. SUBSCRIPTION RATES - U.S. One year...$6.00 Two years...$10.00 Five years...$24.00 SUBSCRIPTION RATES - FOREIGN One Year $45 Tune in to te Berea Baptist Broadcast STATION TIME DIAL WATTS WCNA, Myrtle, MS...Sunday 9:00-9:30 a.m ,000 FM WCTT, Corbin, KY...Sunday 9:00-9:30 a.m ,000 AM WFTA, Tupelo, MS...Sunday 9:00-9:30 a.m ,000 FM KARI, Blaine, WA...Saturday 10:30-11:00 a.m ,000 AM KPRV, eavener, OK... Sunday 8:30-9:00 a.m ,000 FM Berea Baptist Banner PO Box 39 Mantacie, Mississippi (662) request@bereabaptistcurc.org bbcurc@nexband.com Planning a move? Please let us know your new address. Te post office carges us $.57 for eac returned wrong address. PLANNING TO MOVE? Notify us tree weeks in advance. Te post office will only forward periodical mail for 90 days. Tey carge us $.70 for eac cange of address tey ave to send us. Please save us tis expense and te post office time. BUNDLES TO ONE ADDRESS: Tese are sent for $4 per paper for a year. An example: 10 papers for one year at $40 or 20 papers for one year at $ LOCATION OF PUBLISING CURC: Our curc is located on state igway 363 about one mile sout of Mantacie, Mississippi. Readers are always welcome to visit our services. CURC PONE: A PAPER WITOUT SUBSCRIPTION: Some times people write to us and say tat tey did not subscribe for te BBB. Tey are receiving our paper because someone else as paid for teir subscription. We trust te BBB will be received as an outstretced and to you. Take wat you find elpful and discard wat you cannot use.if you do not want to receive suc a gift subscription, please write to us. We are appy to cancel suc a subscription. We do not want to go were we are not wanted. DISCLAIMER: Te Editor assumes tat te articles submitted for publication in te BBB are written by te person wose name tey bear, unless oterwise indicated by a quote from anoter writer. owever, te Editor cannot personally guarantee tat tis is te case in all articles wic appear in te BBB. Te purpose of te Berea Baptist Banner is as follows: 1.To onor God and to exalt te Lord Jesus Crist. 2. To preac te gospel to lost sinners. 3. To spread te wole counsel of God s Word. 4. To encourage God s preacers and to strengt-en is curces in te most oly fait. 5. To motivate God s cildren to a closer fellow-sip around is Word. 6. To inform people of world events in ligt of Bible propecy. 7. To condemn and expose error werever it may rear its ugly ead. 8. To stimulate Cristian growt in grace. 9. To make te Devil and is demons as mad as possible. DON T COMPLAIN IF YOUR READING BASKET IS EMPTY! Look at your mailing label on te front page of tis mont s paper. If you see above your name Expires 10/2014 ten tis will be your last issue. So don t complain if your reading basket is empty! Renew now so you won t miss next mont s Banner. Gospel Preaced (Continued from page 213) gospel was preaced: even wen preaced in a mocking ateful way. Wy was tis and wat does tis ave to do wit us today? We tink Paul s words ave muc to do wit us today. We live in a specific time period propesied by our Lord Jesus Crist. Te Lord called tis time te beginning of sorrows, (Matt. 24:8). As one sign of tis time e said, For many sall come in my name, saying, I am Crist; and sall deceive many (Matt. 24:5). In te first eigt verses of Mattew twenty-four our Lord gave general signs. Wile tese ave been present since apostolic days, tey are increasingly present as tis epoc draws to a close. Some tink tat our Lord meant in tis verse tat false Crists would appear and deceive many. We tink not. Rater, it seems tat ere Crist is saying tat many sall come, claiming to ave is autority. Tese sall say tat Jesus is Lord, i.e., tat e is te Crist or Messia. In spite of teir words tese are deceivers and sall deceive many. Wy do we take tis position? First of all because (1) wen propesying of a later time in te same discourse in tis same capter Crist said, For tere sall arise false Crists, and false propets, and sall sew great signs and wonders; insomuc tat, if it were possible, tey sall deceive te very elect (Matt. 24:24). To give te same sign for two different periods of time would not only be confusing, it would be pointless. If tere were a duplication of signs we could not know wic time period te Lord meant. And (2) we are now living in tat very period of time designated by Crist as te beginning of sorrows. To tose wo say tis verse means tat during tis time men will claim to be te Crist we ask: just were are all tese people wo go around saying tat tey are te Crist? And were are te many wom tey are deceiving? Several years ago tere was a man wo called imself Fater Divine. e ad a small following. A few oters of tis sort ave arisen from time to time. But none of tese men wo claimed to be divine deceived enoug people to qualify as many. Wat we do see going on in tis our day - te beginning of sorrows, is tis: we see many preacers come claiming to be Crist s men wo say tat Jesus is te Crist, or Messia, but tey deceive many. Tey come in my [ Jesus s] name, saying I [ Jesus] am Crist, [brackets added]. Tey proclaim te Messia-sip of Crist, but preac a false gospel. Today we ave our Joel and Victoria Osteen and oters wo deceive many. We ave seen Jimmy Swaggart rise, fall and get up again. In our day ave come Kennet agin, Kennet Copeland, Benny inn, Joyce Meyer, Oral Roberts, Pope tis and Pope tat, Billy Graam, et al. Tey all ave said tat tey believe Jesus is te Crist. Tey all require some sort of works in order to obtain God s favor. On te local level (yes, you ave tem in your town) and on te international level many are being deceived by preacers wo say Jesus is te Crist. Te Lord Jesus propesied about tese people again in Mattew 7:22-23, saying, Many will say to me in tat day, Lord, Lord, ave we not propesied in ty name? and in ty name ave cast out devils? and in ty name done many wonderful works? And ten will I profess unto tem, I never knew you: (Continued on page 215)

3 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 215 Gospel Preaced (Continued from page 214) depart from me, ye tat work iniquity. True believers in Crist are beset round about wit false religionists. Tey claim to ave Crist s autority, i.e., tey say tey come in is name. Tey loudly cry Lord, Lord, and produce great and wonderful works. Crowds follow tem. In teir future judgment te Lord will not dispute teir claim to aving miracle-working power. Tey are popular wit te masses wo are uninformed as to wat te Bible teaces and wo ave no ligt in tem (Isa. 8:20). But Crist does not and never as known tem. Terefore tey sall be forever cast out of is presence. Teirs is a Crist-less religion in spite of all tey say and tey, te Lord said, sall ave a Crist-less eternity. Peraps someone sall say, Wat about I Corintians 12:3? It says tat nobody can call Jesus te Lord except by te oly Spirit. Does tat not contradict your view? If a preacer says Jesus is Lord, does not tat mean e is from God? Let us look briefly at tat verse. It says, Werefore I give you to understand, tat no man speaking by te Spirit of God callet Jesus accursed: and tat no man can say tat Jesus is te Lord, but by te oly Gost. Bretren, context! context! context! Te context in tis capter is dealing wit speaking in unknown or unlearned languages or tongues. In apostolic days prior to te completion of te Bible as a witness to te trutfulness of te apostolic doctrine, God enabled some people to speak in unlearned languages by miraculous power. Te verse above as to do wit men speaking in tose real but unlearned tongues. If a man in a miraculously spoken language said tat Jesus was Lord, it was te oly Gost speaking. If a man in a miraculously spoken language said Jesus was accursed, it was not te oly Gost speaking. Rater is was a demon or te devil empowering tat man. Tat is wat tat verse is all about. But ow does Crist s propesy relate to us? In tis way: our nation and muc of te world is filled wit Cristian preacers wo preac a false gospel even toug tey say tat Crist is te Messia. Tey always add some kind of work as te way to salvation and to eaven. We ave stated many times tat tere are only two religions in te world. Tere is tat religion tat says tat salvation is by grace alone and tere is tat religion tat teaces tat works as a part in obtaining salvation. Weter one says make a trip to Mecca or take a dip in te Ganges River or be sprinkled or be dipped: essentially tey are all te same. Indeed, today many are deceived even among our kin and neigbors: deceived into tinking tat being dipped by a particular brand of preacer or aving ad a little water sprinkled upon tem by some Catolic priest or Protestant minister is going to get tem to eaven. Most Cristians are members of babybaptizing curces curces tat teac tat teir baptism (usually sprinkling) saves. A friend of mine, a well educated and faitful Metodist, told me recently tat wile te Metodists do not believe tat wat tey call baptism wases away sin, tey... believe you must be baptized in order to go to eaven. If tat is not a false gospel of works ten tis preacer does not understand te meaning of words. Tis view is typical of bot Catolics and mainline Protestants as well as Restorationist curces of various sorts suc as Mormons and Campbellites. All add to te gospel teir particular baptismalregeneration ideas. Oters among te ranks of Cristian preacers even among many calling temselves Baptists take it upon temselves to teac tat a sinner cannot be born again apart from doing tis or tat or te oter. Now we grant tat a born again person will do a lot of tings, but te new birt does not come about because a person prays or makes a decision or goes forward or is baptized. Prayer and scriptural baptism ave to do wit conversion, but noting to do wit causing te new birt. (Te new birt and conversion are not te same ting.) In fact te Bible does not anywere tell us wat it is tat a person can do in order to be born again. Te Bible says te new birt or regeneration is a work of te Spirit. Our Lord imself said, Tat wic is born of te fles is fles; and tat wic is born of te Spirit is spirit. Marvel not tat I said unto tee, Ye must be born again (Jon 3:6, 7). Wy does not te Bible tell us wat we must do in order to be born again? Because te new birt does not come about by any act of man! Tis is made even clearer by Jon 1:13 wic tells us te reason tat some people received Crist wen e came. Tat verse says tat tose wo received Crist did so because tey...were born, not of blood, nor of te will of te fles, nor of te will of man, but of God. And yet some believe tat a sinner can birt imself into te family of God by doing someting. Tat is saying tat te new birt is brougt to pass by te will of man, but tis last verse specifically negates tat idea in toto. Not only is te Quotes from Broter Ritecus N. Dignation by Josep arris Years ago some preacers started saying te curc sould engage te culture to make te Gospel relevant and reac people. Unfortunately, te curc got engaged to te world, followed by an unoly marriage wic produced offspring wit a lack of morality, an irreverent attitude and a form of godliness tat denies and despises trut. exercise-your-will-in-order-tobe-born-again idea contrary to te metapor (word picture) wic presents regeneration as being a birt, it is in direct contradiction to te plain teacing of te Bible. (A baby is a passive participant in its birt: never causative. Te moter labors, not te infant! So wit te new birt: te sinner is born again by te Spirit of God, not by is effort or exercising is will.) Te oly Spirit, by Paul, said, For by grace are ye saved troug fait; and tat not of yourselves: it is te gift of God: Not of works, lest any man sould boast (Ep. 2:8, 9). Again in II Timoty 1:9 Paul wrote tese words, speaking of God, Wo at saved us, and called us wit an oly calling, not according to our works, but according to is own purpose and grace, wic was given us in Crist Jesus before te world began. Did you get tat? Grace was given to God s people wo were in Crist Jesus before te world began! Tis is one of many verses wic takes te new birt out of man s (Continued on page 216)

4 Page 216 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Gospel Preaced (Continued from page 215) ands, sowing us tat salvation, including te new birt, is all in God s almigty ands and is a matter or pure unmerited favor. ave you come to see tat? Do you believe tat salvation comes by merited favor? Merited favor is not grace! Wat we are seeing in te superabundance of works-religion today (weter among te Catolics, Protestants or among some Baptists) is wat our Lord propesied. e said, For many sall come in my name, saying, I am Crist; and sall deceive many (Matt. 24:5). Wat false preacer on te radio or TV as not boldly proclaimed Jesus is Lord, or, Jesus is te Crist? Even te Jesus-only Pentecostals wit teir works-for-salvation doctrine assert tat Jesus is God and te Messia. Indeed, many around te world are deceived by tese preacers wo claim to be from Crist. Tey loudly proclaim tat Jesus is te Crist, God s Messia and ten go on to preac tat works of one kind or anoter is necessary for salvation. Tey teac te deat, burial and resurrection of Crist as payment for sins usually for te sins of all men. Of course, Crist s work is not enoug. You must add your fait or decision or baptism, etc., to be saved according to tem. In oter words, tey preac te powerless blood of a powerless Crist sent by a poor God up in eaven wo would like to save all men, but is powerless to do so! Wat blaspemy! We do not excuse teir misapplication of te blood of Crist wen tey teac tat te blood of Crist is not able to save tose for wom it was sed, but te facts of te gospel are at times preaced by tem. It is teir misapplication of Crist s blood, teir false ideas regarding te ability of sinners, teir additions to te gospel tat make it a false gospel. Tese we cannot condone. Nor can we compromise wit any wo preac a false gospel. Yet Paul wrote tat e rejoiced wen is enemies mockingly proclaimed te gospel from evil motives seeking to add to is suffering. We quoted in te beginning of tis article is words on tis matter. ow could e rejoice at unsaved men mimicking is preacing? A, Broters and Sisters, ere is were te absolute sovereignty of God enters te picture. Proverbs 20:12 says, Te earing ear, and te seeing eye, te LORD at made even bot of tem. Bot te natural ear and te spiritual ear, as we say, and bot te natural eye and te spiritual eye, God made tem. And wile some people only ear and see pysically wit natural vision and earing, oters are given eyes to see and ears to ear (Deut. 29:4). Are tere not sound Bretren wose first real earing of te gospel and initial conversion was under unsound preacers? We mean men wo added to te Word of God by imposing works as a requirement for te new birt. Do not some preacers demand wat no New Testament era preacer ever did? Do tey not demand tat te sinner come forward and pray te sinner s prayer in order to be born again? Do tey not mistakenly claim tat doing tis is to call upon te name of te Lord (Rom. 10:13)? And ave not some earers been regenerated and teir conversion begun in spite of suc additions to te gospel? Is not God able to cause one to ear te trut, repent and believe even wen untrue statements are mixed in wit te trut? Is God not able to cause a person to ear wat e wants tem to ear? Can e not sut teir ears and eyes to any admixture of error in a man s sermon? Tis in no way excuses preacers from mixing error wit trut. It in no way means tat te members of te Lord s congregations sould compromise wit works-mongering preacers and curces. We ave an example in te New Testament of a sinner wo eard te gospel from te mocking lips of false religionists. Remember te tief nailed upon a tree alongside te Lord Jesus te one tat repented? Some ave supposed tat e eard te gospel prior to is being nailed to te tree. We cannot prove or disprove tat because te Bible is silent on te matter so we must remain silent too. But wat we do know is tis: wile anging tere beside te Lord Jesus e eard te trut about Crist. Mockers gatered around said, e saved oters... and...if e be Crist, te cosen of God (Luke 23:35). Tat tief, as did te oter one, eard saved oters, and Crist (Messia), and cosen of God. Not only did tis tief ear divine trut proclaimed in a derisive way by tose standing around te execution site, e also joined in, repeating te same tings. We know tis from Mattew 27:44 wic says: Te tieves also, wic were crucified wit im [Crist], cast te same in is teet, [brackets added]. Peraps e ad eard te Scriptures read in a synagogue te verses tat say, Beold my servant, wom I upold; mine elect, in wom my soul deligtet; I ave put my spirit upon im: e sall bring fort judgment to te Gentiles. e sall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause is voice to be eard in te street. A bruised reed sall e not break, and te smoking flax sall e not quenc: e sall bring fort judgment unto trut. e sall not fail nor be discouraged, till e ave set judgment in te eart: and te isles sall wait for is law (Isa. 42:1-4). My servant! God s elect, i.e., te Messia! e saved oters! Crist! te cosen of God! Te tief eard divine trut even toug e eard it spoken in derision and mockery. e eard te oter tief and also eard imself saying te same tings. But ten someting appened. Someting te freewill crowd cannot explain. e was made alive by te oly Spirit of God! And in tat new birt te oly Gost gave im te gifts of repentance and fait tose inseparable twins! It must ave been so for we read tese words about saving fait:...fait; and tat not of yourselves: it is te gift of God (Ep. 2:8). And again we read, But te fruit of te Spirit is... fait (Ep. 5:22). Fait, tat kind wic is called te fait of God s elect (Titus 1:1) is not te product of te sinner. Man does not naturally ave it and cannot manufacture it. And so it was tat one tief was enabled to ear wit te spiritual ear. And altoug e eard te trut preaced in a mocking fasion, e was given fait and terefore believed te trut. e was born again and terefore turned (repented) toward God and believed on Crist even in wat was seemingly Messia s darkest our. e was given fait to believe in spite of circumstances. Probably e did not understand ow Messia could die, but e believed and expected Jesus Crist to come into is kingdom for e said, Lord, remember (Continued on page 217)

5 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 217 Watering te Tulips By Todd Bryant of Nortport, Alabama Accepted in Crist To te praise of te glory of is grace, werein e at made us accepted in te beloved (Ep. 1:6). Te prases accept Crist and accept God ave almost become trademark prases of modern Cristianity. Toug, in ligt of te verse before us, one must question weter tose prases are actually proper. Is it we wo accept God troug Crist? Or, is it God Wo accepts us on te basis of te sacrifice of Jesus on te cross? Tese are opposite perspectives and onestly need to be considered in ligt of te common usage of tese terms and our text verse. First of all, we must understand tat God is in carge. e is te Sovereign Ruler of is creation. e is te Judge. Man is accountable to im not vice versa (Rom. 3:19-20). Mankind is fallen. We, as a wole, are a race of rebels. Te wole Adamic race is naturally at enmity wit God (Rom. 8:7). We are, by nature, at odds wit te Judge of tis world. We are te ones in danger of eternal condemnation. Tose simple, foundational truts sould be enoug to sow tat we need God to accept us or else! A uman accepting God troug Crist or not will ave no affect on God s eternal abode. e is not in need. owever, if God rejects us, we will be eternally condemned! Again, we need God to accept us!! From Cain s discussion wit God (Gen. 4:7) trougout bot Testaments (I Pet. 2:5), tere is a common tougt. Continually, man s need of being accepted by God troug a substitutionary sacrifice is te teme of te Bible. Over and over again we see te trut tat man is in need of God to accept im. Over and over again we see tat te alternative results in eternal punisment. Not even once do we see any idea tat God needs man to accept im. Man is told to repent and believe te Gospel (Acts 19:4). But never once is it suggested tat man sould accept Crist or accept God. In reality, it is te opposite of wat is needed. We, as filty sinners, are in need of te oly and Rigteous God accepting us! So ten, ow are we accepted by God? I mean, e as given us a Law tat every one of us as broken witout exception. We are guilty. It matters not te dept of sin any of us are in. If you ave broken one point in te Law, you are guilty of breaking te wole Law (Jam. 2:10). Simply, all ave sinned and come sort of te glory of God (Rom. 3:23). If God is a oly and Rigteous Judge (and e is), we are all ten condemned. Tis is not debatable really. A rigteous Judge must condemn te guilty. If e does not, e ceases to be rigteous! ow ten are we accepted? Simple Jesus willingly paid for our sins and took te deat we deserved. e paid te penalty. Consequently, we are now accepted by God. Peraps tis all seems like semantics to some and maybe it is. But we never need to confuse te idea tat we are accepted by God troug te meritorious work of Jesus on te cross. Any confusion of wat appened at Calvary is a bad ting. Gospel Preaced (Continued from page 216) me wen tou comest into ty kingdom (Luke 23:42). e in so doing confessed Crist as is only ope! is understanding of divine trut, is becoming ligt in te Lord (Epesians 5:8), is turning to God (repentance) and is fait in Crist was all brougt about by is new birt. Tose wo boast tat it was teir fait or teir praying tat brougt about teir spiritual birt do not understand I Corintians 4:7. Tere te oly Gost said, For wo maket tee to differ from anoter? and wat ast tou tat tou didst not receive? now if tou didst receive it, wy dost tou glory, as if tou adst not received it? Are you different from tose around you? ave you been brougt to repentance toward God? Do you ave fait in Crist? Do you dare to tink tat you produced it? God says you received it! Understanding tat all of salvation, including te new birt, is te work of God excludes boasting. Tis preacer often quotes from te old A.D New ampsire Baptist Confession of Fait. It is not perfect and obviously it is not te Word of God. In spite of its weaknesses, it expresses very well wat oldtime Baptists believed about te new birt. More importantly, it expresses concisely, ow God saves sinners. It was once te most popular Baptist confession in te Soutern and Soutwestern United States. Te vast majority of older Baptist curces in tose parts once agreed wit it. Many curces adopted tis confession as a statement of wat tey believed. Many oters were organized on te basis of tese truts. In spite of tis, most Baptists today ave never eard of tis old confession. It is a sad fact tat most of today s Baptists no longer believe wat teir old Baptist forefaters believed about te new birt. Terefore we include it ere as proof of wat te old-time Baptists believed and taugt wat sound Baptists still believe and teac. Article 7 of tat confession says: We believe tat, in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again; tat regeneration consists in giving a oly disposition to te mind; tat it is effected in a manner above our compreension by te power of te oly Spirit, in connection wit divine trut, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to te gospel; and tat its proper evidence appears in te oly fruits of repentance, and fait, and newness of life. Old time Baptists believed and some today still believe - tat te oly Spirit birts people into God s family and tat as a result of tis regeneration or new birt tere is a voluntary obedience to te gospel. Tat is, te gospel is believed. Sound Baptists still believe tat te evidence of te new birt is repentance, and fait, and newness of life. Tis is te trut, we believe, and also as te confession states, tis new birt is effected in a manner above our compreension by te power of te oly Spirit, in connection wit divine trut... Yes, sometimes God causes men to ear divine trut wit teir spiritual ears even wen preaced (Continued on page 218)

6 Page 218 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Gospel Preaced (Continued from page 217) mockingly or by one adverse to it even wen te preacer may go on to add is particular oop wic e says te sinner must jump troug in order to be born again. It is evident tat no man can save imself. It is also clear from te Bible tat if God were not sovereign and almigty able to do wat e pleases in every situation no man would ever be born again. After all, te wind blowet were it listet [desires or cooses], (Jon 3:8) indicating tat te oly Spirit also moves sovereignly, i.e., according to is own will. So like Paul, tose wo understand someting of te sovereignty of God can rejoice wenever te gospel is preaced. And just wat is te gospel? Boiled down to its essence te gospel was made clear by Paul wen e wrote: Moreover, bretren, I declare unto you te gospel wic I preaced unto you, wic also ye ave received, and werein ye stand; By wic also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory wat I preaced unto you, unless ye ave believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all tat wic I also received, ow tat Crist died for our sins according to te scriptures; And tat e was buried, and tat e rose again te tird day according to te scriptures (I Cor. 15:1-4). Noting ere about God loving all men or trying to save all men if tey will only let im. Noting ere about coming forward or praying some magical prayer. Noting ere about being sprinkled or baptized. ave you received te gospel? Is it werein ye stand? Do you keep in memory tat good news? Te good news or gospel is wat Crist as done! It is te message of is deat, burial and resurrection as God s Lamb. Jon te Baptist said of im, Beold te Lamb of God! (Jon 1:36). ave you eyes to beold im? Do you see im as God s sacrificial Lamb your only ope? as God given you repentance and fait? ave you been born again by te oly Spirit of God? Do you, like Paul, rejoice wenever te gospel is preaced? Remember, Salvation is of te LORD (Jona 2:9). Wenever te gospel of Crist is preaced someting appens: someting tat cannot be revival-ized up. earers eiter reject te trut or tey repent and believe. And no man can stop eiter of tose tings from appening. Wen God is pleased to birt into is family tose wom e wills to save, te new birt takes place as te old confession says, in connection wit divine trut, or as our title says, Wenever Te Gospel Is Preaced. Let us do two tings: first of all let us rejoice tat God is sovereign and almigty i.e., well able to birt into is family tose wo ear te gospel even wen preaced mockingly and for te wrong reasons. Second, let us be faitful in speaking te divine trut - i.e., te gospel to oters. By giving, going, praying, preacing and witnessing to lost men and women, let us be busy pulling tem out of te fire (Jude 1:23). Preac te Word (Continued from page 213) and doctrine. For te time will come wen tey will not endure sound doctrine; but after teir own lusts sall tey eap to temselves teacers, aving itcing ears; And tey sall turn away teir ears from te trut, and sall be turned unto fables. But watc tou in all tings, endure afflictions, do te work of an evangelist, make full proof of ty ministry (II Tim. 3:15-4:5). Broters, we need to preac te Word of God. I assume everyone reading tis would agree wit tat statement. Unfortunately, even witin te ranks of Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptists, not everyone is doing it. Tere are many ways to convince ourselves tat we are preacing te Word, but in fact we may be deceived. It is my goal to approac tis subject as delicately and yet directly as possible. I fear we ave found ourselves, as Baptist preacers, in a time were we don t distinguis between preacing wat is true and preacing te Trut. We believe tat as long as wat we say is true tat it carries te same autority as preacing te Word itself. It does not. We would recognize tat a preacer wo proclaims false doctrine is not preacing te Word. owever, I callenge you to consider: A preacer wo delivers an entire 40-minute message witout once referring to te Biblical text as not preaced te Word. A preacer wo uses a text as a jumping off point simply because it contains a single word like joy, love, fear, etc. and ten follows it wit 40-minutes of teir own tougts on joy, love, or fear as not truly preaced te Word. A preacer wo knowingly twists a text from its original meaning to some different (but also true) meaning as not onestly preaced te Word. Even if every word and every point of te above sermons were accurate Biblically and conveyed trut, all of tem are failures to preac te Word as Paul commanded. I fear we are losing te distinction between simply saying words and preacing te Word. We too often settle for speaking trutful words instead of proclaiming te Word of Trut. Even Baptist preacers like us need a reminder of te importance of preacing te Word of God. Wen you undertake to do te work of te ministry, especially te proclamation of God s Word, you are undertaking an extremely important task. Muc like any oter big job, we expect a set of instructions before we begin. We get tose instructions in te Scriptures. Dear reader, you are not te first person to be urged to preac te Word of God. Wen Paul left te elders at te curc of Epesus, knowing e would not be tere to guide teir ministry any more, e urged tem to feed te flock of God (Acts 20:28) and left tem in te care of God, and to te Word of is grace. Te Word of God is primary in te work of a preacer. As Paul wrote a final letter to is young friend Timoty, e urged Timoty to preac te message of God as it ad been revealed to im by te Scriptures. Te reason for tis is tat te Word of God is te only effective means for te salvation of sinners and te growt of saints, and terefore God as ordained tat preacing te Word is is cosen tool to bring glory to imself and is Son Jesus Crist. ACCOUNTABILITY TO PREAC TE WORD I want you to first consider te kind of accountability a preacer as to preac te Word of God. Tere at te beginning of verse 2 is te simple command, preac te word. owever, tere may (Continued on page 219)

7 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 219 Preac te Word (Continued from page 218) be no more glorious introduction in te Scripture introducing suc a simple command. See ow Paul introduces te idea of preac te word. I carge tee terefore before God, and te Lord Jesus Crist, wo sall judge te quick and te dead at is appearing and is kingdom; preac te Word! Tere can be no doubt tat te preacer is eld to account for te preacing of te Word! Paul does not just make te simple statement to Timoty saying, you preac te Word because you will be eld accountable. No, Paul goes to great lengt, no doubt putting in muc tougt, to intensify tis command wit layer upon layer of accountability. e begins wit I carge tee. Te word carge e uses is te Greek word διαμαρτυρομαι (diamarturomai) wic means to testify, to solemnly affirm, to earnestly or religiously carge. In oter words, Paul is not just giving a suggestion, but e is issuing a solemn and binding order saying, I carge tee I solemnly command tee I am ordering you in te most serious of manners preac te Word. Not only tat, but tis solemn carge is done in te name and te presence of God, and te Lord Jesus Crist. And do not for a moment tink tat Paul is naming te Fater and Son to te exclusion of te Spirit. e as already asserted to te Corintians tat my speec and my preacing was not wit enticing words of man s wisdom, but in demonstration of te Spirit and of power (I Cor. 2:4). Paul clearly testifies tat te effective preacing of te Word of God requires te unction of te oly Spirit. All tree persons of te Godead ave a stake in te proclaiming of te oly Scriptures. Te Fater wo elected is people from te foundation of te World is glorified troug te proclaiming of is Word. Te Son Jesus Crist wo came in fles to redeem tose people troug is work at Calvary as a stake in te preacing of te Word. Te oly Spirit wo uses te very Word of God to draw sinners to fait in Jesus Crist as a vital stake in te preacing of te Word. Tis little command is a most solemn carge, in te presence of te Triune God, to represent te Word of God wit accuracy and proclaim te Word of God wit power. And I would add Paul certainly seems to say, you do it or else. I carge tee terefore before God, and te Lord Jesus Crist, wo sall judge te quick and te dead at is appearing and is kingdom; preac te word. I tink it safe to say, it would not ave escaped young Timoty s notice tat Paul invokes te judgment of Jesus Crist imself on te obedience to te command of preacing is Word. You proclaim te full counsel of God as it is revealed in te Scriptures I would ope you do it because you love it. I would ope you do it because you take it seriously. I would ope you do it remembering you are always in te presence of God. but if for no oter reason, you must be te erald of te message of God because Jesus Crist will someday return and you will be eld accountable to im for your obedience to te command to preac is Word. Do not tink for one moment, my friends, tat your calling is less tan solemn. Do not dare tink, I will prepare myself better next time forgetting tat you stand as a representative of God at tis time! And do not ever forget tat you will give an answer to your Lord and Savior for ow seriously you dedicated yourself to tis great calling. You ave an accountability to te preacing of God s Word, but you are not accountable for te results. Te Word does te work because it contains all te autority necessary to impact te lives of te listener. AUTORITY TO PREAC TE WORD Our second point regards tat autority. We ave te autority to preac te Word. Wat a frigtening tougt it would be if we were to be eld accountable for impacting te lives of te listener! I cannot bear te tougt tat I alone am responsible for bringing tem to Jesus Crist or urging tem toward godly oliness. It is not possible tat we could conjure up in our own earts and minds te necessary means to accomplis tat task. Paul does not simply tell Timoty to preac, for tat in itself would be a burden too eavy to bear. But Paul eases tat load by telling Timoty wat to preac. Preac te Word! You do not ave to preac your own eart for it is desperately wicked and could aid no one. You do not ave to preac your own mind because it came into tis world blinded and full of vain imaginations. Instead, te preacing of Jesus Crist is te proclaiming of a message tat is NOT our own. Yes, it is ours troug experience like a witness wo testifies of wat tey ave seen for temselves. But te autorsip of te message rests wit God and it is merely entrusted to us as a go-between. We are like a town erald wo brings te royal decree from te king and it is good news! We are, as Paul writes in II Corintians 5:20, ambassadors for Crist making a plea wit sinners in te very place of Jesus. An ambassador does not get to make up a message! And ambassador brings te King s message to te people wo are at war wit im. An ambassador simply says, ere tese are te terms of peace. And since it is not our message, it must be te message of God imself troug is Word. ave you ever stood before a congregation or any group of people and just tougt, I do not know if I ave anyting to say tat is going elp tem. I do not know if I ave wat tey need to ear? Ten remember te context for tis command to preac te Word. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in rigteousness: Tat te man of God may be perfect, trougly furnised unto all good works. If you ave God s Word, you ave wat tey need to ear. Tat Word wic you old in your ands and tat Word wic you proclaim wen you preac is inspired. It is literally God breated. And in being Godbreated it contains not only wat you need to preac, but also wat te listeners need to ear. It is profitable. It will do you good. It is God s inspired message and contains witin it everyting necessary for te benefit of your listeners, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in rigteousness. Doctrine is tat fundamental trut tat we must ear and obey. (Continued on page 220)

8 Page 220 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Preac te Word (Continued from page 219) Reproof is te Greek word tat means evidence or conviction about a trut. Correction is te idea of setting someting straigt or putting it back rigt. And instruction in rigteousness is revealing of te principles and truts tat promote Godly oliness. If I may be so bold as to say it tis way: Te Bible is God s Word and it is good for you. It contains wat you need to learn, wat you need to believe, wat you need to cange and wat you need to teac. Because of tat, we do not just know wat to preac, but ow to preac it. Do not miss te parallel between II Timoty 3:16 and II Timoty 4:2 were Paul says, reprove, rebuke, exort wit all longsuffering and doctrine. Te autority of te Word in 3:16 matces wit te way we preac te Word in 4:2. It is good for doctrine preac doctrine. It is good for reproof so reprove. It is good for correction so rebuke wrongdoing to correct it. It is good for instruction in rigteousness so exort tem to good works wit longsuffering. It contains autority preac it wit autority! Now will tat make you or your listeners suddenly sinlessly perfect? Of course not. Te Greek word for perfect, αρτιος (artios) means, it makes you complete. It brings you to maturity. And terefore, it is tat inspired Word tat our congregations, te world full of lost sinners, and even we ourselves need to ear. Tat is te autority of te Word wen it is preaced. God not only commands men to repent, but e also uses is Word to bring repentance. God not only demands oliness as e is oly, but e also sent is oly Scriptures as a means to initiate oliness in is cildren. e not only demands (as Paul notes in 3:17) good works, but also uses te preacing of is inspired Word to furnis and complete is saints, preparing tem for tose works. We do not ave te autority to preac our own ideas or our own desires. But wen we preac te Word wen we give a Tus sait te Lord we may do so wit te igest autority in te universe. Only ten can we preac wit confidence. After all, Tus sait Jason does not lend any confidence to me as te preacer or you as te listener. Te unfortunate trut is a lot of people would be willing to listen to tus sait Jason more tan tey would Tus sait te Lord. We are not just accountable to preac te Word, and ave autority to preac te Word, but we will also expect: ADVERSARIES TO TE PREACING OF TE WORD Paul says, For te time will come wen tey will not endure sound doctrine; but after teir own lusts sall tey eap to temselves teacers, aving itcing ears; And tey sall turn away teir ears from te trut, and sall be turned unto fables. as tat time come, broters? Do we not live in a world tat resists sound doctrine? You can preac in te name of Jesus and not preac te Word. You can claim te calling of God, but not proclaim te Word of God. And wen a world full of false propets does tat crowds will follow. We could ave uge coliseums filled wit folks if we wanted. All we would ave to do is leave sound doctrine beind. Just favor your own words over God s Word and you will attract a crowd. O te dangers of going tere! It rejects trut and does noting for its followers. We could preac te Prosperity Gospel, standing weekly before 30,000 listeners telling tem God will bless tem wit everyting from a new ouse to a better car to a parking spot up front at te crowded mall troug te power of positive tinking. You will just make God accountable to bless you because e as to. Te vile preacers of te prosperity gospel ave not accurately represented God but tey ave not surprised im eiter. Paul describes in verse 3 tat te desire of people will not be to ear te trut of God s Word proclaimed, but instead, tey will ave itcing ears. Literally, tey would prefer to ave teir ears tickled. And tey will ave no trouble finding preacers to do it. Tey sall eap to temselves teacers, says Paul. Te picture tere is a visual one eap or pile up teacers. You migt be te only one preacing te trut of God s Word, but tere will be a wole pile of evil-preacers out tere tickling te ears of sinners. You will ave adversaries telling fables and people will turn away from te trut and to tose fables. But let me ask for a moment ow people are to know te difference? Imagine for a moment tat you are a lost listener. If false preacers use te Lord s Word in a (Continued on page 221)

9 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 221 Preac te Word (Continued from page 220) perverted way to preac lies from it and ten a Baptist preacer proclaims trut, but witout using te Scripture as teir autority wo as credibility? By consistently preacing our own tougts instead of te Biblical text, we run te risk of conditioning listeners to believe watever tey ear. Would it not be better to condition tem to believe te Word of God? It would be a glorious ting to ave curces demand to ave every doctrine proven by Scripture from te pulpit! We must turn to Biblebased exposition as te means of preacing te trut. Tere is no oter autority to claim in te face of tese adversaries. No matter te adversaries, te command is still ere, Preac te Word! Be instant take a stand in season and out of season. Make a full proof of your own ministry. Take a stand wen it is easy and take a stand wen it is ard. Preac te Word because no matter ow many tousands will follow after te fable, tere is no power or autority in tat fable. It is te Word of God alone tat is alive, powerful, a sarp two-edge sword wic is meant to penetrate into te deepest parts of te listener. CONCLUSION In conclusion, I urge you dear reader, as you; prepare a message for your curc, a Sunday scool lesson for te yout, teacing your cildren at ome devotions. Rely on te Word! Study a passage. Learn wat it means. Present tat meaning to tose wo will ear it. If your sermon preparation begins wit you getting an idea for a sermon and ten searcing for Scripture to preac it, you ave te process backwards. Be in te Word. Wen you settle on a passage camp out tere for awile and present te main idea from te passage itself. Any subpoints supporting tat main idea can come from te context of te passage, too. Use Neemia 8:8 as a standard. Early in te capter, te people of God begged to ear te Word. So Ezra and te priests: read in te book in te law of God distinctly, and gave te sense, and caused tem to understand te reading. Do you see tat pattern? Read te Word. Explain te Word. Apply te Word. Tat as always been God s design for te use of Scripture. It will likely not prove popular wit te masses. owever, too many of us (including myself) ave fallen prey to seeking popularity. You ave no doubt eard Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptist preacers proclaim God s sovereignty and curc trut witout truly sowing it from te Scripture. And you ave also no doubt eard Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptist crowds answer tose messages wit rousing coruses of amen! apparently unaware or indifferent tat te sermon is not based in te Word. Is tat not our own form of tickling ears and aving ours tickled in return? Let every preacer commit to returning to te priority of preacing from te Word itself. And let every congregation crave te exposition of te Word of Trut and refuse to settle for anyting less. Te Word of God is te only effective means for te salvation of sinners and te growt of saints, and terefore God as ordained tat preacing te Word is is cosen tool to bring glory to imself and is Son Jesus Crist. Make sure your message is not only faitful to God s Word, but tat it is also clearly based on te Word. Wen you do, God will not send out is Word void. e will onor it and be glorified by it. Only by a reliance on God s Word can we ensure our preacing will be wit Spirit and wit power. Do not for one moment forget tat you are te man of God preacing te Word of God to te people of God. Take it seriously in your reading. Take it seriously in your preparation. Take tat same seriousness and autority into te pulpit and were you can, confidently and autoritatively preac te Word! Seeing Jesus (Continued from page 213) were, tey ad eard of Jesus and were desirous to see im; to wic end tey found one of is disciples, namely Pilip, and made known teir desire to im. Te seed was about to fall into te ground and die tat it migt bring fort fruit. Crist s our, wic on many occasions prior e ad said was not come, was now come. Te purpose of is coming fort, of is being sent from eaven, of is emptying imself of is infinite, eternal, and essential glory to be made in te likeness of sinful fles, was now about to be fulfilled. e would suffer for sins in te fles, being crucified in te fles, tat e migt bring us to God. Now once in te end of te world at e appeared to put away sin by te sacrifice of imself (eb. 9:26). Te mystery of te gospel, wic ad been idden in ages past, and of wic te propets wo propesied of Crist sufferings ad sougt to find out te time of its fulfillment, and wic te angels even now desire to understand and fatom, was about to unfold in open view. Te inquiry of tese Greeks was a precursor to te sending fort of te gospel and te sedding of divine ligt unto te Gentile nations. Long ad te mystery of te gospel been idden wit te Jews, wo neiter compreended it nor saw in Crist teir Savior and King. Teir eyes were blinded and teir earts ardened Terefore tey could not believe, because tat Esaias said again, e at blinded teir eyes, and ardened teir eart; tat tey sould not see wit teir eyes, nor understand wit teir eart, and be converted, and I sould eal tem (Jon 12:39-40), so tat wen tey saw Jesus tey could only see te carpenter s son, te Nazarene from Galilee, and not e tat comet from above and is above all (II Cor. 3:13-15). Tey were about to observe te passover feast, wic Moses ad, by te Word of God, commanded tem to keep. But in teir midst was te Lamb of God slain from te foundation of te world, te Lamb wom Abraam teir fater ad said God would provide imself, wose day Abraam ad seen and was glad, Crist our passover (I Cor. 5:7); and tey knew im not. Tey knew not tat all wic te tousands of memorial passovers wic ad been observed prior to tat time ad symbolized and typified would all be fulfilled wen Crist laid down is life, bearing our sins in is own body on te tree (I Pet. 2:24). Tey could not see Jesus. Now wat is required to see? Wat do all men need in order to see anyting? Te answer is ligt. In order to see Jesus, divine ligt is required. (Continued on page 222)

10 Page 222 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Seeing Jesus (Continued from page 221) Ten Jesus said unto tem, Yet a little wile is te ligt wit you. Walk wile ye ave te ligt, lest darkness come upon you: for e tat walket in darkness knowet not witer e goet. Wile ye ave ligt, believe in te ligt, tat ye may be te cildren of ligt (Jon 12:35-36). Tere is bot te ligt of opportunity and te ligt of revelation. Every person wo as traveled understands te difference between traveling in te day and in te nigt. We often want to reac our destination wile it is dayligt, because of te indrance caused and te difficulty caused by our inability to see in te darkness. Oftentimes we ave noticed ow very different tings appear in te day tan in te nigt. Tings great and large and even crucial may be unnoticed, unobserved, and unfound in te dark wic ad been visible in te ligt. Te Jews to wom Jesus spake at tis time ad te ligt of opportunity. Te gospel was being presented unto tem, and te very Person of te gospel, Jesus Crist, was in teir midst, and tey saw is miracles and eard is teacings. Yet, tey lacked te ligt of divine revelation. But toug e ad done so many miracles before tem, yet tey believed not on im: Tat te saying of Esaias te propet migt be fulfilled, wic e spake, Lord, wo at believed our report? and to wom at tat arm of te Lord been revealed (Jon 12:37-38)? Te people answered im, We ave eard out of te law tat Crist abidet for ever: and ow sayest tou, Te Son of man must be lifted up? wo is tis Son of man? (Jon 12:34). More tan mere uman perception is required to see Jesus in a soul-saving, eart-converting, spirit-quickening way. e must be revealed to a man, woman, boy, and girl: and e is only revealed by te Word of God, wic by te gospel is preaced unto you (I Pet. 1:25), (Matt. 16:13-17). Te earing of fait by te Word of God is te only way in wic Crist is revealed unto lost and dying men (Rom. 10:13-17, II Cor. 4:3-6). Te outward ligt of gospel preacing must be accompanied by te inward illuminating work of God in te eart of man. Ye were illuminated (eb. 10:32), (Matt. 4:12-17). Te preacing of te gospel message of repentance toward God and, and fait toward our Lord Jesus Crist (Acts 20:21) brings saving ligt unto men. It does not mean tat all wo ear te gospel are effectually saved; but it means tat witout te earing of te gospel none are saved. Te work of God s messengers is instrumental, and te inward working of God s oly Spirit is essential, in spiritually illuminating te sin-darkened earts of men, women, boys, and girls so tat tey see Jesus as te soul-saving, sin-removing, lifegiving Son of God. I am come a ligt into te world, tat wosoever believet on me sould not abide in darkness (Jon 12:46). Believing on Jesus as te Lamb of God wo taket away te sin of all wo trust in im, bot Jew and Gentile, is ow men are enligtened. Tey receive te Ligt of God wic is provided, manifested, and given in is Son Jesus Crist. No man ever saw Jesus except by fait. Tese in our text beeld im wit teir natural eyes, but teir earts were blinded so tat tey could not beold im as te Savior of sinners, and te One in wom all te propecies, types, and sadows of teir religion find teir terminus and substance. Te people answered im, We ave eard out of te law tat Crist abidet for ever (Jon 12:34). Yet, tey did not see tat Crist is te end of te law for rigteousness to every one tat believet (Rom. 10:4). We find tat te Greeks desired to see Jesus. Te Jews were blinded and could not see im as te Lamb of God, te true Passover. Isaia te propet saw is glory, and spake of im (Jon 12: 41). Now if God can reveal is Son Jesus Crist to is oly propets undreds of years prior to is birt, ten e is also able to reveal Jesus unto tose wo ear of im and is saving work wic e accomplised at te cross many centuries after e died, was buried, arose from te dead, and ascended up to eaven to be seated at te rigt and of God. And I, if I be lifted up from te eart, will draw all men unto me (Jon 12:32). e will draw all kinds, irrespective of nationality, culture, etnicity, background, upbringing, language, skin tone, intellect, education, wealt, or social standing. e ad drawn from te Jews; e was about to draw from among te Gentiles; and e will draw unto imself all tat te Fater at given im from before te foundation of te world, and redeem tem unto imself a peculiar people of is own, to te praise and onor and glory of is amazing grace (Jon 6:35-40). I know tat people, in teir carnal and sinful minds, are always occupied wit and concerned wit te wrong questions. Many want to pose te question, ow do I know if te Fater gave me unto Crist? ow do I know if e cose me in Crist from all eternity? Tat is now your question! Tat is Quotes from Broter Ritecus N. Dignation by Josep arris Te answer to our problems in America is not government, but God. We sould spend more time tending to te tings of God tan anyting else, but tat doesn t do away wit our obligation to speak up and vote wen te time comes. So vote rigt. If folks would start cecking out te candidates as close as tey do wen buying a orse, ten tings migt start looking up te day after election. God s business. God s electing wom e will is is coice and determination. Your business is, ave you believed on te only begotten Son of God? Jesus never did tell people to be concerned wit weter or not God ad given tem to Crist. e said, e tat comet to me sall never unger; and e tat believet on me sall never tirst (Jon 6:35). And tis is te will of im tat sent me, tat every one wic seet te Son, and believet on im, may ave everlasting life: and I will raise im up at te last day (Jon 6:40). Wile ye ave ligt, believe in te ligt, tat ye may be te cildren of ligt (Jon 12:36). Jesus cried and said, e tat believet on me, believet not on me, but on im tat sent me. And e tat seet me seet im tat sent me. I am come a ligt into te world, tat wosoever believet on me sould not abide in darkness (Jon 12:44-46).

11 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 223 Considering (Continued from page 213) If, by te grace of God, you ave been made a curc member in one of is New Testament curces, and yet will not be faitful to assemble wit tat curc wen it comes togeter to worsip and do te work God as called it to, YOU ARE NOT BEING FAITFUL TO GOD! Tere is little question tat even some wo may assemble regularly are not spiritually being faitful to God, but tere is no question concerning tose wo forsake te assembling of temselves togeter wen te curc meets. Again, let it be stated clearly, YOU ARE NOT BEING FAITFUL TO GOD! Some will tink temselves faitful because tey attend one or two services a week, or a mont, but again, tat is not wat te Scripture says concerning tose wo are not providentially indered. Te implicit command is concerning ANY and tus ALL times te curc as covenanted togeter to assemble. If you did not agree to tat wen you joined te curc, you were disonest or personally deceived. It is a fact tat te accepted standards of faitfulness ave been undermined by te practices of te un-faitful curc member. Many curces and pastors are unwilling to call sin sin in our day. All unfaitfulness IS sin and being unfaitful to attend any called assembly of te curc is sin, even if it is te customary and accepted manner of most curc members in our day not to attend every service. And we wonder wy we don t see te great blessings of God upon is curces today as in days gone by. It is ard to recognize blessings wen you re in te midst of castening. It is true, curc attendance is not everyting, but it is also true tat you and your curc will not be or do muc God as purposed witout it. Let tis be a reminder if not a warning to tose wo ave come to accept non-attendance as an acceptable practice, it is still a sin, and tat of te worst kind, for it is, every time it is participated in, a sow of rebellion (eb. 10:25). Tose wo ave become so accustomed to forsaking te assembling of te curc ave, to some degree, ad teir conscience ardened to te point tat tey seem to no longer ave guilt or same about it, nor teir rebellion against God s Word (eb. 10:25). It may be tat te problem goes far deeper tan teir conscience, for it may be tey are not Baptists at all, or even worse. Te fait received and practiced by true and faitful Baptists as always included te understanding of tis most rudimentary trut: Baptists faitfully attend curc! Every time it assembles, as God as commanded it to (eb. 10:25), Baptists assembled. Tis is te trut seen in te first curc composed of te Apostles, and it is te trut tat is continually seen as it was believed and practiced by te curces tat succeeded from it (Luke 22:14; 24:33, 51-53; Acts 1:12-15; 2:1, 41-47). It is believed tat it is no coincidence tat many of te excuses used today for unfaitfulness were never eard in te first curces, let alone even considered. I ave to be at work in te morning, so I can not make it for evening services. Many quit teir jobs in tat day to assemble faitfully. I can not tite or sare wit te needs of te curc tis week, I ave bills to pay. Tey sold teir possessions and goods, maybe including some of teir toys, so tey could. No, you ear no mention of weariness, sickness of temselves or even a tired cild wic, in many instances today is recognized for wat it is, just an excuse for teir own lazy, flesly ease. We do not ear of any missing for family reunions, birtdays or because mom is aving us over for dinner. Tere was no mention of an activity at te Synagogue for te cildren tat tey would ave to excuse temselves for. No, te practice of te early Baptists was not one of excuses, no matter for wat, it was one of faitfulness to assemble wen teir curc met. To tose today wo ave come to accept most any excuse tey pick for missing curc, it is suggested tat you try searcing trougout te Scriptures for one tat is condoned in God s Word. If you find one God condones, ten we will excuse you as well. Let me save you some time, you will not find ONE! Yes, we recognize providential indrances, but be also sure, God is well aware if tey are indeed of is providence or not, or just anoter excuse for te sin of being unfaitful (eb. 10:25). To tose wo do, or are being tempted by te example of tose wo do, to be unfaitful, it sould be considered, Is teir custom after te fait wic as been revealed or is it someting different from wat God s cildren ave normally practiced in days gone by (Jude 3-4)? To tose wo may tink we are being too ars in our discernments concerning wat is involved wit being a faitful curc member, we would only ask for you to sow by te standards and examples revealed in God s Word tat we are wrong. It is sure your time would be better spent to follow suc exortations as II Corintians 13:5 demands, tan to try to find fault wit our interpretation. It is our ope tat maybe just one, before tey try again to find justification for teir excuses for unfaitfulness to te Lord in not assembling wit is curc, will first consider ow God as always felt and dealt wit vain excuses for te sin of unfaitfulness to assemble wen e calls (Luke 14:15-35). G L E A N I N G S Te Burden By James Smit ( ) O wretced man tat I am! wo sall deliver me from te body of tis deat (Rom 7:24)? Tis is te language of te Apostle Paul, and conveys to te mind some idea of te strong inward conflict e endured. e speaks in te first person singular all troug te connexion, and uses language wic it is difficult to misunderstand, unless te mind is prejudiced against te trut. ere is Paul s eart laid open, te working of is mind set fort, te conflict in is bosom exposed; te fles was lusting against te spirit, and te spirit against te fles, so tat e could not do te tings tat e would. e deligted in te law of God, wic none but a Cristian can do; e panted for oliness as wit every breat, but e felt evil working in is (Continued on page 223)

12 Page 224 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Forum Submit your questions on any Bible topic. 1. Wat is an ig day mentioned in Jon 19:31, and ow does it differ from te regular Sabbat? - Maine Mike DeWitt Sr. PO Box 950 Springfield, OR Pastor Parkway Landmark Baptist Curc PO Box 950 Springfield, OR And it was te preparation of te passover, and about te sixt our: and e sait unto te Jews, Beold your King (Jon 19:14)! Tis verse is te key to wat you ask. Tis day was an ig day Sabbat called te Passover, wic landed on a Tursday. Te day of preparation was a Wednesday, te day Jesus was crucified and placed in te grave. Te Sabbat landed, as usual, on a Saturday, wic in turn made Friday a preparation day for te Sabbat. MIKE DEWITT Mattew Stepp 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Pastor Big Creek Baptist Curc 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV And tis sall be a statute for ever unto you: tat in te sevent mont, on te tent day of te mont, ye sall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, weter it be one of your own country, or a stranger tat sojournet among you: For on tat day sall te priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, tat ye may be clean from all your sins before te LORD. It sall be a sabbat of rest unto you, and ye sall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever (Lev. 16:29-31). Jewis feast days were called ig Sabbats, because it did not matter wic day of te week tey fell on. It became a oly day or ig sabbat were no work was done and God was worsipped wit very specific protocols. For example, te day of atonement is ALWAYS on te tent day of te sevent mont. Just like our birtdays fall on different days of te week, so, too, do tese Jewis oly days, and tereby are determined special oly days, or ig sabbats. If te oly day falls on Tuesday, ten tere will be TWO sabbats tat week- Tuesday and te normal Saturday Sabbat. Sela! Tink about it! Te ig Sabbat differs not from te observance of regular sabbats, in tat tey are termed oly convocations - a day of rest and a day of worsip. But tere were usually additional requirements or preparations tat involved te priests (day of atonement) or every family (Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread or Feast of Tabernacles). And ye sall keep it (te Passover lamb) up until te fourteent day of te same mont: and te wole assembly of te congregation of Israel sall kill it in te evening (Ex. 12:6). In 30 A.D., te year Crist was crucified, te 14 t of Abib (called Nisan since te captivity), fell on a Wednesday, so te Jews would ave slaugtered teir pascal lambs in te evening, at precisely te time wen Jesus Crist te Lamb of God would ave been on te cross of Calvary, giving up te gost after te conclusion of te tree ours of darkness from noon until 3 p.m. God sacrificed IS Lamb just as te Jews would ave been! Sela! Tink about it! Tis is te point were Jon 19:31 comes in, Te Jews terefore, because it was te preparation, tat te bodies sould not remain upon te cross on te sabbat day, (for tat sabbat day was an ig day,) besougt Pilate tat teir legs migt be broken, and tat tey migt be taken away. As te last few ours (and minutes) of te Passover Day (of preparation) concluded, Tursday (wic would start at 6 p.m. by Jewis reckoning) was coming, wic would be te first ig Sabbat of te Feast of Unleavened Bread. Since tis ig Sabbat eld all of te connotations of a regular Sabbat (even more!), te desire to get te Saviour into te grave was imminent and pressing. And in te first day tere sall be an oly convocation, and in te sevent day tere sall be an oly convocation to you; no manner of work sall be done in tem, save tat wic every man must eat, tat only may be done of you. And ye sall observe te feast of unleavened bread; for in tis selfsame day ave I brougt your armies out of te land of Egypt: terefore sall ye observe tis day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In te first mont, on te fourteent day of te mont at even, ye sall eat unleavened bread, until te one and twentiet day of te mont at even (Ex. 12:16-18). Terefore, Crist would be in te grave te evening/morning of Tursday, te ig Sabbat, te evening/morning of Friday and finally te evening/morning of te regular Saturday Sabbat. aving made te atonement and fulfilling all propecy, Jesus would ave come fort out of is borrowed sepulcre at precisely 72 ours (3 full nigts and 3 full days) from is entombment at 6 p.m. on Wednesday nigt/ Tursday commencement, to Saturday evening as Sunday (te first day of te week) started! I do not doubt our sovereign God emerged as te clock turned from 5:59:59 p.m. Saturday to 6:00:00 p.m. on Sunday, and our Saviour departed te grave as our Triumpant Redeemer! Sela! Tink about it! Now wen Jesus was risen early te first day of te week, e appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of wom e ad cast seven devils (Mark 16:9). MATTEW STEPP Tom Ross 6339 County Rd. 15 Sout Point, O Pastor Mt. Pleasant Baptist Curc 6939 County Rd. 15 Cesapeake, O I consulted Jon Gill and A.W. Pink on tis verse and, to my dismay, tey do not agree wit wat I believe te Bible teaces. I believe tat after Crist was crucified e was in te tomb for 3 full and literal days, not just parts of 3 days. Tus, I do not believe e was crucified on a Friday. Rater e was crucified on a Wednesday, taken down from te cross, prepared, and placed in te tomb of Josep of Arimataea later tat evening. e rose again in te early morning ours of te first day of te week, or Sunday, ours before sunrise. During Passover week te Jews (Continued on page 226)

13 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page I ear a lot today about Cristian liberty. If we use Galatians 5:13 as a starting point, ow muc liberty is too muc liberty? - Alabama Te Berea Baptist Banner Forum Submit your questions on any Bible topic. Roger Reed 20 Ledgewood Dr. Mansfield, Oio Missionary of West Jefferson Missionary Baptist Mission 90 E. Main St. West Jefferson, Oio Well, first let me make tis statement, Liberty tat Paul is talking about is not a license to sin. Te question is a good question and te way it is asked ere is not ow many ave asked it of me in times past. Most of te time te question is asked in order to trap me and get a pat on te back for tem (my approval tat someting a person as done or about to do is alrigt) from me saying it is okay. Allow me to give two examples; te first one appened wen I was a young minister (well, I am still young) and just getting started (made a lot of mistakes by te way). A member of te curc at te time (tey, a family of four eventually left) came to me before te services were about to start and said, We will not be ere next Sunday, I asked, Are you going on vacation? No, I was given Cleveland Cavaliers tickets for Saturday nigt s game and we will not get back ome until around midnigt (tey only lived about ten minutes from te curc ouse). Well I was not appy but wat e wanted me to say was (and a big pat on te back) tat s okay Broter you ave a great time. Paul said, Use not liberty for an occasion to te fles. O, by te way, tis same man gave me two Cleveland Cavaliers tickets before tis occasion but it was during te week, not on a weekend. Now I ad to be at work at six te next morning, and my son ad to go to scool te next day, I ad never been to a pro basketball game, and I will never go again. We went to te game, drove an our back ome, it was around one o clock in te morning, and I got up and went to work and my son went to scool. Now I do not want a pat on te back ere, but it as always been a fact, work is more important tan curc is it? Te second example; A member comes into te curc building Sunday morning late and as is camo unting clotes on, a, it is turkey season really, are you serious? My memory escapes me but I tink e was te adult Sunday scool teacer at te time. Now you know wy preacers ave gray air or no air? So e comes in and sits down folds is arms in defiance and glares at me like e is saying, okay preacer I dare you to preac to me!?! Use not liberty for an occasion to te fles. Just to add, I ATE UNTING ON SUNDAY! I wised tey ad never canged te laws concerning it. I was preacing one Sunday and te curc building was out in te country and all of a sudden, Bam, Bam. I looked toward te window and tere were two unters outside deer unting yards from te building at te edge of a cemetery. O, by te way te turkey unter did not get a turkey really, Wow, I wonder wy? You migt say Broter Reed is fired up! You bet-ca I am fired up! Cristian people use tese verses on aving liberty to justify just about everyting tey do wen it comes to sin, and te sad ting is I believe tey know tey are doing wrong. But someow, tinking tey ave tis liberty makes it all rigt. I will be te first to tell you, IT IS NOT ALL RIGT! It will never be all rigt! Now tat I ave said my piece, let us see if we can answer te question. One writer puts it tis way, Ours is a day tat cries for liberation. Men, women, and even cildren are demanding more freedom to do as tey please. In te name of personal rigts, autority is flouted and restrictions are resisted. Like te Israelites in te days of te judges, sinful people want to do wat is rigt in teir own eyes (see Judges 17:6; 21:25; cf. Deuteronomy 12:8). But ours is also a day of addiction, not only to alcool and drugs but also to sexual passions, violence, and many oter forms of bondage in wic a person eventually becomes powerless to escape. Wen people coose to persist in a sin, tey develop less and less control over it until eventually tey forfeit any coice entirely. Jesus answered tem, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Wosoever committet sin is te servant of sin (Jon 8:34). Fallen man is a slave to is sinful nature, an addict wo cannot successfully control is sinful tougts and actions even wen e may want to. Te problem today is tat people believe God is wo tey tink e is, not wo e really is but wat tey tink e is. Tere is a way tat seemet rigt unto a man, but te end tereof are te ways of deat (Prov. 16:25). Enter ye in at te strait gate: for wide is te gate, and broad is te way, tat leadet to destruction, and many tere be wic go in tereat (Matt. 7:13). So if you use Galatians 5:13 as a starting point (it really starts wit Galatians 2:4) we will find tat wat Paul is really talking about as to our liberty (freedom from te law) is tis. Paul states tis liberty is freedom from being bound to law as a system of government regulating daily life, including te Old Testament ceremonies, under wic te Judaizers wanted to drag believers. e speaks about freedom from te frustrating, oppressive, condemning tyranny of a legal system tat was impossible to keep. It is te freedom of knowing tat one is accepted by God because of Crist s completed work, rater tan of knowing tat one s own insufficient merit is never enoug to please im. It is te freedom of a total cleansing tat even te godliest Old Testament saints never fully understood. Teir consciences were never completely clear, because tey knew tey could not totally and finally satisfy God s demands in te law and because te rituals and ceremonies were but outward temporary acts symbolic of a reality tey never experienced permanently. Not until te work of Crist did believers ave te sense of complete rigteousness imputed to tem, once and forever making tem rigt wit God. If te Son terefore sall make you free, ye sall be free indeed (Jon 8:36). Now, and until I die, I can rejoice tat I ave te liberty to proclaim, Let us terefore come boldly unto te trone of grace, tat we may obtain mercy, (Continued on page 228)

14 Page 226 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Gleanings (Continued from page 223) nature, and sometimes prevailing against im, and e cries out, O wretced man tat I am! wo sall deliver me from te body of tis deat? e was burdened, and e groaned being burdened. But is burden was noting external; e could triump over all is external trials, and say, None of tese tings move me. Nor was it is natural body, wic e inabited as an inconvenient tabernacle. But it was te corruption of is nature; te plague of te eart or te law in is members, warring against te law of is mind; and tis, like a dead corpse fastened to a living body, was weigty, loatsome, deadly, and a constant indrance to im. It was te consequence of Adam s sin, and is in te seat of life; and, like a flowing fountain, sends out streams of corruption, wic defile te tougts, desires, motives, plans, affections, and operations. Its parts, are te lusts of te fles working powerfully; its tendency, is to deat, or separation from God; and wile it is a part of te Cristian, e renounces it, disowns it, and says, It is no more I, but te sin tat dwellet in me. Still it bears im down to eart, inders im in every oly exercise, depresses im and sinks is spirit in gloom, unfits im for te enjoyment of te ig and oly privileges of te gospel, and causes im in bitterness of soul to cry, O wretced man tat I am! But we are not to suppose te Apostle was positively unappy, for e was not. e was delivered from guilt; and toug occasionally overcome, e was not a slave, but a son of God, by fait in Crist Jesus. Still e felt sin working, lust rising, and pollution flowing; tese tings indered im. Tey were powerful, e ated tem; tey put im to grief and pain, and as a person grieved in spirit, e groaned; as one opposed, e wrestled; as one in pain, e siged for ease; as sorrowful, e pined for comfort; as wearied, e longed for rest; as unable to deliver imself, e applied to is God; as conscious tat it would last troug life, e cried, O wretced man tat I am! Wo sall deliver me? e knew Wo would deliver im, and e tanks God for it; it is not te language of ignorance, but of impassioned desire. e longs for deliverance, and tat, because e knew tat is God ated sin, and is one ruling desire was to please God in all tings. e found also, tat is burden prevented or interrupted is fellowsip wit God; and being led away by its effects sometimes, is Fater id is face from im. is evident love to oliness ad become natural; consequently is atred to sin, in every sape and form, especially in imself, was strong and painful. e found also, tat sin dwelling in im, unfitted im for tose ig and oly duties wic devolved upon im; and indisposed im occasionally for attending to tem. It led im into evil, and gave Satan and te world a degree of power over im. All wic tings raised in is soul a burning desire for entire deliverance from tis body of deat, tis fountain of impurity, tis law in te members; and terefore e cries out, Wo sall deliver me? See, my Cristian reader, te nature and tendency of sin; it plagued, pained, indered, and caused an Apostle to call imself a wretced man. See also wat we are to expect below, even sorrow, grief, indrances, and pains; te body of deat will burden us, press us down, and cause us sometimes to long to depart and be wit Crist, wic is far better. Believer, ty case is not singular, or new; but ty experience is te experience of all te saints, even of tose wo were most igly favoured; Paul felt just as you feel, groaned as you groan, and longed for deliverance as you do now. Noting affects te true believer so painfully as sin; and wen is conduct is so correct, tat tose around im can see no cause for sorrow or complaint, e feels enoug to mourn over, on account of te sin tat dwellet in im. Wy sould a soul redeem d wit blood, Called by grace and born of God, Feel a perpetual war witin, Twix reigning grace and striving sin? Tis but to make im ev ry day From self to Jesus turn away; And tis a sign of life witin, To groan beneat a load of sin. Wo but te soul wo feels is woe, Will to te blood of sprinkling go? And seek salvation only tere, From all tat e sall feel or fear. Forum #1 (Continued from page 224) were commanded to observe a special Sabbat te day after te offering of te Passover lamb. In essence te Jews were to observe two Sabbats during te Passover week, te first one came to be referred to as an ig day because it was a special Sabbat to be observed only one day out of te year. Tis special Sabbat observed te day after Passover is clearly revealed in Exodus 12:16: And in te first day tere sall be an oly convocation, and in te sevent day tere sall be an oly convocation to you; no manner of work sall be done In TEM (empasis mine, TWR, plural pronoun indicating more tan one Sabbat was observed during Passover week)... So te first day after te Passover was observed tere was a Sabbat (Tursday) and on te normal sevent day of te week (Saturday) a Sabbat was observed. Te only difference tat I can discern between te ig day Sabbat and te regular Sabbat is tat te ig day Sabbat was observed only once a year during te Passover week, wereas te normal Sabbat was observed every week trougout te year. TOM ROSS Roger Reed 20 Ledgewood Dr. Mansfield, Oio Missionary of West Jefferson Missionary Baptist Mission 90 E. Main St. West Jefferson, Oio And if a man ave committed a sin worty of deat, and e be to be put to deat, and tou ang im on a tree is body sall not remain all nigt upon te tree, but tou salt in any wise bury im tat day; (for e tat is anged is accursed of God;) tat ty land be not defiled, wic te LORD ty God givet tee for an ineritance (Deut. 21:22-23). And on te fifteent day of te same mont is te feast of unleavened bread unto te LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In te first day ye sall ave an oly convocation: ye sall do no servile work terein (Lev. 23:6-7). (Continued on page 227)

15 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 227 Forum #1 (Continued from page 226) Tere were several tings going on ere during tis time of year and it all falls in line wit te propesies and te promises of God. I really can not do any better tan wat A.W. Pink as to say on te subject. Te Jews terefore, because it was te preparation, tat te bodies sould not remain upon te cross on te Sabbat day (for tat sabbat day was an ig day), besougt Pilate tat teir legs migt be broken, and tat tey migt be taken away (Jon 19:31). Te day on wic te Saviour was crucified was an ig day: it was on te eve of te regular weekly sabbat and also of te first day of te feast of unleavened bread, from wic te Jews reckoned te seven weeks to Pentecost; te same day was also te one appointed for te presentation and offering of te seaf of new corn, so tat it possessed a treble solemnity. ence te Jews urgency ere - te breaking of te legs would serve te double purpose of astening and ensuring deat. Beind tis motive and act of te Jews, zealous for te Law (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) (wic you ave read above), we may beold, again, te over-ruling and of God. Seemingly, Pilate would ave allowed te body of Crist to remain on te cross, peraps for several days, after e was dead. But te Lord Jesus ad declared e would be buried and tat e would be in te grave tree days. For te fulfillment of tis e must be buried te same day tat e died; terefore did God see to it tat no word of is failed! Once again were te Lord s enemies unconsciously executing te Divine counsels. Broter Pink ad suc an insigt and a way wit words tat it would be futile for me to do better. I want to point out also tat tis was not only a Sabbat, and a Sabbat in te Passover week, but it was a day wen all te people appeared and presented temselves before te Lord in te temple, and te seaf of te firstfruits was offered up, as mentioned by Broter Pink. It was a very celebrated day. Jon Gill states, It is in te original text, it was a great day of te Sabbat. Just to mention also, te Jews urgency was no work was to be done as stated above (Lev. 23:6-7). My only problem wit tese two great writers is tat tey do not actually give te day tat tis ig day was on, tis seems to be te consensus wit most writers. I ave exausted my researc to find most writers ave not elaborated on tis particular passage of Scripture to give us an exact day of te week unless it was to sow tat Jesus died on Friday, tus supporting te Good Friday teory, wic I do not believe. So I am incorporating two more writers to sed some ligt to te actual day tis ig day was on! Wat it comes down to is tis, you eiter believe Crist died on Friday or Wednesday to wic I believe te latter. Before I continue let te reader understand tere is muc to be studied ere, and because of space it is impossible to lay down every proof. So I would encourage te questioner and you, dear reader, to exaust your study to come to te rigt conclusion. But now allow us to ear from two oter writers on te subject. First, I would like to quote B.. Carroll wo I feel needs no introduction. Broter Carroll, toug e, as oters, does not give an exact day makes tis statement concerning (Jon 19:31), Te Jews, terefore, because it was te preparation, tat te bodies sould not remain upon te cross on te sabbat (for te day of tat sabbat was a ig day) asked of Pilate tat teir legs migt be broken, and tat tey migt be taken away. A sabbat did not necessarily mean te sevent day. Any ig day could be a sabbat, and te Jews wanted tose wo were crucified to die soon. A crucified man migt linger several days. So Pilate, out of deference to te Jewis law, commanded teir legs to be broken, so as to bring about an earlier deat. Now, wen tey came to break te legs of Jesus, to teir surprise, e was already dead. Tere was noting in te mere pysical anguis in te crucifixion to bring about te deat of Jesus Crist. e died under te and of God. e died by te stroke of te sword of te law. Te point I want to make ere is Broter Carroll states, A sabbat did not necessarily mean te sevent day. Any ig day could be a sabbat, and te Jews wanted tose wo were crucified to die soon. Again, e does not give us a certain day of te week, but witout doubt Crist did die on tis ig day. Te second writer I would like to quote wic sould sum tis all up for te exact day our Lord died on, wic was a ig day is R. Belanger. e states, According to our Lord s propecy of Mattew 12:40, seventy-two ours would transpire from te time of is deat, burial and resurrection. Te keys to te confusion over tis lies in two places: 1. ow many Sabbats were observed at tis time? 2. Wen did te day begin? First of all, te Bible and te Jews reckon a new day to begin at 6:00 p.m. in our evening. Tis is based upon te statements of Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, etc., tat te evening and te morning were te first day. Evening being te start of te new day as it was in te beginning of creation because ligt came fort out of darkness as God spoke it into existence (Gen. 1:4); From Mattew 27:46 we observe tat it was te nint our, or 3:00 p.m. in te afternoon, tat is, tree ours away from te start of te new day, wen te Lord willingly gave up is eartly life. Because a Sabbat was to approac at 6:00 p.m., te start of te new day wic would be Tursday, te Lord s body must be removed from te cross and before te new day or Sabbat. Wat are we leading to? In order to find a complete 72 our period in tese occurrences we must conclude tat te Sabbat mentioned ere was not a Saturday Sabbat. It is, in fact, referred to as te Jews preparation day in Jon 19:42. In Jon 19:14 it is called te preparation of te Passover. Again, in Jon 18:28 we read of te coming Passover observance. Tus, tis Passover was a Sabbat because it was te first day of te Passover. In Numbers 28:18 we read, In te first day (of te Passover observance) sall be an oly convocation; ye sall do no manner of servile work terein. Work was forbidden. It was terefore an ig Sabbat or special Sabbat wic began at 6:00 p.m. or tree ours after our Lord ad surrendered is life. Te Lord Jesus Crist was ten crucified on a Wednesday and was placed in te tomb prior to te dawning of te new day of Tursday at 6:00 p.m. Tis would be our Wednesday evening by today s reckoning. Wat we know as Saturday nigt, 6:00 p.m., was near te time te Lord Jesus Crist arose from te grave. Tis (Continued on page 228)

16 Page 228 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Forum #1 (Continued from page 227) was te beginning of te first day of te new week or Sunday. Only tis answers to a complete 72 ours! ere we ave a Tursday Sabbat, a Friday, and a Saturday Sabbat. Tis is wy te women did not go to te tomb until early on te first day of te week (Matt. 28:1). At te time te women saw te empty tomb and te angels, our Lord ad already been risen from te dead for about twelve ours. Well, tere it is! Tis is ow I see and believe it. I ope te questioner will be satisfied wit my answer, and if not I am sure my fellow forum pastor bretren will ave a far superior answer tan I ave given. Dear reader, let me close wit one last tougt, weter you agree wit tis answer or not is not really up to me because only te oly Spirit can reveal te trut to you. But wat I would like you to see is tis, do you not find it disturbing and eart wrencing tat te Jews were about to ave a great celebration and present temselves in te temple just aving murdered te only begotten Son of God? O te depravity of man, and to tink we were tere as well. Beold te Lamb of God, wic taket away te sin of te world. God Bless! ROGER REED Forum #2 (Continued from page 225) and find grace to elp in time of need (eb. 4:16). I am not bound by te ceremonial laws. Use not liberty for an occasion to te fles. God Bless! ROGER REED Mike DeWitt Sr. PO Box 950 Springfield, OR Pastor Parkway Landmark Baptist Curc PO Box 950 Springfield, OR For, bretren, ye ave been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to te fles, but by love serve one anoter (Gal. 5:13). True liberty is living as we sould, not as we please. James as a lot to say about liberty, like James 1:25. In fact, te wole of te book encourages te Elect to practice Cristian liberty. James, also, on te oter and, discourages a grudging attitude towards oters and reminds us of our limits concerning our liberty. Terefore to im tat knowet to do good, and doet it not, to im it is sin (James 4:17). MIKE DEWITT Tom Ross 6339 County Rd. 15 Sout Point, O Pastor Mt. Pleasant Baptist Curc 6939 County Rd. 15 Cesapeake, O Galatians 5:13 declares: For, bretren, ye ave been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to te fles, but by love serve one anoter. I believe it is important to define wat Cristian liberty really is from te oly Scriptures. We will start wit our text and determine wat Cristian liberty is not. Tis new found freedom in Crist is not to be used to feed or indulge in flesly lusts tat war against te soul. Tere is no freedom or liberty in te works of te fles as named in Galatians 5: Some would ave you believe tat Cristian liberty is te freedom to do watever we please, including unrestrained indulgence in sin simply because we are forgiven in Crist. Tis is a lie of Satanic origin and promoted by antinomians. Anyone wo is truly saved knows tere is no freedom or liberty in sin, only bondage and guilt. Jesus declared as muc in Jon 8:34-36:...verily, verily, I say unto you, Wosoever committet sin is te servant of sin. And te servant abidet not in te ouse forever: but te Son abidet ever. If te Son terefore sall make you free, ye sall be free indeed. Real Cristian liberty means tat troug fait in te finised work of Jesus Crist we are justified and forgiven of te guilt and penalty of our sins. We ave been liberated from te condemnation of te law and are now free for te first time in our lives to please God as demonstrated by love, obedience and service tat brings fort fruit. Jesus set fort te connection between pleasing te Fater and real freedom in Jon 8:29-32: And e tat sent me is wit me: te Fater at not left me alone; for I always do tose tings tat please im. As e spake tese words, many believed on im. Ten said Jesus to tose Jews wic believed on im, If ye continue in my word, ten are ye my disciples indeed; And ye sall know te trut, and te trut sall make you free. Real Cristian liberty means tat aving obeyed te saving trut of te Gospel, we are free to serve God acceptably and bear fruit tat glorifies im. Before we were saved we ad absolutely no ability to bring fort fruit unto God. We were spiritually dead, controlled by Satan, in bondage to te fles, and incapable of pleasing God (Rom. 8:7-8). Romans 6:17-22 expresses tis trut beautifully: But God be tanked, tat ye were te servants of sin, but ye ave obeyed from te eart tat form of doctrine wic was delivered unto you. Being ten made free from sin, ye became servants of rigteousness. I speak after te manner of men because of te infirmity of your fles: for as ye ave yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to rigteousness unto oliness. For wen ye were te servants of sin, ye were free from rigteousness. Wat fruit ad ye ten in tose tings wereof ye are now asamed? For te end of tose tings is deat. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God ye ave your fruit unto oliness, and te end everlasting life. We are free to love God, serve im, obey im, and bring fort fruit unto im! We can never ave too muc of tat kind of Cristian liberty! Let us serve God, not ourselves or our flesly lusts. May God be pleased to produce in us te fruit of te Spirit and oliness wic is te essence of real spiritual freedom (Gal. 5:22-25). TOM ROSS Mattew Stepp 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Pastor Big Creek Baptist Curc 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Te two definitions for liberty are: 1) free to do; unfettered and 2) free from oppression. But essentially, tey come down to (Continued on page 229)

17 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 229 Forum #2 (Continued from page 228) te same ting, do tey not! Te only way one can ave te first, is if tey ave te second! Sela! Tink about it! Before we decide wat Cristian liberty is, let us inquire into God s liberty and get a basis of understanding of wat te Bible s answers will be for us. God, imself is free (at liberty) to do watever e wants to do! But, at te same time, e is also bound to is oly nature, in tat e can not do everyting or anyting, unlimited- e cannot lie, ceat or steal! Te only way to properly define God s liberty, is to say tat e can do anyting and everyting e desires to do, because God will only desire wat is good, perfect and oly! Sela! Tink about it! e is at liberty to do noting else. A Cristian also as been given a new nature, but problems occur because, unlike God, we ave an old nature also. For, bretren, ye ave been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to te fles, but by love serve one anoter (Gal. 5:13). God could never abuse is liberty, but wat about us? If we use our Cristian liberty to benefit our fles, we migt find ourselves doing questionable tings and crossing te line from oliness to ungodliness. Wit our basic definition of liberty, tere really is no suc ting as too muc liberty, is tere? We all ave te same liberty from sin (oppression) in te blood of Jesus Crist. We all ave te same liberty (now) to do watever rigteous and good works we desire to do! No one, particular Cristian as acquired more liberty from te sacrifice at Calvary tan any oter Cristian- so wy te difference in te exercise (or abuse) of liberty in our lives? We ave to look witin ourselves, now. Not typically a pleasant endeavor, even after we ave been saved. You see, te problem wit te abuse of Cristian liberty occurs (not because we ave too muc liberty, but because we do not all love God te same amount. Tere was a certain creditor wic ad two debtors: te one owed five undred pence, and te oter fifty. And wen tey ad noting to pay, e frankly forgave tem bot. Tell me terefore, wic of tem will love im most? Simon answered and said, I suppose tat e, to wom e forgave most. And e (Crist) said unto im, Tou ast rigtly judged (Luke 7:41-43). Our Lord said tat Simon was rigt! Some will love te Redeemer more tan oters, and it is based, again, not on te absence of te debt (liberty), but te magnitude of te forgiveness! ow far down in tat miry clay were we stuck, wen e freed us? Sela! Tink about it! Deep, deep? Or just 50 pence? And e turned to te woman, and said unto Simon, Seest tou tis woman? I entered into tine ouse, tou gavest me no water for my feet: but se at wased my feet wit tears, and wiped tem wit te airs of er ead. Tou gavest me no kiss: but tis woman since te time I came in at not ceased to kiss my feet. My ead wit oil tou didst not anoint: but tis woman at anointed my feet wit ointment. Werefore I say unto tee, er sins, wic are many, are forgiven; for se loved muc: but to wom little is forgiven, te same lovet little (Luke 7:44-47). Bot Simon and te woman ad liberty to was te Lord s feet, but only one exercised tat liberty. Bot could ave kissed te Lord, but only one did. Bot ad access to ointments, but only one cose to anoint te Master. Beloved, I do not really tink God saved Mary from more grievous sins tan Simon. Simon just tougt e did, and tat perception as colored is logic and is love for te Saviour! Beloved Reader, I tink so many of us miss te point of liberty! We ave been made free! But free to do wat? Tou salt love te Lord ty God wit all ty eart, and wit all ty soul, and wit all ty mind. ow muc do we desire to empty ourselves from flesly carnality and embrace spiritual maturity? Carnal Cristians use teir liberty for an occasion to feed teir fles and starve teir spirit! Many are te questions posed to teir pastors: Can I do tis and still be a Cristian? ow muc of tis/ tat? Noting wrong wit tis, is tere? Te real question tends to be unasked: Is tere anyting rigt wit tis/tat? ow oly can I live and still be considered a resident of tis world? Tat is Cristian liberty! Sela! Tink about it! MATTEW STEPP Readers of te BBB are urged to submit religious news items wic tey may read in teir local paper or some oter publication. In sending tese please give te name of te publication as well as te date it was printed. We will not be able to print all wic are submitted, but we welcome any item you may feel we sould read. Send tem to Te Berea Baptist Banner, PO Box 39, Mantacie, MS Florida Judge Strikes Down Marriage Amendment (WNS)--A federal judge on Aug. 21 declared unconstitutional Florida s ban on same-sex marriage. Repeating an argument made by many oter federal judges, Judge Robert L. inckle in Tallaassee said te constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, approved by Florida voters in 2008, violated te equal protection clause of te 14t Amendment. inckle stayed is decision until te Supreme Court rules on te issue, wic it is almost certain to do in New York Farmers Ordered to ost Gay Weddings (WNS)--An administrative law judge in New York as found a couple guilty of discrimination because tey refused to allow two lesbians to rent teir farm for a wedding ceremony. Te judge ordered te couple to pay $13,000 in fines and damages and undergo anti-discrimination re-education. Robert and Cyntia Gifford own and operate Liberty Ridge Farm, a 100-acre property in Scagticoke, N.Y., about 20 miles nort of Albany. For 15 years, tey ave operated a family business renting various areas of te farm for public events, including weddings, parties, corporate meetings, summer camps, and an annual fall festival. Te Giffords ave 60 days to appeal te decision. Is Common Core Losing te Public Perception (Continued on page 230)

18 Page 230 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Bible & te Newspaper (Continued from page 229) Test? (WNS)--Te education standards called Common Core ave been adopted in more tan 40 states, but according to a Pi Delta Kappa (PDK)/Gallup poll released in August, te majority of Americans oppose tem. By te end of 2012, all but a andful of states ad adopted Common Core. But te 2013 PDK/ Gallup poll sowed 62 percent of Americans ad never eard of te standards already in place. Public awareness as grown since ten, and so as public concern. Eigty-one percent of poll participants tis year ad eard at least a little about Common Core, and 60 percent said tey don t want it in teir classrooms. Women s College Redefines Women (WNS)--An all-women s college in Sout adley, Mass., as expanded its definition of women wit a new admissions policy tis week. Mount olyoke College President Lynn Pasquerella announced in er convocation speec tat te scool would accept openly transgender students, including students wo were born male but identify temselves as women. Te policy cange comes after Mills College in Oakland, Calif., announced tis summer it would accept selfidentified women into its allwomen s scool te first singlesex college in te United States to publicly establis suc a policy. California: All ealt Insurance Must Cover Abortion (WNS)--ealt insurance companies in California may not refuse to cover te cost of abortions, state insurance officials ave ruled. Te decision is a reversal of policy stemming from te decision by two Catolic universities not to fund elective abortions troug teir employee ealt plans. Altoug te federal Affordable Care Act does not compel employers to provide workers wit ealt insurance tat includes abortion coverage, California s Department of Managed ealt Care (DMC) Director Micelle Rouillard said in a letter to seven insurance companies on Friday tat te state Constitution and a 1975 state law proibits tem from selling group plans tat exclude te procedure. Rouillard said er department ad erroneously approved or did not object to a small number of ealt insurance policies tat excluded abortions. Cruz walks out on gala to protest anti-israel ecklers (WNS)--Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walked off te stage at a gala dinner for Middle Eastern Cristians after some in te crowd booed is pro- Israel remarks. I told te attendees tat tose wo ate Israel also ate America, tat tose wo ate Jews also ate Cristians, and tat anyone wo ates Israel and te Jewis people is not following te teacings of Crist, Cruz said in a statement after te speec. e was speaking at a dinner osted by te recently founded group In Defense of Cristians (IDC), wic seeks to call attention to te persecution of Cristians in te Middle East. Wen te ecklers would not quiet down, Cruz reportedly said, If you will not stand wit Israel and te Jews, ten I will not stand wit you and walked off te stage. IDC as denounced te disruption, saying a small group of political opportunists caused it. Federal Judge: Louisiana as a Rigt to Ban Gay Marriage (WNS)--A federal judge in New Orleans became te first in te nation to upold traditional marriage laws on Sept. 3, ruling Louisiana as a rigt to regulate marriage as it sees fit. Louisiana bans same-sex marriage and does not recognize suc unions formed in oter states. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman said te couples callenging te laws failed to prove tey violated te U.S. Constitution s equal protection or due process provisions. Te couples also argued te state s laws violate te First Amendment because tey can t file joint tax returns, wic would allow tem to access federal tax deductions. Te Louisiana couples, represented by Forum on Equality, plan to appeal to te 5t U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Traditional Marriage Laws Fall in Two More States (WNS)--A tree-judge panel of te 7t U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously struck down traditional marriage provisions in Wisconsin and Indiana. A constitutional amendment approved in 2006 by voters limited marriage in Wisconsin to eterosexual couples, wile state law did te same in Indiana. Neiter state recognized same-sex marriages performed in oter states. During oral arguments in August, Ronald Reagan appointee Judge Ricard Posner said bans on same-sex marriage amounted to ate and savage discrimination. Posner continued is extreme language in te court s opinion on te case, stating, omosexuals are among te most stigmatized, misunderstood, and discriminatedagainst minorities in te istory of te world. Te 7t Circuit is te tird federal appeals court to reverse state laws on marriage. Louisiana Abortionists Can Practice Witout ospital Support, For Now (WNS)--A federal judge on Aug. 30 temporarily blocked enforcement of a Louisiana law tat requires abortionists to ave admitting privileges at nearby ospitals. Tree of te state s five abortion facilities filed suit, represented by te Center for Reproductive Rigts (CRR). Te law requires all Louisiana abortionists to obtain admitting privileges at ospitals witin 30 miles of teir respective facilities. Violators risk losing teir licenses and a $4,000 fine. Te restraining order allows abortionists to continue to practice wile tey seek admitting privileges. District Judge Jon degravelles said e will old a conference in 30 days to evaluate te progress toward obtaining admitting privileges and set a court date for is ruling on a preliminary injunction. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS Cuba Cracks Down on Cristians (WNS)--Cuba s communist government as increased its oppression of religious institutions, according to a Cristian watcdog group, wit reports of religious liberty violations almost doubling in te last six monts. According to a new report from Cristian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), tere were 170 religious freedom violations from te start of 2014 troug mid-july. In 2013, tere were only 180 incidents documented. Tis year s violations included government autorities beating pastors and lay workers, dragging politically dissident women away from Sunday services, and enforcing arbitrary detentions, curc closures, and demolitions, CSW said. Since 1959, te Cuban government as planted informants witin curces and religious groups to report anyting critical of te state or deemed counter-revolutionary.

19 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 231 From te Pen of a Country Preacer Milburn R. Cockrell ( ) Te Delay of Divine Justice Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, terefore te eart of te sons of men is fully set in tem to do evil (Eccl. 8:11). Sin is in itself a crimson dye. Its guilt is greatly increased by its abuse of divine patience. Some people sin against divine mercy, oping God will eiter pardon teir sins at te last moment, or simply overlook tem in some manner. Suc a person is sadly deceived and certain of eternal torment. TE DELAY OF RETRIBUTION Te Moral Governor of te universe does not always immediately punis sin. We are often surprised and startled tat te most flagrant sin is not swiftly subjected to God s wrat. We wonder wy a fire from God does not devour te sinner as it did Nadab and Abiu (Lev. 10:1-2). We marvel tat e or se is not struck dead on te spot as Ananias and Sappira (Acts 5:1-10). We are dumbfounded ow suc an one can avoid collision wit te civil government. Wy can families advance to onor and wealt wo are lacking in moral caracter? We are amazed ow even nations for centuries can persevere in injustice and violence, wile growing in power and acquiring renown. God in is infinite mercy allows even te worst of sinners to continue to live and even prosper in tis world. Te blaspemer is not smitten by deat te moment e utters blaspemy. Te sabbatbreakers are spared week after week. Te murderer is not instantly put into te electric cair. Te tyrant is not speedily detroned. Te drunkard is not driven from society wic e disgraces. Te adulterer and adulteress retain social respect and escape venereal disease. Te sexual pervert does not suddenly die wit AIDS. Te ypocrite is not exposed and expelled from te curc. Looking at te context, we can see some wo appear for a time to avoid vengeance and retribution. Verse 9 mentions te tyrant wo rules wit a rod of iron, oppressing te poor and defenseless: A ll tis ave I seen, and applied my eart unto every work tat is done under te sun: tere is a time werein one rulet over anoter to is own urt. It would seem as if eaven eeded not te groanings of te innocent, yet unavenged. ypocrisy is cited in verse 10: And so I saw te wicked buried, wo ad come and gone from te place of te oly, and tey were forgotten in te city were tey ad so done: tis is also vanity. Tese dare to insult God in is own ouse, yet tey remain in good standing in te place tey ave profaned. TE WY OF TIS Wy does God allow tis to appen? Te prosperity of te wicked and te delay in divine retribution is a great problem even to God s own elect as many Scriptures prove (Ps. 73). Te full reason for tis we will understand better by and by. First, te Bible teaces tat God is long-suffering wit te wicked: Te LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing te guilty, visiting te iniquity of te faters upon te cildren unto te tird and fourt generation (Num. 14:18). Wicked men are permitted to enjoy a large measure of God s forbearance and to escape te retribution due teir sins. God waited 120 years before e sent te flood upon te world of te ungodly (I Peter 3:20). Te Moral Governor of te universe endures wit muc longsuffering te vessels of wrat fitted to destruction (Rom. 9:22). Second, God gives even te impenitent space to repent. Of te Jezebel in te New Testament it is written: And I gave er space to repent of er fornication, and se repented not (Rev. 2:21). By giving te sinner time and space to repent, God leaves im witout excuse for is wicked course. A GREAT INSTANCE OF UMAN IMPIETY Because judgment for sin does not speedily fall upon men and women, tey pervert te longsuffering of God into a privilege to sin. Tey are convinced tat God does not concern imself wit small particulars of uman existence, and tat e will not terefore visit tem wit is penalties. Some say tat God is too kind and good to punis te cildren of men for following te bent of teir own nature. Sinners tus convince temselves tey may safely go on in teir evil course. And it came to pass, wen e earet te words of tis curse, tat e bless imself in is eart, saying, I sall ave peace, toug I walk in te imagination of mine eart, to add drunkenness to tirst (Deut. 29:19). e assumes tat God s forbearance to punis sin is proof tat e does not intend to do so. To suc a person te moral government of God becomes an empty prase. Because of te delay in divine justice, men sin abitually. Job 15:16 says: ow muc more abominable and filty is man, wic drinket iniquity like water? Defiant sinners love sin and are greedy of it as a tirsty man is of water. Te more men sin, te more tey become confirmed in tis abit. Men sin until tey become accustomed to do evil (Jer. 13:23). Because tere is not in all cases swift judgment on wrong doing, men sin deliberately: Wo rejoice to do evil, and deligt in te frowardness of te wicked (Prov. 2:14). It would be well if men never sinned except troug ignorance, but suc is not te case. Men form scemes for te accomplisment of sinful purposes. Tey encourage temselves in an evil matter: tey commune of laying snares privily; tey say, Wo sall see tem? Tey searc out iniquities... (Ps. 64:5-6). Tey know teir desires are sinful, yet tey gratify tem. Wo knowing te judgment of God, tat tey wic commit suc tings are worty of deat, not only do te same, but ave pleasure in tem tat do tem (Rom. 1:32). Because tere is a delay in divine retribution, men sin witout restraint: Te kings of te eart set temselves, and te rulers take counsel togeter, against te LORD, and against is anointed, saying, Let us break (Continued on page 232)

20 Page 232 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Delay in Divine (Continued from page 231) teir bands asunder, and cast away teir cords from us (Ps. 2:2-3). A regard to reputation or personal interest may impose some restraints on some people. A fear of ell prevents te gratification of some desires. But few are kept from evil, like Josep, by te fear of God (Gen. 39:9). All men by nature are antinomians--- rejecters of moral restraints. Tey refuse to be bound by te laws of God or society. Tey seek to do wat is rigt in teir own eyes (Judg. 21:25). Because of divine forbearance, men sin witout remorse: Were tey asamed wen tey ad committed abomination? nay, tey were not at all asamed, neiter could tey blus: terefore sall tey fall among tem tat fall: in te time of teir visitation tey sall be cast down, sait te LORD ( Jer. 8:12). Men stifle te conviction of conscience by bad company and worldly amusement. Tey ave teir conscience seared wit a ot iron (I Tim. 4:2). Tey are past feeling and ave given temselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness wit greediness (Ep. 4:19). A DEPRAVED EART Te patience of God gives te unrenewed man courage to do more evil. Te text says tat te eart of te sons of men is fully set in tem to do evil. Teir earts are so wicked tat tey samefully abuse te forbearance of God. Instead of being led to repentance, tey are confirmed in teir impenitency (Rom. 2:4-5). People and preacers are determined to deny te doctrine of te total depravity of man in is natural state. Tey say tat men and women are good earted. But a eart fully persuaded to do evil is not a good eart. Jeremia 17:9 says: Te eart is deceitful above all tings, and desperately wicked: wo can know it? Proverbs 10:20 declares: Te eart of te wicked is little wort (Prov. 10:20). It is written in Proverbs 28:26: e tat trustet in is own eart is a fool. Ecclesiastes 9:3 tells us: Yea, also te eart of te sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in teir eart wile tey live, and after tat tey go to te dead. Te eart is te seat of tougt and te prime mover of all actions (Est. 7:5). In Proverbs 4:23 it is written: Keep ty eart wit all diligence; for out of it are te issues of life. Jesus taugt on tis subject: O generation of vipers, ow can ye, being evil, speak good tings? for out of te abundance of te eart te mout speaket. A good man out of te good treasure of te eart bringet fort good tings: and an evil man out of te evil treasure bringet fort evil tings (Matt. 12:34-35). Wat te sinner needs is for God to give im a new eart: A new eart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put witin you: and I will take away te stony eart out of your fles, and I will give you an eart of fles (Ezek. 36:26). Te Lord promises in Jeremia 24:7: And I will give tem an eart to know me, tat I am te LORD. Wen God gives te sinner a eart to know im, e will no longer ave a eart fully persuaded to do evil. Te worst ting tat God can do for sinners is to give tem up unto teir own earts lust (Ps. 81:12). A DECEIVED EART Since divine retribution is delayed te sinner tinks tat God is altogeter suc an one as imself (Ps. 50:21), but e is wrong. Ultimately God will reprove im and set is sins in order before te eyes of is justice (Ps. 50:22). Proverbs 2:22 tells us: But te wicked sall be cut off from te eart, and te transgressors sall be rooted out of it. Te wise man said: Toug a sinner do evil an undred times, and is days be prolonged, yet surely I know tat it sall be well wit tem tat fear God, wic fear before im: But it sall not be well wit te wicked, neiter sall e prolong is days, wic are as a sadow; because e fearet not before God (Eccl. 8:12-13). A man is a fool, if e tinks tat sin will not expose im to te irremediable vengeance as te Bible treatens. At first a sinner commits evil wit a timid eart and a trembling and. Seeing tat by one evil act e is not struck dead on te spot, e doubts God will be true to is Word (Ps. 10:13; Luke 12:45). Since no judgment comes speedily, e feels safe to continue in sin. And it come to pass, wen e earet te words of tis curse, tat e bless imself in is eart, saying, I sall ave peace, toug I walk in te imagination of mine eart, to add drunkenness to tirst (Deut. 29:19). aving tasted tat sin is sweet and deligtful, it becomes frequent and abitual. Ten is eart is fully set in im, witout reluctance or remorse, to do evil. Tis being te curse of God upon im: Te curse of te LORD is in te ouse of te wicked (Prov. 3:33). JUDGMENT WILL COME God is not an unconcerned spectator of sin. e as appointed a day for te revelation of is rigteous judgment. e as already pronounced te sentence against evil doers: Te soul tat sinnet, it sall die (Ezek. 18:4). But to date te Lord as not executed tis sentence, but tis is no proof tat e never will. Te penalty wic God attaces to sin is not an empty treat, a vain terror eld over te race. A just retribution will come at last. Divine judgment comes slowly, but it comes surely! Woe unto te wicked! it sall be ill wit im: for te reward of is ands sall be given im (Isa. 3:11). Te sentence may not be executed speedily, but it is passed, and it will in God s time be carried out. Te godly man must not be perplexed by te mystery of divine providence, altoug e may be unable to reconcile wat e sees in society wit is religious convictions. Te Lord reigns, and it sall be well wit tem tat fear God. Very soon it sall be ill wit te wicked. Tis e must take by fait. PRACTICAL LESSONS 1. Tere is a great contrast between te rigteous and te wicked (Mal. 3:18). Tis distinction eclipses all oters. Te uprigt man does wat is rigt from a desire to act in conformity wit te will of God and to enjoy is approval. e abstains from evil because it is contrary to God s moral order, and because it is a grief to te Savior s eart. But te self-seeking, pleasure-loving man looks only to te consequences of is action. e evades painful duty and goes after carnal tings. e is embolden to do evil, believing sin entails no evil consequences. 2. Te abuse of divine clemency is a sadder sign of depravity tan te violation of te divine commandment. To trample on God s mercy is a greater wickedness tan to break is moral law. 3. Judgment delayed is not (Continued on page 233)

21 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 233 Delay in Divine (Continued from page 232) judgment abandoned. We want to see penalty pursue crime witout any interval. We are afraid te criminal may escape, or tat we will be taken from te scene by deat before e is punised. God is not urried by suc considerations. e is an eternal being, and te guilty can never get beyond is reac. is long forbearance is no proof of te absence of a ruling and over te affairs of men. 4. Men merely seem to escape divine retribution. Even wen we see no outward, visible evil, tere are inward spiritual evils. Sin always brings suffering and same, and its final end is deat. 5. ow foolis for men to dream tere is little evil in sin. Tis is a fatal delusion. God will soon undeceive tis blind, infatuated world. Epesians 5:6 says: Let no man deceive you wit vain words: for because of tese tings comet te wrat of God upon te cildren of disobedience. 6. ow great is te folly of an emboldened sinner! A man is mad to continue in sin wen eternal torment is certain in te end. Wen a certain measure of iniquity is filled up by a sinner, ten must come wrat to te uttermost. It is written in I Tessalonians 2:16: Forbidding us to speak to te Gentiles tat tey migt be saved, to fill up teir sins alway: for te wrat is come upon tem to te uttermost. 7. Tremble lest you exaust divine patience. Wen you do, noting can avert te divine vengeance. Now is te day of salvation. May it be tat te longsuffering of God may result in your salvation (II Pet. 3:15). CELLBLOCK TO CELLBLOCK By David G. offman Encouragement and tougts from a prisoner to oter prisoners and readers. Fear none of tose tings wic tou salt suffer: beold, te devil sall cast some of you into prison, tat ye may be tried (Rev. 2:10). T. U. L. I. P. Greetings, grace, and peace to you, dear reader! I know it as been a long time since you ave eard from me, and I apologize for te iatus. A few monts ago I was transferred to a new unit. A unit unlike te unit I ave been on for te last seven years. So it took me a little wile to get acclimated. I am just now getting on an even keel. I am back, owever, and sould be in tese pages regularly for te foreseeable future. To catc you up a bit, I finally finised my Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts degree. I am te baker at te Regional Medical Facility at my unit and enjoy working in te air conditioned kitcen. I left off in te middle of a series on te Doctrines of Grace and will pick up were I left off. So witout furter delay I will be talking about Irresistible Grace tis mont: Irresistible Grace, also called by some, Effectual Calling, is te call wereby God brings te elect to imself troug an experience of grace. All wo are called will come to te Lord. Ty people sall be willing in te day of ty power... (Ps. 110:3). All tat te Fater givet me ( Jesus) sall come to me; and im tat comet to me I will in no wise cast out (Jon 6:37). But te God of all grace, wo at called us unto is eternal glory by Crist Jesus, after tat ye ave suffered a wile, make you perfect, stablis, strengten, settle you (I Peter 5:10). And you at e (God) quickened, wo were dead in trespasses and sins (Ep. 2:1). Even wen we were dead in sins, at quickened us togeter wit Crist, (by grace ye are saved) Ep. 2:5). Te call is of God te Fater: No man can come to me ( Jesus), except te Fater wic at sent me draw im... (Jon 6:44). For we are is (God s) workmansip, created in Crist Jesus unto good works, wic God at before ordained tat we sould walk in tem (Ep. 2:10). Te call is of God te Son: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Te our is coming, and now is, wen te dead sall ear te voice of te Son of God: and tey tat ear sall live (Jon 5:25). And wen e ( Jesus) tus ad spoken, e cried wit a loud voice, Lazarus, come fort. And e tat was dead came fort... (Jon 11:43-44). Te call is of God te Spirit: Te wind blowet were it listet, and tou earest te sound tereof, but canst not tell wence it comet, and witer it goet: so is every one tat is born of te Spirit (Jon 3:8). It is te Spirit tat quickenet; te fles profitet noting: te words tat I ( Jesus) speak unto you, tey are spirit, and tey are life (Jon 6:63). So as we can see, te entire Godead is involved in te calling of lost sinners to salvation. But just wo are te called? We are told in te Scriptures to preac to te entire world. But tis preacing is only effective for God s elect, wom e cose in imself before te foundation of te world (Ep. 1:4). We are told to preac to all because we do not know wo te elect are. But God uses te foolisness of preacing to effectually call te elect to imself. e wo as ears to ear let im ear. And we know tat all tings work togeter for good to tem tat love God, to tem wo are te called according to is purpose. For wom e did foreknow, e also did predestinate to be conformed to te image of is Son, tat e migt be te firstborn among many bretren. Moreover wom e did predestinate, tem e also called: and wom e called, tem e also justified: and wom e justified, tem e also glorified. Wat sall we ten say to tese tings? If God be for us, wo can be against us (Rom. 8:28-31)? Now tat we know wat te call is, wo does te calling, and wo are te called---wat is te evidence of te call? 1. A sense of sin: Blessed are tey tat mourn: for tey sall be comforted (Matt. 5:4). 2. A unger and tirst: Blessed are tey wic do unger and tirst after rigteousness: for tey sall be filled (Jon 5:6). 3. Becomes a believer: Verily, verily, I say unto you, e tat earet my word, and believet on im tat sent me, at everlasting life, and sall not come into condemnation; but is passed from deat unto life (Continued on page 234)

22 Page 234 Te Berea Baptist Banner October 5, 2014 Cellblock to (Continued from page 233) (Jon 5:24). 4. Display te fruits of te Spirit: Te fruit of te Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, fait, meekness, temperance: against suc tere is no law (Gal. 5:22-23). Tis, dear reader, is by no means an exaustive study of irresistible grace, or te effectual calling. And any errors of judgment or tougt are wolly my own. If any of my free-world readers wis to correspond you can write me at: David G. offman, #809805, 264 FM 3478, untsville, TX Until next time, dear reader, may te God of all grace keep you and bless you above and beyond your wildest imaginations. Te Cristian and Tattoos Fads come and go in our modern American society. Styles of cloting, soes, air, etc. often cange. Even medical ideas come and go. Te same is true wit religious fads among professing Cristians. Tere was a time wen sermons were printed and sold and read by most people. Tey were discussed in omes, in business places, and even in drinking establisments. Evidence: te Penny Pulpit publications of yesteryear. Today most Americans seldom ear a sermon and teir Britis counterparts even more seldom. By Curtis Pug of Poteau, Oklaoma Rigt now tattoos are a fad. And just like cloting fads, some professing Cristians are running after te tattoo fad. And in tis day of feel good religion successoriented preacers dare not risk offending people by taking a stand on any subject. As followers of te Lamb, wat attitude sould God s born-again people take toward te subject of tattoos? Te Bible is not silent on te matter of disfigurement of te uman body. In te Old Testament God proibited te Israelites from doing suc tings. e said, Ye sall not make any cuttings in your fles for te dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am te LORD (Lev. 19:28). Young s literal translation translates for te dead wit te words for te soul. Most commentators agree tat te cuttings made were indeed signs of mourning among te pagans in te midst of wom Israel dwelt. It may be tat at least some of te tattoos or printed marks were also related to tis practice. Tey most certainly were pagan. Some pagans probably tattooed temselves in memory of loved ones eiter living or dead - wile oters were tattooed to demonstrate teir devotion to a particular pagan god or goddess. Pagan soldiers sometimes marked temselves wit tattoos identifying te general under wom tey served. But God s national people, Israel, was proibited from suc practices. Tat is abundantly clear! Te New Testament also proibits anyting connected wit idols. Jon wrote: Little cildren, keep yourselves from idols. Amen (I Jon 5:21). If keeping ourselves from idols is not important to God, wy did te oly Spirit guide Jon to write tese words? Aside from te danger of diseases being spread by tattoos and te unknown long-term medical effects of tattoo inks in te body, te question arises: is it rigt for a follower of te Lamb to mark is or er bodies wit tattoos? (Bot aids and epatitis ave been traced to contaminated tattoo ink and needles. One statistic indicates tat tattooed persons are 9 times more likely to get epatitis tan tose not tattooed. Some ave suggested tat all tattooed persons sould be immediately tested for epatitis.) But aside from medical concerns, are tere oter considerations for tose wo claim to be cildren of God? We answer yes! After all, te Bible clearly teaces tat te body of eac of God s true cildren is a temple of te oly Gost. Paul wrote: Wat? know ye not tat your body is te temple of te oly Gost wic is in you, wic ye ave of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bougt wit a price: terefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, wic are God s (I Cor. 6:19-20). It is true tat te cildren of God today are not subject to te Old Testament or Mosaic law, but ow can any rigt tinking person conclude tat a believer in Crist is glorifying God by tattooing is or er body? Purity of life, modesty of dress, cleanness of speec, simplicity of lifestyle, deeds of kindness, te assembling togeter wit believers and separation from te world are to be te outward marks of tose indwelt by te oly Gost. One old preacer said tat Cristians ougt to look like Cristians, talk like Cristians, live like Cristians and even smell like Cristians. We agree! Glorification of God in all tings pertaining to ourselves and our lives is to be te allmark of te cild of God. Marking of te body wit tattoos cannot be rigtly tougt to glorify God since it was proibited in te Old Testament! Let us consider te relationsip of tattoos wit nudity. We live in a day and age wen it is obvious tat most professing Cristians give little tougt to te idea of dressing modestly. Visit te average curc or notice ow people are dressed in te restaurants on Sunday after curc services if you doubt tat statement. Even most preacers and teir wives wear sorts, tigtfitting clotes, sleeveless and seetroug garments and cloting made of clinging textiles. Sort skirts and tigt pants are te norm for women in most religious groups. Of course tey ave teir flimsy excuses: te weater is too ot or too cold, etc., ad nauseam. Concerned pastors ave eard tem all. Te law of Crist te law of love toward Crist and te bretren is tis: Love worket no ill to is neigbour: terefore love is te fulfilling of te law (Rom. 3:10). Paul stated tis more clearly wit tese words:...tat no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in is broter s way (Rom. 14:13). No professed Cristian loves Crist or is or er broter in Crist if tey dress or beave in suc a way as to cause a broter or sister to sin in tougt, word or deed. Tere is a very real sense in wic we are our broter s keeper! And suggestive or immodest dress (tey are te same ting) causes a multitude of evil tougts to flouris in tose wo cannot elp but see suc tings. Te mentality of te world is one of sowing muc fles eiter actually or suggestively. (Sometimes te suggestion or illusion of nudity is more alluring to te sin nature tan actual nudity). Wat does te current unconcern of professing Cristians wit teir (Continued on page 235)

23 October 5, 2014 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 235 Te Cristian and (Continued from page 234) own nudity ave to do wit tattoos? Just tis: bot involve exibitionism. Te motive for all kinds of exibitionism springs from a wicked and prideful eart. Te desire to dress provocatively is akin to te desire to display tattoos on te body. Bot call attention to te person s body. Tat is te purpose of bot. Persons wo get tattoos most often display tem rater tan ide tem. Men and women wo dress to sow off teir bodies in an alluring or prideful way are doing te same kind of ting as tose wo display teir tattoos. And vice-versa. Modest cloting is cloting tat is designed to conceal not to reveal. Tere is no suc ting as a modest yet revealing piece of cloting. And in no way can te display of tattoos said to be modest because tey are obtained for sowmansip reasons. Read wat God as to say about nakedness in te Old Testament if you tink modesty is a ting of indifference to God. Tere it is revealed tat your nakedness belongs to your usband or your wife. It is not yours to prostitute to te world in sinful displays. Te wole idea of suc exibitionism is one of display, or nakedness. Tis is also a part of te reason people get tattoos: to display and call attention to teir bodies and tus temselves. In a sense, tattoos do not evidence modesty. Say wat you will, oly Gost regenerated people want to live oly and rigteous lives. oly living is separated living. You will convince no one tat you are a true cild of God if you look like te world: tattoos included! As a practical matter we cannot but tink of te words of poet Jon Keats: A ting of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases... By Keats standard, tattoos are most certainly not a ting of beauty. Tey are not a joy forever! It as been estimated tat as many as 50% of tose people wo get tattoos live to regret teir action. Mature consideration does not regard tattoos as a ting of beauty and tus te impetuous action of a moment in yout often leads to years of regret. Many people do in fact regret aving gotten suc marks on teir bodies and spend time and money trying to ave tem removed. Tattoo removal is a growing business in te United States. After time and gravity ave teir devastating effects on te body, sagging skin often contributes to uge increases in te ugliness of old tattoos obtained in yout. It cannot be said of tattoos tat teir loveliness increases! Besides teir pagan origins, tattoos ave, until recently, been associated wit a dissipated lifestyle. Te acceptance of tattoos in today s society is an acceptance of a dissipated lifestyle. Drunkards, drug abusers, woremongers, promiscuous women and suc like were te people wo obtained tattoos until te presentday fad came along. Today s tattoo fad is directly related to te present immorality of our society. Wat was once looked down upon as trasy living is now acceptable to most people. Prison tattoos along wit men wearing sagging pants ave migrated from te cell to te streets and te scools. Tis is to be expected as a consequence of taking te Bible out of scools. Sociologists are concerned tat Americans lack morals. Teenage murderers are common today. Wy not? Scools teac evolution. Tey are generally forbidden to teac te Bible. Te consequence of evolution is tat umans are no different tan dogs or worms. Killing one of tem is a matter of no real consequence if you can get away wit it: tis is te common idea. Marriage is looked upon as unimportant: couples sack up and society and most curces take no stand against suc actions. As morality slides ever more rapidly downward, all kinds of tings formerly regarded as sinful or pagan are now acceptable. So it is wit tattoos. It is of interest to note tat we ave known some tattooed people wo later in life professed a good profession. Witout exception tey regretted aving been tattooed in teir younger years. Tese people, after professing fait in Crist, were careful to dress so as to ide te tattoos obtained in teir early years of sinful living. Tis ougt to speak volumes to anyone considering getting a tattoo! Wat can we expect regarding te future of tattoos? A kindred question is tis: Wat surprises await God s elect in tis present age of apostasy? Are today s professed Cristians at all concerned wit te pagan origin of tattoos? Not at all! Popular Cristianity is saturated wit paganism. Most professing Cristians celebrate pagan olidays suc as Cristmas and Easter, etc., wit not a tougt or concern for wat tey are really doing. Tese are all part and parcel of te same ting. Today s Cristians care not tat practicing pagans and occultists among wom tey dwell laug at tem for teir worsiping of idols. Pagans know tat by tese Cristianized observances professing believers actually onor te pagan gods wose days tey are. So it is tat te pagan origin of tattoos is of no concern to tem. As stated above, most professing Cristians ave also trown out (Continued on page 236) BEREA BAPTIST BROADCAST Financial Report to Beginning Balance... $7, RECEIPTS: Berea B. C., Mantacie, MS Briar Creek B. C., Williamsburg, KY Calvary Ind. B. C., Everson, WA Grace B. C., Corbin, KY TOTAL...7, EXPENDITURES: Radio Time TOTAL EXPENDITURES , Interest ENDING BALANCE... $7, BEREA BAPTIST BANNER Financial Report to Beginning Balance... $1, RECEIPTS: Amazing Grace B. C., Stockdale, TX Berea B. C., Mantacie, MS Berea B. C., Stonington, IL Betel B. C., Pasadena, TX Briar Creek B. C., Williamsburg, KY Big Creek B. C., Wayne, WV Carol Willitt, Edgewater, FL Citrus M. B. C., Inverness, FL Fait B. C., Lynn, AR Gail Knowles, Scarboroug, ME Grace B. C., Corbin, KY Grace B. C., Winston-Salem, NC Grace M. B. C., Marion, IL Grace M. B. C., Tulsa, OK Indore B. 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