On Addressing Sinners. Who Is Leading You?

Transcription

1 Wo Is Worty? By Paul Stepp of Indore, West Virginia My text comes from Revelation 5:1-5: And I saw in te rigt and of im tat sat on te trone a book written witin and on te backside, sealed wit seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming wit a loud voice, Wo is worty to open te book, and to loose te seals tereof? And no man in eaven, nor in eart, neiter under te eart, was able to open te book, neiter to look tereon. And I wept muc, because no man was found worty to open and to read te book, neiter to look tereon. And one of te elders sait unto me, Weep not: beold, te Lion of te tribe of Juda, te Root of David, at prevailed to open te book, and to loose te seven seals tereof. (Continued on page 2) On Addressing Sinners By James Smit ( ) Te design of tese pages is not to provoke controversy, for to tat te Autor as a great aversion; nor is it an attack upon any of te bretren wo old different views upon tis subject; but it is a statement and defense of te Autor s principles; and a reason for is metod of addressing sinners, wic as been objected By Tom Ross of Sout Point, Oio to by some as unscriptural and improper. Tat e once eld te opposite view of te subject e readily acknowledges, nor did e astily cange is mind; it was not until e was fairly beaten off te ground e (Continued on page 8) Wo Is Leading You? For as many as are led by te Spirit of God, tey are te sons of God. For ye ave not received te spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye ave received te Spirit of adoption, wereby we cry, Abba, Fater. Te Spirit itself bearet witness wit our spirit, tat we are te cildren of God (Rom. 8:14-16). Te question posed is of great importance wic leads to oter questions tat really determine te course of your life. Wo carts your course for daily living? Wo do you look to for advice, counsel, and direction eac day? Wose example are you following? Wo prompts or leads you to make certain decisions in your daily life? Do you care wat God tinks? Are you open to being corrected by te Word and te conviction of te Spirit wen you are wrong? Te answers to tese questions will reveal weter or not you are really born again. Tey will go a long way in determining te spiritual success or failure of your life. If te oly Spirit of God, te tird person of te oly Trinity, dwells in you tere will be a (Continued on page 5) Weat or Caff? By Jon Carles Ryle ( ) Wose fan is in is and, and e will trougly purge is floor, and gater is weat into te garner; but e will burn up te caff wit unquencable fire (Matt. 3:12). Reader, You see a question at te ead of tis page. For wom do you tink it is meant? Is it for corn mercants and farmers only, and for none else? If you tink so, you are muc mistaken. It is meant for every man, woman, and cild in te world. And among oters, it is meant for you. Te question is drawn from a verse of Scripture wic is now before your eyes. Te words of tat verse were spoken by Jon te Baptist. Tey are a propecy about our Lord Jesus Crist, and a propecy wic as not yet been fulfilled. Tey are a propesy wic we sall all see fulfilled one day, and God alone knows ow soon. Reader, I invite you to begin te new year by looking at te great truts wic tis verse contains. I invite you to listen to me, wile I unfold tem, and set tem before (Continued on page 20)

2 Page 2 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 June 5, 2017 Volume XXXVII, Number 6 Wole Number 455 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 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 $.59 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. Tune in to te Berea Baptist Broadcast STATION TIME DIAL WATTS WCNA, Myrtle, MS...Sunday 9:30-10:00 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 WQRL, Benton, IL...Sunday 9:00-9:30 a.m ,500 FM WPWT, Bristol, TN...Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m ,000 AM WPWT, Colonial eigts, TN...Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m FM WPWT, Kingsport, TN...Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m FM GONE TO SLEEP WAITING ON TE MAIL? Look at your mailing label on te front page of tis mont s paper. If you see above your name Expires 6/2017 ten tis will be your last issue. So don t fall asleep waiting for te mailman! Renew now so you won t miss next mont s Banner. Wo Is Worty? (Continued from page 1) NO MAN IS WORTY To answer my question, I must begin wit tis answer: no man is worty. Jon wept wen e considered tis tougt. Wo can save? Wo can elp? Wo can come before God? It is a sad, but true fact, tat no man is worty. Wen we equate wortiness (or wort) wit goodness; and wen we consider man and is wort; ten we can find te words of Jesus Crist to be very applicable: And Jesus said unto im, Wy callest tou me good? tere is none good but one, tat is, God (Mark 10:18). According to Jesus Crist, tere is no man tat is worty only God is good and worty. To furter reinforce tis point, we read in Mica 7:2, Te good man is perised out of te eart: and tere is none uprigt among men: tey all lie in wait for blood; tey unt every man is broter wit a net. Ezra understood te wortlessness and te sinfulness of mankind, and e wondered at te rigteousness of God, and acknowledged te inability of man to stand (just) before God. We read in Ezra 9:15, O LORD God of Israel, tou art rigteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is tis day: beold, we are before tee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before tee because of tis. JESUS CRIST IS WORTY TO STAND BEFORE GOD Sometimes we talk about tis prase worty to stand before God. And, I believe tat sometimes tis prase becomes a bit worn, and tat it loses some of its meaning. owever, we must understand tat our God is king and sovereign; and our God is oly and just; and our God is perfect and demands perfection. Wen we tink of tese tings, wat an incredible ting it is, to imagine any man standing before God! It seems tat no man is worty to stand before God, witout tat God would destroy im out of and! In fact, te men of Israel tat ad looked upon te Ark of te Covenant, ad an idea as to te oliness and perfection of our God: And te men of Betsemes said, Wo is able to stand before tis oly LORD God? and to wom sall e go up from us (I Sam. 6:20)? As we consider tis tougt, and te immense privilege or responsibility or te perfection tat is required in order to stand before God, let me give you an eartly example. We read in Ester 4:11, All te king s servants, and te people of te king s provinces, do know, tat wosoever, weter man or woman, sall come unto te king into te inner court, wo is not called, tere is one law of is to put im to deat, except suc to wom te king sall old out te golden sceptre, tat e may live: but I ave not been called to come in unto te king tese tirty days. And ten, we read also in Ester 5:2, And it was so, wen te king saw Ester te queen standing in te court, tat se obtained favour in is sigt: and te king eld out to Ester te golden sceptre tat was in is and. So Ester drew near, and touced te top of te sceptre. And finally, we read tis in Ester 8:4, Ten te king eld out te golden sceptre toward Ester. So Ester arose, and stood (Continued on page 4)

3 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 3 NO TILL IN ETERNITY. O, moter, I do not know ow to tink of eternity, for tere is no till in eternity till tomorrow, till next week, till next year. Yes, tere are measures for time; we know none to measure eternity. It is enoug for us to know tat eaven and ell are tere. One of tese will be our final ome. ow can we reac te one; ow escape te oter? Jesus says, Except ye repent, ye sall all likewise peris (Luke 13:3, 5). I am te way, te trut, and te life; no man comet unto te Fater, but by me (Jon 14:6). If you reac eaven, tere will be no fear of a till to disquiet your perfect peace; if you are among te lost, tere will be no ope of till to end your sorrow. Do not till until it be forever too late. CARE FOR OTERS. A poor old man, busy planting an apple tree, was rudely asked, Wat do you plant trees for; you cannot expect to eat te fruit of tem? e raised imself up, and leaning upon is spade, answered, Some one planted trees for me before I was born, and I ave eaten te fruit. I now plant for oters, to sow my gratitude, after I am dead and gone. Tus sould we tink and act for te welfare of oters. And as ye would tat men sould do to you, do ye also to tem likewise (Luke 6:31). TE SILVER DOLLAR, OR OW GOD PROVIDES. It was a season of great scarcity on te ill regions of New ampsire, wen a poor woman, wo lived in a ut by te woods, ad no bread for er little family. Se was sick, and Gleanings for te Young & Old witout eiter friends or money. Tere was no elper but God, and se betook erself to prayer. Se prayed long, se prayed in earnest; for se believed tat e wo fed te young ravens would feed er. On rising from er knees one morning, er little bare-footed girl opened te door to go out. Someting sining on te sill stopped er. Te cild stooped down, and beold, a silver dollar! Se ran and took it to er moter. It really was a new, round, brigt silver dollar. Tey looked up and down te road; not a living person was in sigt, and neiter footsteps or wagon-weels were to be eard. Were did te dollar come from? Did God send it? Doubtless it was from is and; but ow did it get tere? Did it rain down? No. Did e trow it from te windows of eaven? No. Did an angel fetc it? No. God as ways and means for answering prayer witout sending special messengers. e touces some little spring in te great macinery of is providence, witout in te least disturbing its regularity, and elp comes. Sometimes we do not see exactly ow, as tis poor woman did not: ten it seems to come more directly from im; wile in fact our all being taken care of ever since we were born comes just as directly from im, only e employs so many people to do it, faters, moters, servants, sopkeepers, tat we are apt to lose sigt of im, and fix our eye only on tem. But ow did te silver dollar get on te doorsill? some boy may ask. It appened tat a pious young blacksmit was going down te sea-board in quest of business. It was several miles before e could take te stage-coac, so instead of going in te wagon wic carried is cest, e said e would walk. Come, ride, tey said; it will be ot and dusty. e kept answering, No, to all is friends urged. I ll walk, and take a sort cut troug te pines, and off e started wit a stout walking-stick. As e was jogging on troug a piece of woods, e eard a voice from a little lonely ut by te road-side. It drew is notice, and e stepped towards it on tiptoe; ten e stopped and listened, and found it was te voice of prayer, and e gatered from te prayer tat se wo offered it was poor, sick, and friendless. Wat can I do to elp tis poor woman? tougt te young man. e did not like to go into te ut. e clapped is and into is pocket and drew out a dollar, te first silver dollar e ever ad and a dollar was a big sum for im to give, for e was not as ric ten as e is now. But no matter, e felt tat te poor woman must ave it. Te dollar being silver, and likely to attract notice as soon as te door was open, e concluded to lay it on te sill and go away, but not far; for e id beind a large rock near te ouse, to watc wat became of it. Soon e ad te satisfaction of seeing te little girl come out and seize te prize, ten e went on is way rejoicing. Te silver dollar came into te young man s and for tis very purpose, for you see a paper dollar migt ave blown away; and e was led to walk instead of ride wy, e did not exactly know, but God, Wo directed is steps, did know. So God plans, and we are te instruments to carry on is plans. Oftentimes we seem to be about our own business wen we are about is, answering, it may be, te prayers of is people. Te young blacksmit is now in middle life: e as been greatly prospered, and given away is undreds since ten; but peraps e never enjoyed giving more tan wen e gave is first silver dollar. For it is God wic worket in you bot to will and to do of is good pleasure (Pil 2:13). BE KIND. Little R. was a playful, intelligent lad. e did noting by alves. If e studied, e did it wit all is migt, and was sure to be at te ead of is class. If e played, it was in earnest. Woe to te boys wo stormed is snow-forts. Yet e was gentle and affectionate. e ad a famous dog wo sared all is sports, and seemed as appy in tem as is master. Lion, for tat was is name, would take R s dinner-basket in is mout, and carry it carefully and safely; and e would defend is master from rude boys, as if e were is guardian. Tis lad grew to be a man and a minister of te gospel; but is attacment to Lion never ceased, and e as never been known to do a cruel act to a brute creature. e as often been eard to say tat e could not love or trust a boy tat was unkind to animals. God made tem for our service, but not for cruel sport.

4 Page 4 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Wo Is Worty? (Continued from page 2) before te king, Wat tese verses will remind us of, is tis: even in te realms of men, it is oftentimes not possible for one to stand before a king, unless tat te king would allow it. And, if a king on tis eart can demand suc respect, and inspire suc fear, and require suc obedience, ten, ow muc more our eavenly Master and King? Te respect and fear and obedience tat God requires, excludes any man from standing before im in is own rigteousness, wit te exception of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Crist. We read in ebrews 9:24, For Crist is not entered into te oly places made wit ands, wic are te figures of te true; but into eaven itself, now to appear in te presence of God for us. e is worty even to stand in te presence of God for us. is wortiness is so great, tat it even extends to cover te wortlessness of you and me. JESUS CRIST IS WORTY TO LOOK, OPEN, AND READ TE WORD OF GOD Tere is only one tat is worty to open te book tat is mentioned in our text verses; and tere is only one tat is worty to look upon and read from te very words of God; and tat one is Jesus Crist. Now, wen I say tat e is te only One tat is worty to open te book and to read te words of God, I am not saying tat we ougt not to do so; I am only saying tat e is te only One tat can look upon tese tings, and read tese tings, and can do so witout suffering reproac, and witout any feelings of inadequacies or imperfection. You see, Jesus Crist is te only One tat we can say as fulfilled te words of God. We read in Luke 24:44, And e said unto tem, Tese [are] te words wic I spake unto you, wile I was yet wit you, tat all tings must be fulfilled, wic were written in te law of Moses, and in te propets, and in te psalms, concerning me. Again, we read in Jon 19:28, After tis, Jesus knowing tat all tings were now accomplised, tat te scripture migt be fulfilled, sait, I tirst. I believe tat te fact tat Jesus is te fulfiller of te words of God, makes Jesus Crist eminently qualified to open and read te word of God, watever word tat migt be. I suppose tat we could even say tat, in essence, te Word of God tat we ave before us today, are all about Jesus Crist. We read in Jon 5:39, Searc te scriptures; for in tem ye tink ye ave eternal life: and tey are tey wic testify of me. Terefore, e is perfectly able to read any words tat God may ave written. Our Saviour, as te Creator of all tat is, and as te Saviour of all men, and as te source of all goodness and grace, is worty to perform te will and purpose of God. We read in Revelation 4:11, Tou art worty, O Lord, to receive glory and onour and power: for tou ast created all tings, and for ty pleasure tey are and were created. CRIST IS WORTY TO SAVE Now let us expand our study. We ave just noticed tat man is not worty to stand (just) before God, nor is e worty to open te book. And, we ave noticed tat Jesus Crist is perfection embodied, and tat terefore e is worty to stand before God in rigteousness; and e is terefore worty to open te book. owever, let us go a little farter. Now tat we see wat Jesus can do, wat else is e worty to accomplis? To put it simply, all tat we ave known and learned about te Lord Jesus, proves im to be eminently qualified (worty) to be te Saviour of men. We read in I Jon 2:1, My little cildren, tese tings write I unto you, tat ye sin not. And if any man sin, we ave an advocate wit te Fater, Jesus Crist te rigteous: Our advocate is a worty one! Even te oly Fater in eaven will ear im! Tis is te One Wo is worty to save. No man can count imself worty, but every man can count te blessed Son of God Jesus Crist te rigteous worty to save. CRIST IS WORTY OF OUR LOVE AND DEVOTION Let me make someting else clear to us all today. Since man is un-worty and Jesus is worty; and since man is elpless and Jesus is te Saving Crist; ten, we must also say tat Jesus Crist is worty of our love and devotion. Certainly e is worty to stand before God and to open and read te book. And, as te Son of God, e is worty to be our Saviour. Terefore, e most definitely is worty of our love and devotion. David said, I will call on te LORD, wo is worty to be praised: so sall I be saved from mine enemies (II Sam. 22:4). We migt say, tat David believed tat is salvation from is enemies came from God; and, terefore, God was worty to be praised. I believe you and I can do te same we can praise God for te wortiness of is Son Wo as saved us from our sins. CONCLUSION Jon te beloved wept, wen e saw tat no man was worty to stand in te sigt of God. And, so sould we. We ougt to weep wen we consider our own miserable condition, wen te Son of God is revealed to us as our Saviour. And, we ougt to weep over te miserable condition of tose tat are still yet lost and undone. owever, Jon te beloved also rejoiced, wen e saw te Lamb of God and is wortiness. Remember, one of te elders told Jon, Weep not. Indeed, te Lion of te Tribe of Juda as undertaken to open te book. Later on, in tis same capter, we read in Revelation 5:12, Saying wit a loud voice, Worty is te Lamb tat was slain to receive power, and rices, and wisdom, and strengt, and onour, and glory, and blessing. We, too, ougt to rejoice wen we see te Lord as our Saviour. And, we ougt to live our lives rejoicing in te salvation tat e as granted to us. And, wen te lost souls of men are at stake, we ougt to rejoice in te wort and te migt and te goodness and te mercy of our Saviour, te Lamb of God. Our Saviour is te same Lamb of God tat Jon te beloved saw in te Revelation tat was given unto im. Our Saviour can (and will) succeed were all oters will most certainly fail! Our Saviour, te Lamb of God, can stand before God, and can bring us into is presence, wen all of our best attempts and all of man s goodness are only filty rags in te sigt of God! Praise be to God tat our Saviour is te worty Lamb of God!

5 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 5 Wo Is Leading (Continued from page 1) distinct and noticeable difference between you and te world of te unsaved. Carefully read Romans capter eigt and you will find just ow important te indwelling and te leadersip of te Spirit of God really is. If you are truly saved you are no longer to walk after or follow after te fles, but after te Spirit (8:1). Te indwelling of te Spirit is absolutely essential to identify a believer s union to Crist (8:9). Believers must be led by te Spirit of God to prove tat tey are indeed adopted sons and daugters of God (8:14-16). Te comfort of te oly Spirit is wat gives God s cildren assurance tat tey are joint eirs wit Crist and will one day be glorified wit im (8:17-18). It is te earnest of te Spirit wo preserves us and insures te ultimate glorification of our body (8:23-25). It is te Spirit wo takes our petitions to te trone of grace in prayer even wen we cannot give voice to tem (8:26-27). As a cild of God, bound for eaven, you must never underestimate te importance of being led by te oly Spirit eac and every day of your life. WO OR WAT LEADS TE UNSAVED? 1. Wen a person is unsaved, lost, unregenerate, witout Crist tey are not led by te Spirit. In fact, every lost person is born into a state of sin and rebellion against God, is laws, and is Word (Psalm 51:5; 58:3). We are all born of te fles, te old sinful nature tat we inerit from our parents. Te origins of te flesly nature we are born wit may be traced all te way back to te sinful ead of te uman race, Adam (Rom. 5:12). 2. Te flesly nature is entirely incapable of producing anyting spiritually good or profitable to God (Rom. 8:6-8). Te sin nature as corrupted ow we tink, ow we feel, wat we desire, and ow we respond to God. Tis is wy lost people cannot make rigt decisions in te spiritual realm. Tey follow after teir flesly inclination to sin and rebel against God, wic is wy tey will not seek after God (Rom. 3:10-12). 3. Te lost or unsaved man is not only trapped in a flesly nature tat ates and opposes God (Jon 3:19-20). e is also blinded by te god of tis world (II Cor. 4:4), in captivity to te will of Satan (II Tim. 2:25-26), and led by te spirit of disobedience to follow after te fles and te world (Ep. 2:2-3). 4. Te deplorable condition described above applies to every single member of te uman race. We all at one time were like te cildren of wrat, in captivity to sin and Satan, in agreement wit a world tat is diametrically opposed to God. Tis is wy lost people make terrible decisions. Tey are led by sin, Satan, and te world system tat is opposed to God. If God does not intervene in a person s life by giving tem spiritual life, enabling tem to repent and believe te Gospel, tey will die in teir sins because of teir own willful rebellion. Tey will spend te infinity of eternity in te Lake wic burns wit fire and brimstone, regretting teir willful rebellion wile suffering te torments of te wrat of God (II Tess. 1:7-9). TE GREAT CANGE 1. ow can a person wo is dead in sin, in bondage to Satan, rebellious against God, and willfully rejecting te trut ever be canged? Te fact is tere (Continued on page 6) Little ills By Nataniel ille of Plant City, Florida... and te little ills rejoice on every side (Psalms 65:12). Te New Birt #15 Evidences of aving Been Born Again Part 8 For tis is te love of God, tat we keep is commandments: and is commandments are not grievous (I Jon 5:3). As we wrote last time: keeping God s commandments evidences tat we love God and te bretren tus manifesting tat we are born-again. And now we are told tat is commandments are not grievous or and tese orders of is are not irksome, burdensome, oppressive, or grievous. Te Bible declares tat our Lord s yoke is easy, and my burden is ligt (Matt. 11:30); tat te way of te transgressor is ard (Prov. 13:15). Before God regenerates a person tey find tat is commandments are impossible to keep, tat tey ave no desire to keep tem, even despising tem; but aving been bornagain we now deligt in te law of God after te inward man (Rom. 7:22). We are told tat te blessed man deligts in te law of te LORD; and in is law dot e meditate day and nigt (Ps. 1:1-2). Is worsiping te Lord on te Lord s day irksome to you? Is giving 10% (tite) to te Lord s work like pulling teet? Is reading your Bible every day a painstaking task? Yet you ave no problem watcing sports on Sunday, buying watever you want, or watcing TV every day? Peraps it is because you ave not been born-again. Marvel not..., Ye must be born again (Jon 3:7). And is commandments are not grievous (I Jon 5:3). As we noted previously, te word grievous may also be rendered: burdensome, eavy, weigty, irksome, or oppressive. God s Word declares tat IS commandments are NOT burdensome, eavy, weigty. Jesus said, For my yoke is easy, and my burden is ligt (Matt. 11:30). It is not God s commandments tat are grievous, but man s commandments are grievous! Te Lord Jesus gives us te example tat is commandments are NOT grievous. In Jon10:18 Jesus stated, tis commandment ave I received of my Fater. Jesus was referring to te commandment of Calvary were e would suffer te wrat of God to save is elect. It was te commandment tat te Fater gave im. Te Scriptures declare,...jesus... wo for te joy tat was set before im endured te cross (eb. 12:1-2). e endured te cross and counted it a joy to do so as it was te commandment e received of is Fater. It was te place of immense suffering, yet it was counted for joy. Do you count te commandment of God as grievous, or joy? Peraps you need to be born again.

6 Page 6 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Wo Is Leading (Continued from page 5) is noting e can do in and of imself. e is blinded, polluted, filled wit sin, unwilling, unoly, defiled, and ungodly. e only knows wat e knows, wic is te realm of spiritual darkness and inability. 2. God te oly Spirit must give te sinner spiritual life in te creative act of regeneration tat is also referred to as te new birt (Jon 3:3-5). Only te Spirit of God can give spiritual life to a dead sinner and at te same time cange is mind, eart, and will. Te very moment te oly Spirit gives spiritual life to a dead sinner a radical, miraculous cange occurs. Te Spirit canges our will, making us willing to submit to te claims of God and te trut of te Gospel. e gives us te gift of repentance were our mind is canged. e gives us te gift of saving fait tat enables us to believe te Gospel of Crist (II Cor. 4:6; 5:17; Ep. 2:8-10; Col. 1:13-14). 3. Te very moment te elect are given spiritual life a new man or nature is created by te oly Spirit tat is capable of aving communion wit God (Ep. 4:22-24). Te oly Spirit begins to indwell te believer to teac, comfort, enligten, guide, lead and empower te believer to bring fort spiritual fruit unto God (Gal. 5:22-25). ARE YOU LED BY TE SPIRIT? 1. Even toug believers are born of te Spirit, given a spiritual nature, and te ability to commune wit God, te old flesly nature of sin still remains. Paul likened te inner conflict of te fles and te Spirit to spiritual warfare in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. In bot capters Paul makes it clear tat believers may be led of teir flesly and sinful nature to rebel against God. 2. Te question as to weter you are led by te Spirit or your fles is not as ard to answer as you may tink. Te flesly nature will always be in agreement wit Satan and te world. Tose wo make decisions after te fles rebel against God and are described in Galatians 5: Wen a believer is led by, follows after, and walks in te fles it means tat e is acting like lost people wo ultimately die in teir sins! Lost people follow eac oter and are often governed by peer pressure. Lost people are led by teir emotions wic are fickle. Lost people are led by errors and falseoods. 3. If you are led by te Spirit it means tat you are following is directions, is instructions, and is commands. Pray tell were do we find te directions, instructions, and commands of te Spirit? In te Word of God tat te Spirit as inspired and preserved for our sanctification (II Tim. 3:16-17). Te only way you can ave assurance tat you are being led by te Spirit is if you are living in active obedience to te Word of God tat e as inspired. I can guarantee tat te Spirit will never lead you into sin. e will never lead you to disobey God s Word. e will never lead you to live in direct contradiction to te trut of Scripture. 4. Far too many professing Cristians want to blame God for teir rebellious course of conduct wit a prase tat goes someting like tis: I feel led of te Lord You can fill in te blank wit a variety of answers tat will not stand te test of Scripture ere or te judgment seat of Crist in te ereafter. Te Spirit will not lead you away from te trut or te Lord s curc. Te Spirit will not lead you to commit adultery or leave your spouse. Te Spirit will not lead you to marry a lost person. Te Spirit will not lead you to gossip about oters. Te Spirit will not lead you to stop titing. Te Spirit will never lead a woman to declare tat se is called to preac and pastor. You get te general idea. If you are doing someting tat does not line up wit te trut of Scripture do not try to justify your sin by saying you are led of te Spirit. To do so would only compound te sin you are trying to justify. 5. I would urge you to examine wo or wat is leading your life and influencing te decisions you make. Stop following after your flesly emotions, te example of te world, te pilosopies of te wicked, and your own sinful desires. Surrender yourself to te Spirit s leadersip and determine by grace to be governed only by wat pleases te Lord as revealed in is oly Word. Tis attitude sould guide every decision, large or small in your life. Are you led of te Spirit to please te Lord in your marriage, your service, your family, your finances, your friendsips, your work, etc. Te Spirit will not lead you into confusion, caos, and sin. e will direct you to follow after te example of Crist wo always leads in pats of rigteousness (Psa. 23:1-3). Memorize and meditate often on te following Scriptures to elp you in te quest to glorify God and be led by te Spirit: Psalm 119:133: Order my steps in ty word: and let not any iniquity ave dominion over me. Proverbs 3:5-7: Trust in te LORD wit all tine eart; and lean not unto tine own understanding. In all ty ways acknowledge im, and e sall direct ty pats. Be not wise in tine own eyes: fear te Lord and depart from evil. I Corintians 10:31: Weter terefore ye eat, or drink, or watsoever ye do, do all to te glory of God. Colossians 3:16-17: Let te word of Crist dwell in you ricly in all wisdom; teacing and admonising one anoter in psalms and ymns and spiritual songs, singing wit grace in your earts to te Lord. And watsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in te name of te Lord Jesus, giving tanks to God, and te Fater by im. Te Noted Pastor By Todd Bryant of Nortport, Alabama Te Easy Error of Traditionalism Beware lest any man spoil you troug pilosopy and vain deceit, after te tradition of men, after te rudiments of te world, and not after Crist. For in im dwellet all te fulness of te Godead bodily. And ye are complete in im, wic is te ead of all principality and power (Col. 2:8-10). For some of us, it is easy to become traditionalists. But for all of us, religious traditionalism is to be guarded against. Some of (Continued on page 7)

7 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 7 Te Noted Pastor (Continued from page 6) us ave a predisposed personality tat simply does not like cange. I am one of tose. I ate signing on social media only to find tat te entire omepage as canged. Were is my cat window? Were are my groups? And wy in te world does my own feed default to top stories rater tan most recent? Wo wants tat? Please give me te option to use it te old way. I like Microsoft Word in te old format. I like Excel in te old format. I like my ipone in te old format. I simply do not like cange. Yet, I am married to a beautiful, godly woman tat wants te newest, most cutting edge edition of anyting and everyting. I do not old er error against er. It is just a preference a preference tat simply as no lasting consequences. It is easily fixed by er aving er own MacBook and me aving mine. Tis wole debate over ow to do tings in curc continues to drag along witout truly toucing te most important tings. We want curc to look like curc. But our view of curc is based on little more tan te previous generation peraps two generations back. If we view curc troug te eyes of a believer 1900 years ago, none of our curces look like curces today. Te problem is, we fail to see tat. Curces 1900 years ago did not ave buildings, pulpits, pews, fellowsip alls, pianos, ymnbooks, pastors in coats and ties, offering plates, baptistries, etc. Wat if we took tose tings away from our curces today any one of tem? Tere would be uproar and mass ysteria. Tere would be accusations of people departing from te fait. Te term apostasy would be trown around. Te label of eretic would be tossed towards certain people. And yet, we know none of te early curces used any of tose tings in teir weekly worsip of God. Religiously, most of us are far less tolerant of cange tan in any oter facet of life. Generally speaking, we are comfortable in te way we do tings. Yet, tis often leads to confidence tat our way is te only way. Must a curc ave a building to be a curc? Must tere be pews? Must tere be an American flag in te sanctuary? A Cristian flag? Must tere be tree songs sang? Must Amazing Grace always follow te Lord s Supper? Must te pastor wear a coat and tie? Must we collect tites in a box or peraps by passing a plate? All of tese questions are legitimate tings to discuss. All of tem may ave arguments made for or against tem. But we cannot consider our preference on tese tings to be adamantly scriptural. Wat I prefer and wat I ave Biblical support for is not always te same ting. We need to make certain tat we make a distinction between te two. I ave no desire in tis article to argue for te regulative or normative principle of worsip. I would argue, toug, tat we sould follow te regulative principle of worsip if I were to write on it. Tat is, we ougt to follow te teacing of Scripture on all tings tat we do in worsip. We sould ave capter and verse for our practices. Tat said, suc practices do not always look te same in every curc. Curces are (Biblically) independent and given some liberty to do tings differently. Some curces never stand for singing wile some stand during te entire song service. Te Bible gives no specific instruction for singing oter tan saying we are to Let te word of Crist dwell in you ricly in all wisdom; teacing and admonising one anoter in psalms and ymns and spiritual songs, singing wit grace in your earts to te Lord (Col. 3:16). Was Paul s intent ere to ave every curc look te same in tis? Not at all. Of course, tere sould be similarities. But weter a curc sings wile sitting and anoter sings wile standing is not on Paul s radar watsoever. Few people could read in te 1st century. So logically, most songs ad to be memorized by te congregation. And even if one could read, everyting was andwritten. owever, tis does not proibit curces today from aving printed copies of lyrics in a society were printing is available and we ave a ig percentage of literacy. Paul does not care weter te curc memorizes a song or sings from te lyrics on a page. is point is tat tey sing and sing scriptural, God onoring songs in a way tat glorifies God. Tere simply is no step-by-step scedule of worsip in te Bible for New Testament curces. We are instructed on wat to do. owever, exactly wat order and troug wat medium tese tings are carried out, we are given leniency. Does te singing precede te sermon? Wat if we ad it after? Do we pray after te first song? Te second? Before te sermon? After? Te key is I will terefore tat men pray every were, lifting up oly ands, witout wrat and doubting (I Tim. 2:8). Clearly prayer is to be a major part of te worsip service. Te order of wen it is done during te service will be different from curc to curc. It does not make te curc I pastor rigt and te curc you attend wrong merely because we ave prayer at a different time. Te important ting is tat prayer is a part of our services. As singing and praying are prescribed in te Bible, so te preacing of te Word of God is a necessity for te worsip service. Paul told Timoty, Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exortation, to doctrine (I Tim. 4:13). Tis is rater clear. Te exposition of Scripture tat is, reading a passage and explaining to te congregation wat it means is to be a major part of te worsip service. Tis may be done before te song service, after te song service, or between song services. An elder may teac troug Revelation or te Song of Solomon. Despite te actions of some denominations, every elder is not required to teac te same passage as every oter elder in every curc on te same Sunday. Wile our curc may be going troug Romans currently, anoter curc may be going troug Isaia. Tere will be variance from curc to curc. owever, te metodical preacing of God s Word must be present wen we assemble for worsip. Tis is not optional. Consequently, tere are tree essential parts of te worsip service outlined for New Testament curces in te Bible preacing, prayer and singing. Tese may look different from curc to curc. In fact, if curces are truly independent, tey will look different. Tat said, we are not allowed to vary from tese activities. Tese are required. If te pastor preaces from an elevated pulpit or by sitting on a stool, we ave no instruction. We may ave a preference but we do not ave Scripture to back up (Continued on page 8)

8 Page 8 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Te Noted Pastor (Continued from page 7) suc a preference. Te key is tat te Bible is faitfully proclaimed wile te gospel is declared trutfully. Wen we pray, te congregation is to reverently open teir earts to God troug fait in Jesus Crist. Weter tey stand, sit or kneel, noting is said. Te key is tat we pray as a local assembly. Wen we sing, we are to sing Biblically accurate lyrics wit music tat does not overpower te teme of te song. Tis may be done sitting or standing from loose-leaf paper, from a ymnbook, from memory or from a screen. We simply are not given a requirement on were to write te letters tat make up te lyrics or to write tem at all for tat matter. Te important ting is tat we sing to te Lord. Wit all of te problems in modern Cristianity none of wic are more detrimental tan a corruption of te Gospel itself it seems petty tat we would argue over a scedule in a worsip service rater tan te quality of worsip. Is te Bible clear about ow to carry out some tings? Absolutely. owever, we are not given suc rigorous step-by-step instruction as te Mosaic Law. Preac te trut wit zeal sing to te Lord wit all your eart pray for te Lord to lead us to be more faitful in carrying out our instruction. But, do not get bent out of sape wen anoter curc collects tites by passing a plate wile you prefer a box in te back of te curc or te front... watever! Te important ting is tat tere are members willing to sare wat God as prospered tem. Traditionalism is easy for us all to fall into. We must guard against it. Figt for te trut by all means. Figt for te tings God instructs us to do of course! owever, if we are not careful, we will find ourselves arguing for te wrong tings. Our focus will turn from Crist to ritual. We will ave te idea tat our worsip is accepted because of (extra-biblical) legal demands rater tan approacing God in spirit and in trut (Jon 4:24). Every curc will ave traditions. Tere is really no way to get around tat. We all ave to do tings someow. Let us remember, owever, tat just because somebody does not look exactly like we do, tey are not our enemy. Let us acknowledge tose tat preac te trut and sing te trut and pray te trut as broters and sisters in Crist. Tere are not many doing tose tings today. Let us not make an enemy of te people of God merely over a preference or a tradition. On Addressing (Continued from page 1) occupied, by wat appeared to im te plain meaning of many portions of God s oly Word, tat e surrendered and canged sides. Nor is te cange of recent date, many years ave passed away, since after muc prayer, searcing te Scriptures, and deliberation of mind; e was obliged as an onest man to yield to conviction, and to embrace wat appeared to im to be te trut of God, regardless of consequences. Noting was farter from is mind tan publising any ting upon te subject, wising to live in peace and prosecute is work witout interruption; but circumstances arose wic appeared to im to demand it; e as terefore in as sort a compass as possible, astily trown togeter a few of tose Scriptures wic led im to adopt is present views, and a very few of is reasons drawn from tence. e wises it to be particularly understood, tat no portion of tis piece is to be considered as interfering wit te glorious doctrines of free and sovereign grace, on wic is opes rest, wic form te principal subjects of is ministry, and are is boast and glory. To tem e is as muc, or more attaced tan ever; and e opes to live and die publising tem werever providence may give im an opportunity of doing so. Salvation by free grace is is beloved teme; and to set fort Crist, in te glory of is Person, te rices of is grace, and te infinite merit of is blood, is joy and deligt; and if e could see tat any doctrine in tis piece militated against te glory of is adorable Saviour, it would soon be rejected and renounced by im, wit sorrow tat it ever proceeded from is tongue or pen. Tat sinners are to be addressed all acknowledge, but, ow are tey to be addressed? Tis is te question. Our great Master commands us to preac te gospel to tem; but setting fort teir danger, and warning tem of te same, is not publising te glad tidings of a free and full salvation, by te life and deat of Jesus, for te vile and unworty, witout money and witout price. If I require someting of a sinner, eiter felt or performed, to warrant im to believe in Jesus, or to warrant me to exort im to fly to is open arms for life and peace; te glorious doctrine of free justification by fait witout works falls to te ground; for as no man can be justified but by receiving Crist, and as tere is no receiving Crist but by fait, if I am to require someting good in te sinner before I urge im to flee to te Saviour, e is not justified as UNGODLY wic is wat te Apostle asserts (Rom. 4:5). Te gospel appears to me to furnis a plain and sufficient warrant for any and every sinner wo ears it, to believe in Jesus, and wit suc views, I dare not restrict te call to certain definite caracters. A minister is sent wit te gospel message, tis e is to deliver to every creature; to eac individually as toug God ad sent it to eac by name; nor do I conceive tat e can justify imself in merely preacing before, witout addressing imself to, every sinner wo ears im in te name of God wo sent im. To every earer is te Word of God s salvation sent. Crist is to be evidently set fort before tem as dying te just for te unjust, to bring tem to God. As a servant e is accountable for te delivery of te message, but not for te design of is Master, or te reception is earers give it. I must terefore declare all I believe to be te counsel of God, watever may be te consequences, tat I may stand before God approved, and clear from te blood of all men. I ave no bye end to answer, my object is to know and publis te trut, maintaining a conscience void of offense toward God and men. I view myself, as a dying man, under great responsibility, aving sortly to stand before te judgment seat of Crist to give an account of my ministry. I ave no wis to dictate to any of my bretren, nor be unfriendly wit any wose views differ from mine; but to te law and te testimony, to my own Master I must stand or fall: and now let us ask, Wat sait te Scriptures? and may te Lord open our eyes, ears, earts, and mouts to perceive, attend to, (Continued on page 9)

9 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 9 On Addressing (Continued from page 8) believe, and confess te trut to is praise and glory. Amen. My plan will be to go over some portions of te divine Word, in order to ascertain te mind of God upon te subject; and I sall confine myself principally to te New Testament, tat I may not exceed my limits, for I only propose to write a sort piece, not a volume. But I would recommend to every person wo wises fully to understand my views, and to enter into te subject discussed, to take te Bible and carefully consult te references wic are made; for to ave quoted all te Scriptures at lengt would ave enlarged te piece beyond wat I intend. Mattew 6: ere te Lord Jesus Crist seated on te mount surrounded by a mixed multitude, teacing tem as anointed wit te oly Gost for te purpose, says, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon eart,...but lay up for yourselves treasures in eaven... Spend not your time and strengt in making a fortune, but in securing a treasure, an ineritance in eaven. If tey already possessed a title to, an earnest of, tese treasures, as te converted do, wy exort tem to lay up or provide tem? If it is wrong to exort sinners to spiritual exercises, ow could our Lord tus address tem? Not because power went wit te word as some say, for te propecy (Isa. 49:4) and te event proved te contrary. Mattew 7:7-8. ere te same multitude are exorted to ask, seek, and knock; wit te assurance tat so doing tey sall obtain, find, and be admitted. Are not tese spiritual exercises, and for spiritual tings? and yet some of te persons addressed are in te context called ypocrites. ow ten can it be improper to exort sinners to pray, seek, and knock at mercy s door? Mattew 7: Enter ye in at te strait gate... Te gate is Crist, (Jon 10:9): te way is oliness, (Isa. 35:8): te end is eaven, (Matt. 10:32): te people are witout, tey are exorted by im wo never spoke rasly or made a mistake to enter: and wat is entering, but believing? It cannot terefore be wrong for gospel ministers to exort sinners wo ear tem, to enter in by te door, and walk in te way to eaven, for Jesus did so. Mark 1:15....Repent ye and believe te gospel. Wat is te gospel? Let Jon 3:14-21: and I Timoty 1:15, answer. It is te good news of a Saviour for sinners, able, willing, and autorized to save all tat come unto im. Te glad tidings of God s free favour and unmerited mercy to te vile, unworty, and miserable. Sinners are required to believe tat God sent is Son into te world to save sinners, and to repent, or cange teir minds and teir conduct, wit sorrow and contrition. To embrace te Saviour God as provided, and receive te message e as sent. If our Lord required only wat is called natural fait, or natural repentance: e only required tat wic would still leave tem under te curse of God, and exposed to is tremendous wrat. But Jesus calls upon tem to...believe on im... (Jon 6:28-29), and to all suc...gave e power to become te sons of God... (Jon 1:12). Te fait Jesus required, appears to me to be a believing wit te eart (Rom. 10:9-10); to wic salvation is promised (Mark 16:16): te repentance e enforced is tat to wic te promise of forgiveness of sins is appended (Acts 2:38-40; 3:19-26). ow ten can it be wrong for us to exort sinners to repent and believe te gospel? Witout repentance tey must peris (Luke 13:2-5); wit it tey are delivered from te wrat to come. Luke 13: Strive to enter in at te strait gate... A curious question ad just been proposed by one present to te Saviour, Are tere few tat be saved? Instead of gratifying curiosity, our Lord exorts, Strive even to an agony, (so te word used signifies,) to enter troug te strait gate (Campbell s translation). ere e Wo spake as never man spake, exorted tose tat were witout to exert teir utmost strengt; to force teir entrance troug te strait gate. It is proper terefore to exort tose tat are witout Crist, to believe on im, enter by im, and be saved. Jon 3: Jesus is ere represented by te brazen serpent, to wic every person in te camp of Israel, bitten by te fiery flying serpents was directed to look; and te promise was given tat every one tat looked sould live. Te Saviour calls to te ends of te eart, and says, Look unto me, and be ye saved... ere is no restriction, no description of caracter; but...all te ends of te eart... are invited to look and live (Isa. 45:22). Te Fater gave im tat WOSOEVER believet on im may ave everlasting life; and te gospel calls upon every one tat earet to believe, or to flee for refuge to te ope wic it sets before tem (eb. 6:18). Self-preservation is said, to be te first law of nature; it is terefore a duty according to tis law to receive God s gracious message, and call upon im, For wosoever sall call upon te name of te Lord sall be saved (Rom. 10:13). Te ground of a sinner s condemnation is said to be, not merely breaking te moral law, but tat...ligt is come into te world, and men loved darkness rater tan ligt, because teir deeds are evil: e is condemned because e at not believed on te name of te only begotten Son of God. If e is condemned for not believing, it must ave been is duty to believe; and if e ad believed e could not ave been condemned (Jon 5:24 wit 6:47). Te oly Spirit was sent to convince te world, not merely te Jews, but te world, of sin because tey believed not on Jesus, (Jon 16:8-9): ow could non-believing be a sin, if believing was not a duty? and ow could it be a duty if God did not require it? and if God did require it, ow can it be wrong for gospel ministers to enforce it? Te call of te gospel is to sinners as sinners, to all sinners, Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to te sons of man (Prov. 8:4): but te promise of eternal life is restricted to tose wo believe, e tat believet on te Son at everlasting life: and e tat believet not te Son sall not see life; but te wrat of God abidet on im (Jon 3:36). Jon 5: Searc te scriptures... Te Jews are ere directed to teir own Scriptures as being testimony to te Messiasip of Jesus; and are reproved for not coming to im for life. Tis certainly implies tat it was teir duty to come; or else Jesus would not ave reproved tem for not doing so; and if it was te duty of te Jews, on te ground of te proclamation being made to tem, is it not of te Gentiles also, te same proclamation being now made to tem? Te life Jesus came to give was everlasting (Continued on page 10)

10 Page 10 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 On Addressing (Continued from page 9) life, (Jon 6:27; I Jon 5:11); abundant life, (Jon 10:10); tis e as promised to every willing soul, (Jon 4:10; 7:37): and for tis e exorted te carnal Jews to labour (Jon 6:27). Jon 6: Jesus declares te persons ere addressed to be carnal, self-seeking persons; for tis e reproves tem, and ten exorts tem to labour for te soul, to obtain tat bread wic enduret to everlasting life, and promises to give it tem: tey enquire, Wat is te labour God requiret us to do? e answers, Tis is te labour, wic God requiret, tat ye believe on im wom e at sent, or commissioned. ere fait is called a work, because commanded (I Jon 3:23); because it is obedience to a law, called te law of fait (Rom. 3:27); te law of te Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2); wic is made known to all nations to be obeyed by fait (Rom. 16:25-26; eb. 5:9). It is called a work because it is an effort of mind (Matt. 7:13-14; Luke 13:24; I Cor. 9:24-25). Fait, ten, is a work wic God requiret of carnal self-seeking persons, and e as autority to do so; and man once ad ability to obey tis requirement: e was created in knowledge (Col. 3:10; in rigteousness and true oliness (Ep. 4:23-24); in uprigtness (Eccl. 7:29); yea, in te very image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). But e deprived imself of tis ability by sin, wic is a departure from, and a resistance to God; e is now a rebel in arms against is Maker, and is inability is te effect of is crime. But, provision is made for weakness, as well as wickedness in te everlasting Gospel, and te oly Spirit, te Spirit of Power, is promised to EVERY ONE TAT ASKET (Luke 11:9-13). Tis provision is compared to a sumptuous feast, te Lord s servants are sent out wit a commission to bid all tat tey find, weter in te streets and lanes of te city, or in te igways and edges, to come and partake: yea, tey are by argument, persuasion and reasoning, to compel tem to come in, assuring tem of a earty welcome (Matt. 22:1-14; Luke 14:16-24). Te fait wic God requires as Crist for its object, and salvation for its end (I Pet. 1:9). In te passage under consideration, te work required is said to be believing on im Wom God commissioned; but in te following passages te very same words are used in reference to saving fait, let me entreat you to consider tem seriously and prayerfully: Jon 1:12; 6:47; 7:39; 17:20; 20:31; Acts 13:39; 16:31; Rom. 4:4-5; 10:4,16. Now, considering, tat our Lord was speaking to a plain unlettered multitude, and tat te Bible was written under te plenary inspiration of te oly Spirit for te same, (for te Bible is te poor man s book;) can we suppose, tat precisely te same words would be employed, if te fait intended was different? ow could te foolis way-faring man elp mistaking is way, if tis was te case (Isa. 35:8)? Tis would only bewilder and confuse instead of instruct and guide. Te fait spoken of appears to me to be a simple crediting te Saviour s word, and venturing on is power and grace for life and salvation. Men ougt to receive Crist, or tey ougt to reject im; tey ougt to believe on im, or neglect is great salvation (eb. 2:3); and we as ministers of te gospel ougt to exort tem to do one or te oter. God requires fait, e as an undoubted rigt to do so; and...e tat believet on me at everlasting life (Jon 6:47); but if any earer of te gospel is condemned, e at never believed, for suc is te testimony of Jesus (Jon 3:18). Te provision set before te people was spiritual, and enduret unto everlasting life; tey were required to labour for it wit te assurance tat Jesus would give it; and wat was applicable to tose persons is applicable to all suc caracters, and will be wile te present dispensation lasts. Tey were exorted by Jesus, yet tey refused, and left is ministry on account of is ard sayings; and tis was teir condemnation: if we preac te same truts, in te same way, te same effects may follow, for te gospel is still a savour of life unto life, or a savour of deat unto deat (II Cor. 2:15-16). Jon 12: Crist came a ligt into te world, e is te luminary tat givet life; e ere exorts te unbelieving Jews to believe in im tat tey may be te cildren of ligt: a cild of ligt is te caracteristic of a Cristian (Luke 16:8; Ep. 5:8; I Tess. 5:5-8; I Jon 2:8-11). Can it ten, be any more a sin for us, to exort Gentiles to believe in te ligt, tan it was in our beloved Master to exort te Jews? If any person sould bring verses 39 and 40, as an objection, we remark tat tey form no valid objection, for te rejection of Crist was te cause wy God gave tem up to a reprobate mind (Luke 11:52; 13:25, 34, 35; 19:41-42; Acts 28:24-28; Rom. 11:19-20). Luke 3:7. ere persons called a generation of vipers, ad been warned to flee from te wrat to come, but tere is no escaping tat wrat but by believing in Jesus (Mark 16:16): terefore it is only following a good example to warn even a generation of vipers, or Satan-like sinners to believe in Jesus and escape from wrat (I Tess. 1:10). Mark 6:12. te Apostles went out and preaced tat man SOULD repent: mere reformation is only wasing te outside of te cup and platter, or witewasing te outside of te sepulcre; for tis our Lord reproved and condemned te Parisees; te disciples exorted to wat would be pleasing to God, but...witout fait it is impossible to please im (eb. 11:6); terefore doubtless tey exorted to a repentance wic flows from fait. Acts 3: In tis passage Peter calls upon te multitude to repent and be converted; and promises te forgiveness of sins to all suc; it is evident terefore tat te repentance ere required is tat wic is accompanied by pardon; but all suc repentance is preceded by fait; terefore e calls for fait in Crist, and repentance toward God as Paul did (Acts 20:20-21). If it was proper for Peter to preac tus, it is proper for us, seeing we live under te same dispensation, ave te same commission, and ave to preac to persons of te same caracter. Acts 8: Peter ere testifies tat Simon Magus was in te gall of bitterness, and in te bond of iniquity; yet e exorts im to repent and pray tat is sins may be forgiven im; forgiveness of sins is a spiritual blessing, flowing troug fait, and ending in eternal life; Simon is terefore virtually exorted to believe, pray, repent, and seek forgiveness of sins, toug in te gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity; if it was virtue in Peter tus to act, (and wo says it was (Continued on page 11)

11 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 11 On Addressing (Continued from page 10) not?) ow can it be vice in us? Or, if we fear or neglect to do it, ow can we prove tat we follow te Apostolic example, or imitate te divine Model? Acts 13: Beware... ow was tis evil to be avoided but by receiving te Apostolic message and acting upon it? and wat is tis but fait? ere ten Paul indirectly exorts te unconverted to believe in Jesus, in order to avoid danger, and realize safety. Acts 13: ere te Word of God wic is te veicle of salvation is presented to te Jews, tey reject it, and tus reject Crist, and pass sentence on temselves, tat tey are unworty of eternal life. Can tat be put away wic is not brougt near and presented? Certainly not. ad tey received te Word as tey sould, tey would ave enjoyed eternal life; but tere is no eternal life but by believing, terefore it was believing tat te Apostle required, and tat fait wic would ave put tem in possession of eternal life; but tey put from tem te Word wic is te instrument of salvation, and te Apostle considered tis to be passing sentence on temselves; but if te Apostle required fait of is earers, even tat fait wic receives Crist, and salvation by im, on te ground of is commission, wy sould not we wo ave te same commission and te same gospel? Acts 17: ere God is said to command all men every were to repent, because, etc. If tis repentance ad been only natural, wile it would ave benefitted society, it would ave been but of little use at te bar of God; but repentance is required because God intends to judge te world; surely ten te repentance required, is tat wic stands connected wit fait, pardon, justification, and eternal life; else te people may render wat God requires, and at last peris for not rendering more. Some persons ask me, wat is te use of inviting dead sinners? I may ask tem in return, Wat is te use of God requiring a repentance, wic if rendered, leaves us in te same fearful state of condemnation as before? But I am not to do a ting because I tink it useful, or neglect any ting because I tink it useless; my rule is God s Word, I am to occupy as te Master as given me directions; until e come, and ten e will set all tings strait, and reconcile wat I cannot armonize. Acts 26:20. ere Paul tells us tat in is preacing e sewed bot to Jews and Gentiles,...tat tey sould repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. If Paul sewed tem tis, it must ave been teir duty, and in is commission; and if it was te duty of sinners ten to repent, turn to God, and do good works, it is teir duty now; and if it was in Paul s commission to exort tem so to do, it must be in ours. If Paul did is duty in tus acting, ow can we do ours, if we neglect to act tus? Tere is joy in eaven over one sinner tat repentet (Luke 15:7); repentance and remission of sins go togeter (Luke 24:46-47; turning to God is gospel conversion (I Tess. 1:9); and is required (Acts 14:15; 26:17). If terefore Paul exorted Jews and Gentiles to repent, and fill eaven wit joy, to turn to God and be added to te Curc, (as all suc sould be,) and to perform good works, as te proof of te vitality and spirituality of teir religion; ten it cannot be wrong to imitate so admirable an example; toug for so doing, we may be denounced and condemned, toug we never use expressions alf so strong as e as. Acts 28:23. ere Paul is persuading te people concerning Jesus, in II Corintians 5:10-11, e informs us e did so from a knowledge of te terrors of te Lord; but would any ting but tat fait wic appropriates te work of Jesus secure from tose terrors? If ten Paul persuaded tem wit a view to teir escaping tose terrors, e doubtless pointed out teir danger, set before tem Jesus te refuge, and exorted tem to seek selter in im; and tis is fait. But it appears to me tat we may as well preac Maomet, and a pilgrimage to Mecca, to poor sinners wo are exposed to te terrors of te Lord; if te gospel gives tem no warrant to fly to Jesus for safety, or, if we may not persuade, and exort tem as Paul did to believe on im to te saving of te soul (Acts 18:4; 19:26). Te object of te Apostle was te salvation of is earers (I Cor. 9:19, 22); like is Divine Master wat e said to tem was wit te design tat tey migt be saved (Jon 5:34); and e most affectionately desiring teir salvation was willing not only to impart to tem te gospel of God, but even is own soul also, if e migt but win tem to Crist (I Tess. 2:8; Rom 9:3; 10:1; Gal. 4:19). ere was no reference to te divine decrees, but wile e believed tem eartily, and preaced tem to te curc; e proceeded in is work as toug e believed tem not, becoming all tings unto all men tat e migt by all means save some; te decrees being matters of fait, and not a rule of conduct. e ascribed te success of te gospel to is God, and te blinding of te sinner to Satan (II Cor. 4:3-4; and so did Jesus (Luke 8:12). e acted upon te persuasion, tat e tat winnet souls is wise (Prov. 11:30); and e wic convertet a sinner from te error of is way sall save a soul from deat, and sall ide a multitude of sins (James 5:20). II Corintians 5: ere te Apostle vindicates is conduct from te aspersions cast upon it, (some said e was beside imself, etc.;) and gives an account of is ministry; e called it te ministry of reconciliation, and stiles imself an ambassador for Crist, wose work was to beseec sinners to be reconciled to God. Te veemence and perseverance wit wic e prosecuted is work, e ascribes to te love of Crist wic, like a torrent, carried im away. Te Corintians to wom e wrote were already reconciled to God, is ope of tem was steadfast, tey were establised in Crist, anointed, and sealed wit te oly Spirit (II Cor. 1:7, 21-22): but accounting for is zeal, in reference to te unconverted, e sews tat it was in perfect accordance wit is office and work, as a minister of reconciliation. God by te Apostle besougt tose to be reconciled wo were in a state of enmity and alienation, ereby manifesting te greatness of is condescension, long-suffering, and forbearance; and by te same rule are we to proceed, to te same end. e preaced Crist to every man, and warned every man; beseecing tem not to receive te glad tidings of te grace of God in vain (Col. 1:28; II Cor. 6:1). Being allowed of God to be put in trust wit te gospel, as a faitful erald, e publised te glad tidings,...not (Continued on page 16)

12 Page 12 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Forum Submit your questions on any Bible topic. 1. Wat are your tougts upon Ecclesiastes 5:2? Roger Reed 20 Ledgewood Dr. Mansfield, Oio Missionary of West Jefferson Missionary Baptist Mission 90 E. Main St. West Jefferson, Oio My tougts on Ecclesiastes 5:2 are tat great care and tougt sould be given on ow we approac our God in prayer. Our prayers must come from te eart, and we sould not let our tongue overrun our tougts as some do in public, as well as private, prayer in many denominations, including some Baptist. We sould take care tat we do not talk to God as we do to eac oter. Te late Broter Cockrell said tat, Ecclesiastes 5:2 is te divine rule of prayer. And tat we must be grave, umble, and serious. I concur wit Broter Cockrell. In fact I agree wit is assessment of Ecclesiastes 5:2 so muc tat I will quote im to answer te question in full! e goes on to say, Te trone of grace is a trone of majesty. Te confidence of a cild must be tempered wit te umility of te sinner. We are unworty to receive any favor from God, or to ave any communion wit im. We must be grave, umble, and serious (as noted above). Tere is a great distance between God and man. God is in eaven is expressive of is majesty, sovereignty, and supremacy (Ps. 103:19; 115:3; Isa. 57: 15). Te eart is God s footstool. We are mere worms on eart, unworty of is notice (Gen. 18:27). Let your words be well weiged and well-ordered (Job 9: 14). Tere is more substance in a few minutes real communion tan in an our of formal exercise. Let us speak to God in words from te Bible (Jon 15:7; Rom. 8:26-27). Tis verse does not proibit long prayers, but ras prayers (Matt. 6:7-8; 1 Kings 18:26). Crist prayed all nigt (Luke 6: 12). (End quote). Sometimes, because we ave become so busy, I am afraid we do not take time to be tougtful in our approac to a oly, sovereign God. And in so doing we disonor our eavenly Fater from above. We must take more care not to disonor im. God Bless! ROGER REED Tom Ross 6339 County Rd. 15 Sout Point, O Pastor Mt. Pleasant Baptist Curc 6939 County Rd. 15 Cesapeake, O Be not ras wit ty mout, and let not tine eart be asty to utter any ting before God: for God is in eaven, and tou upon eart: terefore let ty words be few (Eccl. 5:2). Tis verse contains bot a command and a warning concerning our words and our inward tougts. We are commanded to be guarded and cautious wit te words tat proceed out of our mout. Te ebrew word for ras is baar and it conveys te idea of speaking astily witout tinking, or saying someting quickly by reacting out of fear or agitation. Moses was guilty of speaking rasly as Psalm 106:32-33 records: Tey angered im also at te waters of strife, so tat it went ill wit Moses for teir sakes: Because tey provoked is spirit, so tat e spake unadvisedly wit is lips (cf. Num. 20:10-12). Te reaction of Moses prevented im from leading te cildren of Israel into te Promised Land! Wat a lesson for all of us not to speak reactively, flippantly, or apazardly witout tinking! It would do us well to remember tat tere are consequences for idle speec as Jesus declared:... 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. But I say unto you, Tat every idle word tat men sall speak, tey sall give account tereof in te day of judgment. For by ty words tou salt be justified, and by tey words tou salt be condemned (Matt. 12:34-37). It is important to note tat Jesus connects our words to te inward tougts and desires of our eart. Wat we say is often predicated upon wat we tink intellectually and feel emotionally. Tus, it beooves us to keep our inward desires, tougts, and emotions in ceck. If we would truly apply tese principles to our tougts and speec we could eliminate gossip, talebearing, lying, vulgarity, and mean-spirited attitudes from our lives. Tis command and warning sould be viewed wit te majesty, sovereignty, and omniscience of God in view. Our God is an all knowing Sovereign wo sees and ears all tat we do and say. Proverbs 15:3-4 declares: Te eyes of te LORD are in every place, beolding te evil and te good. A wolesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness terein is a breac of te spirit. Sould we not live wit a sense of awe and reverence as we consider tat our great God is actively reviewing everyting we tink, say, and do? ebrews 4:13 reveals: Neiter is tere any creature tat is not manifest in is sigt: but all tings are naked and opened unto te eyes of im wit wom we ave to do. Everyting we tink, say, and do ougt to be regulated by te immutable standard of Colossians 3:17: And watsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in te name of te Lord Jesus, giving tanks to God and te Fater by im. We are also admonised not to talk so muc in ligt of te sovereignty and omniscience of God by te prase terefore let ty words be few. Wen we do speak, we sould do so tougtfully and carefully. Our words sould be aimed at glorifying God and edifying tose we are speaking to, wit a sincere desire not to grieve te oly Spirit. Epesians 4:25, states: Werefore putting away lying, speak every man trut wit is neigbour, for we are members one of anoter... Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mout, but act wic is good to te use of edifying, tat it may minister grace unto te earers. And grieve not te oly Spirit of God, wereby ye are sealed unto te day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrat, and anger, and glamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, wit all malice. Tese principles sould govern all our speec including everyday conversation, prayer, (Continued on page 14)

13 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page Crist states in Jon 3:5 tat a man must bot be born of water and te oly Spirit, does tis not mean tat baptism is a requirement to salvation? Te Berea Baptist Banner Forum Submit your questions on any Bible topic. Mattew Stepp 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Pastor Big Creek Baptist Curc 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Tere is only tis ONE time tat tis prase born of water is used in te Bible- ere in Jon 3. So wy would anyone tink tis prase would ave anyting to do wit baptismal regeneration? Woever did, must ave gotten tat idea from man, because Bible baptism is a picture of deat, not salvation. Know ye not, tat so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Crist were baptized into is deat? Terefore we are buried wit im by baptism into deat: For if we ave been planted togeter in te likeness of is deat, we sall be also in te likeness of is resurrection: Knowing tis, tat our old man is crucified wit im, tat te body of sin migt be destroyed, tat encefort we sould not serve sin. For e tat is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead wit Crist, For in tat e died, e died unto sin once: but in tat e livet, e livet unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin (Rom. 6:3-11). Ten references to deat in tis passage equal deat. Sela! Tink about it! Now, I know tat te resurrection is also pictured in baptism, but tat picture continues in service, not salvation. Undeniably, te primary picture of baptism is deat unto our sinful bodies. We never see te picture of being baptized unto (just) life, but always a baptism unto a transformed life of service. And tat picture is fulfilled by te goal of baptism: being added to te Lord s New Testament Baptist curces. So, wat is te verse talking about? Te context is Crist informing Nicodemus about two birts: Verily, verily, I say unto tee, Except a man be born again, e cannot see te kingdom of God (Jon 3:3) Nicodemus struggles wit tis concept and our text verse is were Crist is explaining tis rebirt, by contrasting a second birt wit te first birt. Except a man be (1) born of water and (2) of te Spirit, e cannot enter into te kingdom of God (Jon 3:5). So, to be born of water is speaking of our natural birt, and to be born of te Spirit is referring to our supernatural birt salvation by grace troug te blood of Crist and te effectual calling of te oly Gost. Tis is furter validated trougout te rest of te passage, including Jon 3:6, 12, Tat wic is born of te fles is fles; and tat wic is born of te Spirit is spirit. If I ave told you eartly tings, and ye believe not, ow sall ye believe, if I tell you of eavenly tings? Tere is a striking distinction between te two birts, te one is eartly, flesly and of water, wile te second regenerating birt is eavenly and of te Spirit. Te only remaining question, is wy does Jesus say born of water, instead of born of te fles or born of eartly tings as e later does? Obviously, it is to sow a more complete picture of tese birts, is it not? Te more information we ave, te more complete our understanding of te topic at and. Te more synonyms, te better. A couple of tougts concerning water. Te Lord is purposely contrasting water and te Spirit. Our bodies are over 60% water in weigt, and 2 O is certainly an eartly element. Eart and water are te fundamental building blocks of umanity, even in Genesis 1:20, 24. Te oter two primal elements, fire and air are more often spiritual pictures or analogies. Secondly, water and seas are at times pictorially used of te masses, or multitudes of umanity. And four great beasts came up from te sea (Dan. 7:3). Raging waves of te sea, foaming out teir own same; wandering stars, to wom is reserved te blackness of darkness for ever (Jude 1:13). And I stood upon te sand of te sea, and saw a beast rise up out of te sea (Rev. 13:1). Come iter; I will sew unto tee te judgment of te great wore tat sittet upon many waters Te waters wic tou sawest, were te wore sittet, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (Rev. 17:1, 15). Jon 3:5 in context is ten sowing except a man be born of water [umanity] and of te Spirit [eavenly], e will not enter te kingdom of God. If we only ave te birt of water, ten we are doomed to eternal deat. Wat we need are words of Spirit and te birt of life. It is te spirit tat quickenet; te fles profitet noting: te words tat I speak unto you, tey are spirit, and tey are life (Jon 6:63). Sela! Tink about it! MATTEW STEPP Tom Ross 6339 County Rd. 15 Sout Point, O Pastor Mt. Pleasant Baptist Curc 6939 County Rd. 15 Cesapeake, O I guess if you are a Catolic, Campbellite, or a Protestant baby sprinkler every time you see water you automatically apply it to te doctrine of salvation. owever, tere are absolutely no saving qualities in 2O no matter ow it is applied. Unsuspecting infants aving water sprinkled on teir foreeads by a priest are not saved by tis anticristian superstition. Nor will immersion in water by a Campbellite elder or an Apostolic bisop secure salvation for teir converts. Plain and simple, water, no matter ow it is used, applied, or blessed; cannot, will not, sall not ever, under any circumstances secure or insure te salvation of anyone, anywere. I realize tat nearly everyone but te Baptists attac saving qualities to 20 and tat I am in te decided minority wo firmly stand against te eresy of baptismal regeneration. But stand I must, because I believe my salvation rests entirely in te finised work of te Lord Jesus Crist as revealed in is perfect life, sacrificial deat, burial, and glorious resurrection for me personally. I dare not add to is work or trust in anyone or anyting but Crist alone for salvation,. I realize te Catolic (Continued on page 14)

14 Page 14 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Forum #1 (Continued from page 12) witnessing, interaction wit our families, curc members, and in te work place. Peraps te best way to acieve obedience to tis command and to eed te warning is to follow te example of te Psalmist as stated in Psalm 19:13-14: Keep back ty servant also from presumptuous sins; let tem not ave dominion over me: ten sall I be uprigt, and I sall be innocent from te great transgression. Let te words of my mout, and te meditation of my eart, be acceptable in ty sigt, O LORD, my strengt, and my redeemer. TOM ROSS Mattew Stepp 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Pastor Big Creek Baptist Curc 286 Big Creek Road Wayne, WV Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 is wat our LORD is quoting in Mattew 5:33-37, Again, ye ave eard tat it at been said by tem of old time, Tou salt not forswear tyself, but salt perform unto te Lord tine oats: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neiter by eaven; for it is God s trone: Nor by te eart; for it is is footstool: neiter by Jerusalem; for it is te city of te great King. Neiter salt tou swear by ty ead, because tou canst not make one air wite or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for watsoever is more tan tese comet of evil. Te Preacer starts off praising te merits of listening rater tan rasly blatering on like fools. Keep ty foot wen tou goest to te ouse of God, and be more ready to ear, tan to give te sacrifice of fools: for tey consider not tat tey do evil. Be not ras wit ty mout, and let not tine eart be asty to utter any ting before God (Eccl. 5:1-2). Real good advice: Be a man of few words! But even more particularly, look WERE we are to approac unto wit tis wisdom- te ouse of God! Certainly, our lives are to center around tis most important place, and if our earts are rigt in te Lord s ouse, everyting else will fall into reverential place in our lives. James adds to wat te Lord and Solomon ave said on te matter in James 1:19-20, Werefore, my beloved bretren, let every man be swift to ear, slow to speak, slow to wrat: For te wrat of man worket not te rigteousness of God. Te parallel passages grow closer, as te Ecclesiastes writer continues: for God is in eaven, and tou upon eart: terefore let ty words be few. Wen tou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for e at no pleasure in fools: pay tat wic tou ast vowed. Better is it tat tou souldest not vow, tan tat tou souldest vow and not pay. Inerent in a vow is submission to autority. And Jacob sware by te fear of is fater Isaac (Gen. 31:53). Because of Jacob s reverence of is eartly fater, it was an oat tat Laban recognized as worty of trusting in. A common prase used by Old Testament saints was as te LORD livet Boaz, Gideon, Saul, David, Elija, etc Wen used, it meant tat God was watcing, observing and witnessing te veracity of teir statements. But, lest it become just a common saying wit no merit or soundness, te Lord and our oter quoted saints warn not to swear or make vows witout seriously considering te inerent commitment one as entered into. I always marvel at te words Geazi maked as e considered taking te forbidden payment from Naaman in II Kings 5:20, But Geazi, te servant of Elisa te man of God, said, Beold, my master at spared Naaman tis Syrian, in not receiving at is ands tat wic e brougt: but, as te LORD livet, I will run after im, and take somewat of im. Do we not consider tat as te LORD livet. e is alive and watcing. Geazi and ourselves go out and lie to Naaman and our neigbors, as if God is not aware. Be a man of few words. Suffer not ty mout to cause ty fles to sin; neiter say tou before te angel, tat it was an error: werefore sould God be angry at ty voice, and destroy te work of tine ands? For in te multitude of dreams and many words tere are also divers vanities: but fear tou God. Verses 6-7 conclude te admonition ere in Ecclesiastes. Surely, as James goes on in is epistle to warn us, Even so te tongue is a little member, and boastet great tings. te tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is te tongue among our members, tat it defilet te wole body, and settet on fire te course of nature; and it is set on fire of ell. te tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Terewit bless we God, even te Fater; and terewit curse we men (James 3:5-9). Beloved reader, please join Broter James and me in aborring te dangers tat our tongues can get us into on sort notice. My Bretren, tese tings ougt not so to be. Sela! Tink about it! And ye sall not swear by my name falsely, neiter salt tou profane te name of ty God: I am te LORD (Lev. 19:12). Te strengt in our promises and assurances to oters, is ultimately our integrity. As Crist Jesus informs us, we do not own anyting else not eaven, not Eart, nor even te airs upon our ead. A solemn yes or no will be enoug for our neigbors and even our enemies, if we live te life of a virtuous Cristian. Sela! Tink about it! MATTEW STEPP Forum #2 (Continued from page 13) Curc as already condemned me to te fires of ell and tat te Campbellites tink I am te worst sort of eretic. owever, I will take my stand wit Crist, te apostles, and faitful Baptists troug te ages believing tat salvation is by sovereign grace apart from te works or ordinances of man. Jesus Crist alone is te way of salvation as e clearly stated in Jon 14:6:...I am te way, te trut, and te life: no man comet to te Fater, but by me. In Jon capter 3 Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about being born again by te oly Spirit. e is clearly contrasting te first birt wit te new birt. Te first birt was our pysical birt were we inerited a flesly, sinful nature from our parents. As a result of te pysical birt we are incapable of seeing or entering into te kingdom of God. Our dead, flesly, carnal nature (Continued on page 15)

15 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 15 Forum #2 (Continued from page 14) proibits us from pleasing God in any way according to Roman 8:7-8: Because te carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to te law of God, neiter indeed can be. So ten tey tat are in te fles cannot please God. You can apply water 100 different ways to a sinner and it will never make im acceptable to God. Tat wic is fles is fles and tat is all it will ever be! Water in no way, sape, or form ever gives spiritual and eternal life to a dead sinner! Salvation is not found in an ordinance or a ceremony performed by men. If baptism was necessary to be saved it would mean you would ave to go to someone oter tan Crist to administer salvation. I do not need a priest or a preacer to be saved. I can go directly to Crist Jesus and believe tat e alone is my Mediator, my Surety, my Savior, and my Lord. Wen te Pilippian jailor asked wat must I do to be saved, Paul simply told im...believe on te Lord Jesus Crist, and tou salt be saved, and ty ouse (Acts 16:31). Salvation is bound up in a Person, not in a ceremony or ordinance, or any works of sinful men. Tis message of salvation in Crist alone is wat Peter and Paul bot preaced as revealed in te Book of Acts: To im give all te propets witness, tat troug is name wosoever believet in im sall receive remission of sins... Be it known unto you terefore, men and bretren, tat troug tis man is preaced unto you te forgiveness of sins: And by im all tat believe are justified from all tings, from wic ye could not be justified by te law of Moses (Acts 10:43; 13:38-39). Tere are basically two or tree views regarding ow te term water is used in Jon 3:5 eld by tose wo believe in salvation by grace alone troug Crist. First, and I believe te one tat fits best wit te context and te contrast between te pysical and spiritual birt, is tat being born of water refers to te pysical birt of a baby wen its moter s water breaks. Second, some believe tat te water ere refers to te Word of God and tey reference Jon 15:3, Epesians 5:26, James 1:17 and I Peter 1:23. Tird, Jon Gill believed tat te water and Spirit in Jon 3:5 were one in te same, not material water or te ordinance of baptism. I believe wit all my eart tat wenever te oly Spirit regenerates a dead sinner, e gives tem te gifts of repentance and saving fait in te Gospel of Crist. I see te Divine side as regeneration by te Spirit, and te uman side as te elect s response to te converting power of te Word of God. I believe tat te power of te new birt or regeneration is in te work of te oly Spirit alone. Te Spirit must make te dead sinner spiritually alive before te sinner is able to respond to te converting power of te Word in repentance and saving fait. Tere must be spiritual life before te spiritual gift of fait is exercised. I do not believe tere is any time lapse between te new birt by te Spirit and fait in Crist. Regeneration always results in repentance and fait immediately. I can faitfully preac te Gospel, but unless te oly Spirit regenerates tere will be no conversion as I Tessalonians 1:5 reveals: For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in te oly Gost, and in muc assurance; as ye know wat manner of men we were among you for your sake. Elders T.P. Simmons and Al Gormley believed in te water of te Word and te oly Spirit as te agents of regeneration. Elders Milburn Cockrell and C.D. Cole believed tat te oly Spirit was te sole agent or efficient cause in regeneration. I fall more in line wit te Cockrell and Cole interpretation simply because I believe only te oly Spirit can impart spiritual life. Jon 1:12-13 states: But as many as received im, to tem gave e power to become te sons of God, even to tem tat believe on is name: Wic were born, not of blood, nor of te will of te fles, nor of te will of man, but of God. Regardless wic view you may adere to, te fact remains tat all wo believe in salvation by free and sovereign grace agree tat te ordinance of baptism or te application of pysical water as noting at all to do wit te new birt. 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. For we are is workmansip, created in Crist Jesus unto good works, wic God at before ordained tat we sould walk in im (Ep. 2:8-10). Baptist Baptism follows salvation as a symbolic declaration of a sinner s new life in Crist. It is a good work of rigteousness (Matt. 3:13-17) tat publicly declares allegiance to Crist and is curc. But make no mistake at all about it, pysical water or 2O in any form as absolutely noting to do wit te salvation of a soul. I stand wit Jesus wo said: For God so loved te world, tat e gave is only begotten Son, tat wosoever believet in im sould not peris, but ave everlasting life (Jon 3:16). TOM ROSS Roger Reed 20 Ledgewood Dr. Mansfield, Oio Missionary of West Jefferson Missionary Baptist Mission 90 E. Main St. West Jefferson, Oio Before I answer tis question, let me make it perfectly clear tat baptism is in no way necessary to salvation. God does not require for a sinner to meet tis requirement in order to be saved. For I am te LORD, I cange not; terefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed (Mal. 3:6). Wit tat said, let us ask te reader a few questions. Do you see anyone being baptized before Jon te Baptist? Are tere any references to anyone in te Old Testament tat was baptized? If baptism is needed before anyone can be saved ten all te Old Testament saints from Abel to te time of Crist are eternally lost, rigt? I tink we will find tat te Old Testament Scriptures plainly teac oterwise, unless you do not believe Malaci 3:6? If baptism is essential to be saved, ten te repentant tief wo died next to Crist, as well as tose tat are saved on teir deatbed, or te ones wo are saved and never leave te ospital, or wo are saved and died before tey could be baptized are eternally lost? Tere are also oter denominations tat I believe are saved but do not baptize, wat about tem? If baptism be necessary to salvation we must totally ignore every passage in oly Writ wic teaces tat salvation is by grace and not by works, tat it is a free (Continued on page 16)

16 Page 16 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Forum #2 (Continued from page 15) gift and is not brougt on by anyting te sinner does. Wow, I must ave ad it wrong all tese years, but I am pretty sure tat te Bible teaces tat we are saved by grace alone and tat noting else in te equation is needed to be saved. O, wait, did Paul not tell te Pilippian jailer wen e asked, Wat must I do to be saved? tat e needed to be baptized? NO, of course not, ere is te Scripture, read it for yourself: And te keeper of te prison awaking out of is sleep, and seeing te prison doors open, e drew out is sword, and would ave killed imself, supposing tat te prisoners ad been fled. But Paul cried wit a loud voice, saying, Do tyself no arm: for we are all ere. Ten e called for a ligt, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brougt tem out, and said, Sirs, wat must I do to be saved? And tey said, Believe on te Lord Jesus Crist, and tou salt be saved, and ty ouse (Acts 16:27-31). Tey did not tell im to be baptized so e could be saved. But tey did tell im and is ouse about te Lord and ten tey were baptized. And tey spake unto im te word of te Lord, and to all tat were in is ouse. And e took tem te same our of te nigt, and wased teir stripes; and was baptized, e and all is, straigtway. And wen e ad brougt tem into is ouse, e set meat before tem, and rejoiced, believing in God wit all is ouse (Acts 16:32-34). Ten wat about Paul s statement in I Corintians 1:14 if baptism was essential to salvation? I tank God tat I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius (I Cor. 1:14). Ten we read on in I Corintians 1:15-18, Lest any sould say tat I ad baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also te ouseold of Stepanas: besides, I know not weter I baptized any oter. For Crist sent me not to baptize, but to preac te gospel: not wit wisdom of words, lest te cross of Crist sould be made of none effect. For te preacing of te cross is to tem tat peris foolisness; but unto us wic are saved it is te power of God. Do you tink Paul made a mistake? If you do you ave a serious problem! So, wat does Crist mean by born of water? If it as no reference to te waters of baptism, wat do tey signify? Before we answer te question, we must see ow te word water is used in oter passages in tis gospel. To te woman at te well Crist said in Jon 4:14, Wosoever drinket of te water tat I sall give im sall never tirst; but te water tat I sall give im sall be in im a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Was tis literal water? Clearly, water is ere used figuratively. Again, in Jon 7:37-38 we are told, In te last day, tat great day of te feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man tirst, let im come unto me, and drink. e tat believet on me, as te scripture at said, out of is belly sall flow rivers of living water. ere, too, te word water is not to be understood literally, but figuratively. Tese passages in Jon s Gospel are sufficient to merit us in giving te word water in Jon 3:5 a figurative meaning. I would like to quote A. W. Pink for te rest of te meaning, e says, If ten te Lord Jesus used te word water figuratively in Jon 3:5, to wat was e referring? So, to simply answer, it is Te Word of God. Tis is te instrument used by God in regeneration. In every oter passage were te instrument of te new birt is described, it is always Te Word of God tat is mentioned. In Psalms 119:50 we read, For ty word at quickened me. Again, in I Corintians 4:15 we find te apostle saying, I ave begotten you troug te gospel. Again, we are told in (James 1:18) Of is own will begat e us wit (wat? - Baptism? no but wit) te word of trut. Peter declares, Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by te word of God, wic livet and abidet for ever (1 Peter 1:23). Te new birt, ten, is by Te Word of God, and one of te emblems of te Word is water. God employs quite a number of emblems to describe te various caracteristics and qualities of is Word. It is likened to a lamp (Psa. 119: 105) because it illumines. It is likened unto a ammer (Jer. 23:29) because it breaks up te ard eart. It is likened unto water because it cleanses: see Psa. 119:9; Jon 15:3; Ep. 5:26: Born of water means born of te cleansing and purifying Word of God. Te Producer of te new birt. Born of water, and of te Spirit (Jon 3:5). Te oly Spirit of God is te Begetter; te Word is te seed (I Jon 3:9) e uses. Tat wic is born of te fles is fles: and tat wic is born of te Spirit is spirit (Jon 3:6). And again, It is te spirit tat quickenet; te fles profitet noting (Jon 6:63). Noting could be plainer. No sinner is quickened apart from te Word. (end of quote). Tere is still muc to study and muc more to consider if one tinks e or se is saved by baptism. I am not sure, but like all false doctrine, water baptism or baptismal regeneration, as it is more rigtly called, ad to ave a beginning and/or be started by someone. I believe, but not 100% sure, tat baptismal regeneration was started by Alexander Campbell. We know is followers wo call temselves Campbellites were excluded from a Baptist curc for teir eretical and unscriptural practices. Tey are known today as te Curc of Crist. Weter or not baptismal regeneration started wit Campbell, it is still a well-known fact tat it is still practiced by is followers today. Te lack of study makes one ignorant. God Bless! ROGER REED On Addressing (Continued from page 11) as pleasing men, but God,... and so sould we (I Tess. 2:4). And as Peter preaced te gospel unto tem tat (were) are dead, tat tey migt be judged according to men in te fles, but live according to God in te Spirit (I Peter 4:6), so we proclaim te good news of an able and willing Saviour to every cild of man, persuaded wit te evangelical Ralp Erskine, tat Toug none will come till conscious of teir want, Yet rigt tey ave to come by sovereign grant: Suc rigt to Crist, is promise, and is grace, Tat all are damn d wo ear and (Continued on page 17)

17 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 17 On Addressing (Continued from page 16) don t embrace. Psalm 2: ere Crist is set fort as King in Zion, te kings and judges of te eart are exorted to do omage and yield obedience to im; to serve te Lord wit fear and rejoice wit trembling: and a blessing is pronounced upon all wo put teir trust in im. Te service e requires is spiritual, te omage e demands is tat of te eart, and te blessing e pronounces is eternal life; if a man is instructed by God s Word, if e serve te Lord wit fear, and rejoice wit trembling; if e pay te omage of te eart to Jesus, and put is trust in im; e must be a spiritual man; but tis is wat te passage requires; and toug kings and judges only are addressed, yet wat is required of tem is demanded in oter places of teir subjects also; and all wo refuse are treatened wit deat. But tose mine enemies, wic would not tat I sould reign over tem, bring iter, and slay tem before me (Luke 19:27). If tey are slain for refusing to submit to te Redeemer s government, it must ave been teir duty to submit, and ad tey submitted tey ad been spared. Te Jews would not submit to te rigteousness wic God provided for, and presented to, sinners by is gospel; and tey perised in teir own deceivings; but it must ave been teir duty to ave embraced wit gladness and trusted wit confidence in tis glorious provision (Rom. 10:1-4). Proverbs 1: ere WISDOM, by wic most interpreters consider te Son of God is intended, is represented as addressing sinners in te streets and oter public places; e reasons and expostulates wit tem, and exorts tem to turn at is reproof, promising to pour out is Spirit upon tem; but toug e called, tey refused; toug e earnestly pleaded wit tem stretcing out te and (Isa. 65:1-3) yet tey disregarded, terefore e treatens to laug at teir calamity and mock wen teir fear comet. It was plainly teir duty to ear, attend, and obey; by so doing, te treatening would ave been avoided, and te fulfillment of te promise realized. But teir iniquities turned away tese tings, and teir sins witeld good tings from tem (Jer. 5:25); and brougt upon tem te most fearful evils (Luke 19:27). Tis passage warrants us to reason, expostulate, and plead wit sinners; and to exort tem to repent and turn to God, as does also Prov. 9:1-6; Isa. 55:1-4. Isaia 55:6-7. Let te wicked forsake is way, and te unrigteous man is tougts... Elder Owen, te great campion of free grace, on tis passage says, Let te perverse and wicked one (so te ebrew word signifies,) forsake is way: and te man of iniquity is tougts, and let im return unto te Lord and e will ave mercy, and to our God for e will multiply to pardon. You see to wom e speaks, to men perversely wicked, and to suc as make a trade of sinning. Wat dot e call tem unto? Plainly to repentance. but wat is te ground of suc an invitation unto suc profligate sinners? Wy, te abundant forgiveness and pardon tat is wit im, super abounding unto wat te worst of tem can stand in need of; as Rom. 5:20. Te Lord speaks of an impiously wicked man; a man of deceit and perverse wickedness; e wose design and course is noting but a lie, sin, and iniquity; suc an one as we sould ave little or no opes of, or could scarce find in our earts to pray for, but are ready to give im up as desperate. But let im return unto te Lord, and e sall obtain forgiveness. ere ten is an exortation, and warrant, for te vilest and most ardened, to seek te Lord, forsake teir way, and expect forgiveness; and tis passage fully justifies us in exorting, persuading, and entreating te openly wicked, and daringly impious to repent, believe, and be saved. Te Gospel proposet te eavenly Canaan to souls, in suc sort as te eartly Canaan was proposed to te people of Israel. I speak not strictly of te terms, but of te nature of te proposal (eb. 3:12-13, 18-19). Compare capter 4:1-3, 6. ere is a promise left us, viz. upon record, set before us in te Gospel, tat all wo believe sall be saved....unto us was te gospel preaced... We ave been evangelized as well as tey, viz. by tis proposal of te eavenly Canaan, as tey were by te eartly. So, verse 6. Tey to wom it was first preaced, or as in te margin, to wom te Gospel was first preaced, viz. Te same Gospel in type, wit ours in te antitype. Now see Deuteronomy 1:8. Beold, I ave set te land before you: go in and possess (it). Tis was wile tey were yet in te wilderness (v. 19). Again, v. 21. Beold, te Lord ty God at set te land before tee... It was to be enjoyed and possessed in te way of fait and obedience, toug not for tem. Unbelief came and cut tem sort. So it dot many tat ave te gospel preaced to tem; of wic te Apostle warns te ebrews. In Mattew 19:21, Go and sell tat tou ast...and tou salt ave treasure in eaven... Wat urt to say, tat Crist offered* im anoter treasure better tan is eartly? And is not te same ting done in gospel daily? But wen eaven is set before men, and all te glory and appiness of te world to come, it is not, say tey, wort figting, striving, running for; nor wort denying all for. Tus it draws out a discovery of te prodigious folly and wickedness of te eart. (Beart s Eternal Law and Everlasting Gospel.) Sinners are called upon by our Lord to repent. Mark 1:15; to believe, Jon 12:36-42: to ask: to seek: to knock, Matt. 7:7; 6:33: to come, Matt. 11:28: to enter, Matt. 7:13: to strive even to an agony, Luke 13:24: to labour, Jon 6:27: to walk in te ligt, Jon 12:35: to provide for temselves treasures in eaven, Matt. 6:19-20: to come and follow im, Matt. 19:21; Luke 18:22: and to onour te Son, even as tey onour te Fater Jon 5:22-23, Te Apostles called upon sinners to repent, to be converted, Acts 3:19: to turn to God, Acts 26:20: to beware, Acts 13:40-41: and to be reconciled to God. II Cor. 5:20. Tey reasoned wit tem, Acts 17:2.; 18:4; 24:25. warned tem, Col. 1:28: persuaded tem, Acts 28:23; 19:8, 26; 28:23; II Cor. 5:11: and besougt tem, II Cor. 5:20: being commanded to preac to tem, Mark 16:15: to teac tem, Matt. 28:19-20: to bid tem to te marriage, Matt. 22:9: and to compel tem to come in. Luke 14:23. ere ten is te word we are to obey, te examples we are to imitate; and if for obeying te Master s commands, and imitating is examples, and tat of is most onoured servants, we are despised, denounced as unsound in te fait, and considered unfit to preac te gospel; we ave only to bear tis (Continued on page 18)

18 Page 18 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 On Addressing (Continued from page 17) cross, commit te keeping of our souls unto im in well doing as unto a faitful Creator, and go on wit our work, waiting for is glorious appearing wen every man sall ave praise of God (I Cor. 4:5). Religious talk sould be accompanied wit religious tempers, and if it is not we sould pity, pray for, and forgive; remembering tat it is more praiseworty to forgive a foe, ten please a friend. (Manna In Te Wilderness, 1849) * Werever te gospel comes, tere is no man living can be lost, wo is willing to take God s own grace, on is own ground, and to tat end for wic e at Supreme Court readies for religious liberty sowdown (WNS)--Te fate of one Missouri playground is long overdue. In te 15 monts since te Supreme Court agreed to ear Trinity Luteran Curc of Columbia v. Comer, te United States as put a new president and a new Supreme Court justice in place. Wit Justice Neil Gorsuc sworn in, te court on April 19 will ear te anticipated religious liberty case tat started over playground equipment but could affect faitbased organizations around te country. In 2012, Trinity Luteran Curc applied for a Missouri state program to reimburse nonprofits for rubber playground surfaces made from recycled tire scraps. Te revealed it in is own Word (Jon Martin, of Keppel Street). But if so, te gospel must warrant every man to take te grace; and if te gospel gives te warrant, sould not te preacer urge it upon is earers to ave grace, wereby we (tey) may serve God acceptably wit reverence and godly fear: And sould e not address tem as Paul did te Jews, See tat ye refuse not im tat speaket. For if tey escaped not wo refused im tat spake on eart, muc more sall not we escape, if we turn away from im tat speaket from eaven (eb. 12:25, 28; wit 3:12, 19; 4:1-11). 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 program receives funding troug a fee attaced to new tire sales and elps reduce te number of old tires in landfills wile providing a cost-effective way to purcase safe playground surfaces for cildren. Te state awarded grants to 14 applicants, but Trinity Luteran s prescool was not one of tem. Trump overturns Obama s Planned Parentood funding edict (WNS)--President Donald Trump signed is first piece of prolife legislation into law on April 13, overturning an elevent-our rule from te Obama administration to protect Planned Parentood funding. Tis is a major pro-life victory, said ouse Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Taxpayers sould not be forced to fund abortion, plain and simple. Trump signed te Congressional Review Act, wic blocks a last minute order President Barack Obama issued in te waning days of is presidency. Te Obama order banned 13 conservative states from redirecting Planned Parentood s Title X funding to community ealt centers tat do not offer abortion. Tis is te first piece of pro-life legislation Trump as signed into law and te first time te U.S. Senate as successfully passed a pro-life bill in more tan eigt years. Pro-life groups deliver 200,000 baby socks to U.S. Capitol (WNS)--Pro-life advocates, led by Students for Life of America, on April 26 displayed almost 200,000 baby socks on te lawn in front of te U.S. Capitol to represent te number of Planned Parentood abortions eac year. Tese socks represent all te women betrayed by te abortion industry and teir preborn babies wo will never be able to wear te baby socks because of Planned Parentood, said Kristan awkins, president of Students for Life of America. Tis generation wants to defund Planned Parentood. Tey expect our elected officials to keep te promises tey made during te election. Planned Parentood aborted 323,999 babies in 2016 and receives around $500 million of annual federal funding. Students for Life wanted to collect enoug socks to represent eac baby aborted. After reacing more tan alf of teir goal, pro-life advocates transported te socks in a moving truck to display outside te Capitol complex. Tey said it was time for lawmakers to defund te nation s largest abortion provider. Creationists ceer findings in bear genome sequencing project (WNS)--Baby Bear s big surprise may not be tat e found Goldilocks asleep in is bed, it may be tat e discovered is parents came from two entirely separate species. Evolutionists are equally surprised because separate species are not supposed to be able to interbreed. But te new findings come as no sock to creationists, wo note te discovery backs te belief tat God created types of animals tat diversified into wat scientists now consider separate species. Evolutionary scientists in Germany made te discovery after sequencing te genomes of all known bear species for te first time. Tey were surprised to find tat mixed breeds of bears are not nearly as rare as tey ad assumed. Commission IDs Russia, oters as religious persecutors (WNS)--Te United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called on te Trump administration to clearly communicate tat religious freedom is a top foreign policy priority as state and non state-actors increasingly persecute religious minorities on a global scale. In its annual report, te commission for te first time asked te State Department to identify Russia as a country of particular concern and to create a new designation for terror groups. Te state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in bot dept and breadt of violations, te report said. Te blatant assaults ave become so frigtening tat less egregious abuses go unnoticed or at least unappreciated. Te report, wic covers 2016 to February 2017, is te 18t since te commission s creation in Too young to cross a (Continued on page 19)

19 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 19 Bible & te Newspaper (Continued from page 18) street but old enoug for a sex cange (WNS)--More tan 200 cildren under te age of 14 died in te United States in 2014 after being struck by a car. Anoter 8,000 suffered injuries, according to te National Center for Statistics and Analysis. A new researc study conducted at te University of Iowa as determined cildren younger tan 14 do not possess te cognitive skills and judgement to safely cross a street. Te American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) publised an excerpt of te study in its Daily Briefing, a nod some pysicians found ironic, given te organization s support for transgender treatment. Tis same AAP, owever, also frequently promotes te claim tat cildren tis age or younger are cognitively capable of deciding tat tey are te wrong sex, noted Micelle Cretella, president of te American College of Pediatricians, a conservative alternative to te AAP. Religious ate crimes are on te rise (WNS)--ate crimes against minority faits spiked 86 percent in te last 12 monts even as analysts believe many incidents continue to go unreported. On May 2, te Senate Judiciary Committee sougt answers from civil rigts leaders and te Trump administration about te lack of reporting and wy religious minorities particularly Jewis and Muslim Americans are a growing target. Religious ate crimes against Muslims are te fastest growing category, said committee cairman Sen. Cuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Fear for practicing one s religion sould never appen in tis country. Tis problem as been growing for some time, and is not new. FBI data indicates ate crimes against Muslims rose 67 percent between 2014 and But Jewis Americans continue to be te most targeted for ate crimes. In te first quarter of 2017, statistics sow 541 reported anti-semitic incidents including 161 bomb treats, an increase of 127 percent from tis time last year. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS Fines for worsip, prison for Bible study in Cina (WNS)--Amid increasing attempts to suppress religious activities, Cinese autorities ave detained, fined, and imprisoned Cristians for public worsip, buying and selling devotionals, and group Bible study. In late April, a court in Xinjiang convicted five Protestants wo attended a Bible study in 2016, carging tem wit gatering a crowd to disrupt social order, Asia News reported. Te verdict came wit five-year prison sentences for two pastors, and four- and tree-year sentences for tree oters. Tey plan to appeal. Earlier in April, autorities raided a Cristian concert and arrested tose attending. Taiwanese Pastor Xu Rongzang was singing Jesus Loves You wen te raid took place, Cina Aid reported. Before releasing tem, officials forced te Cristians to say tey would not organize large gaterings again and told Xu not to old any meetings of more tan 10 people. Did you know a river as te rigt to sue you? (WNS)--New Zealand s parliament recently granted legal personood to te Wanganui River. Four days later, te ig Court in India declared te rivers Ganga and Yamuna are living entities. Now two glaciers in te imalayan region tat feed te Indian rivers, as well as nearby forests, lakes, meadows, and oter natural features, ave joined tis special class of legally protected persons, te India Times reported. India is igly motivated to protect te Ganga and Yamuna rivers from environmental damage because indus worsip tem just as some indigenous people of New Zealand worsip te Wanganui river. But tis is not about religious beliefs in India or New Zealand, Wesly J. Smit, program cair for Discovery Institute s Center on uman Exceptionalism, told me. Tese surprising legislative acts reflect a radical and dangerous environmental movement, called Rigts of Nature, tat is growing worldwide. According to te Indian court ruling, te rivers and glaciers rigts are equivalent to te rigts of uman beings, and any arm caused to tem will be considered arm to an individual. Te rivers and glaciers now ave court-appointed legal guardians and tey ave te rigt to sue, te Deli newspaper Mint reported. UN Council accredits Cristian group after years of deferrals (WNS)--Te United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accredited global religious freedom advocacy group Cristian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) on April 19 after a UN committee deferred te group s application for eigt years and denied it in February. Te consultative status will give te Britain-based nonprofit access to attend open meetings and present at te UN. uman rigts advocates described te Committee on Non- Governmental Organizations repeated denial as a political game by member countries wit a bias against uman rigts groups. ECOSOC s 54-member council voted 28-9 wit 12 abstentions. Will Swedis midwife s case birt new pro-life protections in Europe? (WNS)--A Swedis midwife denied a job because of er prolife views is taking er case to te European Court of uman Rigts. On tree separate occasions, potential employers refused to ire Ellinor Grimmark, and recently te Swedis Labor Court upeld tose decisions, declining to consider international conscience protections, er attorneys claim. Rebecca Alstrand, an attorney wit Scandinavian uman Rigts Lawyers representing Grimmark, said er client was disappointed but not surprised by te Swedis court s April 12 decision. Media depictions of Grimmark ave not been kind, exacerbating te caricature of someone opposed to abortion, Alstrand said. And te few supporters se does ave wonder weter er case will ave broader implications for Cristians trying to live out teir fait in te very secular country. Britis teacers union puses LGBT education for toddlers (WNS)--Britain s largest teacers union tinks toddlers sould be included in expanded compulsory LGBT education programs. Te National Union of Teacers (NUT) passed a motion April 17 calling on Britis lawmakers to campaign for compulsory sex education classes and te promotion of LGBT+ matters for all scools from nursery trougout all pases of state education, according to Te Times of London. Te group decried te current lack of policies wic promote LGBT+ witin scools, causing a significant negative impact on te well-being of omosexual and transgender students and teacers. Expanding sex and relationsip education (SRE) programs would ensure tose students are told explicitly in te law tat teir lives are important, too.

20 Page 20 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Weat or Caff (Continued from page 1) you in order. Wo knows but tis text may prove a word in season to your soul? Wo knows but my question may elp to make tis year te appiest year in your life? Listen, before you begin once more to walk your appointed pat of duty. Listen, before you start once more on some round of business. Listen, before you plunge once more into some course of useless idleness and folly. Listen to one wo loves your soul, and would fain elp to save it, or draw it nearer to Crist. Wo knows wat a year may bring fort? Wo can tell weter you will live to see anoter one? Be still, and listen to me a few minutes, wile I sow you someting out of te Word of God. I. Let me sow you, in te first place, te two great classes into wic tis world may be divided. Tere are only two classes of people in te world, in te sigt of God, and bot are mentioned in te text wic begins tis tract. Tere are tose wo are called te weat, and tere are tose wo are called te caff. Viewed wit te eye of man, te eart contains many different sorts of inabitants. Viewed wit te eye of God, it only contains two. Man s eye looks at te outward appearances: tis is all e tinks of. Te eye of God looks at te eart: tis is te only part of wic e takes any account. And tried by te state of teir earts, tere are but two classes into wic people can be divided: eiter tey are weat, or tey are caff. Reader, wo are te weat in te world? Listen to me, and I will tell you. Te weat means all men and women wo are believers in te Lord Jesus Crist, all wo are led by te oly Spirit, all wo ave felt temselves sinners, and fled for refuge to te salvation offered in te Gospel, all wo love te Lord Jesus, and live to te Lord Jesus, and serve te Lord Jesus, all wo ave taken Crist for teir only confidence, and te Bible for teir only guide, and regard sin as teir deadliest enemy, and look to eaven as teir only ome. All suc, of every curc, name, nation, people, and tongue, of every rank, station, condition and degree, all suc are God s weat. Sow me men of tis kind anywere, and I know wat tey are. I know not tat tey and I may agree in all particulars, but I see in tem te andiwork of te King of kings, and I ask no more. I know not wence tey came, and were tey found teir religion; but I know were tey are going, and tat is enoug for me. Tey are te cildren of my Fater in eaven. Tey are part of is weat. All suc, toug sinful, and vile, and unworty in teir own eyes, are te precious part of mankind. Tey are te sons and daugters of God te Fater. Tey are te deligt of God te Son. Tey are te abitation of God te Spirit. Te Fater beolds no iniquity in tem: tey are te members of is dear Son s body; in im e sees tem, and is well pleased. Te Lord Jesus discerns in tem te fruit of is own travail and work upon te cross, and is well satisfied. Te oly Gost regards tem as spiritual temples, wic e imself as reared, and rejoices over tem. In a word, tey are te weat of te eart. Reader, wo are te caff in te world? Listen to me once more, and I will tell you tis also. Te caff means all men and women wo ave no saving fait in Crist, and no sanctification of te Spirit, wosoever tey may be. Some of tem peraps are infidels, and some are formal Cristians. Some are sneering Sadducees, and some selfrigteous Parisees. Some of tem make a point of keeping up a kind of Sunday religion, and oters are utterly careless of everyting except teir own pleasure and te world. But all alike wo ave te two great marks already mentioned, no fait and no sanctification, all suc are caff. From Paine and Voltaire to te dead curcman wo can tink of noting but outward ceremonies, from Julian and Porpyry to te unconverted admirer of sermons in te present day, all, all, are standing in one rank before God; all, all are caff. Tey bring no glory to God te Fater. Tey onor not te Son, and so do not onor te Fater tat sent im. Tey neglect tat migty salvation, wic countless millions of angels admire. Tey disobey tat Word wic was graciously written for teir learning. Tey listen not to te voice of im wo condescended to leave eaven and die for teir sins. Tey pay no tribute of service and affection to im wo gave tem life, and breat, and all tings. And terefore God takes no pleasure in tem. e pities tem, but e reckons tem no better tan caff. Yes! you may ave rare intellectual gifts, and ig mental attainments. You may sway kingdoms by your counsel, move millions by your pen, and keep crowds in breatless attention by your tongue. But if you ave never submitted yourself to te yoke of Crist, and never onored is Gospel by eartfelt reception of it, you are noting in is sigt. Natural gifts witout grace are like a row of cypers witout a unit before tem: tey look big, but tey are of no value. Te meanest insect tat crawls is a nobler being tan you are. It fills its place in creation, and glorifies its Maker wit all its powers, and you do not. You do not onor God wit eart and will, and intellect and members, wic are all is. You invert is order and arrangement, and live as if time was of more importance tan eternity, and body better tan soul. You dare to neglect God s greatest gift, is own incarnate Son. You are cold about tat subject wic fills all eaven wit allelujas. And so long as tis is te case, you belong to te wortless part of mankind. You are te caff of te eart. Reader, let tis tougt be graven deeply in your mind, watever else you forget in tis tract. Remember tere are only two sorts of people in te world. Tere are weat, and tere are caff. Tere are many nations in Europe. Eac differs from te rest. Eac as its own language, its own laws, its own peculiar customs. But God s eye divides Europe into two great parties, te weat and te caff. Tere are many classes in England. Tere are peers and commoners, farmers and sopkeepers, masters and servants, ric and poor. But God s eye only takes account of two orders, te weat and te caff. Tere are many and various minds in every congregation tat meet for religious worsip. Tere are some wo attend for a mere form, and some wo really desire to meet Crist, some wo come (Continued on page 21)

21 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 21 Weat or Caff (Continued from page 20) tere to please oters, and some wo come to please God, some wo bring teir earts wit tem and are not soon tired, and some wo leave teir earts beind tem, and reckon te wole service weary work. But te eyes of Jesus only see two divisions in te congregation, te weat and te caff. Tere were tousands of visitors to te great exibition of From Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, from Nort, and Sout, and East, and West, crowds came togeter to see wat skill and industry could do. Cildren of our first fater Adam s family, wo ad never seen eac oter before, for once met under one roof. But te eye of te Lord saw only two companies tronging tat large palace of glass, te weat and te caff. Reader, I know well te world dislikes tis way of dividing professing Cristians. Te world tries to fancy tere are tree sorts of people, and not two. To be very good and very strict does not suit te world: tey cannot, will not be saints. To ave no religion at all does not suit te world: it would not be respectable; tank God, tey will say, we are not so bad as tat. But to ave religion enoug to be saved, and yet not go into extremes, to be sufficiently good, and yet not be peculiar, to ave a quiet, easy-going, moderate kind of Cristianity, and go comfortably to eaven after all, tis is te world s favorite idea. Tere is a tird class, a safe middle class, te world fancies, and in tis middle class, te majority of men persuade temselves tey will be found. Reader, I denounce tis notion of a middle class as an immense and soul-ruining delusion. I warn you strongly not to be carried away by it. It is as vain an invention as te Pope s purgatory. It is a refuge of lies, a castle in te air, a Russian ice-palace, a vast unreality, an empty dream. Tis middle class is a class of Cristians nowere spoken of in te Bible. Tere were two classes in te day of Noa s flood, tose wo were inside te ark, and tose wo were witout; two in te parable of te Gospel net, tose wo are called te good fis, and tose wo are called te bad; two in te parable of te ten virgins, tose wo are described as wise and tose wo are described as foolis; two in te account of te judgment-day, te seep and te goats, two sides of te trone, te rigt and, and te left; two abodes wen te last sentence as been passed, eaven and ell. And just so tere are only two classes in te visible curc on eart, tose wo are in te state of nature, and tose wo are in te state of grace, tose wo are in te narrow way, and tose wo are in te broad, tose wo ave fait, and tose wo ave not fait, tose wo ave been converted, and tose wo ave not been converted, tose wo are wit Crist, and tose wo are against im, tose wo gater wit im, and tose wo scatter abroad, tose wo are weat, and tose wo are caff. Into tese two classes te wole professing curc of Crist may be divided. Besides tese two classes tere is none. Reader, dear Reader, see now wat cause tere is for selfinquiry. Are you among te weat, or among te caff? Neutrality is impossible. Eiter you are in one class, or in te oter. Wic is it of te two? You attend curc peraps. You go to te Lord s table. You like good people. You can distinguis between good preacing and bad. You tink Popery false, and oppose it warmly. You tink Protestantism true, and support it cordially. You subscribe to religious societies. You attend religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books. It is well: it is very well. It is good: it is all very good. It is more tan can be said of many. But still tis is not a straigtforward answer to my question, Are you weat, or are you caff? ave you been born again? Are you a new creature? ave you put off te old man, and put on te new? ave you ever felt your sins, and repented of tem? Are you looking simply to Crist for pardon and life eternal? Do you love Crist? Do you serve Crist? Do you loate eart-sins, and figt against tem? Do you long for perfect oliness, and follow ard after it? ave you come out from te world? Do you deligt in te Bible? Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Crist s people? Do you try to do good to te world? Are you vile in your own eyes, and willing to take te lowest place? Are you a Cristian in business, and on weekdays, and by your own fire-side? O! tink, tink, tink on tese tings, and ten peraps you will be better able to tell te state of your soul. Reader, I beseec you not to turn away from my question, owever unpleasant it may be. Answer it, toug it may prick your conscience, and cut you to te eart. Answer it, toug it may prove you in te wrong, and expose your fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know ow it is between you and God. Better a tousand times find out tat you are in evil case, and repent betimes, tan live on in uncertainty, and be lost eternally. Reader, remember my question, meditate on it at te beginning of a new year. Are you weat or caff? II. Let me sow you, in te second place, te time wen te two great classes of mankind sall be separated. Te text at te beginning of tis tract foretells a separation. It says tat Crist sall one day do to is professing Curc wat te farmer does to is corn. e sall winnow and sift it. e sall trougly purge is floor. And ten te weat and te caff sall be divided. Tere is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled togeter in te visible Curc of Crist. Believers and unbelievers, converted and unconverted, oly and unoly, all are to be found now among tose wo call temselves Cristians. Tey sit side by side in our assemblies. Tey kneel side by side in our pews. Tey listen side by side to our sermons. Tey sometimes come up side by side to te Lord s table, and receive te same bread and wine from our ands. But it sall not always be so. Crist sall come te second time wit is fan in is and. e sall purge is Curc, even as e purified te temple. And ten te weat and te caff sall be separated, and eac go to its own place. Before Crist comes separation is impossible. It is not in man s power to effect it. Tere lives not te minister on eart wo can read te earts of every one in is congregation. About some e may speak decidedly, e cannot about all. Wo ave oil in teir lamps, and wo ave not, wo (Continued on page 22)

22 Page 22 Te Berea Baptist Banner June 5, 2017 Weat or Caff (Continued from page 21) ave grace as well as profession, and wo ave profession only and no grace, wo are cildren of God, and wo of te devil, all tese are questions wic, in many cases, we cannot accurately decide. Te fan is not put into our ands. Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble, tat it looks like nature. Nature is sometimes so plausible and well-dressed, tat it looks like grace. I believe we sould many of us ave said tat Judas was as good as any of te Apostles; and yet e proved a traitor. I believe we sould ave said tat Peter was a reprobate wen e denied is Lord, and yet e repented immediately, and rose again. We are but fallible men. We know in part, and propesy in part. We scarcely understand our own earts. It is no great wonder if we cannot read te earts of oters. But it will not always be so. Tere is One coming Wo never errs in judgment, and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus sall purge is floor. Jesus sall sift te caff from te weat. I wait for tis. Till ten I will lean to te side of carity in my judgments. I would rater tolerate muc caff in te Curc, tan cast out one grain of weat. e sall soon come wo as is fan in is and, and ten te certainty about every one sall be known. Before Crist comes I do not expect to see a perfect Curc. Tere cannot be suc a ting. Te weat and te caff, in te present state of tings, will always be found togeter. I pity wo leave one Curc and join anoter, because of a few faults and unsound members. I pity tem because tey are fostering ideas wic can never be realized. I pity tem, because tey are seeking tat wic cannot be found. I see caff everywere. I see imperfectness and infirmities of some kind in every communion on eart. I believe tere are few tables of te Lord, if any, were all te communicants are converted. I often see loudspeaking professors exalted as saints. I often see oly and contrite believers set down as aving no grace at all. I am satisfied if men are too scrupulous, tey may go fluttering about like Noa s dove all teir days and never find rest. Reader, do you desire a perfect Curc? You must wait for te day of Crist s appearing. Ten, and not till ten, you will see a glorious curc, not aving spot or wrinkle or any suc ting. Ten, and not till ten, te floor will be purged. Before Crist comes I do not look for te conversion of te world. ow can it be, if e is to find weat and caff side by side in te day of is second coming? I believe some Cristians expect tat missions will fill te eart wit te knowledge of Crist, and tat little by little sin will disappear, and a state of perfect oliness gradually glide in. I cannot see wit teir eyes. I tink tey are mistaking God s purposes, and sowing for temselves bitter disappointment. I expect noting of te kind. I see noting, in te Bible, or in te world around me, to make me expect it. I ave never eard of a single paris entirely converted to God, in England, or Scotland, or of anyting like it? And wy am I to look for a different result from te preacing of te Gospel in oter lands? I only expect to see a few raised up as witnesses to Crist in every nation, some in one place and some in anoter. Ten I expect te Lord Jesus will come in glory, wit is fan in is and. And wen e as purged is floor, and not till tem, is kingdom will begin. No separation and no perfection till Crist comes! Tis is my creed. I am not moved wen te infidel asks me wy all te world is not converted, if Cristianity is really true. I answer, it was never promised tat it would be so in te present order of tings. Te Bible tells me tat believers will always be few, tat corruptions, and divisions, and eresies, will always abound, and tat wen my Lord returns to eart, e will find plenty of caff. No perfection till Crist comes! I am not disturbed wen men say, Make all te people good Cristians at ome before you send missionaries to te eaten abroad. I answer, if I am to wait for tat, I may wait forever. Wen we ave done all at ome, te Curc will still be a mixed body, some weat and muc caff. But Crist will come again. Sooner or later tere sall be a separation of te visible Curc into two companies, and fearful sall tat separation be. Te weat sall make up one company. Te caff sall make up anoter. Te one company will be all godly. Te oter company will be all ungodly. Eac sall be by temselves, and a great gulf between, tat none can pass. Blessed indeed sall te rigteous be in tat day! Tey sall sine like stars, no longer obscured wit clouds. Tey sall be beautiful as te lily, no longer coked wit torns. Wretced indeed will te ungodly be! ow corrupt will corruption be wen left witout one grain of salt to season it! ow dark will darkness be wen left witout one spark of ligt! A! Reader, it is not enoug to respect and admire te Lord s people. You must belong to tem, or you will one day be parted from tem forever. Tere will be no caff in eaven. Many, many are te families were one will be taken and anoter left. Wo is tere now among te readers of tis tract tat loves te Lord Jesus Crist in sincerity? If I know anyting of te eart of a Cristian, your greatest trials are in te company of worldly people, your greatest joys in te company of te saints. Yes! tere are many weary days, wen your spirit feels broken and crused by te eartly tone of all around you, days wen you could cry wit David, Woe is me tat I dwell in Mesec, and ave my abitation in te tents of Kedar. And yet tere are ours wen your soul is so refresed and revived by meeting some of God s dear cildren, tat it seems like eaven on eart. Do I not speak to your eart? Are not tese tings true? See ten ow you sould long for te time wen Crist sall come again. See ow you sould pray daily tat te Lord would asten is kingdom, and say to im, Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Ten, and not till ten, sall be a pure unmixed communion. Ten, and not till ten, te saints sall all be togeter, and sall go out from one anoter s presence no more. Wait a little. Wait a little. Scorn and contempt will soon be over. Laugter and ridicule sall soon ave an end. Slander and misrepresentation will soon cease. Your Saviour sall come and plead your cause. And ten, as Moses said to Kora, te LORD will sow wo are is. Tis is certain, wen te elect are all converted, ten Crist will come in judgment. As e (Continued on page 23)

23 June 5, 2017 Te Berea Baptist Banner Page 23 Weat or Caff (Continued from page 22) tat rows a boat, stays till all te passengers are taken into is boat, and ten e rows away; so Crist stays till all te elect are gatered in, and ten e will asten away to judgment (Tomas Watson, 1660). Wo is tere among te readers of tis tract tat knows is eart is not rigt in te sigt of God? See ow you sould fear and tremble at te tougt of Crist s appearing. Alas! indeed for te man tat lives and dies wit noting better tan a cloak of religion! In te day wen Crist sall purge is floor, you will be sown up and exposed in your true colors. You may deceive ministers, and friends, and neigbors, but you cannot deceive Crist. Te paint and varnis of a eartless Cristianity will never stand te fire of tat day. Te Lord is a God of knowledge, and by im actions are weiged. You will find tat te eye wic saw Acan and Gaazi, as read your secrets, and searced out your idden tings. You will ear tat awful word, Friend, ow camest tou in iter, not aving a wedding garment? O! tremble at te tougt of te day of sifting and separation. Surely ypocrisy is a most losing game. Surely it never answers to act a part. Surely it never answers, like Ananias and Sappira, to pretend to give God someting, and yet to keep back your eart. It all fails at last. Your joy is but for a moment. Your opes are no better tan a dream. O! tremble, tremble, tremble, and repent. Reader, tink on tese tings. Remember my question. Meditate on it, as you begin a new year. Are you weat or caff? (To be continued in July issue) Te Sort Pews Brief Articles by Curtis Pug YOU AND TE WORD OF GOD Eac person as a relationsip to te Bible, te Word of God. Some ave never eard te Word of God preaced nor ave tey read it, not aving Bibles temselves. Oters wo could attend places were te Word of God is preaced refuse to do so. Oters twist te Bible to make it say wat tey want it to say. Peter wrote of Paul s writings saying,... wic tey tat are unlearned and unstable wrest, as tey do also te oter scriptures, unto teir own destruction (II Peter 3:16). Oters ave a ealty relationsip to te Word of God. Paul wrote of is tanksgiving for te Lord s curc in Tessalonica. e said: For tis cause also tank we God witout ceasing, because, wen ye received te word of God wic ye eard of us, ye received it not as te word of men, but as it is in trut, te word of God, wic effectually worket also in you tat believe (I Tess. 2:13). Paul was tankful because wen e ad been tere preacing te Word of God some of te population received is preacing for wat it was: te Word of God. Tey did not reject wat e said. Rater teir old beliefs and ideas were canged because of te Word of God. Paul explains wy teir ideas, beliefs, and lives were canged. Te Bible effectually worket in tose tat believe. Te Bible is for believers. It is in believers tat it brings fort spiritual fruit. It is in te lives of believers tat repentance and fait and amendment of life are seen. Referring to te Scriptures of is day te Psalmist wrote, Te law of te LORD is perfect, converting te soul... (Psalm 19:7). So we must ask: wat makes an individual a believer? Wat brings a sinner to te place were te Word of God works effectually in tem canging tem and teir beavior? Te Bible reveals tat tere is a spiritual birt tat causes sinners unbelievers to believe and to receive (welcome) Crist. Te Bible says: But as many as received im, to tem gave e power [privilege or rigt] to become te sons of God, even to tem tat believe on is name: Wic were born, not of blood, nor of te will of te fles, nor of te will of man, but of God ( Jon 1:12-13). Consider wat is te cause and wat is te effect ere. If God birts sinners spiritually because of someting tey did in order to bring it about, tese two verses are contradictory. For tis passage says tat te spiritual birt is not of te will of man. It is not someting tat man does. So te two verses above speak of some sinners wo believed in and welcomed Crist wen e was ere on eart. Te cause of teir believing and welcoming im was tat tey ad been born of God and not of any act of teir will. Jesus said,...ye must be born again (Jon 3:7). WORSIPING CREATION Far from being a new ting, te worsip of creation or nature can be traced back to te beginnings (Continued on page 24) BEREA BAPTIST BANNER Financial Report to Beginning Balance... $2, RECEIPTS: Amazing Grace B. C., Stockdale, TX B. C. of Brimfield, Brimfield, IL Berea B. C., Mantacie, MS Berea B. C., Stonington, IL Betel B. C., Pasadena, TX Big Creek B. C., Wayne, WV Briar Creek B. C., Williamsburg, KY Carol Willett, Edgewater, FL Citrus M. B. C., Inverness, FL Emmanuel B. C., Oldtown, KY Fait B. C., Lynn, AR Gail Knowles, Portland, ME George eidorn, Marietta, O Grace B. C., Corbin, KY Grace B. C., Rural all, NC Grace M. B. C., Marion, IL Grace M B. C., Tulsa, OK Indore B. C., Indore, WV Te Lord s Curc, Goose Creek, SC Micael Serman, Asland, KY Mt. Pleasant B. C., Cesapeake, O New Testament B. C., Gosen, IN Piladelpia B. C., Decatur, AL Portland B. C., Plumerville, AR Soutside B. C., Fulton, MS Sovereign Grace B. C., Nortport, AL Sovereign Grace B. C., Silsbee, TX Victory B. C., Courtland, VA Subscriptions Anonymous Dividing cecks Sub Total... $2, TOTAL... $4, EXPENDITURES: Printing Postage Wages... 2, FICA Dividing cecks Bank Carge Total Expenditures... $3, ENDING BALANCE... $1, BEREA BAPTIST BROADCAST Financial Report to Beginning Balance... $5, RECEIPTS: Berea B. C., Mantacie, MS Briar Creek, B. C., Williamsburg, KY Grace B. C., Corbin, KY Interest TOTAL...6, EXPENDITURES: Radio Time Program production TOTAL EXPENDITURES ENDING BALANCE... $5,319.64