Christ's Suffering, Our Growth, and the Ordinances

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship [κοινωνιαν] of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).

I love the ordinances commanded to the Church by its only Lord and High Priest, Jesus Christ. I am passionate about them, and am convinced that by minimizing them for more flashy and entertaining pursuits, we have robbed ourselves of a blessing the Head of the Church Himself has given us for our spiritual benefit.

Today’s Southern Baptists identify the ordinances as one of the marks of a true Church:

• “A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers...observing the two ordinances of Christ” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, VI).
• “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour [sic], the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming” (BF&M 2000, VII).

While we typically read passages like Philippians 3:10 (“the fellowship of His sufferings”) as a reference to persecution (see also Matthew 20:23; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Colossians 1:24; 2 Timothy 2:11; 1 Peter 4:13), I believe the ordinances to be a regular and consistent liturgical means by which the Lord brings His Church into conformity with His own “sufferings.” I don’t deny that for the apostle Paul (and countless believers in the past and today) these passages speak of a literal experience of Christian suffering, but given what else Paul says on the subject, I would suggest that we shouldn’t limit his language to these persecutions. Instead, there is a way in which biblical Christian liturgy makes these realities a regular experience of the gathered Church for our spiritual growth and sanctification. Let’s consider the language the apostle Paul uses in other places concerning the ordinances.

Concerning baptism: “...do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:3-13). Baptism is “an act of obedience symbolizing” union with Christ’s suffering, but Paul certainly takes it beyond just symbolic act in his teaching on this ordinance. “...we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death...our old self was crucified with Him...we have died with Christ...” This is strong language connected with the ordinance, and we would do well to take it seriously! So when Paul speaks of “the fellowship of His sufferings” and conformity “to His death” to the Philippian church, it is not necessarily limited to persecution and martyrdom. Paul’s own language to the Romans shows us that the ordinance of baptism brings us into this experience which should produce profound ethical/moral fruit in our lives. Let’s look at the Philippians passage again: Paul counts all things (both his sin and his own personal righteousness) as loss, so that he may have a righteousness “which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (3:9,10). Justification (being proclaimed righteous) by faith in Jesus Christ is followed by a union with Christ which includes “the fellowship of His sufferings” and conformity “to His death” as experienced in the ordinances.

In addition to baptism, Paul speaks of the Lord’s Supper as an ordinance which brings us into this “fellowship” and “conformity.”

“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing [κοινωνια] in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing [κοινωνια] in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16,17). Just as the doctrine of baptism should have spiritual fruit in a believer’s life, so too does the Lord’s Supper have powerful implications for unity in the Church and dedication solely to Christ (read the rest of chapter 10 through the end of chapter 11...and truth be told, probably through the end of chapter 14!).

We need to continually remember Paul’s confession “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). We must remember it so that we “do not nullify the grace of God” (2:21) – a continual temptation for every believer. The ordinances are an instrument of this grace and sanctifying work in our lives.

Early in ministry, a wise deacon (now in Glory) once told me that humans never stay in the middle of a position/opinion/doctrine, but are continually swinging back and forth to extremes. My dear Baptists, I fear that in this day we have gone so far on the ordinances that they are barely there in the life of the Church. May we consider the testimony of the Scriptures and carefully, thoughtfully, and purposefully begin moving the pendulum back to a more faithful view of the ordinances which grants them the central place in Christian liturgy that the Scripture itself gives them. The promised fruit of Scripture concerning the ordinances and what they represent is freedom from sin, service to God’s righteousness, unity, and faithfulness to Christ. Sound like something needed in the Church today? All these things come from union with Christ in His death and resurrection – the very reality the ordinances lead us to walk in together.

For by them we regularly “may know...the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that [we] may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Remember Your Baptism

I was recently asked what I thought my greatest failure in ministry has been. I immediately knew the answer. It went something like this: “I remember every person I’ve baptized who is no longer part of the Church (I keep a picture of me baptizing one by my desk as a reminder). I remember every couple I wasn’t able to help in marriage counseling. I consider it my failure that a greater percentage of the congregation doesn’t participate in Bible study or prayer meetings – and, directly related to that, I grieve that many of them have not embraced God’s commandments for their lives in the Word.” Alright, it probably wasn’t as well-organized as that, but that’s the gist of it.

That baptism thing gets me. A few years ago I had a tract (maybe a pamphlet) made in the form and size of a folding business card concerning baptism. I wanted to have it around for those times when I visited or ran into someone who had forgotten their baptism.

Here’s the text:

Remember your baptism.
 It is the response of one who has heard the Gospel, repented, and put faith in Christ alone for salvation (Acts 2:37,38; 8:12,35-38; 18:8).
 It is a God-given picture of the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:20-22)
 It is a God-given picture of new life in Christ, free from the bondage of sin and free to serve God will all you are (Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:10-12).
 It is the first step of obedience to the Church’s Commission to “make disciples.” It is followed by a life-long learning to obey Christ together as the Church (Matthew 28:18-20).
 It is unifying, since through one baptism we are united to one Lord and His one Church (Ephesians 4:5).
 It is the means by which God the Holy Spirit brings those who believe into His Church (Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
  Does your life reflect these truths of your baptism? If so, pray the Spirit will help you to continue growing in this reality proclaimed by your baptism. If not, humbly ask the Spirit to make your baptism the reality of your life and renew your fellowship with His Church.

Well? Do you remember? I hope so, because the man who baptized you and has been charged to keep watch over your soul (Hebrews 13:17) remembers.

Gathering for Freedom

Our congregation’s worship leader sent me an e-mail last week describing several events going on this Lord’s Day. A community announcement in our little Southwest town invited people to “Happy Heathen Sunday,” a get-together by the “Atheist Meet-Up” group. Among other things, as this group gathers at a downtown coffee shop, they’ll “enjoy being terrible people who get to do what they like on Sunday morning.”

Sounds like freedom, doesn’t it? In opposition to the (maybe) 5% of the people in this city who will attend church this morning, these radical non-conformists will join the other 95% in following the dictates of their own desires. They’re only unique in that they’re being open and public about it. Are they really free, though?

Romans 6. Christian baptism denies their enjoyment is a reality. They may be doing “what they like,” but it’s the only thing they can do; not quite the libertine party they advertise it to be.

“...as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:3-7, N.K.J.V.).

“Slaves of sin,” needing to be “freed from sin.”

“...do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts” (6:12). Prior to baptism “into Christ Jesus,” sin reigned in the mortal body, and there was no option but to “obey it in its lusts.”

“...do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin” (6:13). Prior to baptism “into Christ Jesus,” there was no option but to “present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.”

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness...just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness...what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:16-19,21-23). Prior to baptism “into Christ Jesus,” nobody is free “to do what they like.” Well, let me clarify that. They are totally free “to do what they like,” as long as it’s “uncleanness,” “lawlessness,” and “sin.” We cannot pursue God’s “cleanness” apart from His Word (John 15:3) and baptism (Hebrews 10:22). Apart from Christ, we are not only breakers of God’s Law, but we hate God’s Law. Apart from Christ, we are “slaves to sin.” We can be nothing else.

On the Lord’s Day, grow in your knowledge of “that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Gather together with those who are “slaves of righteousness for holiness,” who are “slaves of God” bearing “fruit to holiness.” Gather with those “baptized into Christ Jesus.”

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone [see Exodus 13:3,14; 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6; 6:12; 7:8; 8:14; 13:5,10; Judges 6:8; Micah 6:4]. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:31-36).

How does the Son make us “free”? By the abiding “in [Christ’s] word” as His “disciples indeed.” Gather together in the Word.

One of the first Christian books I read was Chuck Colson’s The Body (Word Publishing, 1992). It took a while for the message of the book to sink in, but as I’ve read it repeatedly over the last few decades, I’ve come to love it more and more. I wish I would’ve grabbed on to its theme sooner. There’s a passage in the book where a former Soviet citizen describes the efforts to erase God and her reaction to these efforts (pg. 76):

Today Irina was wondering, as she often had, why the teacher even bothered with the truckloads of words she was dumping from the front of the room. “God doesn’t exist,” the instructor said again. “Only silly old women believe in Him.”

Can’t they tell they are giving themselves away? thought Irina. Adults tell you there are no gremlins or ghosts. They tell you once or twice, that’s it. But with God, they tell you over and over again. So He must exist – and He must be very powerful for them to fear Him so greatly.

The Psalmist points this out, as well: “All his thoughts are, ‘there is no God’” (10:4, N.A.S.B.). This confession must be so constantly repeated because its assertion is counter to the way any part of the creation behaves. “...since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20, N.K.J.V.). “The things that are made” include the human brain, which is why Paul also says in the following verse that even idolaters and atheists “knew God.” They are “suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them” (1:18,19). The work of the atheist is constant and never done, because it is a continual denial of the reality hard-wired into their very being. Must be exhausting. Especially when you must live up to the advertisement and “enjoy” your gathering under this banner.

I’m glad they made the announcement, and I absolutely support their freedom to gather and say whatever they want to say. I would never take it away from them or support anyone who desired to do so. In fact, they are being exceedingly helpful to the Gospel cause. They are conformists to the uttermost, since the vast majority of the population will be doing exactly what they are doing, be they confessing Christians or not. Most will spend this Sunday morning doing whatever they feel like doing, whatever they perceive will bring them the most enjoyment. The “happy” atheists are just being open and honest about it, reminding all who do obey the Scriptures’ command to gather for Christ’s glory on this third Sunday of Advent that our little town is a vital mission field. The self-described “heathen” are a God-given catalyst to prompt us to prayer and even greater efforts at evangelistic outreach to our neighbors, friends, and maybe even church members who get around to the Gathering if there’s nothing better to do on their plate.

And part of me, that part I’m not too sure about (he’s a weird mix of orneriness and zeal for the house of God), thinks, “I’ll wonder how long it would take to overwhelming outnumber the public atheistic gatherings in coffeehouses with Bible studies planted and supported by local churches?”

Not long, I suspect. Maybe it’s time to find out.

Gather, Church, this third Sunday of Advent, and rejoice in the coming of God to earth...then become a signpost pointing to this utterly unique and saving act by going out to be light in the darkness of your city.

Ormoc City, Leyte, Philippines (May 2014)

The House of Forgiveness

In meditating on the Scripture’s teaching about forgiveness this week, I noticed something: God’s forgiveness in Christ is not described as an intensely individualistic and personal reality, but a reality experienced corporately in the “basics” He has given His Church.

Fellowship: “...if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin...if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7,9).

Praise: “...to the one who...believes in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks [in Psalm 32:1,2] of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those who lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account’” (Romans 4:5-8). See also Psalm 25:18; 32:5; 85:2; 99:8.

Baptism: “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:37,38).

The Lord’s Supper: “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:27,28).

Proclamation:

• “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:45-47).
• “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One Who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:42,43).

Perhaps those believers who are struggling with their assurance or feelings of guilt need to ask if they are participating in the corporate life of the Church, where forgiveness is proclaimed and awareness of its reality in Christ is driven deep by the Spirit. We pastors should ask if we are being faithful in this regard over the ones “the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). Are we proclaiming “repentance for forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47)? Are we regularly and faithfully administering the ordinances/sacraments? Does the praise of the Church express repentance and the truth of forgiveness in Christ? If our fellowship is not richly infused with the language of “the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7,8a) and the transfer of the Church “to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14), we should prayerfully lead it back to this truth. We should guard against false, worldly, pop-psychology ideas like repentance-free forgiveness and “forgiving self.” The spiritual, emotional, and psychological health of the congregation depends on this. The Church is the congregation of the forgiven. Unless the forgiveness found only in Christ is a rich part of our gathering, this health will falter.

Buzz the Basics, Church

I’m not one of any authority to comment on movies. I’ve never seen Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ all the way through. I had to be strapped into a seat on a 17-hour trans-Pacific flight to watch The Hobbit (the first one, which is weird since I only own one book by that title) – and it took me watching it twice to stay conscious long enough to be able to say I’ve seen it all. It took me three days to watch The Dark Knight Rises. I had to be forced to watch Fireproof. I’m very glad I was, but am equally glad I’ve avoided seeing all the other Sherwood Baptist Church productions.

I am not an expert on movies.

There’s a decent amount of buzz in the Christian community about the upcoming Son of God movie event. People seem excited about it, and there are some very popular names adding their influential voices to the excitement.

Don’t look here for a review. I have no plans on seeing. I hope you enjoy it if you go see it.

I know I already sound like Grumpy Cat, but can I make an appeal?

The Scripture has given us three primary ways to portray the Person and work of our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Who is the Son of God).

Preaching.

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:1,2; the “public portrayal” was the preaching of Christ, which is where the “hearing with faith” occurred).

The Lord’s Supper.

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread...for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 10:16,17; 11:26).

Baptism.

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Romans 6:3-5).

“In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, Who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:11,12).

Since these things are explicitly commanded by God for the remembrance, portrayal, and communication of Jesus, can we buzz about these things more than we do about a movie? I’m not even addressing the validity of the medium of “the movie” as a means of communicating Scripture (right now, anyway). I’m just asking a question about what gets us talking and promoting. If we don’t find the excitement in us to magnify these ordinary – and scriptural - means of grace, maybe we should do some serious soul-searching as the covenant people of God.

Shouldn’t the “big thing” pushed by the Christian community in social media and elsewhere be that which we’ve been commanded to do? Shouldn’t that be our heart’s desire, joy, and the words of our voice in the midst of the world scene? Let’s take our proper place in the historic Church of the ages and get excited to buzz the basics He gave us 2,000 years ago. The new stuff will be gone tomorrow. What He gave us will endure. Get excited.

The Common and Consistent Gift

On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter preaches the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. He issues the command (not invitation) of the Gospel to repent and be baptized. The promise that is attached to this command is forgiveness in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit: “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38). Note this progression: repentant baptism and then the gifting of the Holy Spirit.

Now look at what happens a few verses later: “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:41,42). Repentant baptism is followed by the ordinary and regular observances/practices of the Church that are held down to this day two millennia later.

There is a very telling parallelism in these two passages:

2:38     “Repent and be baptized...” → “...receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

2:41     “...those...were baptized” → the practices described in 2:42

What I want you to see in this parallelism is that the Person of the Trinity Who is the Gift, the Holy Spirit, manifests His presence and works continually/regularly through the ordinary practices from that Day to Today. We have been so conditioned to seek the new from our worship, the latest program, the most in-demand speakers of the moment, the book du jour, etc. We hunger for communion with the Father through Christ by His Spirit (as we absolutely should!), but have been distracted from the regular means by which He has always blessed His people with His working, comforting, nurturing, guarding, guiding, loving Presence manifested.

Gather. Read the Word and hear it taught and applied to our lives. Observe the ordinance of the Table and baptism. Pray (I mean by this both the reading of “the prayers” – the Psalms – and our prayers). This is the manifestation of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. It does not require “the Latest Thing” or an innovation or a “Fresh Encounter.” It is ordinary in that the mature and infant believer can both equally and simultaneously partake in it. It does not require a magnificent building, state-of-the-art technology, or celebrity worship leader or preacher. It requires the obedience of those united with Christ by the sealing work of the Holy Spirit. It requires a faith that rests in the simple promise in the Word that this is how He’ll work in our midst.

Not only does the revelation of Scripture record this means on the day of Pentecost, but our forefathers in the faith confessed this to be true: “The grace of faith by which the elect are enabled to believe, so that their souls are saved, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily brought into being by the ministry of the Word. It is also increased and strengthened by the work of the Spirit through the ministry of the Word, and also by the administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and other means appointed by God” (1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, 14.1).

Our spiritual ancestors also warn against the rejection of the ordinary means and the sad, heart-breaking results: “The saints may, through the temptation of Satan and the world, and because their remaining sinful tendencies prevail over them, and through their neglect of the means which God has provided to keep them, fall into grievous sins” (1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, 17.3).

Further, they tell us that we will find great assurance in the regular, consistent use of the means of the Presence of the Gift of the Holy Spirit in the Church: “...being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given to him by God, he may, without any extraordinary revelation attain this assurance by using the means of grace in the right way. Therefore it is the duty of every one to give the utmost diligence to make his calling and election sure [through the use of the means of grace], so that his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness for carrying out the duties of obedience. These duties are the natural fruits of assurance” (1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, 18.3).

I am not advocating reformation or revolution; I am urging from the bottom of my heart a humble, gentle, weekly, life-long restoration of these things as central to the Spirit-indwelt life of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this is rest for you, beloved Church. Cease the desperate groping and reaching for some new avenue of fellowship with the Divine; rest in the biblical means through which He has promised to work in every place and in every age with the gathering of His covenant people.

P.S. Just to make sure I'm not misread as necessarily endorsing older or culturally unique expressions of these means (styles of music or particular Bible translations), let me link up with these dear brothers who speak of the means of the Spirit's work so well.

Captain Nemo, Coffee, Baptism

“I had done with the world on the day when my Nautilus plunged for the first time beneath the waters.”

- Captain Nemo, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” (Jules Verne)

Waking up with the Captain and coffee on the mind...read through the N.T. passages on baptism, including: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him” (1 Peter 3:18-22).

And: “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.’ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’” (Acts 2:37-40).

And: “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

And: “...having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).

His promise in baptism is sure in Christ, no matter what the world throws our way, Church.

Remembering the Promise and Warning

“The Lord hath said, ‘I will bring My people again from Bashan: I will bring them again from the depths of the Sea’” (Psalm 68:22, Geneva Bible). Paul calls the passage through the Red Sea a “baptism” (1 Corinthians 10:1,2).

The Lord does not forget His promise to those baptized; neither should we: “And did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink (for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them [in the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land]: and the Rock was Christ)...the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we that are many, are one bread and one body, because we all are partakers of one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:3,4,16,17).

The Lord does not forget His warning to the baptized; neither should we: “But with many of them God was not pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters as were some of them, as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted Him, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things came unto them for examples, and were written to admonish us, upon whom the ends of the world are come...wherefore my beloved, flee from idolatry” (10:5-11,14).