Baptism and the Lord's Supper

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, 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. 

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

Why the Baptist Preacher’s Baby was not Sprinkled!

J. B. Jeter’s third wife was a Presbyterian. A baby was born in that home. His wife said something about like this: "Mr. Jeter, you knew I was a Presbyterian, when you married me. As an honest Presbyterian I believe that our baby ought to be baptized." He consented on condition that she would consent to his holding the baby while the ceremony was performed. She thought it would be a feather in her cap to have the most prominent Baptist preacher in Virginia and one of the best known Baptist editors in the South to hold their baby, while a Presbyterian preacher baptized it.

So she consented. J. B. Jeter announced in his church in Richmond, that he would be out of his pulpit to be present at the Presbyterian church and why. That church was jammed and packed. The scholarly and dignified Presbyterian preacher preached and then announced that those who had babies to be baptized would please bring them forward. Bro. Jeter and his wife arose and he took the baby in his arms and they walked to the front. He was careful to get at the end where they were to begin.

Quite a number of other parents had children present for that purpose. Just as the honored pastor of that Presbyterian church raised his hand to say the baptismal formula and baptize Bro. Jeter’s baby, Bro. Jeter said something like this: "My brother, you and I have been good friends for many years. My wife has been a member of your church for years and I have never tried to proselyte her to my faith. But as a Baptist I believe that we ought to be able to give a thus saith the Lord for all that we do. This is my baby as well as my wife’s. Before you sprinkle my child, I want you to take your Bible and read out of the Book your authority for what you are about to do."

The scholarly, old-school Presbyterian preacher slowly raised his hand and pronounced the benediction. Mrs. Jeter soon became a Baptist. She said that her pastor was one of the most scholarly Presbyterian preachers in all the South. If he could not find infant baptism in the Bible, then it must not be there. If infant baptism was not in the Bible, she had never been baptized, for infant baptism was all she had ever had.

With an open Bible she soon was led to the truth and obeyed her Lord in baptism. The Bible was written to make Baptists and it will do the work in every regenerate heart if they will only read it and obey it.

The Unbaptized Believer

THE UNBAPTIZED BELIEVER

by A. A Davis

Much is said today in religious circles about baptism. One school of thought says baptism is of no importance, it makes no difference whether you are baptized, how you are baptized, or why you are baptized. This school plays down the divine command. Another school of thought takes the opposite position, that baptism is everything, that you cannot be saved until you are baptized, that you are not born again, cannot have peace with God, cannot be reconciled with God, cannot have your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, cannot have your sins forgiven, cannot be justified, cannot be redeemed, cannot pass from death to life, none of these until you are baptized.


Many born-again believers in Christ have not been baptized, being victims of the former school of thought. Many who have been baptized (humanly speaking, not scrip rurally) have never been born again as believers in Christ. These are victims of the latter school of thought. To the former, we say positively, no fear of the successful contradiction; there is no verse of Scripture which says "He that is baptized not shall be damned." To the latter we say with the same force; there is no Scripture which says "He that is baptized shall be saved."


The people called Baptists reject both these positions as absurd and
unscriptural. If the former school of thought be correct, then Christ and the Apostles were in error. If the latter school of thought be correct, then "He that lives closest to the creek, lives closest to the Lord." The following facts we submit:


1. The unbaptized were not added to the church (Acts 2:41) therefore, were not members of the New Testament church.


2. The unbaptized were not present at the Lord's table (1 Cor. 11:18), the church observed the supper, and they were not members.


3. The unbaptized were not commissioned by Christ to preach the gospel or to baptize anyone (Matt. 28:18-19; Acts 1:22).


4. The unbaptized were not commissioned to teach the baptized disciples (Matt 28:19; Acts 1:22)


5. The unbaptized have not been planted in the likeness of His death (Rom. 6:5).


6. They have not been raised in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom. 6:5).


7. They have not given answer to a good conscience (1 Pet. 3:21).


8. They have deprived themselves of great joys (Acts 8:39).


9. They have no visible divinely appointed evidence that they have gladly received His word (Acts 2:41).


10. They have not been raised in symbolic faith in the resurrection of Jesus (Col. 2:12).


11. They have not identified themselves with the blessed Trinity of the New Testament faith (Eph. 4:5).


12. They find themselves in embarrassing company (John 14:21; 15:14; Matt. 5:19).


13. Unregenerate world walks in disobedience to God (Eph. 2:1-4).


14. They are not in symbolic union with Christ (Gal. 3:27).


15. They declare as useless and meaningless the baptism of Jesus (Matt 3:15-17).


16. In hypocrisy they call Jesus, "Lord" (Luke 6:46).


17. They are little in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19).


18. In their disobedience they live under divine chastisement (Psa. 89: 29-34; Heb. 12:5-10).


19. They reject the symbols of the great salvation (1 Pet. 3:20-21).


20. Since they are not members of the New Testament church (Acts 2:41), they are not continuing steadfast in the apostles doctrine (Acts 2:42).


21. They are not contending for all of the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3; Eph. 4:5).


22. They are faced with the same puzzling questions Jesus asked the chief priests and Pharisees (Matt. 21:25).


23. They encounter difficulty in convincing others that "they have gladly received His word" (Acts 2:41).


24. They are not in full harmony and obedience to the divinely revealed will and practice of Jesus Christ (John 4:1).


Excerpted from. The Baptist Story, Sermons on the Trail of Blood, by A A. Davis, pp. 196-198. Softback, 242 pages, available from Baptist Heritage Press, P. O. Box 366, Watertown, Wisconsin 53094. $9.95.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Many people seems not to know

Doctrine of the Holy Spirit;

We hope to make it very plain

So most humble saint can see it;

There’s a dif’rence in baptism,

The cleansing, sealing, and filling;

But it will become clear to you,

If your mind and heart are willing.

Baptism of the Holy Ghost

Is that divine operation

Which incorporates believer,

Through act of regeneration,

Into Christ’s mystical body,

Called in Greek the ecclesia,

The one essential baptism

Which is salvation’s changeless law.

“One baptism, many fillings,”

This is Scripture we are most sure;

Baptised when you receive the Lord,

And sealed, hence forth you are secure;

Cleansed and anointed for service,

Sanctified, set apart to Him;

With your all on the altar,

Never allow that light to dim.

Holy Spirit to speak in tongues

Has no sanction in the Scripture;

‘Twas of sign-gifts to Israel

Which present another picture;

These gifts ended with apostles

The believer walks no by faith;

It is not what some folks believe,

But it’s what the Bible saith.

What we should know the most of all,

Is secret of His indwelling;

Allowing Him the right of way

In His filling and impelling;

To reign supreme in our hearts,

To take over full possession,

And guide and keep us day by day,

In the joy of full salvation.