Category: Articles Page 4 of 11

There is arguably no topic where the church needs to speak out more boldly in our current society than in the defense of the sanctity of life. All persons, both inside and outside of the womb, are made in the image of God with inherent value endowed by their Creator. We consider the scriptural defense of the sanctity of all human life, and the church’s responsibility to speak up and defend the life of the innocent who cannot defend themselves. (You may click on the link below to read and download a PDF copy of this article in another window.)

Click here to read and download PDF article on The Sanctity of Life

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8)

This world is full of a lot of pain and suffering that leads us to shed tears from time to time. Our American masculinized culture looks down on those who shed tears, stigmatizing those who do cry as somehow weaker than those who portray a false of strength by refusing to cry. Crying is a natural human emotion, and Jesus is aware of our tears and our suffering that prompts those tears. God is intimately aware of all our tears, even storing up those tears in his bottle and noting them in his book. Jesus is not aloof to our suffering that causes us to shed tears, but he is intimately aware of every single one of those tears and has made provision that ultimately God himself will wipe away all tears from our eyes in heaven. 

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“And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38)

In the midst of a fierce storm of tribulation in our lives, we are prone to the same response as the apostles during their physical storm on the sea of Galilee. When the waves got high and the water began to fill the boat, not only did they become afraid, but they began to question if Jesus even cared for them in the midst of this storm. Sometimes we feel like Jesus is asleep in the hull of the ship in the midst of our storms as well, and we can question if God even cares and he might even allow us to perish. When we have those doubts and fears in the midst of life’s storms, we have to remember the word of God; remember Jesus’ promise that he is with us in the storm and has promised safe passage to the other side and ultimate deliverance from these storms.

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“And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” (Gen. 42:36)

When we endure tragedy, we have a tendency to develop a “woe is me attitude”. It is very easy in the heat of a trial to let our mind run away and begin to think the entire world is “against” us and quickly end up very depressed. Jacob has a little pity party here himself where he declares “all these things are against me”. Granted, Jacob had endured a lot of heartache in his life, some due to his own sins, some due to the deception of others, and now due to his estranged son’s demands. However, Jacob was much more blessed than he realized in this moment. All things were not against him. Finally, we see the answer of the New Testament, if God be for us, who can be against us? Even if the entire world and every event in our life opposes against us, God is still for us in eternal salvation and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

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“13) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15) Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:13-16)

When we consider the steady decline to ungodliness in our culture, it is easy to blame everyone else instead of truly examining ourselves in the church. I believe the steady decline in morality around us is a direct reflection of the impact of the church as salt and light on the culture around us. If our culture is decaying around us, it is because the salt of the church is not preserving the culture. If darkness is prevailing, it is because the light of the world is not shining forth properly and have put our candlestick under a bushel. When you go to the doctor, you don’t blame him for the reality of your diagnosis. You should want your physician to tell you the truth of what is wrong with you so you can remedy the problem. You also don’t put your head in the sand and ignore the doctor’s counsel and diagnosis – you are having these symptoms, so therefore, you have this problem. We must consider the church’s salt and light effect in the culture around us that is rapidly deteriorating.

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“5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” (Rev. 21:5)

Our God is in the business of making all things new. He is the God of new beginnings. As we embark on a new year in 2021, it can be a blessing to feel like you have a new year with a fresh, new, blank slate on which to write new blessings and new life experiences throughout this coming year. Each new day is like a new page in the book of our life. Every new year is like a new chapter in that book. God is in the business of turning the page to a new blessed chapter in our lives. There are many examples in scriptures of those who endured very difficult seasons of their life – some very hard pages and chapters – but then God turned the page and gave them a new chapter in their life. In like manner, we need to take this new year, this new day, as an opportunity for God to write a new, blessed chapter in our lives.

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When we consider eternal salvation, as Primitive Baptists we simply take Jesus at his word on the cross when he declared “It Is Finished”! We must then ask, what did Jesus actually finish on the cross? Did Christ just do his part of salvation and now he is waiting and dependent upon the sinner to believe to actually be fully saved? No, the Bible teaches that Jesus completed all the requirements for eternal salvation on the cross. Let us consider together the many verses that present the “past tense” nature of our eternal salvation – that Jesus has “finished” our eternal salvation and we rest in Jesus’ finished work of salvation today.

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“O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2)

This prayer of Habakkuk should set the tone for our prayers every day, but especially during the times we are living in today. It seems we live in a culture very similar to Habakkuk’s day, bemoaning the reality of ungodliness and justifiably frustrated with the wickedness in the culture around us. We question like Habakkuk, “O Lord how long?” How long will you seemingly not answer the prayers of your people and allow wickedness to continue to wax greater and greater every day? God, why are you allowing all of this violence and iniquity to occur (Hab. 1:1-4)?

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The proper treatment and use of alcohol by Christians is a very controversial and challenging topic to navigate. We attempt to consider the scriptural presentation of alcohol and drunkenness and we need to be careful to do all things in moderation.

Click here to view and download a PDF of Christians & Alcohol for a detailed treatment of alcohol in the scriptures.

“The scriptures permit the Christian to exercise their Christian liberty in the consumption of alcohol in moderation. However, there are great dangers and sins to consuming alcohol in excess in drunkenness. We need to be cognizant of the possibility of being a stumbling block to other weaker Christians and never to put ourselves in a position to bring reproach on our good name, our family, our church, and ultimately to bring reproach on Jesus Christ. The consumption of alcohol is lawful under Christian liberty, but we need to evaluate how expedient and edifying that is to ourselves or to others. We must all determine the liberty of conscience we feel comfortable exercising in this area of Christian liberty. Finally, we must all be fully persuaded in our own mind as to the conviction of our conscience because ultimately, we all individually stand or fall before our own Master, Jesus Christ.”

Beloved, during this uncertain and chaotic time, it is vitally important for you to “put on the whole armor of God” and especially the “helmet of salvation” to withstand against the “wiles of the devil” (see Eph. 6:10-18). Satan is a deceiver, the father of lies, subtil, and wily. Satan cannot pluck any of God’s children of out the eternal hand of the Father, but he is out to corrupt the minds of God’s children. That is why we must put on the whole armor of God and our helmet of salvation to protect our minds. Our helmet of salvation protects our brain, or figuratively, our mind. Our mind should be filled with the salvation of Jesus Christ and our eternal security by his sovereign grace and that will protect our mind from the wiles of the devil. It is vitally for us to be properly adorned with the armor of God to withstand the onslaught of the devil against the Lord’s people.

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