Notes On Baptism

Baptism is a sacrament we do in the manner Jesus Himself was baptized. It should be done in “the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” We are instructed in such a fashion as described in the Scriptures, but unlike the Old Testament we do not only do it for the clergy, because under Christ we are all in the priesthood, so all believers need to be baptized. What follows is a short summary of things to understand about baptism. Followed by an outline which can be used in a bible class on Baptism from

And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
Matthew 3:14-15

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20

Or do you not know that 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,
Romans 6:3-5

Asleep in the Light

By Jose Barajas

 “During the week like everyone else I’m sure, I have an alarm set to wake me up to get ready for work. Three of the five days I hit the snooze button, it starts with ten minutes then nine, eight until finally I have to get up or I will be late. There have been a few times where I have accidentally hit stop instead of snooze and all of a sudden I jump up out of bed starling my wife and dog as I overslept. I run around looking for my clothes and rush to get ready, brushing my teeth and hair haphazardly, and even at times I’ve put my shirt on backwards as I run out of the house. Then of course because I’m already late, I hit ever light, there is an accident and or I need gas or forgot something that I have to turn around and go back to get. 

Jesus is telling His disciples about His return and uses different parables to convey the message. One He tells about is the ten virgins and their lamps, found in Matthew Twenty Five, 

Listening To GOD

by Chuck Ness

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8

God still speaks through the Holy Spirit. The question is, are we listening? Do we desire to hear His voice over our own voice? Most of us are moving 100 miles per hour throughout the day, but are we willing to stop everything to get alone with Him to listen to Him?

Allow God to speak life into your soul and always remember that His voice will never contradict His Word. God speaks in multiple ways. He can speak in prayer. He can speak through others. Also, let’s remember to stay in the Word because He has spoken.

Remember that we must listen to what He has said in the Bible. He has revealed everything to us that we need to live a life of godliness. There is nothing in the world that compares to GOD's Word, because the Bible is completely sufficient for all our needs.

Two Timbers and A Love Beyond Measure

by Adam Lustig

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30 NKJV For as long as I can remember, things have been written to malign the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and especially during this time of the year. There have been books written and comments like the following:

..Jesus did not really die on the cross.
..He (Jesus) was only in a swoon sleep when He was taken down from the cross.
..Someone else that looked like Jesus died on the cross.

Ten Virgins

by Chuck Ness

To get a proper understanding of the mindset that Jesus was in as He presented the parable of the ten virgins, one must go back to Matthew chapter 23, where he said,

"The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger." Matthew 23:2-4

A Message To The Church Of America

by Chuck Ness

Are you living a safe and comfortable life? Then maybe you are not doing enough. Tertullian said that The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Yet today I see the church in America dying a slow death due to the fact that the Saints in America like their blood too much to offer it as a sacrifice for Christ and His church today.

That’s because too many Christians in America are so connected to the world that they refuse to face the danger, Christ told us we must face for Him. Jesus said to the disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25) At that time the disciples did not understand that Jesus was going to die on the cross.

Imagine if Paul was more worried about his flesh and comfort than his soul? Paul, and the rest of the Apostles picked up their cross and followed Christ to their death. Like Paul, they faced many dangers and I am convinced they all came close to death many times before they paid the ultimate price of following Christ.

He's My Savior

Author Unknown

"He came from the throne of the Father to the womb of a woman.
He put on humanity that we might put on divinity.
He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God.
He was born in a supernatural way, lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity.
He had neither wealth nor influence, yet the wisdom of men has never matched His wisdom.
Never has a man spoken like this man.
His family was inconspicuous and uninfluential.
In infancy He startled a king.

Proverbs NKJV

Book Of Proverbs The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs was to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. Through Solomon, God shared His Wisdom, and He made sure that no topic was left to question. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings. Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly. One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings. We the people are to blame, because we ignored God's guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of appointing God fearing men in positions of power, we chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us. It is incumbent upon us to chose leaders who have faith in Christ, then and only then can we be assured that they will make wise decisions. Paul tells us that Christ is the Wisdom of God, so if you do not have Christ in your heart, it is impossible to make wise decisions. Instead our leaders continue to make decisions based upon man's wisdom. Yet we know that God uses foolish things to bring man's wisdom to shame. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.1Corinthians 1:26-31 Now of the 31 Proverbs, only the first 24 were written by Solomon. King Hezekiah wrote 5, Proverbs 25 to 29, Agur wrote Proverb 30, and Lemuel's mother wrote Proverb 31. Many scholars believe Lemuel was in fact a nick name Solomon's Mother, Bathsheba, gave him. If so, then Proverb 31 would have been written by Bathsheba. Solomon wrote over 3000 Proverbs and composed 1000 songs, but the only Proverbs of Solomin that God decided to preserve for us are Proverbs 1-24. Like the New Testament epistle by James, it is impossible to get a chronological outline for a study since they all bounce from subject to subject, and no one can be sure of the dates. Other than to say that Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs in his younger years, and as he got older his many wives led him into idolatry. He did return in his late years, and that is when he wrote Ecclesiastes. Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is. In the Months that have 30 days, or in the case of February, I just double up by reading more than one proverb so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.

Statement Of My Faith

A. The Scriptures.

I believe in the full and complete verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testaments. By this I understand that the Holy Spirit not only inspired the thoughts of the writers, but also formulated the very word structure into which the thoughts were cast with the result that the original documents were inerrant as to fact and infallible as to truth (I Corinthians 2:13, II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:20-21).

B. The Godhead.

I believe in the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that the Godhead is eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory. (Deuteronomy 6:4, II Corinthians 13:14).

C. Man's Creation and Fall.

I believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God but through Adam's sin became alienated from God, acquired a sin nature, and came under the judicial sentence of death (Genesis 1:25-27, Romans 3:22-23, Ephesians 2-12).

D. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ.

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. I also believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the Cross as a propitiatory and substitutionary sacrifice, and that our redemption is made sure to us by His resurrection from the dead in the identical, though glorified body in which He was crucified (John 1:1-2, Luke 1:35, Romans 3:24-25, I Peter 1:3-5). 

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in Heaven exalted at the right hand of God, where as High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate (Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2). 

I strongly lean towards a belief in the pre-tribulation, pre-millenial return of our Lord Jesus Christ for all true believers and in His Kingdom reign upon the earth. I say strongly lean because as I continue my studies I will admit that I am open to looking at all the evidence for all sides of eschatology, and I could still be convinced otherwise if the evidence is irrefutable. (Revelations 3:10; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11).

However, I also believe that my salvation does not depend upon what my belief of how the end times will come about, and Christ said only His Father (God) knows the time. (Matthew 24:26).

E. The Holy Spirit.

I believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, in the present age indwells all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, baptizes them into the Body of Christ and seals them into the day of redemption, and I believe that every believer is commanded of God to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:14-20). 

I believe that the true outward manifestation of the Spirit in the believer's life is through his walk and witness (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:22-26; Acts 1:8).

I believe that the Gifts of the Spirit are irrevocable. God has not changed His mind concerning spiritual gifts. I do think that there are many who claim to have certain gifts that they do not have and thus they are tempting God with their charade. That being said I think it is a matter that we can debate but not divide over. (Romans 11:29; 1Timothy 4:14)

I also do not believe that speaking in tongues is a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and that more Christians should be asking and praying for the gift of prophecy (ability to teach) and discernment instead of tongues (1Corinthians ch 12). 

F. Salvation.

I believe that salvation is the gift of God offered to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that this faith is manifested in works pleasing to God (Ephesians 2:18-20; Titus 2:11-14). 

I believe that all true believers once saved shall be kept saved forever (Romans 8:1, 38-39; John 10:27-30; I Corinthians 1:4-8).

G. Baptism.

I believe that baptism is an outward sign of ones conversion and faith, and while I am not saved because I was baptized, Christ did command his followers to baptize believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit. (luke 23:39-43; Matthew 28:18-20)

So if you claim to be a follower of Christ, then you will want the world to know it, and like Christ was, you too will want to be baptized. (Matthew 13:13-17; John 14:15; John 13:15).

H. The Church (Body of Christ)

I believe that the church (Body of Christ) is a spiritual organism made of all born-again persons in this age, irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14). 

Two ordinances have been committed to the local church - baptism and the Lord's Supper (Communion). Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water into the name of the triune God. The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His atoning death. These two ordinances are to be observed until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 2:41, 10:47-48; I Corinthians 11:23-29).

I. Evil.

Evil is anything that falls short of the perfection of The perfect GOD.

 

I. Who Created Evil.

I believe evil is a by product of freewill. When any entity, other than the perfect ever-loving GOD, has a choice between good and evil there is a chance that evil could be chosen. Like darkness is created when anything blocks the light, so too can evil happen when one turns from the light by leaning upon their own understanding. I admit that this is of my own belief, and do not claim, all must agree. It is a matter for discussion and not for argument. Yet, when one looks at all the facts, I believe one will come to the name conclusion as I have. Here is a commentary I wrote explaining why I believe this, ( Who Created Evil? ).

J. Satan.

I believe that Satan is a person, the first to rebel, and the enemy of God and man (Isaiah 14:12-15; John 8:44; II Corinthians 4:4; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:10). 

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over Satan at the Cross. Satan is destined to eternal punishment in the lake of fire and brimstone (Colossians 2:15: I John 3:8; Revelation 12:11, 20:10). 

K. The Final State.

I believe that the condition and retribution of the lost and the salvation and blessedness of the saved are conscious and everlasting (Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:14, 22:3-5 & 11).