Message 2

Matt 28:18-20; 26:26-30;1 Cor. 11:1-2;20-34; Gal. 3:26-27. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper have been a theological battleground for centuries. Both teach salvation by grace but do not impart grace.

The main earmark of the Lord's church is that it has taught salvation by grace and has rejected any deviation from that doctrine. Eph. 2:8-9 cannot and must not be ignored or it will lead into heresy. If we look for the true church we must find one that teaches salvation by grace. Man is dead in sin, Eph. 2: 1-2. The Ten Commandments are not a means by which life may be obtained but a means by which life may be expressed. Baptism is a battleground and has been counterfeited many times and ways. Calvin, Luther, Zwingli, and Knox didn't really believe in salvation by grace or they would have stopped baptizing babies. Really, we as Baptists believe in grace not Calvinism. We are not protestants and have never held protestant doctrine, we never came out of Rome, or had any connection to Catholicism except to denounce the heresy in it.

We do not make a god out of water or ritual, our Saviour is at the right hand of the Father not in a pool of water.

Another Baptist battle ground is the Lord's supper .The Lord's supper belongs to the church (1 Cor. 11:2; 1:2). The Lord's Table is inside the church (1 Cor. 11:18). Believing this doesn't mean we think other folks aren't saved, it simply means we so not believe that those who are not members of our church may participate with us. Very few people would believe the Masons or a civic organization could observe the Lord's Supper but would not turn them down if they came to church when it was being observed. We will mention this later in connection with church discipline (1 Cor. 11: 28-31).

Using the logic of the great commission we see a scriptural order to the ordinances, (1) Go preach to all nations (2) baptise them, (3) teach them (those who are baptized) to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. People must be saved and baptized in order to proceed further in the commands of obedience. Why would Christ save sinners and establish a church and then give the ordinance of the Lord's Supper to the Christian world, so called?

Let us hear the historians. The Story of Baptists in All Countries and All Ages, by R. B. Cook, written in 1884, page 272, last paragraph states "The almost uniform practice of the American Baptist Churches has been close or restricted communion, and here, directly after the account of their origin in the various states, it would be well to consider the grounds upon which the practice res". If rightly understood, our practice needs no defence. The following quotes are from the above mentioned book, chapter 23 on The Supper: Bishop Simpson in Cyclopaedia of Methodism says: "It is the order of the church that persons shall be baptized before they shall be admitted to the lord's Supper or to full membership in the church. Dr. Wall of the Church of England says: "No church ever gave the communion to any persons before they were baptized. Among all the absurdities that ever were held, none ever maintained that any persons, should partake of the communion before they were baptized."

Dr. Cathcart truthfully remarks that, "The creeds of all denominations, with the exception of a small body of open communion Baptists, are agreed in describing communicants as, "Those in the fellowship of churches." Baptized persons are the only proper communicants, as they only ought to be church members. The communicants in the first churches were all baptized."

Baptists and Protestants, then, differ not in reference to the communion but in regard to baptism. Our communion is no more "Close" or restricted than theirs, but our baptism is more restricted. We believe in one and only "one baptism", that is immersion.

A Presbyterian minister once said, "you regular Baptists are fighting the battle for us all. Open communionism rests upon only a sickly sentimentalism, and if that sentimentalism carries the day in your denomination, it will soon be making trouble in other churches. May God help you regular Baptists to stand firm".

Dr. John Hall of New York City, said," If I believed with the Baptists, that none are baptized but those who are immersed on profession of faith, then I should, with then, refuse to commune with any others." End of quotes from The Baptist story, by R. B. Cook.

It would seem logical that if Baptists are keeping churches from having harmony by restricted communion then all the other denominations would get together, however this is not the case.

Baptists can only be consistent by observing the Lord's Supper for those in the local church body who are walking orderly.

The Lord's church has many counterfeits; this is due to its value. In Matt. 13:33 the woman hiding the leaven in the meal certainly fits the harlot woman clothed in scarlet and drunk on the blood of the saints, Rev. 17:1-6. This is what is wrong with Europe today; the message of this woman has poisoned the world (poisoned bread) for the last 1300 years. The entire religious struggle in the world today is between two women, the mother of harlots, and the Bride of Christ. The world is dying today from poisoned bread and we often fall for the statement, "don't say anything about what anyone else believes". When people put forth poisoned doctrine, the real thing is always against it. You can't bring a street walking woman into your home without affecting or infecting your home. God will bring into judgement all these things in time, Rev. 18:6-8. The story of this conflict represents an impassable gulf, between the Baptist position and that of the harlot woman. It is a long and fascinating story and one that needs to be told. This story is about great sacrifices and the protection of a Great God who keeps his promises.

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