ADULT IMMERSION IN WATER IS ESSENTIAL FOR SALVATION, Dan Mayfield

A denominational preacher said the following about baptism that agrees with the Bible and with the teaching in the churches of Christ. "But the simplest things to understand are often the most difficult to put into practice. Let’s start with baptism. In your church setting, baptism may not seem like that big of a deal. Maybe that’s why so many Christians today have never been baptized. But in the early days of the church, baptism was huge. Baptism was an unmistakable act that marked a person as a follower of Jesus Christ. As Jesus died and was buried in the earth, so a Christian is plunged beneath the surface of the water. As Jesus emerged from the tomb in a resurrected body, so a Christian comes out of the waters of baptism as a new creation. When first-century Christians took this step of identifying themselves with the death and resurrection of Jesus, they were publicly declaring their allegiance to Christ. This immediately marked them for martyrdom—all of the hostility that the world felt toward Jesus would now be directed at them. Baptism was a declaration that a person’s life, identity, and priorities were centered on Jesus and His mission. Depending on where you live in the world, you may not see the same reaction to your choice to be baptized, but that act of identifying with Christ is essential, no matter where you live." - Francis Chan I believe Chan errs in important areas, but what he says about baptism is right on. He says you come out of baptism a new creation and that baptism is essential. He does not say it is essential or necessary after you are a new creation; he says at baptism is the point of becoming a new creation. Sinners in the New Testament heard the Gospel and were pricked in their hearts by the message and the repented and were baptized. You may do this too. Infant Baptism will not do because you had no personal sin, you were not lost, you had nothing to repent of, and you did not yet understand and have faith. All of the examples in the Bible are of adults being convicted of their own sinfulness and being moved to obey Jesus Christ. Here are scriptures for your personal investigation on this topic: Acts 2:38; 8:12; 22:16; Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-13; 1 Peter 3:21. Be sure to read these and pray for wisdom. To be saved you must be born again, John 3:3-5. To be saved you must be washed clean of an evil conscience and be forgiven of yours sins. To be saved you must call on God for salvation, Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:21,38. To be saved you must be added to the body of Christ and have the seal of the Holy Spirit. This all accomplished at baptism when obeyed from a heart of faith in the saving grace of God. Please obey the Gospel today. Jesus could return in the next day or hour and you will be shut out, Lk 13:25. Come and obey the Gospel today.

HUMANISM'S DESPAIR AND EMPTY PURSUIT

Francis Schaeffer said that humanistic reasoning only leads to despair and that the humanist comes to only value personal peace and materialistic wealth.  In other words, the humanist only cares about himself. He doesn't even care for his own children and grandchildren. If he still cares, then he's not fully invested in what is philosophy demands.  The humanist, fully committed and detached from God, is the center of his universe and he is all that matters.   

Now this is exactly what you get if you've been fooled to leave God out of your world view. If you don't have God, then the universe and your own life has no real meaning. You are just an accident, a chance meeting of atoms, that happens to breath and think. But without God, you have to conclude you are going to return to the dust and there's nothing more beyond that.  It is an abysmal philosophy of life.

The personal peace is achieved through selfish pursuits of drink and drugs. How many people today are sustained day to day only by being high? It's rampant. The personal peace is an illusion and so the drugs have to be taken to achieve the escapist peace.

Escapist peace is really the detachment from the world by feeling good. Imagine if will someone who takes a drug or drinks alcohol to such a measure that his or her mind is not in the least bit able to connect to the real world that you or I are in at this moment.  They are escaping from the existence they've been fooled to believe in. The utopia they conceived that was freedom from the mystical or fanciful controls of an Almighty God turns out to be an empty place with no meaning. And so when they have turned from God, they turned to meaningless existence. They have no meaning. Their children and grandchildren have no meaning. And so they are reduced to feeling good.

Escapism is pursued not only by drug highs, but it is also pursued by the the thrill of stuff.  The materialistic pursuit of getting stuff. The lust for more stuff. Shiny stuff. Fun stuff. More and more must be acquired to keep the humanist excited and "alive". If he or she doesn't get more and more, he will think what is the point.  Contentment doesn't figure into the world view of the humanist.

Feeling good is God to the humanist. He has nothing else. He has closed his perfectly good and able mind to the thought that stuff doesn't come from nothing. He has believed a lie. The old lie. And once a man has fully accepted it, he's a selfish, self-centered, self-gratifying, with no hope .

The real world with God in it is calling and offering to the humanist a way to real fulfillment and joy. It begins with Christ. Read the Bible and follow Him.
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Note, Schaeffer was no "prophet" in the Biblical sense, but he like many insightful individuals, like Orwell and other thinkers, could see where all of this was going.  

THE CROSS GIVES ME HOPE AND MAKES ME BETTER

The cross was an instrument of great suffering. It was an instrument of cruelty. There was nothing humanitarian about it. The intention was to make the punishment so horrible that men would abhor the thought and do anything to avoid it.

The most perfect man, Jesus Christ, was nailed to one for an agonizing 6 hours. He couldn't avoid it. To fulfill his redemption plan required going through the cross. The prophet David said a thousand years before, "16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet." - Psalm 22:16. Most men would compromise their greatest treasures if it would save them from the cross, but our Savior and God would not.

The words Jesus spoke while there do reinforce our respect and love for Him. He spoke of forgiveness and eternal life. "Father, forgive them..." and "Today you will be with me in paradise." The mockery and venom and spit did not keep Jesus from loving sinful man. Stunning, right? Not really because He was never off mission. "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." A cross, a place of derision and shame, for the guilty, remains a place of grace and hope for those who Believe in Jesus. He died and laid down His own life in order to redeem all of us from ourselves, from the consequences of our sins. I look to it daily and I find forgiveness. Through Jesus on the cross I learn the meaning of selfless love so that I act for the betterment of others. Ironic isn't it that something so horrible could be such a blessing to us all.

WHEN LEADING THE LORD'S SUPPER

Scripture: Mt. 26:26-28; Mk. 14:22-25; 1 Cor. 11:23-32. Note that other passages of Scripture may be read. But these are ones specifically describing the Lord's Supper.

Things to do: Pray. Give thanks for the bread. Give thanks for the fruit of the vine. Give thanks for Jesus Christ. Without thanksgiving, the eating won't be blessed.

Focus: Partake of the bread and cup in a "worthy manner". Focus on what Jesus did in giving Himself for us. Proclaim His death. Proclaim the cross. It is a remembrance.
Do not forget to remind the church that this is about Jesus giving his body and blood for our salvation.

Be careful: The Lord's Supper is a time to focus on what Jesus said to focus on. It is never said that the Lord's Supper is a proclamation of the 2nd coming. It is not a proclamation of the 2nd coming of Jesus. We wouldn't tell people that Baptism is a reminder that God won't flood the earth again. Likewise, we don't change the meaning of God's memorial. What Jesus did for us at the cross is too important to forget. So please do not teach that the Lord's Supper is something that it is not.

TELL JESUS TO THE WORLD

The world is eternally lost and hardly knows it. Some people are aware, but most men don't care. It's a serious thing to leave this life unprepared to meet one's Maker, yet not enough folks are thinking of their existence after death when it's too late. Some openly flaunt the laws of God and others foolishly bow to idols to insult the Living God. Who is going to stand up for the Truth and tell the world about the True God? The Psalmist said,

"2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. 3 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. 4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens" (Psalm 96:2-5).

Are Christians personally convicted to tell the Gospel to the world? It's called "good news" for a reason. We sing in our worship a song called "Will you not tell it today?" The third verse asks,

"If the souls all around you are living in sin,
If the Master has told you to bid them come in,
If the sweet invitation they never have heard,
O will you not tell them the cheer-bringing word?"

Jesus said to His disciples to "preach the Gospel to all creation." Because of the blessings I have enjoyed as a Christian, I pray to see an opportunity today to do just that, to proclaim the glory of God to a lost soul.