The Ohio Independent Baptist, September 1965

/,,,.,, l'O/ /, , / l 1, I' I , I r. J ... }1 11 13aI, 1 I .1,t ... 1r. e lar H ill 13 ~pl1"l ( le, cl,111'-I. C l11t, (E cer ·s fron, a n,essage delivered at 1he GA BC <..onference Des Moines Iowa). · l1e greJt 11 pe of the hr1 tian i ~ }1e 11rl1n11 ' ed rett1rn of J e u hri l t th1· t arth \\ hate\er el e "" hri - r i an, a 11 t 1 ~ i p J t e. ,, e a ntic i pate n1o t ~1f all Lhe on11ng f our L rd . The ..... l.1te Dr J an1e .. Denn\' ha .. aid that ., .. the hi n1 f beatlt)' on a,po. to1ic ( hr1 t1an1t)' \\ a created b) the t1p– ,v rtl I ok :.. indeed it wa . n tt 1pati n f the con1ing of C hr1~ t at an\ n1 ment to take Hi·"' • pe pie t be \.\' ith Him forever doe n r n1ean that we mu t live in the fe\ er pit h of emotional excitement. f t n1ean ~ to take into account the 0 our ail/i By Dr . James T. Jeremiah President of Cedarville College Cedarville, Ohio (Excerpts from a message delivered at the GARBC conference Des Moines, Iowa) The \\-Ord Baptist ha a different connotation to different people. To -..ome. it mean an identification with the forerunner of Chri t, John the Bapti t. To other , it i but the name for one of the ··Prote tant" denom– ination . There are a few who think of Bapti t a a group of non-con– f orm1 r- who tand out like a ore thumb in octet;·. A tud 1· of Bapt1 t hi tory wi 11 re\. eal that these peop]e down through the centurie have en– dea,,ored to be lo}'al to the _ ew Te ta– ment a the Spirit f God ha. made it SEPTEMBER, 1965 PAGE 12 Dr. John Balyo, pastor of Cedar Hill Baptist Church, Cleveland; Dr. James T. Jeremiah, president of Cedar– ville College; and Evangelist Chelsea Stockwell relate reasons for our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. l.1c t that • .1n\ hot1r n1a, 11\l1cr in tl1c grea t e\cnt. anti \\e tight lo he rcall ). 1 he practical ~alt tC\ f ,11ch a hope are n1an} : ( I ) T get r ady for Chri:t• rett1rn i~ to clean up my life and r11ake it pre "entable for the a ior· in pection and approv,al. (2) T lo 1' forward to Hi rett1rn i to be fortified in the pre ent conflict with problen1 . perplexitie , people, and circum tance and evil. However oppre ~ive our enemie , however dif– fict1lt the batt1e and whatever jn– jurie we may be call ed upon to en– dure, we Chri tian can afford to be patient and to wait. At any moment our Lord may come and al l wi ll be welJ. ( 3) To anticipate the advent of hri t i to be con oled and com– forted in the world' night of uffer - clear to them. When we -s,peak o( ot1r Bapt i. t heritage, we refer to the achi eve– ment , po ition and ble ing which we have inher ited from tho e who h,ave gone before u . A tudy of our Bapti t hi~tory wi ll how how m11ch we are indebted to them. It i not denominational bigotry or pr ide to become informed about tho e who have been willing to uffer, b leed and die for the principle which we now believe and eek to propagate. A Bapti t holds to other distinc– tive doctrine along with baptism by immer ion. He believe in the final authority of the Scriptures; the priest– hood of all believers; the autonomy of the local church; the regeneration of church member · the Lords Sup– per a a memorial and not a acra– ment : the ~eparation of church and tate. State all of the e doctrine to– gether and you will have at ]east a brief de cription of a Bapti t. Bapti t have alway ought to be: ( l) free fron1 centralized ecclesi– a tical authority; (2) true to the teaching of tl1e ew Te tament. ing anti sorrow. "Wee ping 111ay cn– <.lt1rc fl>r a night ," ·.,ays the Bibl e. ' ' bt1 t JOY co111e th in the morning.,, Wc n1ay weep through a Jong. <.lark night, but we will not ue~pa1r; ( hrist i con1ing and li ght will ari~e and n1orn– in.g wiJ I dawn. The coming of Chri t is prelt1de to the coming judgment of the world. The world will experi ence a 5t1dden. hattering interruption; it will be ~ub– jected to the poiling of all it1 plan\. All of it machinery will grind to a halt and the a embly of the t1n– god ly wi ll occur. The time of the final reckoning will have come ; the hour of God' judgment will have . truck. And there will be no door marked ' ·Exit, jn the assembly hall of the final tribunal . Bapti t<; have alway<; ba ed their doctri ne upon the precept of Scrip– tu re and Bapti t people have never acce.pted creed al':' final authority. Hi torica1ly, Bapti ts have believed in the eparation of church and tate. For thi doctrine, too, they have fought and bled and died. The Ana– bapti t and the Bapti t which fol– Jowed them have believed and taught that the church and the ,:, tate mu t he entirely eparate. The matter of re– ligion i no bu ine of the tate. In hi book The Developn1en.t of M od– ern Edi,cation, Eby (page 140) ay . ' The e peoples (Anabapti t ) advance the cau e of religiou freedom and Jater played an important part in bringing about the complete epara– tion of church and tate in America. ' A tudy of our Bapti t heritage hould encourage u to be Bih]ica I in a day when men are rebelling again t authority; faithful when per– r:-ecution for the faith eem near at hand; eparated from entangling al– liance when the ecumenical church eem about ready to engulf all of Chri tianity; loyal to our country in a time when patrioti m i out of date : and mi ionary at heart when the con– cern for the Jo t is waning. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST