We Are Baptist! - Part 4 - Baptists Are Biblicists

Temple Baptist Church - 1-9-2011

2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12

Introduction:

A. We have seen what Baptists are not in the first message. That certainly needed to be clarified because many people who claim to be Baptists are everything except Baptists.

B. We have seen that true Baptists are separatists! It is for this reason that our forefathers died in the fires of persecution. Not for being offensive but for being non-conformists!

C. I want us to see that true Baptists are actually Biblicists. We got our name from the Roman Catholic Church who called us Anabaptists. The Anabaptists were separatists who rejected infant baptism and believed that the outward, external church should consist only of saved and baptized believers. They would re-baptize those who professed Christ who had previously been baptized as infants. The preposition ana means “again,” thus Anabaptists were those who “baptized again.”

D. Let us look at the word tradition for a few minutes. Most churches follow traditions or some sort or another.

E. First, we need to understand what a tradition is: The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language:

1. Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next, often orally.

2. A set of customs or practices. For example, we can speak of Christmas traditions.

3. That which is brought forth into the present from the past and repeated over a long sequence of time. For such acts or practices, once performed, disappear unless they have been transformed into some manner of communicable information.

F. The Bible says much about traditions, both pro and con:

1. Pro: Not all Baptist traditions are bad ones - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. (These traditions are beneficial in the running of the local church and keep down confusion and chaos.)

2. Con: Not all Baptists Traditions are Bible based and some are detrimental - Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
a) Breaking Of Unbiblical Traditions Often Bring About Censure - Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

b) Unbiblical Traditions Become A Problem When They Contradict Scripture - Matthew 15:3, 6 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?...And honour not his father or his mother, [he shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Mark 7:8-9 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

G. Examples of traditions that are not bad:

1. Commemorating The Lord’s Supper At Certain Times: some churches observe the Lord’ Supper on the fifth Sunday while others either each week or at various times. The Bible says, “As oft.” Whenever the church decides to observe the Lord’s Supper is up to them and others can vary and be just as biblical. We observe it on the fifth Sunday but do not teach it as a commandment of God.

2. Joining The Church: this was started for a very good reason. It was to keep church hopping trouble makers from stirring up trouble and then simply going to a sister church and starting over. They were required to bring a “letter of recommendation” from the church that was left. This was not a generic form from Broadman Press but an actual letter giving either recommending the precious believer or exposing the troublemaker. In the New Testament Churches, people were saved and assembled! “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” I find no place in the Word of God where anyone ever “walked down an isle and joined a church.” I am all for someone walking down an isle, giving a testimony of saving grace, and placing their stamp of approval on the church by joining but we have people at Temple Baptist who have been with us for almost 20 years who never “joined.” They are faithful tithers, soul winners, Sunday School teachers, choir members, youth workers, etc. I know that many will disagree with me at this point but all they have to do is give me chapter and verse (plain verses and not “I believe this meant”) and I will reconsider where I stand. I do not censure them for where they stand.

H. What separates the “true Baptist” from virtually every other religion or denomination is their source of authority. Four things can be your authority spiritually:

a. The Church – that is Catholicism

b. Personal Experience – that is Pentecostalism

c. Human Reason – that is Intellectualism

d. The Bible – that is Fundamentalism

I. BAPTISTS ARE BIBLICISTS!

WHAT ARE BIBLICISTS?

1. Biblicists Stand For Inspiration And Preservation Of Holy Scripture.

a. Holy Men Were The Vessels - 2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.

b. Holy Spirit Was The Vehicle - 2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.

The King James Bible is the inerrant, infallible, inspired, perfectly preserved Word of God! If any other so called Bible were on the same plane with the King James, then neither would be inerrant, infallible, inspired, or perfectly preserved—therefore, not the Word of God but containing the “words of God.”

1) Perfect Scripture Is Essential To Salvation

2) Perfect Scripture Is Essential To Spiritual Growth

3) Perfect Scripture Is Essential To Service

2. Biblicists Stand For The Final Authority Of Holy Scripture In Both Faith And Practice.

a. The Bible Is Final Authority For Evangelizing The Lost

b. The Bible Is Final Authority For Operating The Church

c. The Bible Is Final Authority For Rebuking The Sinful

d. The Bible Is Final Authority For Building The Saint

e. The Bible Is Final Authority For Correcting The Apostate

f. The Bible Is Final Authority For Building The Home

g. The Bible Is Final Authority For Raising The Children

h. The Bible Is Final Authority For Encouraging The Discouraged

Conclusion: I have an opinion and you have an opinion. Everyone has an opinion except God. God has no opinion. He has absolute Truth! True Baptists hold His Word to be Final Authority for both faith and practice.