Faith of the Baptists - Missions and the Baptist Faith

Romans 10:14-17

Faith of the Baptists — A Missionary Faith

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.[1]

Baptists, throughout their history, have been characterised as a missionary people. The modern missionary movement is a Baptist movement solidly grounded in the righteous vision of men and women intoxicated with the revelation of Christ. Included among these missionary stalwarts are luminaries such as William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and Luther Rice. Every Baptist should know the names of these men imbued with missionary zeal, honouring them for their courageous commitment to Christ.

Our Faith anticipates that we will tell others of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. We cannot be silent in the face of sin’s devastation; and so long as souls are lost, we who are entrusted with the Word of life must of necessity be mission-minded. Christians who preceded us penetrated pagan darkness, reaching beyond our coastlines to ensure that the message of life is today found on every continent. Because of their dedication to the cause of Christ, we share in the work of a great Family that does not define itself by race or culture or social standing or gender, but rather that Family to which we belong encompasses every nation and tribe and language and people. As Christians, we Baptists are on mission with God.

What does it mean to be mission-minded? What does it mean to say that we must each be on mission with God? Such questions demand an answer if we will continue the tradition handed down from our fathers—the tradition of extending the Faith, proclaiming the message of life and liberty where Christ has not been named. At the outset, let me say that one need not travel to distant lands to fulfil this divine mandate, but rather we need but traverse the streets of our own communities to discover a growing culture of death populated by dying individuals who do not know the Name of Christ the Saviour. Join me in discovery of Mission and the Baptist Faith.

Convictions Create Commitment — What do you believe? I am not asking what your church believes, but rather I am asking what you believe. What are the core values shaping your life? What truths do you hold sacrosanct? This is a most serious question that each of us must answer. A second question flows from the first. That second question asks, “How has your life changed because of your beliefs?”

What you believe does shape your life. An old saw, no doubt familiar to many of us, asserts, “I cannot hear what you are saying because of what you are doing.” That is tantamount to saying, “Don’t tell me what you believe; show me!” What you believe is revealed through the choices you make while living out your life. The manner in which you live demonstrates what you believe; all else is mere talk.

Paul asks a question that should shake each of us out of our spiritual somnolence. How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? What do you believe about the doctrine of man (anthropology)? What do you believe about the doctrine of Christ (Christology)? What do you believe about the doctrine of salvation (soteriology)? What do you believe about the doctrine of God (theology)? I haven’t time to thoroughly cover the content of each of these doctrines, but some essential truths demand clarification.

We believe that all people are born in sin and are under the curse of death. We Baptists are convinced that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [Romans 3:23]. The Word is quite clear in declaring that sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned [Romans 5:12]. Because we share in the brokenness of all humanity, we know that all mankind is under sentence of death.

As Baptists, we are convinced that Jesus died because of our sin and that He rose for our justification. He presented His own life as a sacrifice in the place of sinful man. According to the Word of God, for our sake [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in [Christ Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God [2 Corinthians 5:21]. We are taught that God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit [Romans 8:3, 4].

We are convinced that it is by grace [we] have been saved through faith. And this is not [our] own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them [Ephesians 2:8-10]. God saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savoir, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:5-7].

The glorious God whom we serve is not a demigod created out of our own fertile imaginations gently making suggestions that we can ignore if we don’t feel good about them. The God of heaven and earth is holy and righteous! The Lord our God is awesome in might and power! He is sovereign! He is God; we are not. Because God is God, we are obligated to obey Him. Like Isaiah, when He commands we are to go. Isaiah declared, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me” [Isaiah 6:8].

Since we hold these convictions concerning man, concerning Christ, concerning salvation, and concerning God, we must obey the necessity imposed by our knowledge and by the command of God to be light and salt. Knowledge imposes a terrible responsibility upon us as Christians. Suppose you knew the cure for cancer and yet refused to share that knowledge with the world. Would your refusal be ethical? Do you suppose that your fellowmen would praise you for your decisions to keep the knowledge of life from those in such desperate need? Of course, the answer is self-evident.

If man is under sentence of death and the cure for eternal condemnation is to believe that Christ died because of the sin of dying people, is it ethical to keep that knowledge from others? Can we ethically have a cavalier attitude about obeying Christ’s call to be witnesses of His saving power? Will not those condemned in their sin that never heard of His love and salvation rise up and rightly condemn us?

If the command of the Risen Son of God is somehow insufficient to impel us to enter into mission with Him, then surely the knowledge that we could spare some from condemnation will impel us to be on mission with Him! Have you ever knowingly told another of the love of God? Have you ever knowingly tried to deliver another from condemnation? Have you ever prayed, pleading with God for life for one you knew to be under sentence of death? This is what it is to be on mission with God.

We Baptists do not merely support “missions,” we are on mission! All of us who name the Name of Christ are called to reach beyond this immediate sphere of personal comfort and penetrate the darkness—we are on mission with Christ. Some from within this congregation will be called to reach beyond the pedestrian world of daily life in order to represent Christ elsewhere. Some may perhaps find that God calls them to serve Him through ministering to the hurting of our own communities. They may minister to the homeless living on our streets, work among the prisoners, work with the impoverished; they will be called to represent Christ where it is darkest within our own communities.

Some from within this congregation will be called to represent Christ through declaring the message of life, dedicating themselves to labour within cities and communities far distant from our immediate vicinity. Perhaps they will be called to be pastors or evangelists or church planters, or perhaps they will be Sunday School teachers, but they will advance His cause and make His Name known where it is not now declared.

Some from within this congregation will be called to bridge cultural divides, declaring the grace of God to peoples who speak another language or who live in distant lands. There, they will serve as salt and light among a people who do not now know of the grace of God, declaring the freedom that is available to all mankind in Christ Jesus.

All of us will increasingly participate in mission with Christ as we expand our investment in ministries that carry the message of life throughout our world. We will provide outreach to the communities around us by televising the messages preached in this place, opening the door to life to many people that would never enter into this building. We will begin other services as we discover ways to expand our outreach to other areas in our own communities, as we provide new places for preaching the Word, and as we join with others in planting churches wherever God gives us opportunity to serve. As we learn of the service of others in distant lands we will give generously to ensure that Chinese, Indonesian and African peoples also hear the message of life.

God is moving, and we are called to be on mission with Him. Jesus often spoke of His work. On one occasion He said, My Father is working until now, and I am working [John 5:17]. The responsibility imposed on each of us who know and who are convinced of this truth is to open our eyes and see where the Father is working, and in that place where He is now working join Him in His mighty task of making Christ known. Every one who is convinced of this glorious truth has received a call because of that conviction to enter into this holy and divine work of advancing the cause of Christ the Lord.

Have all within our communities heard of Christ? If our communities do not know Him, or if they know but a caricature of His grace, how can they call on Him? Do all within our provinces know of Christ’s power to save? How can they call on Him if they have not known of Him? Are the great nations of this world now evangelised? Until all mankind has received the message of life they have no possibility of calling on Him. God is working. Jesus is working. We are now called to work with Him.

Convictions Compel Confession — The Apostle’s preliminary question leads quite logically to another question. How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? The beliefs that grow out of your life in Christ the Lord confer on you an awesome obligation to tell others of the treasure you have found. The degree of concern you may or may not hold for the spiritual welfare of others reveals the reality of your beliefs. If you are essentially unconcerned about the spiritual condition of others, at best, your lack of concern proves that you are unconvinced of the peril resulting from unbelief.

Notice the direct manner in which the issue of confessing Christ is confronted throughout the Word of God. Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house [Matthew 5:14, 15]. Likewise, we are taught to be always prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks … for a reason for the hope that is in us [1 Peter 3:15].

Jesus makes no attempt to make us feel good about ourselves; instead, He confronts our tendency toward self-preservation and cowardice. On one occasion He stripped away every excuse with biting words that haunt the conscientious Christian. Listen to the Master and weigh the impact of His confrontation with our spirits. Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels [Mark 8:38].

The warning is akin to another statement Jesus made concerning our witness. Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven [Matthew 10:32, 33].

I am often astonished at the account of Jewish leaders who heard Jesus speak. John says of them, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn’t come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God’s glory [John 12:42, 43].[2] They recognised the truth, but they refused to risk their reputation with their peers. Perhaps this reaction is not so very different from that of modern Christians. We will perform an act of worship, so long as there is no censure associated with the action. However, if someone challenges us, we are quick to back away from any overt confession. And age makes no difference; adults and teens are swayed by peers.

Confessing Christ demands more than a mere agreement on one solemn occasion. Confession is obviously important to the Christian life, and I indeed make much of confessing Christ openly. I endeavour to conclude each service with the call for all to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [Romans 10:9]. The confession demanded is agreement with God, to “say the same thing” (literal translation of homologēsēis). If one will be saved, that one must agree with God that he or she is incapable of saving himself or herself, and that one must agree with God that Jesus died because of his or her sin, but that He has been raised to justify all who will believe. Indeed, the Word calls us to confess Christ verbally—orally, but agreement with Him will inevitably lead any who believe to identify with Him in baptism [Matthew 3:6]. Some among us have yet to confess Christ through baptism, perhaps thinking that they might be inviting ridicule from someone whose opinion they value more than the commendation of Christ.

Confession is evident through participation in the ministry of giving. Paul, urging the Corinthian Christians to give generously to support relief efforts for suffering saints, taught that the gifts given were a confession of the gospel of Christ [2 Corinthians 9:13]. Christians who fail to worship through generous giving fail in confessing Christ as Lord. Living a holy and righteous life is also an act of confession [1 Timothy 6:12, 13]. Obedience to Christ and to His call confesses His reign in that person’s life [1 John 4:15].

The author of the Letter to the Hebrew Christians presents a powerful chapter that has thrilled saints throughout the long ages. In one chapter the unknown author presents “Faith’s Hall of Fame.” He writes of Abel, of Enoch, of Noah, of Abraham and of Sarah. Then, he makes an observation concerning these we call great in the galaxy of faith. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city [Hebrews 11:13-16].

God takes note of our confession, and our confession flows from our convictions. Is our witness in the workplace debilitated through holding weak convictions? Is it possible that our teens have such scant power and so little influence with their peers because we have failed to instil godly convictions concerning the Faith? Do we fail to advance the cause of Christ through stinted and meagre giving because we have no convictions concerning the call of God? When we fuss and argue over whether to move now or wait until we have enough money, is it because we have no convictions concerning the power of Christ to save and the call of Christ to be on mission with Him?

All about us, people are dying because they have not believed on Christ the Lord. How can they believe in Him when they do not know Him? The most powerful witness available to this dying world is the presence of God’s people living holy and righteous lives and reaching out to those who are soiled through the pervasive contamination of sin. Within our communities multiplied numbers of people are dying for lack of our witness.

Dear people, we are on mission with God. The Spirit of the Living God lives in each of us who are born from above and the Spirit of Christ lives among us. He is now working in our world—working where the Father works, and there we also are to work. That work to which He calls us is the work of confessing His Name. Christians begin that work when we first identify with Christ by being obedient in baptism. We continue that work as we generously contribute to advance His cause, giving to underwrite the outreaches of the congregation—providing a ministry of television, underwriting a growing ministry of preaching and teaching, and participating together with others in the ministry of planting churches and preaching in distant lands. That work continues daily as we live righteous and holy lives and as we obey His call to tell others of His life. The more openly we live as Christians, the more powerful is our confession of His love.

We have already seen that our convictions concerning the Faith impel us to a life of commitment, and that commitment will change us in different ways. Now, we are discovering that our convictions will compel us to a life of confession. The dying world has not heard the Name of Christ declared as the sole means of salvation. Christians, who have discovered the love of God, are now called to confess what He has done in giving them life. The Psalmist commands, Let the redeemed of the Lord say so [Psalm 107:2].

I yearn to see a day when each member of this church lives a life of bold confession. In that day there will be no waiting until the time is right to openly confess Him in baptism, but an environment of openly displayed power will mark us as a congregation. In that day we will no longer plead for agreement to shine as lights in the darkness, but rather we will each boldly confess our faith. In that day we will no longer wonder whether we should speak of Christ, inviting others to come to life through faith in Him, but we will instead witness men and women coming to faith in every service.

I read of churches in Nigeria where the members openly live as Christians despite threats of harm and even of death from Muslim neighbours. They are valiant for the cause of Christ, and I long for us to be just as valiant. They see their neighbours turning to the Faith, leaving the death of Islam, and I want us to see that same power at work in our communities. I read of Christians in Iraq who are willing to stand firm for the Faith though standing firm may well cost them their lives. Because of their bold witness, they see the power of God at work as increasing numbers of their Muslim neighbours embrace Christ and follow Him, and I long to see that same boldness demonstrated among us.

Perhaps you recall this powerful statement from the Apostle as he wrote the Philippian saints. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father [Philippians 2:5-11].

My great fear is that in that awful day when He shall be revealed in great glory, numbered among the tongues compelled to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord will be friends and family members—perhaps even some of you. Though unwilling to confess His Name now, these souls will be forced to do so in that awful day when He is revealed. If I have failed to confess His Name to them, how can they know to confess His Name? Though they will bear their own sin, I will be guilty of their blood because I did not tell them of His grace and mercy. My great fear is that assuming that all is well with them, through my silence I permit them to stumble into hell.

The Proverbs challenge me to reconsider my silence.

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;

hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,

and will he not repay man according to his work?

[Proverbs 24:11, 12]

Do you believe the Word? Is an individual without Christ lost? Will Christ the Lord receive all who come to Him in faith? Does God demand our best service? Then, we are responsible to live a life of confession. Let it begin now.

Convictions Culminate in Commission — How are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? The population of our world is growing. Projections of world population suggest that by 2050 over nine billion people will inhabit this planet.[3] Even the population of our own country is expected to grow significantly to 42.3 million people by that same date, many of arriving as immigrants.[4],

We live in a nation that has become a magnet for immigrants. We are an exceptionally desirable destination for peoples of the entire world who may be forced to leave their native lands. Only the United States and Germany are projected to receive more immigrants annually than Canada will receive during the coming four decades.[5] The overwhelming majority of these immigrants will arrive on our shores from countries where the Faith of Christ does not predominate. It is as though God is giving us an opportunity to powerfully change the course of our world to the glory of Christ the Lord. If we fail to seize this glorious opportunity we will dishonour the lives and ministries of those who preceded us in the Faith and we will witness the demise of the Faith as a vital force in our nation.

This present opportunity does not diminish the obedience of fellow Christians who accept the call of Christ to penetrate the darkness as missionaries, but it enhances the outreach with the message of life. We are workers together with God as through a great, global effort we accept the commission of each Christian both to live godly and to tell others of the power of Christ the Lord to set all mankind free from the bondage of sin.

Among the grave errors perpetuated against the cause of Christ is the division of the people of God into a class system. Even within our Baptist Zion we have become like all the other churches, with a division of the people of God into “clergy” and “laity,” a concept that is utterly foreign to the Baptist vision. The “clergy” within modern churches are looked upon as the professionals, and the “laity” is reduced to the role of observers. Worship is reduced to a spectator event in which people watch the professionals perform. Thus, in seeking stature in the eyes of the world, we have surrendered the concept of ministry. Gifted heralds of the Word are transformed into “ministers”—those who work for the sake of Christ, and the people of God become those who pay for the “ministry,” and they too often cease serving as witnesses to the cause of Christ in daily life.

We believe that all mankind is lost—born in sin and unable to make themselves acceptable to God, and we cannot be silent concerning the condition of our fellowman.

None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [Romans 3:10, 11, 12, 23].

We believe that Christ has died because of the sin of mankind, and we are compelled to speak of His grace. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us [Romans 5:6-8].

We believe that the Father is merciful and gracious, and we must speak of His mercy and of His grace. We have been taught that we are responsible to be merciful, because our Father is merciful [see Luke 6:36]. Therefore, in mercy we are compelled to speak of His goodness and in mercy we are compelled to supply the means for those who carry that message of life as missionaries to regions beyond the precincts of this church. With the Apostle, we long for all peoples to glorify God for His mercy [see Romans 15:9].

We believe that salvation—freedom from all condemnation and the new birth—is found only in Christ the Lord. This salvation is free to anyone who will to receive Him as Master of life, believing that He died because of his or her sin. We are driven to announce the free gift of life. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God [2 Corinthians 5:17-21].

We are on mission with God. At work, we represent Christ as we offer up our labours to His glory. At home, we glorify God as we instruct our children in the Faith and as we build one another in this most holy Faith. Among the saints, we see Christ at work among us as we invest our lives in one another and as we reach out to a dying world both through witnessing to those about us and through providing the means for the message of life to be spread beyond our immediate walls.

Do you have this life? Have you been born from above? What are you doing for the cause of Christ? If you are a child of God, I urge you to live for Him. Tell another of His mercy and determine that you will be fully engaged in this great work of touching a world for His Name’s sake.

If you are yet somehow outside the Faith, then let this be the day that you receive Christ the Lord, discovering His mercy and His grace, the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. He will forgive every sin and adopt you into His Family. The Word clearly affirms, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13]. Receive this message of life and be saved today. Then, as one born from above, come join us as we continue on mission with Christ. Amen.

----

[2] Eugene Petersen, The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO 1993)

[3] World population ‘to rise by 40%’, BBC News, February 25 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4297169.stm, accessed 28 February 2005

[4] Population Chart, http://www.sdnbd.org/sdi/issues/pollution/world-population-2050.htm

[5] World Population to Increase by 2.6 Billion Over Next 45 Years, http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2005/pop918.html, accessed 28 February 2005