July 23, 2021

JULY 23 , 2021
Editor | Dr . Shelton Smith Vol . LXXXVII , No . 14

God Is Patient 5

The Bus Ministry Basics

9

Think , Then Do 10

Be Not Deceived

DR . LOU ROSSI Pastor , Granite Baptist Church , Glen Burnie , Maryland
“ And they asked him , saying , Master , but when shall these things be ? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass ?
“ And he said , Take heed that ye be not deceived : for many shall come in my name , saying , I am Christ ; and the time draweth near : go ye not therefore after them .”— Luke 21:7 , 8 .
I believe in the pretribulational rapture . I believe that the Lord will come and take us before the Tribulation time . If you study your Bible very carefully , you will find the fact that you cannot have the doctrine of imminence or the doctrine of the sudden return of Christ without what is known as the rapture .
People have told me that the word rapture is not in the Bible . That is true . However , the words “ caught up ” are in the Bible ! “ We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds ” ( I Thess . 4:17 ). “ Caught up ” means someone is
suddenly and rapidly snatched away .
The Lord said that many things would happen before His return . In the great Olivet Discourse in Luke 21 and in Matthew 24 and 25 , Jesus gave us a great panoramic view of what would happen at the end of the age .
Continued on p 19▶
Lawsuit Filed After Connecticut Drops Religious Exemption
Parents and organizations in Connecticut have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state ’ s removal of a religious exemption for vaccines .
“ We think it ’ s an absolutely abhorrent piece of legislation ,” says Brian Festa of We the Patriots USA and CT Freedom Alliance , the organizations suing Connecticut . “ This law strips … schoolchildren of their religious freedom and their fundamental right to an education .”
The legislation was signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont .… The new law takes effect in the fall for the 2022 school year at both public and private schools and daycare centers .
Festa says the fundamental right to religious liberty can be found in the Connecticut Constitution and suggests Democrats in the state must answer for the law that forces their own citizens to choose between their personal rights and a public education .
“ The fact that the Democrats who strongly advocated and promoted this legislation purport to be champions of nondiscrimination ,” Festa
Continued on p 2▶

How to Become a Christian DR . R . A . TORREY

No one can be saved unless he is born again by the power of God ’ s Spirit . Christ says in John 3:7 , “ Ye must be born again .” The necessity is absolute — ye must be born again .
Baptism will not take the place of the new birth . One may be a baptized , lost sinner .
No performance of religious rites will take the place of the new birth .
A great many people are de - pending upon the fact that they say their prayers , read their Bibles , go to church , partake of the Lord ’ s Supper and perform other duties ; but all that will not take the place of the new birth .
A great many people are saying , “ I believe in the Apostle ’ s Creed ; I believe in the Nicene Creed ; I believe in the Athanasian Creed ; I say the catechism .”
Others say , “ I am orthodox . I hold right views about Christ , right views about the Bible , right views about the atonement .” You can be orthodox upon every Bible doctrine and yet be lost forever .
Culture and refinement and out - ward correctness of life will not take the place of the new birth .
The trouble is not merely with our outward life ; the trouble is in the heart , in the very deepest depths of our inward life ; and merely to reform your outward life will not save you .
Suppose I had a rotten apple . I could take that apple to an artist , have him put a coating of wax upon it and then paint it till it was the most beautiful-looking apple you ever saw ; but it would be just as rotten at heart as ever . Even one bite into it would be a bite into decay .
The trouble is that out of Christ you are wrong in heart ; and mere culture , mere refinement , mere respectability , and mere morality are simply a coating of wax on the outside painted up .
Continued on p 7▶

Christian Millennials

DR . MIKE ALLISON Pastor , Madison Baptist Church , Madison , Alabama
The Word of God is our hope . We ’ re all in trouble if we get away from the Book . The Book never fails . It is “ sharper than any two - edged sword ” ( Heb . 4:12 ).
“ The children of Ephraim , being armed , and carrying bows , turned back in the day of battle .
“ They kept not the covenant of God , and refused to walk in his law ;
“ And forgat his works , and his wonders that he had shewed them .”— Ps . 78:9 – 11 .
Something alarming seems to be happening in our churches . The group of those who are twenty to thirty-five years of age is diminishing in many of our churches . That is , of course , the group that they call the millen - nials . I want to talk to you about “ Christian Millennials .”
NOT ALL MILLENNIALS FIT THE TYPICAL PROFILE
There is a difference between the millennials and the Christian millennials . Let me say right up front , when we talk about what seems to be a characteristic of a particular demographic group , we do not mean that everybody in
“ I am as a wonder unto many ; but thou art my strong refuge .”— Ps . 71:7 .
The psallmist was aware that people were looking at him with amazement . He knew that they didn ’ t have him figured out , but he had not forgotten that it was the Lord who was his refuge .
Now the question I want to raise is , “ Have you lost ‘ The Wonder of It All ’?” Do you still rejoice in the Lord ? Do you still thrill in your salvation ? Do you think of Heaven with breathless anticipation ? Is it still the highlight of your week to go to church on Wednesday night ? that group has that characteristic .
We have twenty-nine missionary families out of our church and a number of them are in that mil - lennials age range , so I want you to know that millennials can surrender to be missionaries and be good and godly missionaries . They can be evangelists and Bible preachers and minister biblically in many ways .
However , the fact that the num - ber of millennials in our churches
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The Wonder of It All DR . SHELTON SMITH

Do you still give full attention when the altar is filled at the invitation ? How about when folks are being baptized ? Do you yawn through the “ routine ” of the in - vitation and the baptisms , or do you still get pumped up by it ?
When the lobby and the halls of the church are crowded with barely room to make your way through , do you complain about the conges - tion , or does your pulse quicken ? When the buses come in loaded with riders , do you smile or do you frown ?
Are you still singing in the choir ? Continued on p 10▶