The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-02-17
logical d
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has any organic law regulating her
citizenship, that law is contained in
this commission. >. When Christ
gave this commission his sole object
was to tell the sinful what they must
do if they would be rcconciled to God
and obtain pardon therefore 6. II
the inquiring penltent would find an
authoritative answer TO the question
'sWhat must | do to be saved?'' let him
go to the apostolic commission. I. II
the commission does not answer the
question for such an one, no answer
can be found in the bible, and, there
fore, no one can tell when he has met
divine requirements; nor when ms sins
are forgiven. s. The one who from
the heart believes on Lord Jesus Chris,
repents OF his sins, and is baptized, has
the S~avior's promise of pardon. If ht
doubts this he must doubt the words o
the Savior.
But possibly these points may seen
too strong for some of you. They may
sound 4 little too dogmatIcal.
ask You then TO go with me wher,
we can find an inspired commentary
OF this commission, Notwithstanding
Christ gave 1t to the apostles in the
most solemn manner, He would moi
trust them to o its provisions
until they were qualified by the Holy
Spirit. Hence, he directed them to wal
in Jerusalem for the promise of In,
Father, Acts "A. To this command
they were rs obedient as they after
ward were to the commission itself. In
Jerusalem they waited. The spirit
came; they were qualified; the tint
had come. There and then for the frs
time in the worlds history the gospe
of a dead, buried, risen and glorilieo
Lord was preached-three Thousand
heard it-three thousand believed il
and cried out: ssMen and brethren
] what shall we do?' Let Peter speak
to him the commission was given. ii,
is now filled with the spirit, above hin
the Father and Son are Watching, will
these words scarcely forgotten
"Whatsoever thou shalt bind on eartl
shalt be bound in Heaven and whatso
ever thou shalt loose on earth shall bt
loosed i'm Heaven Now what is hi.
answer, Acts 2:3S: '.Repent and b,
baptized These did on that day a
they were commanded; they repentet
and were baptized.
Now hold the commission with it,
three items, Faith, Repentance ant
Baptism in one hand, and the case o
the three thousand in the other. LooI
at them; compare them; study then
and rs in the presence of God answer
the question, are they not alike, ant
did not the three thousand, under I'll,
Instructions of the inspired apostle
pass every point laid down in the com
misslonP Take any subsequent case il
the ministry of these men: Tn,
eunuch, Acts g; Saul of Tarsus, Acts .
Cornelius, Acts 10: Lydia and tn,
jailor, Acts 16. Compare as you hav,
been asked to do in this case, and tn,
result will be the same; they are alike
We conclude then that the apostles un
derstood their commission, and tina
they were faithful to 1t as long ss the
lived in the world. II any one SHOULD
ask at this point in the study, why j
was that the apostles enjoined, faith
repentance and baptism upon all candi
dates for membership in the church
the answer is .Because these were en-
joined in the commission by the Son o.
God, who had exclusive right TO deter.
mine the conditions on which sinfu
men could be reconciled to the Father,
The American silver dollar does no,
more perfectly agree with the die in the
mint, where it was shaped INTO coin,
than does the preaching of the apostles
with this great commission. Again,
permit me to say that from the first
discourse preached in Jerusalem TO the
last one in their ministry they adhered
most faithfully to the terms in the
commission. May we not conclude thai
it would be so with them to-day if thcy
were living on the earth-If not, why
notp II the apostle Peter was here,
and three thousand or any number OF
persons VIII" already believed should
ask the question: ".What must we do?'
would he give them the same answer
he gave the three thousand on Penta-
cOst-if not, why notp II any minister
now living should be asked the same
question by persons in the same condi-
ton, ought he to give the same answer
that Peter gave-if not, why not:
Would he give the same answer-ii
not, why not? Again, if one in the
same condition as the Philipian jsilor
could meet the apostle Paul now with
the %jailor's question, would he treat
him as he did the jailor-if not, why
notp St. Paul said: "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved and thy house." Then he spoke
to him and his house the word of the
Lord, that they might believe, accepted
the %jailor's repentance as evidenced IN
washing the backs he had caused to
bleed, and baptized him and his house.
hold straightway. But this is enough.
In conclusion, | desire to say, when
these conditions are complied with, the
individual has only begun the Christian
life; his past sins are all forgiven and
he is adopted into the divine family /;
but he is a '.babe." The great con-
flict has only begun. Temptations will
beset him on every side-often he will
feel his own weakness and sometimes
dlscouragemepts may sweep over him
like a flood. To all such | would say,
put your trust in God, your hand in His
hand, pray every day and may the
presence of the Father, of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit be with you all along
life's pilgrimage. Amen.
Mr.. II. Il. Beck, of Boliyer. Mo-. i