The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-06-20
WHAT It TAKES
TO CONSTITUTE
AGOOD BAPTIST
REV. E. E. RICE HAD THIS AS SUB
JEcT OF HIS SERMON AT THE
WEST HILL BAPTIST CHURCH.

Rev. E. E. Rice preached at the West
Hill Baptist church last Sunday morn
ing from q text found in Luke 6:46:
why call ye me, Lord, Lord. and do
not the things which say" The sub
ject was: What 1t Takes to Con-
stitute Good Baptist"
He said, In part: TT Is not enough
for you to have seen your self sin
neF, and to have realized that to live
In your sin you will die in your sin
be buried in your sin, be raised in your
sin and be judged IN your sin. 1t Is
not enough for one to have been con-
victed of his sin and to know how sin
came into the world, and how God re-
CARDS II, and the remedy for 1t.
TT is not enough to have realized
that God Furnishes sin, and that he
who knew no sin became sin for us.
That He laid upon Him (Jesus) the
iniquity Of US all, and that is Gods
way to man, and is mans way to God.
1t is not enough for one to be able
to say, I have tried Him, I saw Him
coming to me on the sea one stormy
night, when conviction lowered over
me, and that then I felt His touch as
He put His hand in mine and heard
His voice when He said follow me-
1T is not enough for you to say,
/ followed Him in the ordinance of bap-
tism, i belong to the church, eat the
bread, drink the wine and by this do
ahew forth his death until He comes.
While all this is important, but to
stop here is to fall far short of being
good Baptist, and is to be far short
of the Baptist idea.
"One may know the truth concern
ing the doctrine of Baptism and believe
that 1t shows forth his death to sin
and that he is raised to walk in new
ness of life But to express this in his
baptism and not in his life, to have
body only baptized, but in life con-
tinue in sin. To be faithful in form
and not in fact is like they who say
and do not.
HE who partakes of the Lords sup
per, remembering their Lord on Sun
day, and forgets Him on Monday, is
mot good Baptist
The best argument in favor OF your
belief In the perseverance of the saints
is by persevering. The best argument
in favor of our belief as to the Bible
being our only rule of faith and prac-
tice is by conforming our life and
practice to it's teachings. The Baptist
position Is that, that can be expressed
in every day life. 1t stands for truth
in action and demands of US to act the
truth as 1t stands. Why call ye me
Lord, Lord, and do not the things I
tell you? IF any man would be My
disciple let him take up his cross and
follow Me, says He who spoke as never
man spoke.
4 sJesus died for our sake. that we
Imight live for His sake. The law of
NtIis kingdom is service. No man has a
Eight to live for his own profit six days
in the week and pretend to live for
God and his fellow man on the sew
enth. We hear much about foreign
missions, and our gifts in money for
same, but l am inclined to think that
after all the interest of foreign mis-
sions is not so dependent upon our
money as 1t is on our consistent and
every day Christian living. DR.. J. +.
Love, our assistant secretary, says:
The true uplift of China and Africa
would soon come If American mission
aries could point to their home land as
an example of a nation which has &C
cepted and proved the Gospel. Char
acter speaks louder than words, and an
unchriStian character of q So called
Christian nation is a standing reproach
which our foreign missionaries must
face
One million, six hundred and fifty
thousand immigrants are here now.
Two hundred and fifty thousand re-
turned last year. What did they take
with them? They took ideas and
ideals, they took impressions of our
Christianity. What Impressions did
you leave in their minds of your Chris
.tianity? On, brethren, what you do at
home is known around the world
Truly the time has come when that
the housetop. No man liveth to him
self and no man dies to himself. Let
ais not turn from the foreigner when
nearby and to him when far away, but
let us reach him who is nearby and
through these to they that are far off.
I do not mean that we are to call in
our missionaries on the field, but I do
mean that we should assist them by
sending more, which is not to be done
only with money but by right living
before those who visit us in our home
land and who see us as we are How
our hearts were thrilled at the conVen-
ton, as we listened to the stories of
sacrifice and devotion of our mission
aries. ! can see even now that sweet
character, our sister and Gods servant,
who after her husband had been called
to his reward, stayed and kept up the
work of the mission, after she had
taken her own children to the vessel
on which they came to America to be
reared by friends, she falls upon her
knees upon the sandy beach and with
bleeding heart and upIifted hands says
oh, Master, all this do for Thee AS
] listened to these and saw in their
faces and felt in their hands the signs
of intense interest in our Masters work
/ hung my head and asked, Have
added to their hardships by my neglect
and folly2 / said, will go back to my
field of labor and do my best and tell
my brethren to do their best,
Oh! men, do right here and it will
assist our servants laboring yonder.
Let us be better Baptist and we viii
be known and read of all men, and our
children will rise up and call us
blessed. Let us not be a Baptist only
in form on Sunday and fail to prac-
tice II on Monday. Let US not simply
preach the faith once delivered to the
Rsaints, but may we practice il as we'll
Pure religion and undefled before God
lend the Father is this: To visit the
fatherless and widows in their afflic-
tion and to keep himself unspotted
from the world.
why call We me Lord, Lord, and
do not these things"