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© Copyright 2003, BAPTISTWAY PRESS The Baptist Distinctives Committee/Texas Baptist Heritage Center Baptist General Convention of Texas Printed in the United States ISBN 1-931060-44-4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. The scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated. 2 Dedication A host of Baptist forebears came to Texas from throughout the United States and from various nations of the world. They established in Texas one of the strongest Baptist witnesses to Christ on the bedrock of solid biblical doctrine and polity. This book is dedicated to those Baptists. 3 4 Contents Foreward .................................................................................... 7 Preface .................................................................................... 9 Introduction .................................................................................. 11 Chapter 1: God—The God Who Is ......................................... 15 Chapter 2: The Scriptures—The Book We Believe .............. 25 Chapter 3: Man—Every Man’s Story .................................... 37 Chapter 4: Salvation—So Great a Salvation ......................... 47 Chapter 5: The Church—The Family of God ....................... 59 Chapter 6: Priesthood of the Believer— Our Inalienable Right ........................................... 71 Chapter 7: Religious Liberty—Our Cherished Belief ......... 83 Chapter 8: Evangelism and Missions— Our Missionary Mandate..................................... 95 Chapter 9: Cooperation—Working Together in Unity ................................................................. 107 Chapter 10: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper— Sermons in Symbols ........................................... 119 Chapter 11: Stewardship—Baptized Billfolds ..................... 129 Chapter 12: The Christian and the Social Order— Two-Handed Religion ........................................ 139 Chapter 13: Ministers—The Duty of the Minister ............... 151 Chapter 14: Last Things—The Last Days ............................. 165 Notes ................................................................................ 175 Selected Bibliography ................................................................ 177 Appendix ........................................................................ 179-195 Cover Page Minutes of the Union Baptist Association Articles of Faith Bill of Inalienable Rights Constitution Rules of Decorum Table of Pastors, Deacons, Clerks, Churches, &c. Circular Letter 5 6 Foreword This book is the product of Baptist cooperation. Paul W. Powell, author of numerous books, responded positively to a request to prepare a book of sermons on the bedrock of Baptist beliefs. The request came out of a conversation between E. Eu- gene Greer, Jr., and me in our roles as volunteer staff mem- bers with the Baptist Distinctives Committee/Texas Bap- tist Heritage Center of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Gene Greer, who served as Director of Projects and Research prior to his death in July of 2003, felt there was a need for a book on basic Baptist beliefs and doctrines. Fur- ther discussion led to the conclusion that two books rather than one would be helpful: one a book of sermons on basic Baptist beliefs, the other a book for church members on Baptist heritage, beliefs, and polity that I was already in the process of writing. Paul Powell was the choice to do the book of sermons. He is an experienced pastor, Baptist denominational leader, former president of the Annuity Board of the Southern Bap- tist Convention, current Dean of the George W. Truett Theo- logical Seminary of Baylor University, and author of nu- merous books including books of sermons. When ap- proached with the idea, Paul Powell agreed to write this book. The book is unique in that the messages are based on Baptist beliefs as expressed by those who, in 1840, formed the first Baptist association in Texas. Because the Baptists who drafted those Articles of Faith came from churches throughout the United States to settle in the frontier Re- public of Texas, the faith they articulated is not provincial, that is a “Texas Baptist” version of Baptist beliefs. Rather they are in many ways the bedrock beliefs of Baptists from 7 a wide variety of geographical areas and of church back- grounds. Therefore, persons from throughout the United States and beyond can identify with the content of this volume of sermons—the bedrock of Baptist beliefs. Funding for the project came from various sources, in- cluding the Baptist Distinctives Committee/Texas Baptist Heritage Center, a grant from the Prichard Family Foun- dation, individuals, and the James and Irene Landes Fund that has been provided by Ruth and Bill Pitts, daughter and son-in-law of the Landeses, for projects of the Texas Baptist Heritage Center. Various persons contributed time and effort, such as the staff of the George W. Truett Theo- logical Seminary and the volunteer staff of the Texas Bap- tist Heritage Center. Nancy Floyd, assistant to the Dean at Truett Seminary, typed the initial rough draft of the manu- script. Doris Tinker, volunteer Director of Organization and Communication with the Texas Baptist Heritage Cen- ter, helped in many ways to bring the project to comple- tion such as researching original documents, verifying sources, and general editing. Gary Wilder, who has pub- lished a number of Paul Powell’s books, guided the vol- ume to its final printed form. Cooperation is a key component in Baptist life and to all who cooperated to make this volume of sermons pos- sible appreciation and gratitude are owed. William M. Pinson, Jr. Director (volunteer), Texas Baptist Heritage Center Executive Director Emeritus, Baptist General Convention of Texas Dallas, Texas 2003 A. D. 8 Preface When asked to do a book of sermons on Baptist beliefs I pondered what approach to take. I thought about the many statements of faith that have been developed by Bap- tists through the years. The more I thought about it, I felt I would use the first statement of faith adopted by Baptists in Texas when they formed the first Baptist association in Texas. As much as any statement of faith, it focuses on bedrock Baptist beliefs. And it is much briefer and more to the point than statements of faith that came later. It was several months before I finally decided to un- dertake this writing. These pages are the result. I am aware that no Baptist can speak for another, and I do not desire or pretend to do that. Certainly these pages are not the “official” position of any Baptist organization. Nor have I made an effort to exhaust the doctrinal statements that I address. My singular purpose is to offer sermons on what I believe to be Baptist views about these subjects. It is my hope that these messages will encourage pastors to preach their own sermons on these basic doctrines that we cher- ish and to provide grist for their sermonic mill. If I can accomplish that, our Baptist people will be better informed about what it means to be a Baptist, our churches will be stronger doctrinally, and our evangelism and missions will be more effective. Paul W. Powell, Dean George W. Truett Theological Seminary Baylor University Waco, Texas 2003 A. D. 9 10 Introduction The first missionary Baptist church in Texas was orga- nized with eight members at Washington-on-the-Brazos, in November 1837. Soon, other churches were organized and Baptist work began to flourish and prosper. Natu- rally as the number of churches grew, the pioneer preach- ers and church members sought to duplicate the Baptist organizational structures that they had known before com- ing to the frontier. So, in June 1840, four ministers and about 25 Baptist church members gathered at Indepen- dence, Texas, for the purpose of forming the first Baptist association in Texas. Two of those ministers were strong Calvinists with anti-missionary views. The result was, af- ter several days of fruitless discussion, the meeting ad- journed without action. On October 8 of that same year, the Baptists in the area tried again to form an association. This time, 11 messen- gers from three churches with a combined membership of 45 met at Travis, a few miles south of Brenham. All three churches were missionary Baptist churches – and T.W. Cox was pastor for all three churches. In those days, because there were so few pastors, some served more than one church at a time, traveling from church to church to hold services. Cox was chosen as the first moderator of the as- sociation. R. E. B. Baylor, a district judge and lay preacher, was also present. Z. N. Morrell, pastor of a fourth church nearby, was sympathetic with the effort but could not at- tend due to illness. All four churches had previously ratified a list of 11 brief Articles of Faith. So the group voted unanimously to form a missionary association based on those Articles of Faith, adopted a Bill of Inalienable Rights, and laid ambi- tious plans for strengthening the churches and winning 11 Texas to Christ. They also adopted a Constitution as well as 15 Rules of Decorum, and asked Judge Baylor to write a Circular Letter addressing all of the churches of Texas. Copies of all of these documents, just as they wrote them, along with the minutes of their meeting, can be found in the