Quite often I hear someone talking about the kind of church that they attend.  Some of them are proud of their church’s title, while an increasing number of church goers would like to do away with all descriptive tags in order to be more inclusive in their fellowship, to attract more people, and perhaps a more diverse people.  In some churches you can feel right at home believing anything, or nothing—as long as you are happy, everyone is fine.

  Our name, Corinth Baptist Church, is a fair description of who we are in that we adhere to the doctrines that distinguish us as baptists.  Namely:

B  iblical Authority  (The Bible is the sole and final authority for the church.)

 A  utonomy of the Local Church  (The local Church is to be self-governing.)

   P  riesthood of the Believer (Believers have direct personal access to God.)

     T  wo Ordinances  (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper)

       I  ndividual Soul Liberty  (Everyone is free to be true to his conscience.)

         S  aved, Baptized Church Membership

           T  wo Officers (Pastor and Deacons)

             S  eparation of Church and State  (Two Institutions ordained by God)

  Though we are Corinth Baptist Church on purpose, these distinctives alone do not fully define who we are—there are many other Bible doctrines that we consider fundamental to our faith.  Everything that God has said or done is vital to us, and should be to you as well.  All truth originates with Him, and as Jesus said, “…the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)”

  Because you have been endowed by God with individual soul liberty, you must decide for yourself where you belong or don’t belong, you can believe as you choose, but remember, God has said, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: …come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (2Corinthians 6:14, 17)”

  How would you describe the difference?  Though related, these two words represent two different processes, or perhaps two parts of the same process.  If you have healthy auditory senses, you are accustomed to hearing every sound that occurs around you, all day, every day, but you don’t listen to all of them.  This means that sound waves are entering into your ear canals, stimulating the mechanical and neurological elements of the hearing process, sending information through the auditory nerve to the brain, but there is more.

  Listening is when you allow the auditory signals to enter the brain and exercise its powers of reason to form a response.  A student may be of average intelligence, but will learn very little if he only hears what the teacher says—listening is a vital part of the learning process as well.  What you hear must stimulate the brain in order to learn.  The learning process is very similar when it involves any of our five senses (see, hear, smell, taste and touch).  In all of these, if a sensory perception never stimulates the brain to thought and reason, its effect is lost.

  Now, consider the fact that you are responsible for selecting which sensory perceptions are allowed to stimulate the brain.  In a fraction of a second you determine whether the incoming information is something you are interested in listening to, or not.  If you misjudge, and happen to miss something important, you might excuse yourself by saying, “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”  …actually, you were not Listening.

  God speaks through His Word.  It may be delivered by the voice of a friend, a teacher or a preacher.  There may be times when God even bypasses the five senses and brings a thought to your conscious mind that was stored away—a memory from yesteryear.  Are you paying attention to what God has said?  Are you listening?

  Perhaps we should pray with the Psalmist, “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:5)”  “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (Psalm 86:11)”

  Do you believe in demons? …or have you chosen to be numbered with the faithless who dis-believe everything that cannot be fathomed by the five senses.  This would include the existence of God, Angels, Heaven, Satan, Demons, and Hell.  Perhaps you should reconsider in light of the abundance of evidence that suggests there is more to reality than meets the eye.  (Romans 1:20).  What you see, could not have produced and cannot be responsible for maintaining itself.

  For those who persist in their denial of the obvious, you should know that Satan and his cohorts, the demons, are delighted that you do not believe in them, but be sure, they believe in you.  They spend themselves to keep you in the dark concerning the realm you are destined to share with them in eternity.  

  The Bible tells us that Satan and demons were actually created as holy angels, who rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:4)  They are vicious, and willing to do whatever it takes to damn your soul to eternal Hell.  They are liars and murderers: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)”  They intend to cloud your mind so that you cannot understand spiritual truth:  “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2Corinthians 4:4)”  God warns, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1Peter 5:8)”

  For those who dabble in spiritual darkness, or just reject spiritual light, beware; the powers of darkness have devised a whole theological system of lies to pacify your spiritual curiosity and keep you confined to spiritual darkness forever. “Now the Spirit (of God) speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (1Timothy 4:1)”

  To the widow or widower, silence becomes the sound of loneliness, the voice of vast open space deprived of every form of life.  It is the cruel neglect of the heart and mind’s passion for auditory stimulation, that fosters feelings of captivity to one’s self.

  To the busy soccer Mom who has spent the whole afternoon on the baseline listening to the cheers and jeers of opposing teams and their sometimes anxious, sometimes jubilant fans, silence is the welcomed sound of peace on the battlefield.

  To the worshipper, silence is like the aura of their inner sanctuary.  It is the welcomed sound—or soundlessness—of fellowship with God in the throne room of their tranquil heart.

  Most of us can relate to the silence that accompanies loneliness, and the welcomed silence that we anticipate at the end of a noisy day, but perhaps few have discovered the joys of meeting God in the quietness of their heart, their inner sanctuary.  Like the seafarer, we must learn to long for that haven of rest: “They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (Psalm 107:27-31)”

  Yours could be the testimony of the hymn writer,  “My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea, So burdened with sin, and distressed, Till I heard a sweet voice saying, ‘Make Me your choice,’ And I entered the haven of rest.”  And his resolve can be yours as well: “I’ve anchored my soul in the haven of rest, I’ll sail the wide seas no more; The tempest may sweep o’er the wild stormy deep, In Jesus I’m safe evermore.”  He is waiting for you in the silence of your heart.  “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)”

  Perhaps you have been on one side or the other of the following exchange (or one like it):  “Alright, I understand that you are very busy, but you need to tell me, When will this job be complete?”  The answer follows, “Tomorrow.”  Perhaps it was here that you discovered how evasive or even illusional the term tomorrow can be, and how it is often used by those who want to make meaningless commitments. They know that when you wake up on tomorrow, it will have already become today, and tomorrow will be yet another day.

  God’s Word puts tomorrow in perspective when it says, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:13-14)”

  In the next verse James reminds us that, though we don’t know what tomorrow holds, there is Someone who does.  “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. (James 4:15)  i.e. Tomorrow is subject to the will of God—as are all subsequent tomorrows.  As followers of Christ we must say with the rest of the world, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds,” but we can most assuredly add, “…but I know who holds tomorrow.”

  Some procrastinator once coined the phrase, “There’s always tomorrow!” but in fact, the Bible is clear, there will be a last tomorrow.  And so it is important that we take care of the most weighty matters today!  God states it like this, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself… (Matthew 6:34)”

  Consider the urgency of: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)”  “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2Corinthians 6:2)”  “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2Timothy 4:1-2)”  We must not wait until tomorrow!