One of the many hurtful and destructive heresies of Romanism and Protestantism is their making sacraments of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and their claim that the sacraments are inherently efficacious and necessary for salvation. This undue magnifying of the ordinances is an affront to God and a clear denial of salvation by the free and unmerited grace of God. Every effort of man to mix creature works with the redemptive grace of God is a dangerous and blasphemous exercise, and it aggravates man's condemnation, rather than atoning for it.
     Redemptive sufficiency has never been in the power of man, neither is it in the power of any church, for "Salvation is of the Lord", and that, exclusively. Human volition, be it ever so sincere, is utterly destitute of saving virtue, and, in its every exercise, is anti-God. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8). The Lord has given exclusive custody of the ordinances to His church(es), and they are fully responsible for the purity and perpetuity of the ordinances. But as glorious and important as the ordinances are, they are utterly impotent in the conveyance of spiritual life, for they are totally lacking in regenerative grace.
There is NO room for apathy or indifference in New Testament Baptist churches concerning the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.  For the Lord has annexed to the other duties of the church an awesome responsibility, which is plainly spelled out in the words of the Apostle Paul, wherewith he admonished the Corinthian church, saying: "Keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you" (I Cor. 11:2). No deviations!
     It was the defense of believer's baptism that sent millions of our Baptist forebears to the martyrs' stake to be burned, and to other means of death too cruel to describe. And for contemporary Baptists to be less strict in their handling of the ordinances, is to cast aspersion on our glorious heritage, vouchsafed to us by our faithful ancestors.
     Every New Testament church is a Baptist church, but every church going by the name "Baptist" is not a New Testament church. These are something else, and it behooves every Baptist church to know the difference. Bible knowledge is attained by Divine revelation, and Baptists should, with great consistency, seek the wisdom of God. But we also need intellectual wisdom, or education, so as to manage our earthly affairs prudently. In both areas of wisdom, Baptists should never be guilty of belonging to a KNOW NOTHING CLUB. But they should know what it takes to constitute a Baptist church, so as to know one when he sees one.
     In writing this message, I have tried to avoid abrasiveness; but in our day, Baptist doctrine is, on a large scale, offensive. Nevertheless, every Baptist must hold to the truth with an unbreakable tenacity, for to do otherwise, he would offend God and be rebuked by Him. This rebuke I must at any cost avoid. There is an old adage that says: "It is better to be divided by truth than to be united by error". I was comforted by this adage at the outset of this message, and I am, yet at the conclusion of the message, solaced by it.
     All the churches of the New Testament were local, autonomous, and visible entities. They were not mystical or invisible, being shut up to the Bible for all spiritual truth, including ecclesiology. I must ask: "When did the Lord's churches lose their CORPOREALITY and become mystical and invisible?". I ask this question in light of the fact that two truths can never be contradictory to each other.
     "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). Do not get sidetracked by the term "whosoever will" in this text, for no person can come to God by their own will; for the Bible says in another Scripture: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" (Rom. 9:16). The edifying point the reader should not miss in this text (Rev. 22:17) is, that the Holy Spirit, in our dark and fearful hour, is yet using the Bride (church) of Christ in calling out God's elect people from the world.
     All who would accuse Baptists of bigotry for their tenacious adherence to the Baptist Bride doctrine need to be aware of the fact that the Roman Catholic church, with inflexible rigidity, contends that she is the exclusive Bride of Christ.  "The Catholic church rises as the Bride of Christ, ever fresh and fair ... The church is the Bride of Christ" (MY CATHOLIC FAITH, Pgs. 111, 149). Baptists are devoted to their own churches, but they are not bigots, for they are not intolerant of other churches.
That which is true of Catholicism concerning the doctrine of the Bride of Christ is also true of Protestantism. For Protestant churches have no reservation whatsoever in claiming ecclesiastical Brideship for themselves, and they are stringent in their claim. All that a concerned reader need do to be convinced of the Protestant claim of Brideship is to read any of their Bible commentators on the subject of the Bride of Christ. Albert Barnes, whom Protestants esteem very highly as a Bible expositor, says: "The church is the Bride of the Messiah". Barnes, in using the term "Bride" refers to the whole body of Protestantism, and that to the exclusion of Roman Catholicism and Baptists, for Baptists have never been, in a denominational sense, Protestants. (Barnes' NOTES ON THE NEW TESTAMENT, Pg. 280) (See Matthew Henry on the same subject, Vol. 5, pg. 894.)
     The Lord's church is "The pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15), and on this "pillar and ground" rests "All the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). The soteriology of both Romanism and Protestantism are antithetical to the "Counsel of God", for both believe in salvation by human works, that is, by sacraments. What is true of Romanism and Protestantism regarding salvation by works is also true of the great majority of people going by the name "Baptist". The only difference is in the brand of works which is required. These so-called Baptists teach that salvation is, in finality, the product of human will. Hence, these pseudonymous Baptists are as far from being the Bride of Christ as their deluded sisters.
     The Baptist Bride preaches that God is absolutely sovereign, and that the only kind of grace proceeding from His August throne is Sovereign grace. God's grace never leaves His throne begging or limping, as the false churches claim. But He doeth according to His will in all of His creation, and every thought to the contrary is an heinous sin. It was to His Baptist Bride the Lord gave His work, and for this cause, he says: "The world hath hated them" (John 17:14). But soon, her earthly pilgrimage will be over, and she shall walk with her beloved Groom in her spotless gown as the ages roll on and on. So, take courage little flocks, for, while our Betrothed is meek and lowly, nail scarred, and rejected by Christendom so-called, He is our Sovereign, sinless, and merciful Bridegroom. Those loving arms that were stretched out and nailed to the cross of Calvary will soon again be stretched out.  But this time, it will be to embrace His faithful Bride. And He will, in the sweetest voice she has ever heard, say to her: "Enter into My everlasting rest for you have borne My yoke faithfully" (Matt. 11:28-30). And His Bride will "rejoice greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice" (John 3:29), saying with ecstatic finality: "MY BELOVED IS MINE, AND I AM HIS" (Song of Solomon 2:16).
     Soon, O' so very soon, The Holy Spirit will say to the Lord's virgin churches: "... Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him" (Matt. 25:6). Then, the exceeding bitter trials will be forever over, and the long and patient waiting of the Bride will be climaxed by the loving voice of her Groom, saying: "Rise up, My love, My fair one, and come away" (Song of Solomon 2:10).
     "... ALLELUIA: FOR THE LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT REIGNETH ... AND THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY, COME..." (Rev. 17:6; 22:17).