Participants: Jim Reinking
Series Code: LDS
Program Code: LDS000021
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00:34 And I thought how appropriate for us
00:35 as we are coming down to the end of our meetings 00:37 that we talk about these vital, this important of baptism 00:41 and to really discover what the Bible teaches 00:44 about this matter of baptism. 00:46 Don't you think that would be an important subject 00:48 in the sequence of things in our series like these? 00:52 Our study tonight is an important one 00:54 for it is through baptism 00:57 that we become subjects of God's spiritual kingdom now 01:01 and in faith of the Jesus the kingdom of God in heaven 01:04 and the new earth to follow. 01:07 In fact Jesus says He spoke about the gospel commission 01:10 as He gave it to his disciples in Matthew 28:19, 20. 01:17 He said "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 01:21 baptizing them in the name of the Father 01:24 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 01:27 teaching them to observe all things 01:29 that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, 01:33 even to the end of the age." Or the end of the word. 01:36 "Amen." 01:38 So we have been commissioned as Christians to go 01:41 to the whole world to bear witness to all of the nations. 01:46 And as we go to the whole world 01:48 what are the two fundamental things 01:49 that we are to do as Christians? 01:52 Well, the first thing is we are to be baptizing, 01:54 we are to baptize people in the name of the Father 01:58 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, is what it says. 02:04 What's the other thing that is connected 02:05 to this matter of baptizing? 02:08 What else must be going on? 02:10 We just go out there baptize people? 02:15 Yes, it involves our acceptance of Jesus 02:18 but not as teaching is linked to this matter of baptism. 02:22 So teaching is an important aspect 02:25 of this matter of baptism or preparation for baptism. 02:29 Does that mean that's the end of it? 02:32 You know, whatever you've learned before your baptism, 02:34 you know, that's it? 02:36 Of course not, because we continue to grow in knowledge. 02:40 We want to continue to study. 02:42 We want to continue to open God's word 02:45 and discover more fully, more completely 02:48 the things under taught in His word. 02:50 But teaching is an important aspect of the process. 02:54 It is, but is not that we wait 02:57 until we have a perfect knowledge. 03:01 We must not be caught up with this idea because I'll tell you 03:04 none of us will ever arrive to a perfect knowledge 03:08 I believe through the ages of eternity. 03:11 I mean who can find out God? 03:13 I mean who can really, you know, 03:15 you can spend that thousand years 03:18 and my friend we can never fully know 03:20 everything about God. 03:22 Who He is, His power, His knowledge 03:25 which is you know it's unspeakable, 03:30 its' unspeakable His knowledge. 03:33 So there's always growing as in any other relationship 03:36 but teaching as I said is important part of it. 03:38 Take your bibles and turn with me to Acts 2, 03:41 the New Testament page 93. 03:43 Page 93, we're looking at Acts 2:37, 38. 03:49 And if you were this last weekend 03:51 we also were in this passage in other context 03:54 and we remember it is the day of Pentecost. 03:58 There were thousands, tens of thousands 04:01 that were gathered there at Jerusalem 04:03 on the day of Pentecost 04:04 one of the Jewish priest and the disciples 04:08 were in the temple bearing witness, 04:10 the Holy Spirit had fallen upon them in Pentecostal power. 04:15 And notice verse 37, says "Now when they heard this" 04:18 that is the multitude that was listening, 04:20 in on what the disciples were saying 04:23 "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart." 04:27 That means they were convicted 04:29 and we have been convicted haven't we 04:31 as we study God's word. 04:33 I mean, you know think of the times 04:35 we have spend in the word of God, 04:37 we have been talking about the plan of salvation, 04:39 we have been talking about 04:41 you know the basis of our acceptance. 04:43 How we come to Him just as we are. 04:45 That's all good news, isn't it? 04:46 Says, "They were pierced in the heart, 04:49 and they said to Peter 04:50 and to the rest of the apostles, 04:51 brethren, what shall we do?" 04:54 And I am gonna repeat what I said last weekend. 04:57 You see the gospel is not passive it is proactive. 05:02 It requires of us, it puts us 05:05 under the constraints of love and of grace. 05:08 It demands of us a response, the claims Jesus in our lives. 05:13 What shall we do? 05:16 Now notice what we find in verse 38. 05:18 "Peter said to them, Repent, 05:21 " That's the first thing we do as we come to Jesus. 05:23 We are to repent. 05:25 It is foundation to why we come to Jesus in the first place 05:29 because we realize we've fallen short. 05:31 We all have, haven't we? 05:34 We all have been tainted by sin, we all need a Savior. 05:39 And my friend, in probably counseling terms 05:42 you know when you go to see a counselor 05:45 you're dealing with some problems in your life 05:47 and as getting those things out in the open. 05:50 Talking about them, recognizing the problems 05:53 that we have in our lives. 05:54 And its part of the process of resolving 05:57 some of those things that we are dealing 05:58 with sometimes may be mentally emotional issues, 06:01 psychological issues that we are dealing with. 06:03 At some point we have to get them out. 06:05 We have to deal with them so that we can resolve them. 06:08 And so it is with the process of repentance. 06:10 Repentance is acknowledging the truth of ourselves 06:15 that we are fallen short, that we are sinners. 06:18 And my friend, we are safe, we are safe. 06:23 We understand love draws us, woos us 06:27 and love is the only answer 06:29 for sin within our lives, right, 06:32 so we can acknowledges before God 06:34 and feel safe in doing so, right. 06:37 We don't have to fear 06:39 that somehow God is gonna frowning on us. 06:41 Really, did you do all of those things. 06:44 Were you really thinking those thoughts? 06:48 You know, some of us who have parents 06:49 that you know were little harsh in the treatment of us. 06:52 And some of us have gone through that. 06:54 Let me tell you some times we project this upon God, 06:59 don't we? 07:01 And I think in the book 07:02 that was written some years ago Never Good Enough. 07:06 Some of us have fought with this our whole lives, 07:08 never feeling we were good enough. 07:11 But my friend, when we come to Him 07:13 as we acknowledge out sins as we repent our sins 07:18 and it goes on to say " 07:20 Repent, and each of you be baptized 07:24 in the name of Jesus Christ 07:26 for the forgiveness of your sins." 07:30 So when we go through the waters of baptism 07:32 it represents something that is happening within our hearts. 07:35 It represents a spiritual cleansing. 07:38 And my friend, Jesus will cleanse us of every sin. 07:43 That is what baptism represents, right. 07:45 And with that He assures that we are forgiven. 07:50 I remember my baptism at 11 years of age. 07:52 I remember, coming up out of those waters. 07:54 I remember that sense 07:56 that the page of my life was white and clean. 07:59 I remember those thoughts specifically 08:01 and probably it was an illustration I heard somewhere 08:04 in church or may be that series of meetings 08:07 I went through some months before I was baptized 08:10 and I went to meetings just like this 08:12 and that had to be an illustration because I knew 08:15 that every sin I had ever committed was forgiven. 08:21 Isn't' that good news? 08:23 It's a place of new beginnings. 08:25 You know, I remember when I was baptized 08:27 I was baptized with one of my best friends Joe Hottendorf. 08:30 And I remember, when Joe was baptized 08:33 he kind of have this idea that, you know, 08:35 now he had set a new course in his life and that, 08:38 you know, he probably wouldn't ever sin again. 08:41 You know, how when you're kids 08:43 you think about these ideas in childish ways 08:47 but let me tell you of course, 08:49 we still, we still sometimes will fail, right. 08:53 We still will sometimes stumble and fall. 08:57 So how about it you've baptized, 09:00 got to be baptized again? 09:03 I will tell you if that's the way with that it worked 09:05 then we would have to baptize time and time again. 09:10 No, no, when we have been baptizing into Jesus Christ 09:13 we are in a saving relationship and when we stumble 09:16 we just get on our knees we confess it 09:19 and He freely forgives us of all of our sins 09:24 "Repent, and each of you be baptized 09:26 in the name of Jesus Christ 09:29 for the forgiveness of your sins, 09:31 and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." 09:34 The spirit is given us to give us the power we need, 09:39 the spiritual power, it's the new birth experience 09:42 really what he is talking about here 09:44 by which we can live a godly life. 09:47 By which we can live a Christ centered life. 09:50 Let's go to the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. 09:53 You remember the story don't you 09:54 from the Book of Acts 8, 09:56 Ethiopian eunuch had come up to the temple 09:59 in Jerusalem to worship God. 10:00 The first thing we take note of from that 10:02 is that he was a believer in God. 10:05 That's why he was there. 10:07 And as, as we pick up the story in Acts 8, 10:11 he is on his way back home to Ethiopia 10:15 and he is in his chariot and he is reading the scriptures. 10:20 He is reading, he is reading from the prophet Isaiah. 10:24 He is reading Isaiah Chapter 53 as we know it in our bibles 10:28 and Phillip the deacon was led by the Holy Spirit 10:31 to run to go with him out there in the desert. 10:34 He climbed up in the chariot and he began by asking 10:38 the Ethiopian eunuch do you understand 10:40 what you are reading? 10:41 And he said no. 10:42 I don't know who is talking about here-- 10:45 this messianic prophecy. 10:47 I don't know who he is talking-- 10:48 is he talking about himself, 10:49 is he talking about somebody else. 10:51 And from that very passage of scripture 10:53 Philip began to present Jesus to him. 10:56 "As they traveled along they came to some water." 11:00 That's what we are going to picking up here 11:01 at Acts 8 beginning verse 36. 11:04 "And as they went along the road 11:06 they came to some water, 11:08 and the eunuch said, 'Look! Water! 11:10 What prevents me from being baptized?' 11:13 And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, 11:15 you may.' 11:17 And he answered and said, 11:18 "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' 11:21 And he ordered the chariot to stop, 11:23 and they both went down into the water, 11:25 Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized them." 11:29 Now I don't know really how long Philips was there 11:33 with the eunuch in that chariot. 11:36 I can imagine some hours going by 11:40 as we he was sharing from the scriptures 11:43 telling the story about Jesus. 11:46 But I want you to notice something. 11:49 I want to know something that once 11:52 the eunuch understood the message of Jesus, 11:56 once he embraced Jesus he didn't waste much time 11:59 in acting upon it, did he. 12:02 He just been introduced to Jesus some hours before 12:05 and now when he saw water he knew he wanted to act upon it. 12:09 Somewhere obviously in the process 12:10 Philip had shared with the Ethiopian eunuch 12:13 the importance of baptism in the process of accepting 12:16 or embracing Jesus as our personal Savior, 12:19 or else he wouldn't been asking for it. 12:20 And so it is my friend, 12:22 if you and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 12:25 and we have accepted Him as our Savior 12:28 we will want to go through the waters with Him. 12:31 Now let's get to some of practice 12:33 involved in baptism. 12:36 You have heard me talking about this before 12:38 with many subjects they are what I call 12:40 the nuts and bolts of it. 12:41 You got to put them together, you know, 12:43 and got to get it all put to together 12:45 so you can really understand the teaching. 12:47 As I have said before often you know 12:49 if we leave it right there we miss something important 12:52 because often there is spiritual application 12:55 that we get as we understand the teaching. 12:57 And certainly this subject we want to understand, 13:00 you know, the fundamentals of what the bible teaches 13:02 about baptism but we don't want to miss 13:05 the underlying spiritual lesson that comes from this. 13:09 In Ephesians 4:5, we have the simple statement, 13:16 it's a significant one. 13:17 It says "One Lord one faith," how many baptisms, 13:22 it says "one baptism." 13:25 And yet as we look at the Christian world today 13:27 we find that there are numerous forms of baptisms 13:31 that are being practiced today. 13:32 You know, that there is those who are insisting 13:34 that you have to be immersed, others who are sprinkling, 13:38 some are pouring and I will tell you 13:40 they're just some interesting things 13:41 that are being done in this process of evangelism. 13:45 I heard of a pastor who used rose petals for baptism. 13:51 I mean that has to be one of the creative ways 13:55 of baptizing somebody. 13:57 And I can well, imagine probably 13:59 as he was baptizing the individual with rose petals 14:03 that he referred to the passages scriptures 14:05 that refers to Jesus as the rose of Sharon. 14:08 And Jesus is the rose of Sharon. 14:11 And then I heard of the individual 14:13 the pastor who used salt in baptizing. 14:17 I said at camps people really get creative 14:19 sometimes about these things 14:21 and probably quoted the passage of scripture 14:24 where Jesus said you are the salt of the earth. 14:27 I am not sure that's one I would really want to have, 14:30 you know, salt you know but anyway it was done. 14:35 And then even heard-- I heard of a young person 14:39 that was baptized into the snow on a-- 14:43 you know they were out for an outing over the weekend. 14:46 And knowing something about the background of this 14:48 I am sure that they were careful the make sure that they 14:51 that young person was completely under the snow 14:54 and probably quoted the scripture 14:56 that says no your sins be scarlet 14:58 they shall be white as snow. 15:00 He even heard of the pastor who laid his bare hand 15:03 on the head of the baby and baptized that baby. 15:06 I don't know you probably call that 15:08 the dry cleaning of baptizing, you know. 15:11 So what does the Bible really teach about this matter. 15:14 Does the form matter? Does it matter? 15:18 Well, is the Bible clear about it? 15:21 What does the Bible actually teach about the form, 15:23 and does the form relate to the meaning of baptism? 15:28 We are gonna find out there's a direct correlation 15:31 which takes us to the word that we translate baptism 15:34 is the word Greek the Greek word here baptizo 15:38 which we retranslate I baptize 15:41 but as you look at this Greek, this Greek dictionary. 15:45 This is from the theological dictionary 15:46 the New Testament volume 1 pages 529 and 530. 15:51 And as you look at how this word was used in secular, 15:55 in a secular setting among the Greeks 15:57 this is what it means 15:59 "To dip in or under" "immerse," "going under." 16:05 In fact they quote from a secular source 16:08 where the word baptism or baptizo was used 16:11 to describe a ship that had sunk. 16:14 Now we don't think a ships being baptized 16:16 that's the way it was used and again in a secular study. 16:21 So it does mean to be immersed 16:24 or one of those synonyms as we find them in the Bible. 16:29 It does mean immersion. 16:32 This word baptism occurs one hundred times 16:36 in the New Testament. 16:38 Let me tell you that is given a lot of space 16:40 and a lot emphasis to the experience of baptism. 16:43 One hundred times we find it in the New Testament. 16:47 Now among the things we want to find out 16:49 how in the world that we come to the state 16:52 in the Christian church where we have so many different forms 16:55 and again that question I have already raised with you 17:00 does it matter, is a relationship 17:02 between the former baptism and the meaning of baptism? 17:08 So where did we get this word baptism? 17:11 I think you may be pick this up 17:13 that baptizo and baptism are words that are related. 17:20 We actually get this word baptism from the Greek. 17:22 In fact, let me share this with you 17:25 it's going back primarily not exclusively 17:27 but primarily back to the translators 17:29 of the King James, King James Version. 17:33 You know, this is some five hundred years ago, 17:35 this novel idea that the people, 17:37 the common people ought to have the Bible 17:40 in their own language. 17:42 In the modern vernacular at that time. 17:44 It was revolutionary. 17:47 It was, you know, 17:48 it was the heartbeat of the reformation. 17:50 Man, when you give the Bible in the people's hands 17:52 things change, things happen. 17:56 King James was sponsoring the translation 17:59 and in the process the scholars 18:01 as they came to the New Testament 18:02 it did not take them long 18:04 before they came to this word baptism 18:08 and it was a problem. 18:11 It was a problem to the extent 18:13 that the scholars ask for a hearing before King James 18:17 which was granted to him. 18:18 Now remember the Church of England had all ready broken 18:21 from the Church of Rome 18:23 and which meant that the head of state 18:26 that would be the king or queen of the England 18:28 is the head of the church. 18:31 So I want you to remember that as I share the story with you. 18:34 So it's granted, so they come to King James 18:37 and they're explaining that if you know 18:39 if we translate this term into the New Testament 18:43 its going to go in as immersion or one of those synonyms. 18:49 What was the problem with that? 18:52 The problem with that is that the Church of England 18:56 was not practicing immersion they were sprinkling. 19:01 That's the dilemma they were in 19:04 and I wish I can tell you the King James said well 19:06 if that is what the meaning of the word we better change. 19:11 Give me a document, let me sign this off. 19:14 You know we are going to go and we are gonna practice baptism 19:17 just like the Bible teaches. 19:19 We are gonna practice immersion. 19:21 But no that's what he said. 19:22 He said don't translate it at all. 19:25 And so what they did is they transliterated it 19:30 which means they took the Greek word 19:34 and they put it into the into an English form 19:38 and that is one of the primary ways 19:40 by which we come by this word baptism 19:42 which means whenever we see this word in the New Testament 19:45 it remains an on translated term. 19:51 Okay, so just remember as we continue on to the Bible 19:55 whenever we come across this word baptism 19:58 remember the word again is immersion. 20:01 In fact, in faith of our fathers 20:04 we find this historical reference 20:06 where it says "For twelve centuries 20:08 after the establishing of Christianity, 20:10 baptism was usually by immersion." 20:13 For the first twelve hundred years 20:16 well, changes were taking place before that. 20:19 So I want to take you to John 3, 20:21 the New Testament page 73. 20:25 Page 73, John 3:23 20:29 I want to take to the story about John the Baptist 20:33 until you realize basing want 20:35 I'll share with you about the word baptism, 20:37 baptizo instead of knowing John as John Baptist 20:42 we actually should know him as John the immerser. 20:45 That's literally what it means. 20:47 So here it is in John 3:23 20:50 and I am gonna use the translated term 20:53 and notice what meaning it gives to the text. 20:56 "John also was immersing in Aenon near Salim, 21:00 because there was much water there 21:01 and people were coming and were being immersed." 21:05 I tell you if they are only been translated 21:07 we will now have the confusion about this word today 21:10 in the Christian church at large, wouldn't we? 21:12 I mean it will be right there. 21:15 I mean, then could have to use the word submersion 21:17 I suppose other words they could use 21:18 but it all would be very clear. 21:21 And my friend, he was at this site 21:22 because it requires a lot of water to give, 21:25 you know, to baptize somebody in a full body baptism. 21:31 You don't need a lot of water 21:34 if you're gonna spring the people. 21:36 I remember in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 21:39 I had an older gentleman that was attending. 21:43 He was Lutheran in background, 21:45 you know a faithful member of this church 21:46 that was coming to our meetings and when he learned 21:49 what the bible really taught about this thing of baptism 21:53 he decided he wanted to be immersed 21:56 just like the Bible taught. 21:57 In fact, in his excitement 21:59 he shared this was some of his friends at his church 22:02 and it was taking a little bit back 22:03 when they looked at him kind of scans and said 22:06 "you know, why are you wanting to that?" 22:08 You've been a member of this church. 22:10 That set him back just a little bit. 22:11 He thought about this for day or two 22:13 but he said you know I know this what the Bible teaches 22:15 and I am going to practice that the Bible teaches. 22:19 And so he was in our baptism 22:21 that last night of our meetings. 22:22 He was crippled it was not easy thing for him 22:25 to do get inside water but he was determined 22:28 he was going to follow what the Bible taught about this. 22:32 So when it comes to the form 22:34 we in one sense we have not truly been baptized 22:37 until we have been baptized as the Bible teaches. 22:41 So what if you as an individual have been sprinkled, 22:46 what is that leave you? 22:48 Does that mean that your faith in Jesus means nothing? 22:52 Of course not, you know, 22:54 remember Jesus meets us exactly where we are at. 22:56 He knows the intent of our hearts, right. 23:00 He knows the desires we have to do what is right. 23:04 And when we are seeking to do 23:06 what we understand to be right by His Grace my friend, 23:10 He accepts that even though, 23:13 you know, may be we need to grow in understanding. 23:17 So I just want you to be assured of that 23:19 but nevertheless as we come to knowledge of the truth 23:22 in our life for Jesus we want to follow 23:24 what the Bible teaches in regards to baptism. 23:28 As we talk about sprinkling 23:30 "It was at the Council of Ravenna in 1311 A.D. 23:34 that sprinkling and pouring were officially accepted 23:38 as equally valid as immersion." 23:42 And you know during the series of meetings 23:43 we have looked at the historical background 23:45 about the practices of the church. 23:48 And my friend, if you really want to know, 23:50 you know, where some of these practices comes from 23:53 you have to trace the back historically 23:56 unless they are actually in the Bible. 24:00 So we have two sources here 24:02 either it's in the Bible or if its not 24:05 then we have to turn 24:06 to the historical record as we do here. 24:09 And my friend, that is we are sprinkling 24:10 in pint has come from. 24:12 Now you find incidences of the certainly before this time 24:16 but this is where it was officially accepted. 24:19 And so we have again this Greek word baptizo 24:21 which means I baptized. 24:24 That's a literal translation I baptize, I immerse. 24:28 If the word in the New Testament-- 24:31 if there was God's intention that we be sprinkled 24:33 this is the Greek word you would find 24:36 it is word rantizo it's the word for sprinkling. 24:40 And my friend, you will never find this word 24:43 in the New Testament in reference to baptism. 24:46 It's just is not there 24:49 and so there is no confusion between the two terms right. 24:53 And my friend, that means if the word is not there 24:56 the Bible does not teach sprinkling. 24:59 Now I know some people say 25:00 you know what difference does that make, who cares? 25:05 Well, it depends on how biblical we want to be 25:07 in our faith, in our connection to Jesus Christ 25:11 and our practice of that faith, right. 25:14 So I take you to this next statement 25:16 this historical statement this is I am quoting Dean Stanley 25:19 who was a chaplain of Queen Victoria. 25:22 He said "There can be no question 25:24 that the original form of baptism, 25:26 and the very meaning of the word, 25:27 was complete immersion in the deep baptismal waters, 25:31 and that for at least twelve centuries 25:33 any other form was little known or regarded." 25:37 And again that's a historical fact. 25:41 When I was in Rome and you remember I have shared with you 25:44 a little bit of my experience in Rome. 25:45 When I was in Rome, you know, I did my background study. 25:49 I-- we are gonna have only three days in Rome. 25:52 I mean all of this history 25:54 compacted into these place three days. 25:56 What can you do with three days? 25:58 Well, it meant that I was out the door 26:01 in the morning at seven o'clock 26:03 in the morning taking it back to the about seven at night. 26:05 And the days were just packed for those three days. 26:08 I wanted to see and experience many things there in Rome 26:12 and one of things I was determined to seek out 26:15 was San Giovanni Cathedral one of the Pope's cathedrals. 26:18 In fact he had this cathedral that once a year 26:22 the pope comes and anybody within the city of Rome 26:25 I guess outside of Rome who wants to come 26:28 they have this large square 26:29 outside of San Giovanni Cathedral 26:33 and if you want your automobile to receive the papal blessing 26:36 you come this one time a year to get the papal blessing 26:40 for your automobile. 26:41 And so I was there, I was at San Giovanni Cathedral 26:44 because I heard there was a yet a baptistery 26:47 that showed that you know right up into the 1200s 26:50 the church was the established church 26:52 was still baptizing by immersion 26:54 and I wanted to see this place. 26:56 Finally, I saw a catholic priest there 26:59 turned out to be deacon but he was dressed, 27:01 he had the collar and everything 27:03 and so I went out over and found out 27:05 that he spoke excellent English. 27:08 He was from Germany actually 27:10 a very gregarious guy and I said, 27:13 you know, I am looking for the baptisterinist. 27:15 He smiled and he said you know it's not in the main cathedral 27:17 it's the building next door. 27:19 And he said would you like to see it? 27:20 Boy, did I ask the right guy. 27:23 He when and got the curator who took the keys 27:26 and he opened the doors 27:28 and I got a private showing of the baptistery 27:31 that you know they were using right up into the 13th century 27:36 where they were baptizing by immersion. 27:38 That's the picture, it's the best picture I have got 27:41 but let me tell you that's a size of a small pool. 27:45 And so they were immersing people 27:47 in this church right up to this period of time. 27:50 That's the historical practice as you look at it. 27:52 How about his matter of baptizing the babies? 27:56 This idea of baptizing babies was first sanctioned 27:59 by the church council Mallory in 416 AD. 28:04 By the 13th century the church was demanding it. 28:08 It really goes back to the idea of original sin 28:11 that the church had at that time period of time 28:13 which I am not going to spend time going through tonight 28:15 but this idea that babies had to be baptized. 28:18 Well, how about it? Should the babies be baptized? 28:23 You know, it's this idea 28:24 what would happen to a baby if it should die. 28:26 Something should happen to it. 28:27 And let me take you to Deuteronomy 1:39. 28:33 The background of this passage is this. 28:35 The children of Israel 28:37 have been wandering through the wilderness 28:39 I used to think as a kid man, 28:41 you know, the distance from Egypt 28:43 to the promise land the Canaan 28:44 was a long distance it took that 40 years to get there. 28:47 Now, it really didn't take them 40 years to get there. 28:51 You know, they spend the year at Mount Sinai 28:54 they spend a year there about 28:56 and then it didn't take by the few months 28:58 to get to the Promise Land. 29:00 They set spies over there when they came back to 12 spies 29:03 and they said it is truly a land 29:05 falling with milk and honey 29:07 but there's giants in the land. 29:10 And remember, 10 of them we dare not go up there. 29:13 Only Caleb and Joshua two of these spies said, 29:18 "it is beautiful, they are giants in there 29:21 but Lord as promises to us 29:23 let us go up and take possession of it." 29:26 But the people of God rebelled against God 29:29 and rebelled against the leadership of Moses in this. 29:33 And I want to tell you it is an awful story 29:36 as you look at what happened 29:38 and finally when God in effects did 29:41 was you don't want to go up. 29:43 You know, they wandered again for next 40 years 29:46 until that generation was gone. 29:49 And it was their sons and daughters 29:51 that took possession of the land. 29:52 But notice this statement. 29:55 It says God says "Moreover your little ones 29:57 who you said would become a prey, and your sons, 30:00 who this day have no knowledge of good over evil, 30:02 shall enter there and I will give it to them, 30:05 and they shall possess it." 30:08 In other words, those little children 30:11 because they didn't have a knowledge of good and evil 30:14 were not held accountable for the sins of their parents. 30:20 Is that clear from this text? 30:22 Let's go back, was the key part of it. 30:25 "Who this they have no knowledge of good and evil, 30:28 shall enter there." 30:31 And my friend, I think that gives us a clear understanding 30:33 what would happen to a little baby if it should die. 30:38 One is not held accountable for that which they do not know. 30:43 About it says as James 4:17 "To the one that knoweth 30:46 to good and do with not to him it is sin." 30:50 But if an individual doesn't know what is right 30:52 and does not do it to him it is not sin. 30:56 And then you have this whole thing about 30:58 you know the righteousness the faith of the parent 31:02 and of the godparents stand 31:04 in the place of these little children. 31:07 But my friend that is not a teaching 31:09 that you find anywhere in the scriptures 31:12 it's just not there. 31:13 And in fact in Ezekiel 14:20 we find this statement 31:18 "'Even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, 31:21 as I live,' declares the Lord God, 31:23 'they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. 31:27 They would deliver only themselves 31:29 by their righteousness.' 31:32 " And my friend this idea that the faith of the parents 31:34 stands in place of the child is not a biblical concept. 31:37 Its sounds theological but it is not biblical 31:42 and if its is not biblical it is to sound theology. 31:45 Now listen I have two sons 31:47 as you already know David and Calvin. 31:49 I am not sure how they really look back on this been raised 31:52 in a pastors home in a evangelistic home 31:55 but let me tell you they stand on their own faith. 32:00 I hope it's been advantaged to them 32:02 that they lived in a home 32:04 where their dad was in the ministry, 32:06 that's certain advantages to that. 32:09 But you know in the end they're going to be saved 32:12 because they made their own decision for Jesus. 32:15 My faith will not be put to their account. 32:23 They have to make their own decision abut these things. 32:26 But there comes a point in which a child comes 32:30 to a realization of some of these fundamental issues 32:36 of right and wrong, of sin and of salvation. 32:40 And for me it came when I was 11 years of age. 32:44 My mother had saw-- my mother-- 32:47 I tell my mother was a hardworking woman. 32:49 She tells a story for 20 years she worked for minimum wage. 32:53 And she was working hard 32:54 because she wanted to give us three children 32:56 the benefit of the Christian education. 32:58 Other than the kindergarten I have been through right 33:01 through college and two masters programs 33:03 I have had the benefit of the Christian education, 33:06 a private Christian education it was a great education. 33:10 And so she worked hard but she saw to it 33:14 that when we had a series of meetings 33:16 in our town in Everett 33:17 she saw to it that us kids where there. 33:20 I was there, I was there a enough nights I won my Bible. 33:24 I should have brought it because I still have it. 33:26 It's called the friendship edition 33:28 and it was the beautiful Bible 33:29 I thought it was beautiful it was blue 33:31 and it has zipper on it. 33:33 You know, it was a King James Bible 33:36 and evangelists had us writing the text down 33:40 for each subject in the back of our Bible 33:42 so then we were chain referencing it 33:44 through the Bible. 33:45 It was a Bible marking program. 33:48 I was just looking at this a few months ago 33:50 and with my childish handwriting there 33:52 I could make out all little texts on that night 33:55 that he preached on the coming of Jesus. 33:58 I tell you that just gripped me, 34:01 when I heard in preaching on the coming of Jesus 34:04 that just gripped me. 34:06 And I remember coming home that week 34:07 just thinking about these days I came home from the school 34:10 and I was in my bedroom and I was over my Bible 34:13 and I was pouring through Matthew 24 34:16 because I remember that previous. 34:18 I think it was a previous Saturday night 34:20 he has taken us through so many passages in Matthew 24 34:23 and I was reading these things. 34:25 And it was convicting me. 34:28 And I sat down this was my first feeble attempt 34:31 to witness as an 11 year old. 34:34 I sat down, I wrote out the whole chapter 34:36 and it is a long chapter I wrote it out by hand. 34:40 And then I snuck over to my neighbor's mailbox. 34:44 Make sure nobody was looking 34:45 and opened it up and stuck in there. 34:47 I don't know what they thought of it when they found it 34:49 that was obviously in the Childs handwriting 34:51 but it was my first attempt. 34:53 I man that was good news. 34:55 You know, about Jesus coming. 34:57 And then a few months later I was Sabbath school 35:00 and I heard there was gonna be a baptism that morning 35:02 and after Sabbath school between services 35:05 I went looking for my pastor, Pastor Dick Renfrew. 35:10 And I found Pastor Renfrew and I said Pastor Renfrew, 35:13 do you think I could be in the baptism 35:16 that you have planed for today? 35:17 Now if I had a child ask me that question I would say, 35:21 you know, some wonderful things Jimmy that you want to do. 35:24 But let's do some study and you know 35:27 and then we will have a baptism 35:28 but he chose and let me baptized. 35:31 And I have never looked back 35:33 and regretted that I made that decision that day. 35:36 Remember, I was with this mischievous guy, 35:38 this little mischievous boy 35:41 and I know that when I was baptized 35:43 there was some sitting in that congregation 35:46 that Sabbath morning 35:47 who must have been thinking to themselves pastor, 35:50 what in the world are you doing-- baptizing that kid 35:54 and having not a clue what was going on my heart. 35:56 Let me tell you I didn't go to my mom and tell my mom 35:59 you know I decided to give my life to Jesus. 36:02 I am just really excited about all of this. 36:04 I didn't have that kind of conversation with her. 36:07 I know what God can do in the hearts of children 36:11 because I know what He did in the heart of this child 36:13 when I was that age. 36:15 Let me take you to Galatians 3 the New Testament page 148. 36:19 So we've dealt with the form, 36:22 we dealt with issue sprinkling the baptizing the babies 36:26 so lets really to get into the importance 36:28 not only the importance but the meaning of baptism. 36:31 Galatians 3:27, where it says 36:37 "For all for all of you who were immersed into Christ 36:44 have clothed yourself with Christ." 36:46 The King James says "you are put on the Lord Jesus Christ." 36:49 Just as two individuals fall in love 36:52 and at the appropriate times stand up and say 36:56 I do, so baptism is the means 37:00 by which we formally proclaim our commitment 37:04 to the Jesus Christ publicly and usually it's publicly. 37:09 Once a while when we make the exception for that 37:10 but usually, it's publicly. 37:13 So it the basis on which we accept the Lord Christ, 37:16 it is the significant experience 37:18 because it is connected with our an indication 37:23 of our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. 37:26 And yet, I know, there are those who feel sometimes 37:28 they are just not good enough. 37:30 My friend, we got to get this out of our thinking 37:32 because we will never be good enough. 37:35 Have I uttered those words 37:37 before during the series of meetings 37:38 I have and we need to hear it. 37:40 We will never be good enough 37:42 though wait until you are good enough. 37:45 If you wait until you're good enough 37:46 you are gonna be waiting a long and long time. 37:49 Remember, it was for sinners that Jesus died 37:52 and it is as sinners that we must come to Jesus. 37:56 And remember it says "He who repents and is baptized 37:59 shall be forgiven." 38:02 Okay, so its part of the process of receiving the forgiveness 38:07 and the cleansing that is ours in Jesus Christ. 38:10 And then I want to take you to Romans 6 38:12 the New Testament page 122, 122, 38:16 I love this passage of scripture. 38:18 When you talk about the meaning of baptism 38:20 this is the primary passage of scripture. 38:24 Roman 6 and we are looking at verse 3 to begin with 38:29 where it says "Or do you not know that all of us 38:33 who have been immersed into Christ Jesus 38:35 have been immersed into His death?" 38:40 We are getting in to the some of the symbolism 38:42 that is associated with baptism. 38:45 So by baptism we are immersed into His death. 38:48 Verse 4 says, "Therefore, we have been buried with Him 38:51 through immersion into death so that is Christ was raised 38:55 from the death to the glory of the Father 38:57 so we too might from walk in newness of life." 39:00 And so we by faith in baptism by faith in Jesus 39:05 we enter into His death, His burial 39:08 and what follows His burial, the resurrection. 39:13 And we find that is we move to verse 5 39:15 "For if we have become united with Him 39:18 in the likeness of His death certainly we shall also be 39:21 in the likeness of His resurrection." 39:25 So by faith we enter into His death, burial and resurrection. 39:32 And my friend, all of us as sinners have something to bury. 39:38 It is a life of sin that is buried in Jesus 39:41 which means that baptism is a point of new beginnings. 39:45 Again its symbolic in what's been happening in the heart. 39:48 There is nothing magical about the waters of baptism 39:51 be clear of it, it is an act of faith. 39:54 It's again representative, representative of what Jesus 39:57 has been accomplishing in ones heart. 40:00 One has been born again, 40:01 one has been made the commitment to Jesus 40:04 as they are baptized into the waters. 40:08 As I said, we all have something to bury 40:10 verse 6 speaks of it. 40:11 "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, 40:15 in order that our body sin might be done away with, 40:18 so that we might would no longer be slaves to sin." 40:22 My friend, baptism is a decoration 40:25 that we are no longer under the bondage of sin. 40:29 Isn't that not good news? 40:33 It's that transforming power of the relationship 40:36 with Jesus Christ and so we are passing from death into life 40:42 is what is being pictured here. 40:45 So we enter into His death, His burial and His resurrection, 40:50 okay, that's what involved here. 40:51 Now we have got a video clip of it. 40:53 You know, its full body. 40:54 Notice she closed her eyes, she took her breath 40:58 and then she came up notice she opened her eyes 41:00 and she caught her breath. 41:02 You see how death, burial 41:05 and resurrection are indicated there. 41:07 So let me ask you does the form of baptism 41:11 is it relevant to the meaning of baptism? 41:13 Absolutely. 41:16 You don't get this imagery out of sprinkling do you? 41:21 And it is true when you baptize somebody I-- 41:25 you know everybody does this they close their eyes, 41:27 they take their good breath 41:28 and they are buried into the water 41:30 and then they come up and as I have already described it. 41:33 I was up there in that same territories 41:36 again remember I thought of gale up there 41:39 to pastor these two country churches in Oroville Tonasket 41:42 and we have what we call the earth people. 41:46 Earth people, let me tell you the earth people 41:47 up there on the eastern slopes of the cascade mountains 41:51 of foothills there. 41:52 They were hippies. 41:55 You know, it was the back to earth movement 41:57 that overtook the hippy movement 41:59 and so we are communes up there I remember 42:03 and the privilege of baptizing a number of hippies 42:06 out there Bible studies with them. 42:08 I remember one guy who had his writs 42:11 in the hippy movement his name was Jim. 42:14 Man, I had to go a long ways up to the foothills 42:17 he was doing some dry weed farming up there way, 42:20 you know, seems like it to me at least 45 minutes 42:23 to get to his house or may be longer. 42:24 And so I went through a whole winter studying with Jim 42:28 and he made his decision for Jesus 42:30 and decided he was gonna be baptized. 42:33 Didn't want to wait until warmed up 42:36 there are lot of cold water baptism at the gale 42:38 I don't know if you got into that but man, 42:41 I remember baptizing Thomas Armsby 42:44 who had the ultimate hippy philosophy, 42:48 if you can't carry it on your back you've got too much. 42:54 And man the water was boom chilling cold 42:56 in that river down by Lake of Suez. 42:59 So we went all the way down all man 43:01 because we didn't have a baptistery. 43:03 There was a church baptistery, 43:05 we went there on a Sabbath afternoon 43:06 and so Jim and I were getting dressed into our robes 43:10 and while we were getting dressed 43:11 and ready for the baptism Jim says to me, 43:13 now when you baptized me I want you to put me under 43:16 and count to ten, count to ten. 43:20 And, you know, that touch me I knew he had a past 43:23 but he didn't speak much about it. 43:25 I didn't know much about just knew there is this 43:27 you know counterculture and all of the stuff 43:31 that went with it. 43:32 So I knew that were something that he was intending to bury 43:36 in Christ and in that experience so I am a young pastor 43:40 and so I come out there and I raised my hand 43:43 I am baptize you in the name of the Father 43:44 and the Son and the Holy Spirit 43:46 and I as I putting him under the water 43:48 remembering me he told me to count to ten. 43:50 I am actually starting to count to ten. 43:52 I'm wondering to myself did he get a good breath. 43:56 So you know, I didn't count as slowly as it turned out 44:01 as he really wanted and anticipated I was going to 44:04 for when I brought him up he turned to me 44:06 and he said you brought me up too soon. 44:08 Which I tell you it really touched my heart 44:11 and I didn't know what to do. 44:14 Now, with years of experience I know what I would do now. 44:18 You know what I would do now wouldn't you. 44:20 I will say Jim, take several good breaths are you ready? 44:26 I may put you under, I'm gonna start counting 44:28 and I am going to count to 50. 44:30 Actually I would start counting to the point 44:33 that he started to struggle just a little bit not much 44:35 just a little bit and then I will bring him up. 44:38 Might bless his heart 44:40 it was a point of new beginnings for him. 44:43 It's such a wonderful experience baptism is 44:47 and many of you had memories don't you at you're baptism 44:50 if you been baptized and if you haven't 44:53 you know your one of way too long before you do it. 44:56 Okay, what else about baptism 1 Corinthians 12:13, 45:00 I remember it been said in my early ministry. 45:03 I would hear the term we baptize so many into the church 45:08 or so and so was baptized into the church 45:10 as a young pastor I objected to that. 45:12 I didn't verbalize it often by the objected to it. 45:14 What do you mean they were baptizing to their church? 45:16 They were baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ. 45:20 And I begin to understand that there are number of meanings 45:24 that are associated with baptism. 45:26 It is primarily our coming to the Jesus no doubt about it. 45:29 Everything close out of that commitment to Jesus right. 45:32 But 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, 45:34 "For by one Spirit we were all immerse into one body." 45:39 We were baptized into one body. 45:41 What is the body that we are baptized into? 45:44 Well, Ephesians 1:22, 23 tell us clearly 45:49 it says "And He." 45:51 That is God. 45:52 "Put all things in subjection under His feet, 45:55 " speaking of Jesus " and gave Him as head over 45:58 all things to the church, which is" what? 46:03 "Which is His body." 46:05 The church is the body of Christ. 46:10 And so we are baptizing to Jesus but my friend, 46:12 we also are baptize into the fellowship into the church. 46:18 And my friend, I been in the very best way 46:20 I could put this we have a spiritual family. 46:24 We become brothers and sisters in Christ. 46:29 We have we have that connection ones 46:31 and especial my early ministry thinking of those earth people 46:36 you know the antiestablishment idea 46:38 you know spillover into our society. 46:40 There was a period of time and people just didn't want 46:42 anything to do with an organization, 46:43 they didn't want anything to do with the church. 46:45 Baptized me into Jesus but don't baptize me into the church. 46:49 And because of this text I am not able to do that. 46:52 Because, God intents for us to be a part of the family 46:57 the family of God. 46:59 And the church I tell you the church is such a valuable 47:04 part of our growing spiritual experience. 47:09 I want to tell you something. 47:13 I did not learn these things on my own. 47:17 The things that I am preaching and am I've been preaching 47:21 I didn't come by this because I have any 47:23 unique genius of my own when it came to the Bible 47:26 I learned these things because of the church. 47:30 I learned this in Sabbath school. 47:32 I learned these things as I went to my Christian school. 47:36 I learned these things of course when I took theology. 47:39 I learned these things in my masters of divinity, 47:42 I am deep in it. 47:44 I've learned things as I have continued in ministry 47:46 to study the Bible. 47:49 I owe, I own all of this really to the church. 47:54 I wouldn't know these things but it wasn't for the church. 47:56 If I had not gone through some of the kind of things 47:59 that you are going through Bible studies, 48:01 going to meetings like this. 48:04 My friend, the church has played a valuable part 48:07 in my experience in accepting Jesus 48:09 in my baptism and commitment to Him. 48:11 As we move on to Mark 16, 48:13 as we are looking at the importance of baptism 48:15 Mark 16, that's the New Testament page 43. 48:19 Mark 16:15, 16. 48:25 It's the same at the Jesus makes about baptism. 48:28 Find Mark 16 chapter right on down here to verse 16, 48:35 where Jesus said "He who has believed 48:37 and has been immersed shall be saved." 48:42 So does this related to our salvation? 48:47 Will one be saved if they are baptized 48:52 but they have not accepted the Jesus Christ? 48:56 Has that happened? 48:59 Remember, up in that same country 49:01 in the my country church of Tonasket 49:05 I had a young man who was an Elder 49:07 in the church Rowley Coleman. 49:10 Rowley Coleman. 49:12 Remember Rowley coming to me and saying 49:13 you know I need to be re-baptized. 49:15 He said elder of my church, one of my spiritual leaders. 49:17 I need to be baptized again. 49:20 And he told me the story. 49:22 My mother decided it was time for us kids to be baptized. 49:25 And so at the point of time she said let's go, 49:29 Rowley took off running. 49:30 He didn't want to baptized he was trying to runaway-- 49:33 she tracked him down. 49:34 Drag him to the place where he was gonna be baptized. 49:37 And so he had for the rest of his spiritual experience 49:41 he had always his annoying sense 49:43 that he really had not been baptized 49:45 because it wasn't something that he chose to do. 49:47 In 1986 I said Rowley its time for us to deal with this. 49:52 And so he was re baptized an elder of the church. 49:55 So one is not saved by baptism. 49:59 One is saved by the relationship that is he who believes 50:03 that's the faith part of it, right, and is baptized. 50:07 That's the linkage both must be present 50:10 is what the Bible tells us. 50:12 This is the thing that I really enjoy about by work 50:15 in ministering most of all 50:17 I've seen individuals coming to Jesus Christ 50:18 and making this kind of the commitment. 50:21 I was doing a series in 50:24 I want to say Pierre, South Dakota 50:25 but that was a rapid city South Dakota. 50:27 Probably it's been about four or five years ago now 50:30 and I had this couple that are coming 50:32 this is their second marriage 50:34 and Mikes background was that a Baptist 50:37 and Corny here 50:38 as you can see her being baptize. 50:41 Corny told me she had been baptized 27 times 50:48 and she chose to be baptizing again. 50:50 Twenty seven times now her background was that of a Mormon. 50:56 I am not get into the teaching but there is a reason 50:59 why they are into genealogies 51:00 and baptizing for the death and all that. 51:03 So that's what was going on with the lives 51:05 and I tell you as I was preparing 51:08 Mike and Corny for their baptism, 51:11 you know, Mike took me side 51:13 and he said "I want to thank you." 51:14 He said you know we have not been together in our faith. 51:19 Now they both have been inactive as Christians. 51:22 They said "you know that we can come together 51:25 to make this commitment." 51:27 It was something that meant a lot to him. 51:30 I can tell you story after story about this Theresa 51:33 this is in Walla Walla. 51:35 Theresa she had put off this because of her husband. 51:38 I think I shared this one night didn't I. 51:40 Her husband had threatened to leave her 51:43 if she made this decision 51:44 and as her daughter her sweet daughter made a decision 51:48 to be baptized as I was preparing her. 51:50 I knew I was 51:51 you know had the opportunity to prepare her mother 51:54 and indeed they both chose to be baptized. 51:57 Remember I told you what happened. 51:59 Her husband who had threatened 52:02 to leave her if she ever did this a year later 52:05 I attended my series in Clarkston, Washington, 52:08 came to my meetings and made his decision was baptized. 52:13 So don't let somebody put you off 52:17 in regards to making your decision. 52:20 And sometimes this happens. 52:22 I'll tell you if my mother had waiting for my dad to, 52:25 you know, get born again to get saved 52:29 she wouldn't to this day 52:30 probably wouldn't be a Christian. 52:33 Now I want tell you my mother, my mother is a visionary. 52:38 She really is. 52:39 She was driven, she is you know 52:41 she is in the middle of ten children. 52:43 She is not the in the oldest group 52:44 and she is not the youngest she is in the middle. 52:47 And my mother is a, has always been a driven women 52:51 and she made that determination that she was going to make 52:56 a recommitment for her life to Jesus 52:59 before us kids came along and we make the benefits of it. 53:03 And she saw to it you know that we had the benefits of this. 53:07 What if my mother had just decided 53:09 I am gonna wait for my husband 53:11 to make this decision? 53:13 What would have done to as kids? 53:16 It just doesn't always happen this way 53:17 that everybody just comes onboard at the same time. 53:21 And often I do find that one individual 53:25 has to take the first steps and that God will bless. 53:29 God often will bless in that process. 53:32 And when we take you John 3:5 53:34 as we move down to just couple of texts. 53:37 In John 3:5 it says. 53:38 "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God 53:42 unless he is born of water and the Spirit." 53:47 I share with you the story of my oldest son 53:49 remember I am part of that generation 53:51 I was expected to be a part of the birthing process 53:54 and I was there and I remember 53:56 and I told you this one night I think it was night 53:58 as preaching on the coming of Jesus. 54:01 Now I remember when David came into the world. 54:04 You know, first thing I noticed is he didn't make cry, 54:08 he didn't make a whimper. 54:10 I thought all babies cried. 54:12 I thought the doctor was gonna lift him up 54:14 and whack him on the bumps. 54:17 And that didn't' happened. 54:20 But he laid the doctor, 54:22 Dr. Siya laid David on my wife's stomach 54:27 and he just sat there with those big eyes 54:30 you know just kind of looking around. 54:34 And that was the last quite moment 54:36 we have with David my hyperactive one. 54:41 But, the first thing we noticed is that my wives water broke. 54:47 That was the first clue we had that something was happening. 54:50 And when he came into the world and she was lying their 54:52 on my wives stomach he had blood on him. 54:56 So the New Testament takes that which is so familiar to us 55:01 those of us who have been through this process 55:03 and apply it to the new birth experience. 55:06 It means that when we are going 55:08 through the new birth experience 55:09 we too must break water that's baptism. 55:12 We too must be masked under the blood 55:15 that is the blood of Jesus. 55:18 That is the meaning behind again baptism 55:22 as it relates to the new birth experience. 55:24 And then last of all let me take you to the Acts 19 55:27 the New Testament page 109. 55:29 Acts 19 the last text will look at tonight. 55:33 Is it appropriate to be re baptized? 55:38 Well, look at it here Acts 19:1 55:42 where it says 55:43 "It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, 55:46 Paul passed through the upper country 55:48 and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples." 55:51 Notice they are disciples they are believers. 55:54 "And He said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit 55:56 when you believed?' 55:57 And they said to him, 'No we have not even heard 56:00 whether there is a Holy Spirit.' 56:02 " Well, let me tell you whoever baptized them 56:04 and left out something pretty essential 56:06 in their understanding, right. 56:10 Now the fact that they were disciples 56:12 would bare witness to the fact 56:13 that they had experienced the workings of the Holy Sprit. 56:17 I will say wouldn't have been disciples, right 56:19 we would agree with that. 56:20 But anyway we had not even heard 56:22 whether there is a Holy Spirit. 56:23 Verse 3 and he said "'Into what then were you baptized?' 56:26 " Or immersed? 56:27 "And they said, 'Into John's baptism.' 56:29 " His immersion. 56:31 "Paul said, 'John baptized with the baptism of repentance, 56:35 telling the people to believe in Him 56:36 who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.' 56:39 And when they heard this, they were baptized 56:41 in the name of the Lord Jesus." 56:45 So they came to a fuller understanding 56:47 of the issues regarding faith and Holy Spirit 56:50 and a greater understanding of the relationship of all 56:53 in the experience with Jesus. 56:56 And as a result they chose to be re-baptized 57:01 and I often will have individuals 57:02 in meetings to do this. 57:05 They have been Christians, they were been baptized 57:07 by immersion often years ago 57:09 and sometimes they have fallen away, 57:10 sometimes they grew careless in the spiritual walk 57:14 or sometimes they decide 57:16 because they have learned so much 57:19 in the process of the meetings 57:21 that they want to make a recommitment 57:24 of their life to Jesus. 57:25 With a deeper understanding and meaning that goes with it. 57:29 Now we should lead that as a decision for the individual 57:34 because usually we don't have a burden 57:35 to put somebody to be re-baptized 57:38 unless they have wondered away 57:39 then it's appropriate. |
Revised 2014-12-17