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Series Code: PU
Program Code: PU000010S
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00:01 What do the mysterious images of Daniel and Revelation mean?
00:06 When will the Anti-Christ appear and make his final move? How can 00:12 I be ready for the final events of earth's history. You'll be 00:16 amazed and encouraged by what the Bible reveals. Join us as 00:21 Pastor Brian McMahon leads out in Prophecy Unsealed. 00:31 Welcome again every one, to our Prophecy Unsealed seminar. And I 00:35 want to give a warm hello to all of you who are joining us at 00:37 home as well. Our topic tonight is the Doorway to a New Life. 00:42 Now, when you're going to be away from someone that you really 00:45 love the last words you say to that person are quite important. 00:50 We call them parting words. And Jesus is going to be away from 00:54 his disciples for a long time. They would not see him again 00:58 till he came in the clouds of heaven at the time of the second 01:01 coming. And Jesus gave his disciples some very important 01:05 parting words and those words pertain to our subject tonight. 01:10 Let's go to Matthew chapter 28 together and verse 18. And here 01:15 it says: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 01:18 power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore 01:22 and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 01:25 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe 01:29 all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with 01:32 you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. So Jesus says 01:37 go out to the ends of the earth and share the good news, the 01:42 gospel, of what I have done for people. When they come to an 01:46 understanding that they no longer need to be under the 01:48 condemnation of sin, when they understand that I have taken 01:52 their sins to the cross and when they understand that now they 01:56 can live for eternity if they will give their hearts to me. 02:02 Jesus said when they understand that, then baptize them in the 02:06 name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. 02:08 Baptism surely is very important if Jesus used his last closing 02:14 words to address that subject. Jesus' time on earth, his 02:18 ministry on earth was actually very short. Only about 3-1/2 02:22 years. And Jesus bookended that ministry with the subject of 02:26 baptism. He began his ministry with baptism, and he ended it by 02:29 talking about baptism. So certainly, it must be vitally 02:34 important. In fact, baptism is mentioned some 80 times in the 02:37 New Testament. And so I would be faithful to that gospel 02:41 message, and I would be faithful to the Lord if I 02:45 Withheld from you what the Bible actually says on that topic of 02:48 baptism. Mentioned some 80 times You'd think that would be enough 02:51 for some people, but they still ask, is baptism really important 02:54 It raises questions even today. Now, for the Christian, the only 02:58 thing that really matters is what does the Lord say and what 03:01 does the Bible say. Would you agree? Now let's go to Mark 16 03:05 and verse 16. And here's Jesus speaking and he says this to us: 03:09 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he 03:15 that believeth not shall be damned. Now that sounds to me 03:18 like a pretty important thing, doesn't it to you? 03:19 Baptism is important 03:22 it's extremely important. Jesus here lists some 03:25 requirements. He says: Whosoever believes...you see that means 03:30 has faith...and then is baptized ...that's the action step, so 03:33 first, there's preaching, then there is a faith response to the 03:38 preaching and then there is the action response which of course 03:41 is baptism. So, we see now that the Bible is telling us that 03:49 baptism is important. It's something Jesus tells us to do. 03:52 Christians love to please the Lord. We shouldn't have any 03:57 burden with what God requires us to do or ask us to do. Would 03:59 you agree with that? 'When Jesus asks us to do something, give it 04:02 always for our best good? Absolutely friends. So if you 04:06 have never been baptized before or if you have been baptized in 04:11 a way contrary to the baptism that the Bible speaks about God 04:14 would have you very seriously to consider this subject tonight 04:19 Now, right away, someone will say but, Oh wait a minute now. What 04:23 about the thief on the cross? The thief on the cross was not 04:26 baptized and yet didn't Jesus promise him that he would be 04:29 with him in Paradise that day? Or one day. Yes he did promise 04:33 the thief that he would be saved in paradise and it is true that 04:37 the thief was not baptized but why. I Think it's obvious to us 04:41 all isn't it? The thief was nailed to a cross and he 04:43 couldn't be baptized. The Lord does not close the windows of 04:48 heaven to those that are physically incapable of carrying 04:51 out his commands. The thief was converted on the cross. And if 04:55 the thief could have come down the first thing the thief would 04:57 have said is Lord what do you want me to do? And if the thief 05:01 would have learned of baptism he would have loved to have been 05:03 baptized because the thief had that desire to obey Jesus in his 05:06 heart. He was converted on the cross. But we are physically 05:11 capable tonight and for those that are physically capable we 05:13 hear what Jesus says we would want to carry it out in 05:17 obedience. In fact, when it comes to the thief, the Lord 05:20 imputed to the thief, just as he imputes to all of us, his 05:23 righteousness. And so impute means to give credit for. He 05:28 gave credit to the thief something that the thief could 05:30 not do for himself. And because Jesus' life included baptism 05:33 which we shall see tonight the thief received it through the 05:37 imputed righteousness of Christ but we who are physically 05:41 capable, we would want to carry out what Jesus asked us to do. 05:44 Baptism is an outward sign of an Inward commitment and loyalty 05:49 to Jesus. It's a way of letting people know I have changed sides 05:54 in the great battle between good and evil, right? We're born into 05:57 this world with a carnal mind, selfish thinking and without any 06:01 kind of physical change in us we're going to naturally serve 06:06 this evil one, the evil side. And so that's why we need to be 06:10 converted. So now James chapter 2 verse 20 says faith without 06:13 works is what? Is dead. Right? In other words, if we say we 06:18 have faith, but we don't want to do anything, it's a dead faith. 06:21 So let's go to this most wonderful passage here in Romans 06:25 chapter 6, where it tells us more it describes more about the 06:29 significance and the symbolism of baptism. Romans 6 and verse 3 06:33 says: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into 06:36 Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are 06:40 buried: that like as Christ was 06:43 raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we 06:46 also should walk in what kind of life? Newness of life. So it 06:51 says just as Jesus died and was buried and rose up, even so the 06:56 same thing happens to us in the spiritual sense when we are 06:59 baptized. For if we have been planted together in the likeness 07:03 of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection 07:07 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the 07:08 old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be 07:12 be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Now when 07:15 it says the old man that's not talking about your husband 07:18 ladies right? It's not talking about the father if we have 07:21 some young people here. But it says the old man what's it 07:24 talking about? The selfish nature, right? But we were 07:26 before we were converted. The old man is a negative term in 07:29 the Bible. So it says that old man it's crucified, it died and 07:34 now we're not going to serve sin any more. So what are we 07:38 learning here? We're buried with baptism, that's the significance 07:41 here. It's not just taking a bath. It's very significant and 07:45 so baptism is dying to the old way of life, it's burying our 07:49 sins in the watery grave. It is rising up again out of the water 07:53 to walk in a brand new life. Absolutely. In many ways it's 07:57 like a wedding ceremony, did you know that? The ceremony is there 08:01 to remind us that we gave our life to the Lord just as a 08:06 wedding ceremony today has witnesses so baptism is a public 08:08 ceremony. It has witnesses there to remind everyone involved that 08:11 that person had that service, that ceremony, and they were 08:16 married to the Lord Jesus Christ And you can say in baptism 08:21 Praise the Lord, my past is all behind me and now I'm going to 08:25 walk through that brand new door into a new life. One thing I 08:29 love about the Lord is that God is a God of new beginnings Amen? 08:32 He gives us chances to begin again. I'm so thankful for that. 08:37 We all have things we regret. We all have things that we wish 08:40 were different. And God is saying I am giving you that 08:43 opportunity to put it all in the past and have a brand new start. 08:46 Let's go back here if we can. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 08:50 28 again and this time verse 19. It says: Go ye therefore, and 08:55 do what. Teach all nations, and then he mentions baptizing. So 09:02 the passage in Matthew says go and teach, and the one there in 09:05 Mark says go and preach. So we teach and we preach the gospel 09:12 of Jesus. Now the one thing is significant here because he 09:13 mentions teaching but now it mentions teaching again, it says 09:16 teaching them to observe all things. So, teach what? To observe 09:23 is to obey. Teach them to obey what? Teach them to obey it says 09:26 all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Teach them to 09:30 my commandments, not just eight, not just nine but how many do 09:33 you think. All 10 of them. So teach them my commandments. All 09:36 things that God has asked us to do. The Lord is an intelligent 09:40 God. Of course that goes without saying. And the faith of Jesus 09:44 is intelligent faith. So if we're going to worship God, if 09:47 we're going to come and follow Jesus, we ought to know what does 09:51 that mean? What is it all about? No matter how sincere we are we 09:56 have to know what it means to be a Christian. So a lot of 10:00 times people can have revival services and there's nothing 10:02 wrong with that. But in fact if all it is emotion that's not 10:06 enough friends. We want here in this Prophecy Unsealed seminar 10:10 to teach in such a way that that knowledge that we receive, and 10:13 the experience we get from that is going to last till Jesus 10:16 comes, Amen? So we don't want just some kind of emotion that's 10:19 going to die out in a week or two. No. We want to know God's 10:25 will because before you can do God's will you have to know 10:27 God's will. Does that make sense A man or a woman can't make an 10:31 intelligent decision on what we don't understand. Jesus says go 10:35 and teach and then he said baptize after that. Okay. So now 10:41 what are we going to do? We're going to go to the time of 10:43 Pentecost. In the time of Pentecost there was a man named 10:46 Peter and Peter was preaching and he was preaching zealously 10:50 before a large crowd and look what the response was here in 10:53 verse 37. It says: Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in 10:57 their heart, which is another way of saying they were 10:59 convicted in their conscience. And it says: And they said unto 11:02 Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what 11:05 shall we do? Now one thing I love about this group of people 11:09 that he was preaching to is they were openhearted, Right? 11:12 They weren't like somebody that says well I've been following 11:15 you know this way for a long period of time and I know the 11:18 scriptures. There's nothing else you can teach me. These people 11:22 were openhearted. They were open minded. They said what shall we 11:25 do? And Peter's answer came back It says: Peter said unto them, 11:29 Repent and be baptized those who feel like it...Is that what he 11:33 said? No. He said to be baptized how many? Every one of you in 11:38 the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall 11:42 receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is not optional 11:46 for the Christian. Now in case you were wondering about a text 11:49 or two in the New Testament; it says they were baptized in Jesus 11:54 name or baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible 11:58 gives it to us differently some times. Now in the New Testament 12:01 they were trying to write out everything in the fullness of 12:05 the sense. There's a lot condensed in the book of Acts 12:09 right? It's taking place over years and years of time and it's 12:14 a very condensed synopsis of what was going on. So they 12:17 understood about God is the Father, they understood about 12:19 the Holy Spirit. Back in the days of David he prayed that the 12:23 Holy Spirit would not leave him. They understood that, but Jesus 12:26 was different. It says in John 1:11 it says he came to his own 12:30 and is own received him not. So Jesus was the one they were 12:35 highlighting there in the book of Acts as the one that was 12:38 going to be the Savior of the world. So, they says he was 12:41 baptized in the name of Jesus at least they did accept Jesus 12:44 into their life but Jesus himself gave us the full gospel 12:47 commission when he said go and baptize in the name of the 12:50 Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So you'll find some 12:53 placed in the Bible where it mentions about the name of Jesus 12:55 but Jesus himself again gave us that full commission. So if 13:00 you're planning to be baptized there's a preparation of the 13:03 heart. He didn't just say go and be baptized. He said Repent 13:06 and be baptized. There are so many that are being baptized 13:10 today that have never really made that decision, I am going 13:13 to live for the Lord. And if they don't make a decision to 13:17 live for the Lord right with all heart and soul they bring that 13:23 carnal nature into the church. And what do you get when they 13:24 bring the carnal nature in the church? That's when you get 13:28 backbiting and hatred and prejudice and all of those kind of 13:30 things. Folks that should be laid in the waters of baptism 13:33 and stay buried. Amen? All right See now there are people not 13:37 understanding this. They get some funny ideas. Here's one 13:40 that I found in a gift store. Baptism in a bottle. Wash away 13:44 your sins. Kills sins on contact I like how it says on the bottom 13:49 there: For liars, cheaters and wrong doers. Very interesting. 13:52 Here's another one. Wash away your sins towelette. No I don't 13:58 think that quite grabs it right there. We need to experience 14:01 conversion before we're baptized You might not feel electricity 14:03 running up and down your spine. Right? You might not have a 14:07 you know getting knocked off the horse like Paul did there. 14:10 But you still have felt the Holy Spirit in your life made you new 14:15 We'll get to that verse in just a little bit. When you are made 14:18 new friends places you used to go, you don't want to go there 14:22 any more. We are made new in Jesus things you used to think, 14:24 you don't think that way anymore Things you used to say you don't 14:28 say those things anymore. You are made whole in Jesus. And 14:33 when you have had that experience friends, it is 14:35 wonderful. Baptism is a way of symbolizing the change in your 14:41 life. But baptism itself doesn't have the power to change you. 14:45 There's no magic in the baptismal waters isn't that 14:49 right. If a person wants to be a sinner, right and 14:52 keep on sinning, they 14:53 can go down to the waters of baptism as a sinner and the only 14:56 change that's going to occur is they're going to come up a wet 14:58 sinner. Amen. There's no power in the water. There's power in 15:02 the Holy Spirit. What do you say folks? Amen. So there's no 15:06 spiritual benefit in being baptized if we don't want to be 15:10 obedient. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. It says: Therefore if any 15:13 man...any person...be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things 15:17 are passed away; behold, all things are become what? New. 15:21 And once you are baptized no one has a right to come along and 15:25 dig up your past. Nope. God says you put a marker down right 15:29 there. Because that person's given their life to me. I've 15:31 forgiven their past and now they're starting with a brand 15:35 new beginning. The old life of sin is to be buried there. We 15:39 can praise God for that. This is the experience of the new 15:44 covenant friends. We talked about their new covenant in a 15:48 previous time of our Prophecy Unsealed seminar. It says: This 15:51 is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, 15:53 saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in 15:55 their minds will I write them. When God writes his law on your 15:58 heart and mind, and makes you a new person you say as a result 16:02 of that I want to witness that I'm a brand new person. And 16:05 baptism is an opportunity to have that witness. Now Ephesians 16:09 4:4-5 It says: There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are 16:14 called in one hope of your calling: One Lord, one faith, 16:17 and how many baptisms folks. One baptism. Now when it says one 16:21 baptism that doesn't mean you can only be baptized one time. 16:24 This is talking about methodology here. 16:26 Right. Lot of people think well that means if I were baptized 16:29 once I never have to be baptized again no matter what happens. 16:31 No that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about only 16:34 one true method of baptism and because there's only one true 16:36 method of baptism that makes it very important that we 16:38 understand what that method is. So baptism shows us there's one 16:43 body, one faith, and one baptism with Jesus of course at the head 16:47 of that body. If you were to go to 14 different homes in this 16:52 city tonight and knock on the door and said to them can you 16:56 tell me what baptism is I wonder if you wouldn't just get 14 16:59 different answers. Because a lot of people wonder about baptism 17:03 and they really have no idea what it's really all about. You 17:06 can go from church to church and one will tell you one thing and 17:09 one will tell you another thing and as usual the devil has 17:14 brought in a lot of counterfeit on this subject as well as he 17:17 has on other things. One thing is for certain. There aren't 14 17:20 different methods of baptism and there aren't even seven, or six 17:24 or three. The Bible says how many? One baptism. Absolutely. 17:28 So, what are some of these other things. People sometimes 17:32 sprinkle with water and say they're baptized. Others maybe 17:35 pour water over their head and say they're baptized. Some might 17:38 even anoint with an oil. Some have heard of people having rose 17:42 petals thrown on them. There was one church where the pastor 17:46 herded his congregation out into street and he opened the fire 17:51 hydrant hose there, right, and he shot a stream of water up 17:54 in the air and of course all these droplets came down upon 17:58 them. I guess if you do it long enough you're going to get 18:01 totally wet but nevertheless he says now you're all baptized. 18:05 Now again this totally misses the symbolism of this beautiful 18:09 ordinance that God has given to us. Jesus is our example in all 18:12 things. Amen. 1 Peter 2 verse 21 says: For even hereunto were ye 18:17 called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an 18:21 example, that ye should do what? Follow his steps: When Jesus 18:26 gives us an example what should we do? Follow his steps. Follow 18:31 what he showed us. Well what was Jesus' example when it comes to 18:36 the subject of baptism? Let's go find out tonight. We've already 18:41 learned at a previous time of our seminar what Jesus' example 18:46 was when it came to the second coming, what his teaching was, 18:48 We learned what Jesus' teaching was when it came to the subject 18:51 of death. We've learned what Jesus' teaching was when it came 18:53 to the subject of hell fire. We've learned what Jesus' 18:57 teaching was when it came to the law of God and what his example 18:59 was for us when he says I've kept all my Father's 19:02 Commandments. We've seen what Jesus' example was for us when 19:05 he kept the seventh day Sabbath. Right. So what was Jesus's 19:08 example for us when it comes to the subject of baptism? How was 19:13 our Lord baptized? Let's go to Matthew chapter 3 verse 16. 19:17 Here's what the Bible says. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went 19:21 up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened 19:25 unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, 19:28 lighting upon him: And a voice from heaven, saying, This is my 19:31 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Don't you love that 19:35 verse right there? I believe that every time a man or a woman 19:38 or a young person is baptized God the father looks down from 19:42 heaven and with a joy and a smile on his face he says, This 19:44 is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. Amen. Absolutely. 19:50 See baptism pleases God because you are obedient to what he asks 19:55 us to do. He's saying this is my son, this is my daughter, these 19:58 are my children. Welcome to the family of God. So Jesus our 20:02 example was baptized, no question about it, but he was 20:04 baptized with what we call immersion. Immersion means he 20:08 went all the way under the water and came up out of the water. 20:11 So did Jesus ever commit sin? No. So when Jesus was baptized 20:17 did he do it because he was washing away his sin. No he 20:22 didn't that. He was the one that knew no sin. So Jesus did it as 20:27 an example to us that we might do it and he did it to add that 20:31 righteous act to his life so he could then impute or give credit 20:34 to people that could not be baptized just as he did to the 20:38 thief on the cross. So here we find Jesus was very serious 20:41 about this subject obviously. He wanted to add it to his life. 20:45 John the Baptist said Lord I need to be baptized of you. 20:49 Right? And you come to me. And Jesus said allow it to be to 20:52 fulfill all righteousness. So Jesus was very serious that this 20:56 act be added to his life. It says he came up straightaway 20:59 out of the water. Now let me ask you this. If he came up straight 21:03 way out of the water, what had to happen first? He had to first 21:07 go down straight way into the water. Right? And that's what we 21:10 call baptism by immersion. Let's go through another gospel. This 21:14 time the gospel of Mark chapter 1 verse 9. It says: It came to 21:18 pas in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, 21:22 and was baptized of John in Jordan. Now why is that 21:26 important? Because it doesn't say he was baptized by Jordan 21:31 or on the banks of Jordan as some of these pictures and 21:34 statues show us, right? No, he wasn't nearby Jordan. He was in 21:40 Jordan. It says straight way coming up out of the water, he 21:43 saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending 21:46 upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art 21:48 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Have you ever seen 21:52 artwork like this. Here they have John the Baptist here in 21:57 this scene and he's pouring water over Jesus' head. Or you 22:01 see statues where in the statue again he's doing the same thing. 22:03 Jesus kneeling down and he pours water over his head. Folks that 22:06 isn't how Jesus was baptized. Not even close to it at all. 22:09 That is a terrible distortion of what took place. John the 22:14 Baptist took Jesus down into the water, he immersed him in the 22:19 water and that is Bible baptism. Let's go see another example of 22:24 that. John chapter 3 verse 23. It says: And John also was 22:27 baptizing...this is John the Baptist now...was baptizing in 22:30 AEnon near to Salim because there was much water there: 22:33 and they came and were baptized. It doesn't say there was a 22:37 little water there. He had to go where there was much water. Now 22:40 why. If John the Baptist was sprinkling people for baptism 22:44 he took a pail of water from some well out there in the 22:48 desert, and he could have walked around and sprinkled, you know, a 22:51 hundred people with that, right? But he couldn't do that because 22:57 he wasn't baptizing people by sprinkling or even pouring it 22:58 over their head. He had to go where there was much water, there 23:01 and that clearly establishes baptism by immersion. Absolutely 23:07 So basically, to say it another way, the Bible is showing us 23:11 that baptism calls for a lot of water. So John had to go where 23:17 there was a lot. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 12 says 23:20 Buried with him in baptism. Now again there's that term that 23:24 Romans gave us, right? Baptism is like a burial. As a person 23:30 dies, is buried in the grave, so you go down in the water and 23:33 that represents a spiritual burial, a body burial, and then 23:36 they come up to brand new life. There was another story in 23:40 scripture about a person that was baptized, and it reinforces 23:44 our understanding that baptism is by immersion. Let's see here: 23:49 Acts chapter 8. This is the story of course of Philip and 23:51 the treasurer of Ethiopia. It is Acts 8 and verse 38: And he 23:56 commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both 23:59 into the water, both into the water, both Philip and the 24:01 eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of 24:04 water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away, Philip, that the 24:06 eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way, how friends? 24:09 Rejoicing. Again, I love that. That is how you feel when you 24:16 obey the Lord and the Spirit is with you. Amen? You go on your 24:21 way rejoicing. So baptism shows us takes place fairly soon after 24:25 a person is taught this man allowed Philip to get up into 24:30 his chariot. And we don't know how long the chariot ride was 24:32 but obviously Philip was teaching him all along the way. 24:34 And eventually they came to a body of water and the Ethiopian 24:38 man says can I be baptized? And the deacon there, Philip, he 24:43 says as long as you believe with all your heart, you may. So there 24:47 it is. He was given Bible baptism. The method of baptism 24:52 is really dictated to us by the very meaning of the word baptize 24:55 Let's go here to one of the greatest proofs of all by 24:59 looking into the word itself. The Greek word "baptizo" actually 25:03 means "to dip," "to immerse," or to plunge it under water. 25:08 So you look that up in a Greek dictionary or a Greek Lexicon 25:11 of some kind, it'll say Baptizo means to dip or to submerge 25:15 under water. Now by the time they came along and they were 25:18 translating the Bible from Greek into English right, the method 25:22 of baptism had already been tampered with. And what they did 25:24 was they took a Greek word and they gave it English letters. So 25:28 it now becomes an English word that originally was a Greek word 25:31 and they just brought it over into the English language. It 25:34 literally means to immerse or to put under water. So You say 25:39 you're baptizing, but you're not putting people under water, it's 25:41 like saying one thing but doing another. I mean you can call an 25:46 apple an orange, but it doesn't make it so you can call 25:50 baptism by many other things, but again, it doesn't make it so. 25:52 So you might ask the question well, where did this change 25:56 happen. How did it occur that if they started out baptizing 26:00 people by immersion, and all of a sudden, you've got all these 26:03 other methods going on in these various churches. Well believe 26:05 it or not all the Christian churches started out with 26:09 baptism by immersion. It wasn't until about 1300 years after 26:15 Jesus that the method of baptism started to be tampered with. 26:18 They didn't originally sprinkle babies or pour water over people 26:22 They had it exactly as the Bible said. It was not until the 26:26 Council of Ravenna in around 1311 A.D., that sprinkling and 26:30 pouring was officially accepted as methods of baptism into the 26:36 then known church, the medieval church. Christian Institutions 26:39 page 21, it says this: It says: For the first thirteen centuries 26:43 the almost universal practice of baptism was that of which we 26:47 read in the New Testament and that which is the very meaning 26:49 of the word "baptize,"- that those who were baptized were 26:53 plunged, submerged, immersed into the water. Okay? So it's 26:58 telling us, yeah, this is what they did for centuries. It goes 27:02 on In Faith of Our Fathers, we mentioned this man in a previous 27:05 session of our study, Cardinal James Gibbons. He said: For 27:09 several centuries after the establishment of Christianity 27:11 baptism was usually conferred by immersion, but since the twelfth 27:16 century, the practice of baptism by infusion...which means the 27:19 pouring of water over someone... has prevailed...as this manner 27:22 is attended with less inconvenience than baptism by 27:27 immersion. Now that's kind of sad because baptism isn't 27:30 inconvenient. I mean, there may be some places where you have to 27:32 look around for a body of water to be able to immerse someone 27:35 but generally speaking, it's not inconvenient at all. So that's 27:39 where you started getting this idea of simply pouring water 27:41 over someone, and if that sufficed, well may be just 27:44 sprinkle over someone, and if that sufficed, well maybe just 27:47 put a dab of water on their forehead. Things can get changed 27:49 pretty quickly when you leave out what the Bible says. But the 27:53 ancient churches actually showed that they once had the method of 27:56 immersion. You can go to some of these archeological digs and 28:01 it's amazing what they had there Here of course is one, a very 28:06 creative one. This was an ancient baptistery filled with 28:10 water where they would baptize by immersion. Here's one I think 28:12 this shows you how important they thought baptism was because 28:16 they carved it right out of stone, right? You can see the 28:17 steps where they walked down into the baptistry, actually 28:20 they made it in the shape of a cross. But again, they considered 28:23 It is so important that they weren't going to go without 28:26 baptism. And then when the Christians started to flee from 28:28 persecution in the time of the middle ages, they went into some 28:30 very remote places, and they carved homes in basically rock. 28:34 And when they did, and they went into these remote places, they 28:40 even made baptistries right there. Again, this is a pretty 28:42 large one. You can see the water spout coming into it. Here are a 28:47 couple of pastors having some fun reenacting a baptism. You can 28:49 see the stairs going down into it. But again, it shows you that 28:52 they considered it very, very important that they would 28:55 actually, carve it out of rock and make a baptistery. Even the 29:00 churches of Rome, who today sprinkle for baptism, usually you 29:04 can see that when you go into those ancient churches they had 29:07 Baptisteries. You can see one, very beautiful, very ornate once 29:12 was used for baptizing the way the Bible teaches. Now the main 29:16 reason that I think things got confused was in the time of the 29:19 dark ages the Bible was actually for a period of time banned. If 29:21 you were caught with a Bible you could be put to death. And 29:25 without the word of God shedding light on our path all kinds of 29:29 errors and counterfeits to teachings came in like a flood. 29:31 upon the church and one was the idea that when you were born 29:36 into this world, a baby is instantly guilty before God. 29:39 And they thought, well, if he's guilty before God, we got to 29:42 baptize this little infant because if it dies before 29:44 baptism it's going to be lost. Now here's where the error is. 29:47 We know that Adam's sin wreaked terrible consequences and 29:54 upon the world. The effects of Adam's sins were worldwide. But 29:57 the guilt of Adam's sin was his own. And when a child is born 30:01 it is not instantly guilty before God. Yes, it has a selfish 30:05 nature, but Adam's guilt was upon himself. And so the clergy not 30:09 understanding this decided that they're going to baptize babies. 30:12 Well, babies can't hold their breath very well, and so rather 30:15 than plunge the baby under water they're just going to you know 30:18 sprinkle some water on that baby's head and if the suffices 30:21 then why not put a little dab of water here. You can see how 30:24 things get distorted very, very quickly. So remember what is the 30:29 very meaning of baptism. Is baptism, some kind of mystical 30:31 magic that if the person is not baptized, they go right to 30:35 hellfire. If you do put a little dab of water on the child now 30:38 he's going to be saved. That is not the meaning of baptism at 30:41 all. Baptism is for converted people because it indicates a 30:46 change, a conversion, in their life. So there are many 30:50 individuals that have been sprinkled in the past, I was you 30:53 know when I was just a little tiny infant. My parents in all 30:57 good faith took me down to a priest and they sprinkled some 30:59 water over my head. I don't remember it, but they tell me it 31:02 happened, and maybe it happened to many of you. Now if that 31:06 happened to you, don't worry about it. It didn't do you any 31:08 harm. But it's not Bible baptism It's not what the scriptures say 31:12 So, what steps should a person take before baptizing. I think 31:16 this will help us here. It says that first of all we are to 31:19 repent. We saw that in Peter's preaching in Acts chapter 2 and 31:23 verse 37. It says we are to believe which is an acceptance 31:26 of Jesus as both Lord and Savior And we are to learn. We are to 31:31 have instruction in the essentials of Biblical faith. 31:33 Jesus says, Go and teach them and then baptize. So no one can 31:37 do the believing for us. We have to believe for ourselves and 31:41 that's why friends you don't see any examples of infants being 31:44 baptized from cover to cover from Genesis to Revelation, you 31:48 never see that in the Bible because baptism is for converted 31:51 people. First, the gospel is preached, and then we have belief 31:54 or then we have faith in that which is preached. Let me ask 31:57 you a question: Can a little baby, repent of its sins? Of 32:00 course not. A little baby is innocent before God. All it 32:02 knows is it wants a meal, right? That's all it knows. It doesn't 32:06 know sin. Can it believe with all of its heart, the gospel 32:09 message? No, of course not. Can it learn the essentials of 32:13 instruction of Christian faith? Of course not. Now, once again: 32:17 You can't teach a little child like that. 32:18 It says baptism is for converted people. The old 32:22 nature is to die and when God regenerates us with his Spirit 32:28 then we're ready for baptism. Okay. So it's a 32:33 whole-hearted choice isn't it? It's a choice we make as 32:36 believers. Many things have changed over the centuries but 32:37 God's truth never changes. Amen? Come on you can say it louder 32:40 than that. Amen. All right. What does the Bible say about those 32:43 who put the teachings of men before the teachings of God? 32:46 What does it say? Jesus said in Matthew 15 and in verse 9: But 32:50 in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the 32:53 commandments of men. So we play around with the sacred rite of 32:59 baptism, we're playing around with the plan of salvation. 33:01 Because baptism is an important part of that plan of salvation. 33:05 But really when you think about it, a misunderstanding of 33:09 baptism probably demonstrates a misunderstanding of the gospel. 33:13 Because once you understand the gospel, then you realize why 33:17 sprinkling really isn't relevant Now, if we teach and we preach 33:21 properly about baptizing, we're not only are we equipping people 33:25 we're equipping our own communities teaching clearly 33:28 about what it means to follow Jesus. 33:29 Remember now what is the devil's purpose. He wants 33:31 to put traditions in place of the Bible doesn't he. He wants 33:34 to put human thoughts in place of Jesus' teaching. He wants to 33:37 put error in place of truth. He wants to put man's way in 33:40 place of God's way. Here is his plan friends to confuse people. 33:44 First he deceives people about the mode of baptism, right? He 33:47 says oh, it's not immersion, you can do these other things. Once 33:51 he's confused us about the mode of baptism, they're confused 33:53 about the meaning of it. Remember our subject in a 33:59 previous session of this seminar we discussed the subject of the 34:04 Sabbath. And when we saw that we saw that those who lost the 34:08 understanding of the seventh day Sabbath they lost the meaning 34:13 behind the Sabbath. And so many Christians today believe in 34:15 Darwinian evolution because they don't believe that God created 34:19 the world in six days and rested the seventh day which of 34:21 course the Sabbath is a fundamental memorial of that. 34:24 Right? So when they lost the day they lost the meaning behind the 34:28 day. So it is with baptism. Once you lose the method, you've lost 34:32 the meaning behind it. I re- member, and I'm not very proud of 34:35 this, but there was a time when I was a young adult, and I went 34:39 into...I was of drinking age and so I went into a bar and you 34:42 know was consuming alcohol with friends. And we'd come out 34:46 sometimes, and there'd be a Christian group on the sidewalk 34:49 with a guitar playing, you know Christian songs and singing 34:52 about being born again. And I'm like, what are they talking about 34:56 Born again? Now again I was 34:57 raised in a church that sprinkled. I'd never seen a 34:59 baptism by immersion, not even one time. Not even on television 35:02 I'm thinking, what are they talking about, born again? I'd 35:06 never seen a baptism by immersion. Now if I had I might 35:10 have said, why are they doing that and someone would explain 35:12 to me, well, that means that you're being regenerated by the 35:15 Holy Spirit, and now you're symbolizing that through baptism 35:18 But I didn't ever see one, and so I didn't have knowledge of that. 35:21 So once they're confused about the meaning of baptism, Satan 35:25 steps in to do another act of confusion because then he said 35:29 oh, the meaning or the way to memorialize the resurrection of 35:33 Jesus is to take the Sabbath from the seventh day and put it 35:36 on the first day, and that's how we remember the resurrection of 35:40 Jesus. Does the Bible ever say to do that. No, of course not. 35:44 The Bible says every time a person is baptized, and they die 35:48 they go down into the water symbolic of dying to self and 35:51 rising back up. They are reenacting the fact that Jesus 35:54 died. He was buried. He rose again, and we also in a symbolic 35:59 sense can go through that by regeneration, right? So we 36:04 remember the fact that Jesus did that every time a person is 36:07 baptized, not by keeping a different day of the week. This 36:13 blessed ceremony can be compared to baptism. Well we've 36:15 already mentioned this tonight but let's go to the Bible. 36:17 Ephesians 5 and verse 25. Ephesians 5 and verse 25. 36:24 It says: Husbands love 36:27 your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave 36:30 himself for it. So again it's compared the relationship that 36:34 a husband and wife have with the relationship that Jesus has with 36:38 his church. And then we're told in Galatians 3:27 For as many of 36:43 you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. It's 36:45 just like in a marriage a person often the bride will put on the 36:50 last name of her husband, right? She takes upon herself the last 36:54 name, so we take upon ourself the last name Jesus Christ, 37:01 which means Jesus Messiah, we take upon Jesus' name or his 37:05 title maybe, and we become called Christian. So in the same sense 37:11 that a husband and wife are reunited like that, or united, 37:15 so, we are united to Christ in Baptism. Now, when someone says 37:19 to me, you know, and this has happened many times, they'll say 37:24 well, I'm not really sure if I'm baptized. Let me go home and 37:27 ask someone and check on it. I'll come back and let you know. 37:30 Now, if the Bible compares baptism to marriage, think about 37:35 it. Wouldn't it be kind of funny if someone said you know, I'm not 37:38 really sure if I'm married. Let me go home and check on it and 37:41 I'll come back and let you know. If we're married, we ought to 37:44 know, Amen? And if we're baptized, we ought to know about 37:49 it. And if we don't know about it, if we're not certain about 37:52 it, and if we can't remember it it's probably a pretty good 37:54 indication that we should be baptized again. A lot of people 38:00 think it doesn't really matter but folks marriage is a public 38:04 ceremony, it's done in front of witnesses and so is baptism. 38:07 Back in the days of ancient Israel, when God was calling his 38:12 people out of Egypt, what did he do? He had them enact a public 38:19 ceremony. They took a lamb and they slayed that lamb to show 38:22 their faith in a Redeemer that one day would give his life for 38:25 them. They took the blood of that sacrifice he had them apply 38:28 that blood within their home on the outside of the door, on the 38:32 outside of the door right. They couldn't just do it in the 38:34 privacy of their home only. They had to make a public statement 38:38 that they were going to believe in the Messiah to come, and so he 38:42 had them apply it on the outside of the door. And when he had 38:45 that witness on the outside the angel that came over, the 38:49 destroying angel, it passed over the home where that witness was. 38:53 And that's a good example for us today friends. God's protection 38:58 is over his people that make a stand for him. Amen? Right. 39:01 Absolutely. He that believeth and is baptized, we're told 39:05 shall be saved. Let's have faith enough to do what God asks us 39:11 to do. You know the Bible has an absolutes, did you know that? 39:14 And I'm glad that it does because if it didn't have 39:18 absolutes, someone might say, well I'm the exception. And they go 39:22 through their whole life, every one else has been baptized but 39:25 they're the exception. And then they get down to the end of their 39:27 life and they find out they're not the exception. So God just 39:31 takes away all the guess work and he says No repent and be 39:34 baptized every one of you. It doesn't matter how talented you 39:36 are, it doesn't matter how famous you are, it doesn't 39:40 matter how rich you are. We're all the same in God's sight. He 39:43 says repent and be baptized. God is no respecter of persons. 39:45 We're all going to face our creator. Many times in meetings 39:48 like this, people come from all different backgrounds, different 39:53 churches, different faiths, different walks of life, and they 39:56 see these wonderful things that we've been sharing here in the 39:59 Prophecy Unsealed seminar and they've learned things, and they 40:00 say you know I want to rededicate myself to the Lord. 40:03 And that's so wonderful. We're so glad that you do. And that 40:08 brings up this question. Should a person be rebaptized. There 40:12 are some that tell you that you just can't be rebaptized. But 40:16 there is an example in the Bible of a rebaptism. Let's go take a 40:17 look at it here. Acts 19 and verse 2. It says: He said unto 40:20 them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And 40:23 they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there 40:25 be any Holy Ghost. So these people are missing an essential 40:28 teaching. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? 40:29 And they said, Unto John's baptism. Now there was nothing 40:34 wrong with John's baptism. That is the baptism that Jesus had. 40:36 But it goes on, it says: Then said Paul, John verily baptized 40:41 with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that 40:44 they should believe on him which should come after him, that is 40:47 on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the 40:51 name of the Lord Jesus. So yes they had had a previous baptism 40:56 It says that they were disciples but they were followers or 40:59 disciple is a follower. But there was an essential teaching 41:02 that was missing, and when they got that teaching, and they had 41:05 more understanding they were baptized again. So what happens 41:11 when we're baptized? Let's review a little bit here. When 41:13 we're baptized sins are forgiven, the Spirit is given to us we're 41:17 told. It says that we are adopted into God's family and 41:24 those are wonderful things, those are wonderful things. 41:26 We're adopted into God's family to be called a son and 41:29 daughter of God. That would be a pretty high privilege wouldn't 41:32 you think. Amen. Now who should be baptized? 41:34 Well if you've never had previous baptism 41:37 I think that would be an automatic for us, 41:39 wouldn't it. If you were previously baptized even by 41:42 immersion but it was just an empty form. You did it because 41:45 maybe others around you were doing it. Your heart wasn't in 41:48 it, but you went through it. A lot of people who had that kind 41:52 of experience, say you know I want to do it now with my whole 41:55 heart behind it. Number three: You strayed far from Jesus. 41:59 You were baptized, maybe even followed Jesus for a period of 42:02 time, but for whatever reason the relationship slipped and 42:06 finally, you maybe even went away and you went out and you lived 42:11 apart from the Lord for a while and now you want to come back. 42:13 Establish the relationship and sometimes people get married and 42:18 divorced, but now they want to get remarried. They have the 42:20 ceremony again, so we have the ceremony again, we have that 42:23 wonderful ceremony of baptism. And then number four, new 42:30 life-changing truth. You may have come through your Christian 42:32 life for a lot of years practicing a certain way, but 42:35 now through understanding and seminars just like this, you're 42:38 learning a lot of things that's renewing your faith. You have a 42:41 whole different understanding and outlook of the Christian 42:43 faith, and you say you know what I want to be baptized again with 42:47 this fuller understanding Absolutely fine. We will present 42:54 anyone who wants to unite yourself to Christ in baptism. 42:55 What does baptism not do? That's important too. It does not 42:59 change the heart of man. We've already talked about that. 43:01 There's no magic in the water. Right. No power in the water. 43:04 the power's in the Holy Spirit. Say Amen. Right. Baptism does 43:07 not necessarily make us feel different. You might not have 43:10 electricity running up and down your spine, Right? But you know 43:15 in your heart you're doing the right thing. It does not remove 43:19 temptations. The devil's still going to throw temptations at us 43:21 He wants to see are you dead to sin, right? So he throws things 43:25 at us all the time. There's ways of dealing with it. We'll also 43:27 covered that in a future session of our Bible study. And Baptism 43:33 does not guarantee salvation. Jesus says, Abide in me and I in 43:37 you. Stay connected to the vine. Right? We can't just as branches 43:41 stay apart from the true vine. We have to stay connected to 43:43 Jesus. So here's another thing people wonder about. They say 43:48 well, I'm just not perfect yet. I'm not perfect enough to be 43:53 baptized. You'd be amazed how many times, people tell me that 43:56 friends. Baptism does not mean you're perfect. It means you're 44:00 committed. Just as in a marriage ceremony, you don't get up, a 44:04 bride, groom, and the bride. They don't get up there. They 44:06 don't have to profess to each other that they're going to be 44:08 perfect. Right? If they did, I don't think we have any weddings 44:11 No, they don't say they're going to be perfect for each other. We 44:14 say we're going to be committed to each other. And when they 44:17 commit to each other, then they have the ceremony. Same thing 44:19 in baptism, friends. It means we want to unite and be a 44:24 commandment keeping person by God's grace. So, three points to 44:27 remember here as we sort of recap what we've been studying 44:30 tonight. Baptism is one of the most important aspects of the 44:32 Christian life. We covered this in the beginning. He that 44:35 believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Jesus tells us how 44:39 important it is. Number two: Only baptism by full immersion of a 44:42 believing person is Biblical and reflects the meaning behind the 44:47 symbolism of baptism. Romans 6 and verse 4: We are buried with 44:52 him by baptism into death. So baptism has to represent a 44:55 burial. Number three: Baptism is the entry point into the 45:00 Christian church. Acts 2:41:Then they that gladly received his 45:04 word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them 45:07 about three thousand souls. So they were baptized but they were 45:11 added to the church. So that's an important part. You're 45:15 married to Christ but they become part of the body of 45:18 Christ. You understand the essentials. It doesn't mean you 45:22 everything but when you understand the essentials you 45:27 have enough. There's a story in scripture about a Syrian captain 45:33 named captain Naaman. He was a man, that I guess wanted to 45:37 quarrel with God's ways. However this commander he got leprosy. 45:41 and when he got leprosy, I mean he had a hard heart, and he was a 45:45 proud man, but fortunately for him, he had within his household 45:48 a Jewish girl that understood about the power of the true God 45:51 who was revealing that power in the land of Israel. So she told 45:58 her master this and he got his servants together and he got 46:01 some gifts together and off he went to the land of Israel. Now 46:05 again he was a proud man and so to help him to humble himself 46:12 the prophet himself did not go out but the prophet sent his 46:15 servant out to meet this man. And it says and Elijah sent the 46:20 servant unto him saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times. 46:22 and thy flesh shall come unto thee, and thou shalt be clean 46:25 Now again he called for humble obedience for this great warrior 46:30 right? And Naaman is now being asked to wash. Well Naaman gets 46:35 he gets offended by that doesn't he? He says does the prophet 46:38 think that I am dirty. Does he think that I need a bath. He 46:41 said I've got cleaner rivers to go bathe in back in my home 46:44 country, right. And he probably in terms of the water itself, he 46:47 probably did. So he turns around and he starts heading back home. 46:50 Now, fortunately for him, he had wiser people with him than he 46:56 was himself at least at that time, and the servants talked to 46:59 him and said Captain Naaman, if the prophet had asked you to do 47:03 something easy, excuse me. If the prophet had asked you to do 47:07 something hard would you have done it? Why don't you do this 47:11 easy thing. Why don't you go wash. So he thinks about it and 47:16 he changes his mind and he goes out toward the Jordan River. 47:18 I don't know how many of you have ever been to the Jordan 47:20 River but it's vile and muddy and it's not that appealing 47:23 really. But he goes off toward the Jordan River and there he 47:27 starts to wash. And as he starts to wash I mean really he 47:33 realizes that living with leprosy is a death sentence. 47:35 It was back then. And really it's a grand biblical narrative 47:42 of what sin does to us. But nevertheless, he is washing. 47:46 And he washes once, and there is no change. The leprosy's still 47:50 there. And he washes again and there is no change at all. He 47:54 washes a third and a fourth and a fifth and a sixth time, and 47:57 again, there is absolutely no change in his leprosy. No change 48:02 in his body. Because God didn't say wash six times. He said wash 48:04 how many times? Seven times. So he washes the seventh time in 48:08 obedience to God and what happened? He comes up absolutely 48:12 perfectly clean. Now thanks to God, the leprosy did not kill 48:17 Naaman but pride almost did. Right? Let me ask you a question 48:23 Was it the water there that healed him, Yes or No. No. You 48:27 remember it's not about the water. It's about the action 48:29 itself. It's about surrendering in heartfelt obedience to God. 48:34 Naaman almost...this is why I'm telling you this story, friends, 48:36 ...Naaman almost missed out on the great blessing of being 48:42 healed from a terrible affliction, leprosy, because he 48:45 didn't follow through with one of the easiest things that God 48:48 asked him to do. Washing was so easy; he almost didn't do it. 48:52 And what does God ask of us today? You know I'm so glad that 48:57 Naaman did do what God asked him to do. Aren't you? Aren't you 49:00 glad that Naaman followed thought on that. He went and 49:02 washed. God was looking for simple obedience back then. God 49:08 is looking for simple obedience now. But people say, well, I don't 49:12 know if I want to be baptized. They have all these reasons for 49:16 it. Think about it. Baptism is readily available today. You can 49:20 go anywhere and be baptized. 49:23 Simple to understand. Easy to do Free of cost. Amen. Beautiful 49:29 in symbol. Sacred in the meaning of it and it is peaceful in it's 49:35 results. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven good reasons. 49:38 Maybe you can think of some more. Folks, is there anything 49:41 that should keep us from being baptized if we really need it? 49:44 And aren't you glad that we? don't have to go half way around 49:47 the world to some brown and muddy river over there, which is 49:52 the Jordan. I was on a trip there and I was baptized, I mean 49:57 I did some baptizing in the Jordan River. Anyway, it was so 50:01 cold, that by the time I finished I couldn't feel from my waist 50:02 down. I mean, I was absolutely frozen. It was in February, which 50:05 tells you something. Nevertheless, I'm so glad that we 50:08 don't have to go over to the Jordan to be baptized aren't 50:12 you? We can come right here to a crystal clear baptistery in 50:15 this city, and we can just as much fulfilling the word of God 50:20 as Naaman was over there in the Jordan River so many years ago. 50:24 Some people say well, I don't want to be baptized. I'll be 50:27 baptized, but only on my conditions. I want to do it here 50:31 and I want to do it that way and I want to do it how? They 50:34 all name their conditions. Folks I want to tell you something. 50:36 We don't name the terms when it comes to faith. 50:40 God names the terms for us. 50:42 Would you agree? We don't tell God, how we're going to do it. 50:44 God says this is how you do it. And if we are humble and 50:49 obedient, we'll do it as God asked us to do it. There are 50:54 some that delay and delay and delay, and I don't believe in 50:55 manipulating people to be baptized, do you? Right. I mean 50:59 I don't think we should offer people incentives in terms of 51:02 well, you can have a cell phone. You can have this gift or 51:04 whatever that. Folks, if I wasn't baptized, but I knew I needed to 51:11 be baptized, and I read that passage that said, He that 51:14 believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and I knew that I 51:20 needed to folks, there's nothing that would keep me back. I don't 51:23 feel that you need to twist someone's arm because that 51:28 doesn't count, right? I believe that people who love the Lord 51:30 are going to want to do what Jesus said, don't you friend? 51:34 If I wasn't baptized, I'd be asking people, how can I get 51:38 baptized. Because I'm serious about heaven, aren't you friend? 51:40 I know you are. You see if somebody offered you a million 51:48 dollar check, they wrote out a check for your name for a 51:51 million dollars and they handed it to you what would be the 51:52 first thing you'd do. (Chuckles) Well you might just praise the 52:00 Lord but if you'd think you'd probably say is this real? 52:06 (Chuckles again) That'd probably be the first thing on your mind. 52:07 Is this realistic. That was real The money was in the bank behind 52:10 the check. The person says you mean to tell me that I got to 52:18 go all the way to the bank? Do you mean to tell me that I got 52:25 to get in my car and drive way down there, and that's going to 52:28 costs you money to get there. You know, nobody complains about 52:33 going to the bank to cash a big check isn't that right. Nobody. 52:37 And yet God offers us eternal life. Why should we complain 52:43 about God's terms when he's offering us something far more 52:47 valuable than a million dollar check? Well someone says I don't 52:51 want that check. You know he goes down to the bank. I don't 52:56 need that. He goes down to the bank and up to the teller and 52:58 says so and so offered me a million dollars, and I want it 53:02 paid, and the teller says can I see the check? And he says I 53:06 don't need that. I just want the million. You're lucky if you 53:07 didn't get arrested, right? You see again, the paper itself isn't 53:12 really worth at all anything. But it's what's on it that 53:17 represents something very valuable. Again baptism itself 53:21 may not seem like a huge deal. What it represents is a big, big 53:25 deal. Amen? It's a big, big deal So yes, it's important. Now the 53:33 apostle Paul, he fought this subject for a little bit. I mean 53:37 just think about it. The apostle Paul had persecuted Christians. 53:40 The apostle Paul had put people to death, and when he was 53:46 converted, he did not think that he was worthy of being baptized. 53:50 And God had to send a special message to a man and relay that 53:58 to Paul. And say, Paul, you're not the exception. Paul, yes, you did 54:04 all of those things, but Paul, you need to be baptized. Acts 22 and 54:09 in verse 16, it says this: And now, why tarriest thou? arise and 54:14 be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the 54:17 Lord. Paul, why are you putting it off? Paul, why are you waiting 54:23 You've been taught, you believe you've repented. Time to get 54:29 baptized. And friends the question that came to Paul comes 54:34 to you and me also. If you've not understood the meaning of 54:38 baptism before and the Holy Spirit is speaking to you 54:41 tonight about this subject, well I'm going to ask you to make a 54:46 recommitment and all of you who are watching at home, same thing 54:50 If you've never been baptized by immersion before, and you're 54:54 hearing the Spirit of God speaking to your heart, I'm 54:56 going to ask you to make a recommitment today, too. Because 55:00 if you're not a believer in Christ, or even if you're not 55:04 sure, you are. I want to encourage you to talk to someone who can 55:07 help you with that. Talk to someone who can help you put 55:11 your trust in Jesus. And if you're not doing that, you're 55:16 missing out on something really big and really valuable. 55:19 as I said, much more valuable than a million dollar check, 55:22 right? If you've chosen Jesus and you'd like the Holy Spirit 55:27 to be in your life and your heart. Just remember tonight, remember 55:32 how much God loves you. He loves you not because you're 55:35 talented. He loves you not because you're famous. He loves 55:40 you not because you're popular. He loves you simply because of 55:43 who you are. Make the decision to follow Jesus with all your 55:47 heart and life. Jesus will lead you personally. The devil will 55:53 whisper things in your ear. The devil will give you all kinds of 55:56 reasons to delay. But if you love the Lord with all your 56:00 heart and mind, there's no reason to delay friends. 56:02 If you love the Lord with all your heart and mind. 56:05 Remember what the Bible says, 56:10 Today, if you hear his voice harden not your heart. May God 56:14 bless you and lead you as you make the commitment to him 56:16 today. Most gracious Father, once again 56:22 we can see that salvation is a wonderful thing. You've not made 56:28 it difficult, you've not made it burdensome. You've made it 56:32 beautiful. Thank you for so many wonderful people not only 56:36 joining us here but also at home that truly love you and want to 56:41 serve you. We ask Father that you would give us the very heart 56:45 of the new covenant experience. Write your law in our hearts and 56:49 minds. Help us to be obedient in everything. And thank you for 56:54 this wonderful ordinance of baptism, you have given us. 56:58 Remember that we can be born again, we can have a brand new 57:02 doorway to a whole new under standing if we'll just walk 57:05 through it. To this end, dismiss us now from this place and may 57:08 we never leave your presence. Bring us back again tomorrow 57:12 night we pray in Jesus' name Amen. 57:15 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2025-07-23