Participants: Jac Colon
Series Code: RNN
Program Code: RNN000010
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00:16 We worship God because He is the Creator
00:23 of the heavens and the earth. 00:27 It's interesting in these first few chapters of Revelation 00:32 John kind of sets the stage 00:36 for the big picture of what's about to unfold. 00:43 And in Chapter 4 we discover we worship God 00:47 because He is the Creator, 00:49 but in Chapter 5 he gives us 00:52 the second reason why we worship God. 00:57 Not only is He the Creator but in Chapter 5:6, 01:03 as John is looking at the throne, 01:07 "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, 01:14 standing in the center of the throne," 01:21 poor, pitiful, bleeding, slain lamb 01:28 standing in the centre of God's throne. 01:34 And all the living creatures around the throne 01:37 saying a new song in verse 9, they sang, 01:41 "You are worthy because you were slain, 01:46 and with your blood you purchased men for God." 01:52 And in loud voice verse 12 they sang, 01:55 "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power 02:02 and wealth and wisdom and strength 02:04 and honor and glory and praise, 02:06 worthy is the Lamb to Him who sits on the throne 02:10 and to the Lamb be praise in honor 02:14 and glory and power for ever and ever 02:17 and the four living creatures said, amen 02:20 and the elders fell down and worshiped 02:26 the Lamb who was slain." 02:33 We worship God because He is the Creator 02:39 of the heavens and the earth 02:41 and we worship God because He is our Redeemer 02:47 who came and gave His life to save us. 02:53 God gave us a monument, 02:56 a memorial to remind us that He is the Creator 03:01 and likewise He gave us a monument, 03:06 a memorial to remind us that He is our Savior 03:14 that He died on the cross, that He was buried in the grave 03:18 and rose up again in victory to save you and me. 03:26 He gave us a monument to remind us of that event. 03:32 What is it? That monument is baptism. 03:39 Mathew 28, in Mathew 28, the very last words 03:46 that Mathew recorded of Jesus before He ascended into heaven, 03:51 His last words for his church before He went to heaven, 03:55 Jesus said in verse 18, "He came to them and said, 03:59 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." 04:07 Now remember in Revelation 13 the dragon gave his authority 04:14 to the beast but Jesus said all authority 04:22 in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 04:27 So what authority did the dragon give to the beast? 04:32 Nothing, it is a counterfeit 04:38 and to acknowledge his authority 04:42 is to disacknowledge, is that a word? 04:47 If it wasn't it is now because this what I want to say 04:52 to acknowledge his authority 04:55 is to disacknowledge the authority of Jesus Christ 04:59 because all authority has gone to him. 05:02 Now watch, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations 05:10 baptizing them in the name of the father 05:13 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 05:16 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, 05:22 and surely I'm with you always 05:25 even to the very end of the age." 05:29 Go and baptize them. 05:32 You see baptism was so important to Jesus that He included it 05:38 among His very last words to the church 05:41 before He ascended to heaven. 05:45 And along with baptism is the promise 05:48 that if we baptize and teach people 05:51 what it means to be baptized 05:54 teach them all that He has commanded us, 05:57 then He says, I'll be with you 06:00 all the way through till the end of the age, 06:02 that means that if you want to know the secret of victory, 06:06 then baptism plays an important role 06:09 to give us victory over the beast 06:11 all the way through to the end time. 06:13 And I'm not interested in just telling you who the beast is. 06:16 I'm not interested in just helping you understand 06:19 the Book of Revelation I want you to be victorious. 06:23 I want you to be standing on that sea of glass 06:25 singing the song of Moses and the Lamb, 06:28 it's not enough to know about it, 06:30 folks, we need to experience it. 06:33 That's why I take these little side excursions that may seem 06:37 as though they are not related to the Book of Revelation 06:41 but once you step back and see that big picture, 06:46 then you will understand and then it all become so clear. 06:51 Baptism is mentioned 80 times in the New Testament 06:55 and yet in spite of that, there is a lot of confusion 07:00 even in the Christian world today over baptism. 07:04 How should a person be baptized? 07:06 When should a person be baptized? 07:08 How many times should a person be baptized? 07:10 Does God recognize all forms of baptism? 07:13 I want to answer those questions, 07:15 I think they are important 07:17 and I want to start with the last one. 07:20 Does God recognize all forms of baptism? 07:28 Turn to little book of Ephesians 4:4. 07:35 "There is one body and one Spirit, 07:43 just as you were called to one hope, one Lord, 07:48 one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, 07:52 who is over all, through all and in all." 07:55 So I want you to tell me. 07:57 How many Lords are there? One. 08:00 How many hopes are there? One. 08:02 How many faiths are there? 08:04 How many baptisms are there? One. 08:08 Now He is not saying 08:10 that a person can only be baptized one time. 08:13 No, that's not what he is saying 08:17 because I'll show you later some examples of Paul 08:21 encountering people that had been baptized 08:23 and they didn't fully understand what it meant 08:26 and so he taught them just like Jesus said 08:29 and then he baptized them again, 08:32 so that tells me that it's not wrong 08:35 to be baptized more than once. 08:37 Sometimes people are baptized 08:39 and they fall away far away from the path like I did. 08:45 And then when I came back I wanted to start over, 08:48 I wanted the clean slate. 08:49 I wanted to be baptized again and I was baptized again 08:53 and I praise God for that, 08:54 it was an important step for me to take. 08:57 So note, it's not wrong to be baptized more than once 09:00 usually once is enough. 09:04 But sometimes people are baptized 09:06 without knowing what they really meant 09:08 or may be they just went along with the crowd 09:10 or may be they weren't even old enough to understand. 09:13 One fellow, I asked him, I said, "Are you baptized?" 09:16 He said, "I don't know, 09:18 my mom is saying I was but I don't remember." 09:23 Well baptism is important. 09:27 No, he is not saying you can only be baptized one time, 09:29 what he is saying is that God only recognizes one baptism 09:35 and that's the only baptism 09:36 that's ever practiced in the Christian church 09:38 for the first 500 years of her existence 09:42 and that is baptism by emersion underneath the water. 09:49 In fact that's exactly what baptism means? 09:53 Baptism is really a Greek word, baptize, it's a Greek word. 10:02 We get it from the Greek word baptizo. 10:07 Baptizo means to immerse, to bury under the water. 10:14 That's the meaning of the word, 10:17 to immerse, to up under the water. 10:21 It wasn't even a religious word in Bible times, 10:25 it was just a common ordinary word. 10:28 Immerse, baptize, 10:31 If you were living in Bible times 10:35 and you are a lady that wanted to dye a piece of cloth, 10:39 you would say well I'm going to baptize this cloth in the water. 10:44 Now it doesn't do to just 10:46 sprinkle a drop or two on the cloth, 10:49 you need to put it underneath the surface 10:51 and get it good and immersed in the dye 10:55 or if you are one who likes to dunk your donuts. 11:02 Now you would say, I'm going to baptize my donut. 11:09 Now any donut dunker worth its weight in salt 11:13 knows that sprinkling a drop or two on there, 11:17 no, that's not going to get it. 11:19 What do you do? 11:20 You got to stick it down in there, 11:22 get it good and soaked, now you have dunked it. 11:25 Now you have baptized it 11:29 because that's exactly what the word meant, to immerse. 11:34 So when you see in here Jesus saying, go and baptize them. 11:41 He is really saying, go and immerse them 11:47 and that's the way you should read it. 11:49 Well, why doesn't it say that in the Bible? 11:54 Because by the time the Bible was written 11:59 tradition, there is that word again, 12:04 tradition had taken over 12:07 and they were not baptizing by immersion anymore. 12:13 They were sprinkling as a tradition, 12:18 so the translators came to this word 12:21 Jesus said, go and baptizo. 12:26 They should had translated it immerse. 12:29 Oh, but we can't do that because we are not doing that. 12:33 So what are we going to do? 12:35 So the translators did a little linguistic trick 12:40 instead of translating the word baptizo, 12:42 they transliterated the word, but what's the difference? 12:48 In translating you look at a word in one language 12:52 and find another word in the other language 12:55 that says the exact same thing as close as you can get 12:58 and you put that word in there 13:00 so when they saw baptizo they should have put immerse 13:04 that would have been translating it. 13:07 But they couldn't translate it. 13:08 Transliterating means that instead of translating it 13:11 and putting what it means 13:13 you substitute the letters for the new language 13:18 for example baptizo the Greek beta is B 13:23 Alfa is A, Pie is P 13:29 and you put them all together you get the world baptize. 13:33 You see, you knew some Greek 13:34 and didn't even know you knew Greek. 13:37 So when you say baptize you are saying a Greek word. 13:40 "Go," He said, "Baptize them, immerse them." 13:45 And we can understand why that's important 13:48 when we understand exactly what baptism means 13:53 and my favorite place for that is in Romans 6:1, Romans 6:1. 13:59 What shall we say then Paul writes to the church at Rome. 14:03 What shall we say, then? 14:04 Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 14:15 I know what you meant, I know, but what-- 14:22 why did Paul even ask that question? Why? 14:28 Because people were teaching, 14:33 hey Paul, you keep saying 14:35 we are saved by grace through faith and not by works. 14:38 That's a gift of God. 14:41 Well, if that's true then the more I sin, 14:47 the more I can ask for forgiveness 14:50 and the more grace I get. 14:53 So the more I sin, grace keeps increasing. 14:59 And so Paul says, what shall we go on sinning 15:03 so that grace can increase? 15:05 By no means, why not? 15:09 Because we died to sin, that's a good one. 15:14 We died to sin, you can't go on sinning. 15:17 Why? You died to sin. 15:20 What does that mean? I died to sin. 15:23 Watch, don't you know that all of us 15:29 who were baptized into Christ Jesus 15:33 were baptized into His death? 15:39 You can't go on sinning, why not? 15:41 Because you are baptized. What's I got to do with it. 15:45 When you were baptized, 15:46 you were baptized into His death. 15:51 You can't go on sinning. 15:54 We were therefore, watch this, 15:56 "We were therefore buried with him 15:59 through baptism into death, 16:03 in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead 16:10 through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." 16:18 So you can't go on sinning after you become saved. 16:21 Why not? Because you were baptized. 16:24 What that got to do with it? 16:25 Don't you understand when you were baptized, 16:28 you were baptized into His death and you were buried with Him 16:35 just as He went down in the grave 16:37 and came up again to the glory of the Father, 16:39 you go down in the grave under the water 16:42 and come back up out of the water 16:44 in order to live a new life that will glorify God. 16:47 You can't go on sinning, you died to sin. 16:53 Wow, no wonder it's so important. 17:02 See in baptism we're died to that old life, 17:08 it's gone, it's buried. 17:12 We are leaving it in the water, that's the grave 17:17 and we come out of that water a new person, 17:21 a new creation the Bible says, I'm a new creature. 17:28 To live a life that will honor and glorify God. 17:31 You see that's why it's important 17:34 to recognize God as the Creator 17:38 because it takes the same creative power of God 17:44 to recreate us into a new creature 17:48 as He did to create us in the beginning. 17:52 Only the Creator can do that. 17:57 Only the Creator can recreate this world 18:00 into a new heaven and a new earth. 18:04 And if you believe in the theory of evolution 18:06 or anything like it, then how do you know 18:09 that when you come out of the water 18:10 you are a different person, 18:12 how do you know that yes, we still struggle 18:15 in this old world in this body of sin 18:17 but one of these days 18:19 God is going to recreate a new body for me 18:21 in a new heaven and a new earth. 18:23 How do you know He can do that 18:25 if you don't believe He is the Creator? 18:28 You see these things all fit together, 18:31 baptism and Creator. 18:33 No wonder God gave us two monuments, 18:35 the Sabbath as a reminder that He is the Creator 18:38 of the heavens and the earth 18:40 and baptism, a reminder that He died 18:43 was buried and rose again so that you can live. 18:49 The devil has killed two birds with one stone. 18:54 You see when man switched the Lord's day 19:01 from the Sabbath to Sunday 19:04 in honor of the resurrection of Jesus, 19:08 now we have a day in honor of the resurrection 19:13 and we no longer have a day in honor of creation 19:18 and therefore evolution has crept into the church, 19:22 it wasn't a coincidence that Saint Augustine of Hippo 19:26 just 60 years after the Council of Laodicea 19:29 officially decreed that the Lord's day is changed 19:32 from the seventh day to the first day of the week, 19:35 just 60 years later after that Saint Augustine of Hippo 19:40 was saying that we have probably evolved 19:43 instead we were created on the sixth day. 19:46 Because creation, the Sabbath was God's boulevard, 19:51 His reminder that He is the Creator. 19:54 But, you see when you keep a day 19:56 in honor of the resurrection, 19:57 you don't have a day in honor of creation anymore 20:00 but when you keep a day in honor of the resurrection, 20:04 then baptism loses its meaning 20:10 and it becomes water down and meaningless, 20:15 it's just a symbol, you don't really die, 20:19 so why all the fuss with the water, 20:22 little water or lot of water doesn't matter, 20:23 just a drop or two will do. 20:26 You see baptism and it's a lot easier on the conscience 20:32 to be sprinkled with a drop of water 20:37 and then to go on living the same old life 20:40 that they were living before 20:43 because when you are buried in that water, 20:45 that means you are dying to that old life, 20:48 so it's a lot easier on the conscience, 20:50 I'll just drop a two and I'll just go on. 20:54 No, I'm not trying to say 20:55 that everybody baptized by sprinkling did it 20:57 because they don't want 20:58 to change their life, that isn't true. 21:03 Most people don't really know the true meaning of baptism 21:09 and they are just following what they believe is right and true 21:14 and you know as long as we are sincere 21:17 and doing what we believe is right and true 21:19 and God honors that, He recognizes that 21:26 and I'll show you why in a minute. 21:29 So little water, lot of water 21:30 doesn't matter, it's just a symbol. 21:33 See the problem is when we start rationalizing God's word. 21:42 How do you know when to stop? 21:46 And I guess the lesson that I really want 21:49 to take out of this about God is that He is not like us. 21:55 Lot of times we say things and then, 21:57 you know, don't even really mean it. 22:01 But when God says something He really means it 22:07 because He is the truth and He knows the truth 22:13 and to try to rationalize that truth 22:16 is to walk down a very dangerous path 22:19 of slippery slope, rationalizing. 22:25 For first 500 years in church they baptized by immersion, 22:28 but you know lot of the churches out in desert country, 22:31 there is not a lot of water out there. 22:33 Oh, man, that's a lot of trouble 22:34 to get that much water together and it's just a symbol, 22:37 little water, lot of water doesn't matter, 22:38 why don't we just get a bucket and dump on top 22:42 and so they started pouring. 22:45 And then perhaps one day a lady comes to be baptized 22:47 and she said, well, I just came from 22:49 the beauty parlor with my new hairdo, 22:54 it's just a symbol, little water lot of water doest matter, 22:56 you know, you gonna mess it all up 22:57 with that bucket on my head, 22:59 why don't you just do a drop or two. 23:02 So, they start baptizing by sprinkling, it makes sense. 23:05 Once you begin to rationalize, 23:07 you see how do you know where to stop. 23:12 I have read some churches in Orient, 23:13 they baptize with salt. 23:16 Other churches with little oil on the forehead, 23:19 that's nice but where does the Bible say to immerse in oil 23:22 dropping in here doesn't immerse 23:25 it's not baptism, sprinkling isn't baptism 23:30 'cause baptism is immersion. 23:33 I read about one church in Hollywood, 23:39 beautiful movie star wanted to be baptized 23:42 and she thought it will look nice if they just 23:45 sprinkle rose petals on her pretty blonde hair 23:48 so in that church they baptized with rose petals. 23:51 I even read about one church 23:53 where the pastor has everyone being baptized, 23:55 come standup in front of the congregation 23:58 and he raises his hand, he says, 23:59 I now baptize you in the name of the Father, 24:02 the Son and the Holy Spirit, 24:03 I guess that's a dry cleaning method. 24:09 How do you know when to stop 24:15 when you start rationalizing God word? 24:20 It's dangerous to rationalize. 24:24 I think of two brothers Abel and Cain, 24:30 both born in the same godly family, 24:32 both instructed by the same godly parents 24:38 and they understood how God wanted them to worship. 24:42 He wanted the lamb pointing forward to the Lamb of God 24:46 like we learned last time. 24:49 Now Abel offered his lamb and God accepted that offering, 24:55 Cain, his brother rationalized, 25:00 he said, "Well, you know, Abel is a Sheppard, 25:02 easy for him to get a lamb, I'm a farmer, 25:06 I don't have any lambs but I got pomegranates, 25:11 tomatoes, beets, all these red juice 25:15 after all that blood doesn't save anybody, 25:18 it's just a symbol, 25:20 so I'll offer some of my vegetables. 25:24 Now he was worshiping God 25:26 and he taught he was doing the right thing 25:29 even though he was rationalizing, 25:31 in fact that he rationalized it, 25:32 he thought it was the right thing. 25:36 But, God didn't and God rejected it. 25:40 Cain did not believe that God meant what He said 25:43 when He said give me a lamb, he substituted his own works, 25:47 his own idea for the way it should be. 25:49 He taught it was right, God rejected it 25:52 but when God rejected it, God rejected his worship, 25:56 he got so angry that he went and murdered his own brother. 26:00 Why did he murdered his brother? 26:03 It was over worship. 26:07 Now you think that story is in there 26:08 just to read a bedtime story to your children. 26:12 Read Revelation 13. 26:16 Those who worship the beast turn against the ones 26:21 who worship the Creator and try to destroy and kill them 26:29 just like Cain tried to murder his brother Abel. 26:33 When we attempt to rationalize God's word, 26:37 it does something back to us 26:41 and it changes those people into something 26:44 that is willing to kill another person over worship 26:49 and claim that they are doing it in the name of God. 26:53 You know, I'm getting 26:54 into the mark of the beast a little bit 26:56 but you see these are all related 27:01 and God said, I want you to give Me a lamb, He meant a lamb. 27:06 When God said, I blessed the seventh day and made it holy 27:09 He meant the seventh day, not the first day, 27:12 second or third, He meant the seventh day, 27:14 God means what He says. 27:17 When God said to Eve and Adam 27:19 don't eat that apple in the middle of the garden, 27:21 I don't know if it's an apple or not, whatever. 27:24 He said don't eat the fruit. 27:27 He meant the fruit from that tree. 27:31 He didn't say, well, look at all these other trees, 27:32 you know, they are okay and this one looks better than, 27:35 I think I'll just not eat from that tree there 27:37 and I'll eat from this one here, makes sense. 27:42 But you see, God means what He says. 27:44 When God told Noah, He said, 27:46 "Noah, I want you to build a big boat, 27:50 because I'm going to destroy this world by flood." 27:52 Noah built the boat, he didn't rationalize, 27:55 he didn't say well there are lot of other boats around, 27:57 I'll get on that one. He could have. 28:01 No, but he believed God meant what He said 28:05 and when we believe God, 28:07 we are going to do what God says to do. 28:12 It's dangerous to rationalize. 28:14 Big chief one day walked into the mission on the reservation, 28:19 and Padre was there doing things and chief saw a big Bible, 28:26 saw a big Bible sitting on the desk 28:30 and he said, "What's that?" 28:33 Padre said, "That's the holy Bible, 28:36 that's the word of God." 28:39 Chief said, "I want to read that book, 28:44 so the Padre let him take the Bible to his home 28:48 and every night, every night he read the word of God 28:51 all the way through Genesis to Revelation. 28:54 Then he came back and he brought that big Bible 28:57 and he put it back on the top of the count-- desk there, 29:01 and he told the Padre, he said, I want to be baptized. 29:08 Padre says, "Good, 29:11 it's a great thing when somebody wants to be baptized." 29:14 So he turned around and he opened his cupboard 29:16 and took out a little cup and a jug of water 29:19 and put it on the desk top and pour some water in that cup 29:23 and the big chief looked at that, 29:25 stepped back and he said, "Too small." 29:32 Too small, and Padre says, 29:35 "No, no, no, you don't understand, 29:39 you don't have to get in the cup, 29:41 I'm just gonna sprinkle a drop from the cup on your head. 29:45 Big chief step back and looked at the Padre 29:48 and he said, "If that's the right baptism 29:52 then you gave me the wrong book." 29:58 Because he understood what it meant 30:00 to be buried in the water after dying with Christ 30:03 and rising up again to live a new life to glorify God? 30:12 Well, is it important, 30:13 is baptism really all that important? 30:18 Let's ask Peter. Peter, what do you think? 30:23 Is baptism important? 30:27 1 Peter 3:21, after talking about the flood, 30:34 Noah building the Ark, in verse 21 it said, 30:39 actually the end of verse 20, 30:40 "In it," that's the ark, "only a few people, 30:44 eight in all were saved through water, 30:46 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you." 30:54 You say, "Peter, you don't really mean that. 30:58 Baptism doesn't save us. 31:01 We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, 31:04 not by works, not even baptism." 31:08 Well, I think if Peter was here to speak for himself, 31:11 he would probably say something like, 31:13 "Oh, you're right? 31:15 We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ." 31:19 Paul has made that crystal clear 31:21 but can you claim to have faith in God 31:27 and not be willing to do what God says to do? 31:32 Can you claim to believe God and not be willing to obey God? 31:44 Baptism saves you. 31:48 We are not saved because we are baptized, 31:52 we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 31:57 And if we have faith in Christ, 31:59 then we are going to be baptized. 32:05 In fact in one sense the act of baptism does save you. 32:15 You say, "how do you get that preacher?" 32:18 Well, Peter said it. "Is baptism that now saves you, 32:24 not the removal of dirt from the body 32:26 but the pledge of a good conscience toward God." 32:29 How does it saves you? 32:31 It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 32:34 who has gone to heaven and He is at God's right hand 32:37 with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to Him. 32:40 Baptism saves you, not your baptism but His baptism 32:47 When Jesus was baptized remember John the Baptist said, 32:50 "Oh no, no, not me, 32:51 I can't baptize you, I'm not even worthy." 32:53 Jesus said, "This must be done 32:57 in order to fulfill all righteousness." 33:02 So Jesus had to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness." 33:06 He was baptized for you not for Himself. 33:08 He never sinned, He didn't need to die to sin, 33:11 He was baptized for you. 33:13 He had to die to your sins not His, 33:16 so His baptism was for you, it becomes your baptism. 33:20 When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, 33:22 His baptism covers you. 33:24 So even though you were sprinkled, 33:26 even though your were salted, 33:28 even though you were rose petaled or dry-cleaned, 33:31 if you truly and sincerely felt 33:33 that you are following Jesus in the eyes of God, 33:36 you are an immersed baptized Christian 33:39 because Jesus was immersed for you. 33:45 Some of you are saying, "well, I didn't know about the Sabbath. 33:48 Have I have been sinning all this time?" 33:50 In the eyes of God, if you have been following the Lamb, 33:54 living up to the light that God has given you, 33:56 in the eyes of God you are a Seventh-day Sabbath keeper 34:00 even though you keep Sunday 34:02 because Jesus was a Seventh-day Sabbath keeper 34:06 and His life stands in the place of yours. 34:10 That's what the gospel means or it means nothing at all. 34:14 But once you study your Bible and discover, 34:19 wow, God didn't bless the first day, 34:22 He blessed the seventh day. 34:24 Now what am I going to do about it? 34:27 Once you study your Bible and discover, 34:30 wow, sprinkling, that wasn't what Jesus did, 34:34 He wants me to be immersed, He was immersed for me. 34:38 Do I believe enough to do it for Him? 34:43 You see, can we accept the blood of the Lamb 34:46 and reject the water of baptism? I don't think so. 34:55 So, yes, His life covers ours, 34:56 but once God reveals His truth and His way to us, 35:00 then He expects us to follow. 35:03 And if we choose not to, 35:05 can we really claim to believe God? 35:10 I'm not saved because I got baptized, 35:13 I'm not saved because I tried to keep the Sabbath holy. 35:18 No, I'm saved because I believe God. 35:22 But can I claim to believe God and not do what He says? 35:24 Jesus said,"Iif you love Me, you will keep My commandments." 35:29 John wrote, That he who says I know Him 35:31 but doesn't do what He commands is a liar." 35:35 I don't want to be a liar that's why I strive to do 35:38 what He commands because I love Him. 35:41 My wife fixes things I like to eat 35:46 and she is nice to me, 35:49 and she does things I like for her to do. 35:52 Why does she do that? 35:54 So she can get me to marry her? 35:57 We are already married, 36:00 I love her, she knows I love her, 36:02 she loves me, I know she loves me. 36:04 I try to do the things that please her. 36:06 She tries to do the things that please me 36:08 not in order to get us to marry one another 36:11 but because we are married because we love each other, 36:13 because we want to make each other happy 36:18 and I furthermore believe that when I please her, 36:21 I'm doing the one thing 36:22 that makes me happier than anything else 36:25 and so that's the way it is with God. 36:27 I don't obey him because I want him to save me, 36:30 He saved me and because of that I trust Him, 36:35 I obey Him and the bonus is when I follow Him, 36:39 I'm doing the thing that makes me happy too. 36:42 He said, "He withhold no good thing 36:44 for those who walk uprightly." 36:46 That the lesson we need to learn about God. 36:50 He say, "Well, okay, okay, 36:53 I'm convinced baptism is important 36:57 but what do I need to do in order to prepare for baptism? 36:59 I found three things in the Bible 37:01 that I think would encompass the preparation for baptism. 37:05 First one is in Mark 16:16, "Whoever believes, Jesus says, 37:11 and is baptized will be saved, 37:16 but whoever does not believe will be condemned." 37:20 Now that's interesting, He says, if you believe 37:23 and is baptized you will be saved, 37:25 you can't believe without being saved, 37:27 did you know that? 37:29 The devil believes that God wants us to be baptized 37:34 that he isn't going to be saved, 37:35 the devil believes that Jesus died on the cross, 37:38 he was there watching it, he believes it 37:41 but he isn't going to be saved, 37:44 He says, whoever believes and is baptized, 37:47 you see, both, 37:49 because baptism is a visible expression 37:51 of the inward invisible thing. 37:54 But notice, whoever does not believe would be condemned. 37:59 Nobody is condemned because they don't get baptized 38:02 as much as they are condemned because they didn't believe 38:07 just like Eve, her real sin 38:09 wasn't so much that she ate the apple. 38:13 I mean that was a sin, don't misunderstand me 38:15 but the real sin was she didn't believe God when He said, 38:19 if you eat it, you will die. 38:22 See the issue is do you trust God, 38:24 do you believe God when He tells you something, 38:26 do you believe it. 38:27 So baptism is for believers, not for nonbelievers. 38:34 I'm sorry, it won't help to get one of your friends 38:36 and toss them into the swimming pool 38:38 on the way to the water, 38:39 you say, "I baptized you in the name of the Father, 38:41 the Son, and the Holy Spirit." 38:42 It won't help because they have to be a believer. 38:47 The water is not magic. 38:50 And then the second thing in preparation for baptism 38:53 Matthew 28, we already read it, 38:55 Jesus said, "Go and teach them all things." 38:58 Baptize them, teach them all things. 39:00 So a person should be taught what it means to be baptized. 39:04 A person should be taught 39:06 that when you are going into that water, 39:08 you are dying to the old life, 39:10 you are burying it that old man is dead, 39:13 you come up a new person, a new creation in Jesus. 39:16 You can't go on sinning now, 39:18 you need to live a new life for Jesus. 39:22 Well, they ought to understand little bit about that old life 39:24 we are saying goodbye to and be willing to do it. 39:28 And they should understand about the new life 39:30 that they are wanting to live in order to glorify God, 39:33 they should know a little bit 39:34 at least about what that encompasses 39:37 and they should be willing to do it. 39:38 Doesn't mean you are going to be perfect, 39:40 that mean when you come out of that water, 39:42 you are perfect and you never make another mistake, 39:45 it doesn't mean that at all. 39:46 It simply means that you are willing 39:48 to live your life to the way God made us, 39:50 you trust Him and when you do make mistake, 39:52 you say, "God, I have sinned forgive me." 39:54 And He says, "I already have." That's what it means. 40:00 See you need to understand 40:02 the little bit about the Christian walk. 40:05 I think you can tell from this 40:06 that baptism then is for people who are old enough 40:13 to be able to understand and believe and trust God. 40:19 Baptizing an infant who can't even believe if he wanted to 40:26 is not going to mean anything. 40:29 The Bible doesn't say we baptize infants, 40:33 that's a tradition that was brought 40:36 into the medieval Church of Rome. 40:39 No, the Bible says believe the Bible says, bethought. 40:44 It also teaches that we dedicate infants to God. 40:51 We dedicate them to God and pledge to raise them 40:55 to the best of our ability as parents to follow the Lamb, 40:59 so that when they are old enough to make their own choice 41:01 then they will want to be baptized and follow the Lamb. 41:06 But it doesn't help to immerse a baby, 41:11 that's why they just sprinkle, but that's not baptism. 41:19 And then the next thing about baptism in Luke 3, 41:25 John the Baptist was preaching a baptism 41:28 in verse 3 of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 41:34 Peter when he preached on the day of Pentecost. 41:38 What should we do, they asked him. 41:40 Repent and be baptized every one of you. 41:44 See, baptism should be preceded by repentance. 41:50 Now that's it pretty heavy word what is repentance mean? 41:56 Well, repentance, I think a good way to understand 42:00 it is to be sorry for sin, 42:04 but not just in a careless flipping way 42:09 but a heartfelt sorrow, 42:13 a determination to never do it again, a hatred for it. 42:18 We had-- we had two boys, 42:21 they are not little boys anymore they are big men. 42:25 When they were little they played together, 42:28 three years apart, the little fellow, 42:31 the younger one always came out 42:33 on the short end to the stick when things got rough. 42:36 He was the one who get knocked down and hurt 42:38 and one time they were roughhousing 42:40 a little bit too much 42:41 and poor little guy got knocked down, 42:44 hurt, started crying. 42:46 And so we went to his big brother and said, 42:48 "Now look, you need to go over there 42:51 and tell him, you're sorry." 42:53 Well that didn't always go over to be 42:56 and sometimes he would just inch his way over there 43:03 may be hoping that we would forget about it 43:05 by the time we got there for he took so long 43:09 and then when he gets there without even looking at him, 43:12 he mumble something and nobody could understand. 43:16 See, that's not repentance. 43:18 Repentance hates sin. I hate it when I do that. 43:24 I don't ever want to do that again. 43:25 I got impatient with my family today, 43:28 God, I hate it. 43:29 I don't ever want to-- help me never do it again. 43:33 You see, that's what repentance means. 43:36 Hatred for sin, you say, "What, I don't know 43:38 that I always hate everything I do, that's true." 43:42 Think if we are honest with ourselves, 43:43 we discover that there may be some sins we might not hate. 43:47 One part of us doesn't, another part of it secretly, 43:50 you know, that's why I really appreciate the Bible saying 43:55 that repentance is a gift from God. 43:58 And you just pray, 44:00 "God, you know, my heart, I can't fool you, 44:04 I kind of enjoy that but I don't enjoy 44:06 because I know it hurts you and I don't want to do it, 44:08 I don't want to hurt You, 44:10 make me hate it, Lord, make me repent." 44:14 and He will answer a prayer like that, just give it to God. 44:18 So believe in Jesus, be taught what it means and repent. 44:23 John the Baptist said to the crowd coming on, in verse 7. 44:25 He said, those coming out to be baptized, 44:28 you brood of vipers, and be like me 44:32 having an altar call and you come down from 44:33 as you bunch of rattlesnakes. 44:37 What would you think of that? "You brood of vipers! 44:42 Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath." 44:45 You see they just wanted to be baptized, 44:46 so they wouldn't burn in hell not because they love God. 44:51 Now watch this, verse 8, 44:52 "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 44:55 And don't begin to say to yourselves, 44:57 'We have Abraham as our father.' 44:59 I tell you out of these stones 45:00 God can raise up children of Abraham." 45:04 Oh, well, we're okay, we are saved 45:06 because we are descendants of Abraham. 45:10 Now, Pastor, I don't need to be baptized, 45:11 my church don't do it that way, 45:12 I got sprinkled, that should be good enough. 45:17 God can make church members out of stones. 45:23 You are not saved because you are church member. 45:26 You are not saved because you are Catholic, 45:28 Methodist, Baptist, 45:29 Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist. 45:34 You are saved because you have faith in Jesus Christ 45:37 and you are willing to follow the Lamb, 45:40 that's what saves us, 45:41 no matter what label we tag on ourselves, 45:43 no matter what church you go to, 45:45 you need to follow the Lamb. 45:50 Now notice, John the Baptist would not baptize everyone 45:54 that came up to him and said baptize me. 46:00 So, what should I do 46:03 if somebody comes up to me and says, "Baptize me, pastor." 46:07 John had a criteria, he said, 46:08 "Produce fruit, show me a little evidence 46:10 that you really want to die to that old life." 46:14 He had a criteria, he wouldn't just baptize anyone, 46:18 he wanted to see evidence of repentance. 46:23 See, baptism is not a game, it's not just a swimming pool. 46:27 Sometimes young people, they gonna say, 46:30 I want to get baptize, I said, "Why, why?" 46:31 I get to go swimming. 46:33 No, it's not about swimming, 46:36 it's called dying to that old life. 46:51 Then sometimes people ask me, 46:55 what's the urgency, pastor, about baptism? 46:59 I'm going to have a birthday in about eight months 47:03 and I think I want to wait till my birthday to get baptized. 47:06 I want to wait till I can save up enough money 47:08 and fly over to the east coast 47:10 and see my great grand parents and get baptized there, 47:13 I think they would like to see that. 47:18 But I don't see that attitude in the Bible. 47:21 For example in Acts 8:26, An angel of the Lord 47:25 said to Philip who was an evangelist. 47:27 He said, "Philip, go south to that road 47:29 and a desert road and so Philip went down there 47:32 on his way he met an Ethiopian, 47:34 the treasurer of Ethiopia, important man." 47:38 Verse 30, "Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man 47:41 reading Isaiah the prophet and he asked him, 47:44 "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 47:46 "How can I understand that?" 47:48 He said, "Unless sombody explains it to me?" 47:50 So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 47:53 And Philip explained to him 47:54 what Isaiah was writing about Jesus Christ, 47:57 that's an Old Testament book, Isaiah. 48:00 Read Isaiah 53, that's what he was reading, 48:03 read Isaiah 53, it's all about Jesus 48:05 dying on the cross for you in the Old Testament 48:08 and so he studied Isaiah with the man 48:11 and as verse 36 says, "They traveled along that desert road, 48:15 they came to an oasis or some thing 48:17 because they saw water 48:19 and the Ethiopian said, "Look, here is water. 48:21 Why shouldn't I be baptized? 48:24 And so he gave orders to stop the chariot. 48:26 And both he and Philip went down into the water." 48:30 Did you get that? 48:32 They went down into the water and Philip baptized him 48:36 and then when they came up out of the water, 48:41 so how do you baptize him, 48:42 he didn't bend down, get a handful 48:44 and I baptized you. 48:46 No, they went down into the water, 48:49 he baptized and then they came up out of the water. 48:54 Now notice, he was on his way home. 48:57 He could have said, "Well, I'm on my way home, 48:58 I can go to my own church and get baptized there." 49:02 No, when the Spirit moves on the heart it's time to do it 49:05 even if you are out in the desert. 49:09 It's dangerous to put off following what God says. 49:13 Don't give the devil a chance to put his foot in the door 49:18 because he gets it open a crack, 49:20 he would bust it open all the way. 49:23 So when God impresses your heart to do something, 49:25 it's time to do it right then. 49:28 Now a person should be prepared. 49:30 It doesn't mean you are going to be perfect, 49:32 that means you should understand 49:34 and once you understand what it means 49:36 then it's time to be baptized. 49:38 Don't put it off, don't wait. 49:40 Sometimes you'll say, "Well, my birthday is next month, 49:42 I want to get baptized on my birthday." 49:44 There is not one verse in the Bible that says, 49:47 "Thou shall wait until thine birthday to get baptized." 49:51 Not one, when the spirit moves on the heart 49:55 it's dangerous to delay, it's times to respond. 50:01 It's urgent, Acts 22, there is another story 50:05 because people ask me a lot of times, 50:07 oh, what about me, I'm a Christian, 50:09 I have been a Christian for 50 years 50:10 and God has used me in so many ways 50:12 and work miracles and answered my prayers 50:14 and are you telling me I need to be baptized? 50:18 Chapter 22:6, "About noon as I came near Damascus, 50:22 suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me 50:24 and I fell to the ground 50:26 and I heard a voice saying to me, 50:27 'Saul! Saul! why do you persecute me?'" 50:32 Now do you know why Saul was going to Damascus? 50:36 He was going to persecute Christians. 50:40 He was going to put them to death 50:42 and then he hears this voice, "Saul, why do you persecute me"" 50:45 "Who are you, Lord?" 50:48 I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. 50:52 Now Jesus had been dead for a long time, 50:54 He was up in heaven. 50:56 I love this because it tells me 50:58 whatever happens to you happens to Him. 51:01 Nothing happens to you 51:03 that Jesus isn't experience in Himself, 51:06 He understands you. You can trust him. 51:12 Why are you persecuting Me? 51:16 Now watch this, verse 10, "What shall I do, Lord?' 51:22 Saul of Tarsus, calling Jesus of Nazareth, Lord, 51:30 he was converted, he was born again right there. 51:35 He encountered Christ, he was born again, 51:37 "What shall I do, Lord?" 51:38 "Get up, the Lord said, go to Damascus 51:40 there you will be told all that you have been assigned to do." 51:42 God had an assignment for him. 51:44 He has got an assignment for you, 51:46 he is just waiting for you to get up and move on it 51:48 but he has got an assignment 51:49 just like he did for Saul of Tarsus. 51:53 Verse 11, "My companions had to lead me by the hand of Damascus, 51:56 because the brilliance of the light had blinded me." 51:58 Now folks we are looking at a miracle, amen. 52:03 And so verse 12, "A man named Ananias came to see me. 52:06 He was a devout observer of the law." 52:09 A sprit filled Christian called the devout observer of the law. 52:13 The spirit doesn't do away with the law, 52:14 it intensifies the law in our hearts. 52:18 Verse 13, "He stood beside me 52:20 and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight' 52:23 And at that very moment I was able to see him, 52:26 another miracle, isn't it? 52:28 I have never seen anyone 52:30 more miraculously convert than Saul of Tarsus. 52:35 Then he said, "The God of our fathers has chosen you 52:37 to know his will, to see the Righteous One 52:39 to hear words from his mouth 52:41 and you will be his witness of all men 52:44 of what you have seen and heard 52:46 and Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle. 52:51 What a conversion, what a miracle. 52:53 Nobody has ever had miraculous conversion like that 52:58 and yet verse 16, "And now what are you waiting for? 53:03 Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, 53:06 after all of that he still needed to go get baptized 53:11 even after receiving his call 53:13 to be an apostle for Jesus Christ, 53:16 he still needed to get baptized. 53:18 If Paul needed to be baptized 53:20 then how much that you and I needed to be baptized? 53:24 Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5, 53:28 "Accept you're born of water and the Spirit 53:31 you cannot see the kingdom of God." 53:34 That ought to sell it for us. 53:36 We can't see the kingdom of God 53:37 without the Holy Spirit 53:40 but he is also saying we can't see the kingdom of God 53:42 unless we are born of water. 53:45 Baptism and spirit, the water 53:48 and the blood of Jesus, we need them both. 53:53 But just in case you are not convinced, 53:58 I want you to go with me to Jordan River 54:00 and there's Jesus standing on the bank 54:07 taking off His outer robe walking down into the water 54:12 and said, "John baptize me." 54:17 John said, "I'm not even worthy to untie Your shoes, 54:21 I can't baptize You." 54:24 And Jesus said, "John this must be done, 54:29 if you want to fulfill all righteousness it must be done." 54:35 And so John the Baptist, baptized Jesus Christ 54:42 the Son of God in the muddy water of the Jordan River. 54:50 Watch Jesus as he comes up out of the water, 54:55 and He looks up and praise 54:58 and the Holy Spirit comes down on Him like a dove 55:03 and He hears the voice of His Father saying, 55:05 "This is My Son and I'm happy." 55:15 And Jesus trudges out of the water 55:19 on to the bank of the river. 55:22 You see Him standing there water dripping from His hair, 55:27 His beard, His robe into a little puddle 55:31 in the bank of the river 55:34 and then He notices a man standing next to him 55:38 and He asked the man, He said, have you been baptized? 55:45 And the man says, no, I haven't been baptized 55:51 and Jesus says, well, I was baptized. 55:57 And the man says, well, may be it is necessary for you. 56:03 I don't think it's necessary for me. 56:07 It makes me feel blasphemous just saying that. 56:11 Because if it was necessary for the sinless Son of God 56:18 to be baptized in the waters of the Jordan River, 56:22 how much more necessary 56:27 and willing should you and I be to follow the Lamb. 56:33 Brandon because you are giving yourself back to Jesus tonight, 56:36 I baptize you in the name of the Father, 56:39 and the Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. 56:48 Amen. Amen. 56:55 Lord, we have just seen it. 56:57 We've been talking about it but we have seen it. 57:03 And all we can do is just stand in awe 57:07 of all that you have done for us. 57:11 Lord as we sit here, the image is still in our mind. 57:19 There are some who have never been baptized. 57:22 They need to take that step, 57:25 may be there are even some who have been baptized 57:30 but it wasn't the Bible way 57:34 and then perhaps there are some 57:35 who have been baptized the Bible way 57:37 but they have wandered off the path 57:39 or they didn't understand what it meant. 57:43 They want to come back home. 57:46 And Lord I pray that You will just search every heart 57:50 and convict every person who needs to be baptized 57:54 to take that step and follow the Lamb. 57:58 We ask you in Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17