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| What is it ? | About the Speaker | Sermon Schedule | Satellite Schedule | Sermons | Free Bible Lessons | Home | |
| #14 My grandparents from Russia and Ukraine were pioneers to Canada just before the Bolshevik Revolution. They had been simple poor farmers over in the old country. Some relatives who stayed suffered under Joseph Stalin’s totalitarian regime. They faced so much hardship, bloodshed, and heartache – they finally escaped. Fled as refugees. Willing to cut all ties to their homeland, leave families and friends. And flee. Step out in faith to make a completely new start! They didn’t have much money, so they went to America on cattle ships. Some of my family died in those cattle ships on a horrific voyage across the ocean. Tonight the Voice of Prophecy SPEAKS good news about HOW YOU CAN BEGIN AGAIN! Take a trip with me back 2000 years ago. When Christianity came into being in the 1st Century after Christ, it was a serious threat to the Jewish religion. So Saul of Tarsus, a strict Pharisee of the Jewish faith, set out to destroy Christianity. Jesus predicted this would happen: <Luke 21:12> This prophecy was fulfilled almost at once. Yet, despite persecution, Christianity began growing rapidly. Saul of Tarsus ruthlessly tried to stamp out Christianity. This young Jewish Pharisee, in a very high position, was a Roman citizen by birth. Educated at the feet of the most distinguished rabbi in Jerusalem, Gamaliel, he was so zealous for his Jewish faith, the rabbis promoted him to the Sanhedrin – the ruling council of Jerusalem – as a staunch defender of their faith. Saul – whose name later was changed to Paul after his conversion – describes what he used to do to put an end to the hated Christians. “I was a hired gun. A hit man.” <Acts 22:4, 5> But one day as he was on his way to Damascus, a bright light shone out of heaven. Brilliant like a bolt of lightning, and it struck him to the ground. Blinding him. He heard a voice, saying, <Acts 22:7, 8,
10> But Saul was so blinded by the bright light he had to be led to a room in Damascus. For three days in the room where he stayed, Saul had time alone to think of the suffering and pain he had caused God’s people. His mind replayed like videotapes all those times he swore and cursed Jesus. He sat there in total darkness for three anxious days. Brooding. Worrying. Alone. And then God tapped a prophet named Ananias on the shoulder and said, “Go see Saul.” Quaking in his to his knees, he said, “Lord! Haven’t you heard the reports in the papers about....?” God said, “Go.” So Ananias came and said, <Acts 22:13-15> God wants you to go forward in your life. Come on now! Shut the door on your past, and make things right with your Lord. Then Ananias said something of profound import to Saul, <Acts 22:16> “What? I’ve been baptized in Jewish baptism. Me?” Yes, you! “How come?” “Baptism is the way God designs you are to be joined to your Lord forever! Baptism is the Christian doorway to a new life, Saul. To wash you clean from the terrible things you’ve done in the name of religion.” Well! Saul thought he’d been one of the good guys. But he had been murdering innocent people. His conscience needed to be cleansed. If anybody needed mercy, Saul did! He needed to be baptized so he could know God had forgiven him. So God could give him new Holy Spirit power. Saul the Pharisee, the persecutor, was about to be completely turned around, stood on his head, and begin all over again! And become the great Apostle Paul. For the rest of his entire life, a champion for Jesus! Have you ever wished you could start all over again? Wash away all of the mistakes of your past? God knew every one of us needs just such an experience, so He instituted baptism as a sign of a new start. Heaven’s sign we’re born again! Is there any more beautiful symbol of death to sin, burial of our past, and resurrection to a brand new life...than baptism by immersion? Buried beneath the water? When we were in Israel a few years ago, I was fascinated to learn that Christian baptism actually originated in Judaism. It began with John the Baptist, a rugged Jewish evangelist who appeared in the wilderness of Judea boldly preaching repentance to Jews. All roads led to the Jordan River where crowds of people listened to him. <Matthew 3:5, 6> One day a young Carpenter of Nazareth, closed the door to His shop, said “good-bye” to His mother, and made His way to the Jordan. When John caught sight of Him, he pointed to Jesus exclaiming, <John 1:29> “Folks, there’s Messiah! God’s anointed One the prophecies have looked forward to for 4,000 years! That’s Him! I recognize Him! The true sacrificial Lamb of God who is to die for the sins of the world!” But then John was struck speechless when Jesus started taking off His outer garment; removing His sandals; and He walked down into the Jordan River and stood beside him. “John, I want to be baptized.” John hesitated, “Me? Baptize You?” <Matthew 3:14> I’m not worthy
to untie Your shoelaces! But Jesus answered, Jesus didn’t need to be baptized. But He asked to be baptized because He wanted to leave us a perfect example. So John immersed Jesus in the Jordan River for that is what the word baptism means. To dip, or plunge under. The Bible says, <Matthew 3:16,
17> God publicly introduced Him as His Son, the Anointed One! Messiah! Fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 9:24, and marking the official beginning of Christ’s Messianic ministry, exactly to the month Old Testament prophecy predicted He would be anointed as Messiah – in the Fall of 27 A.D. We studied about that on our 4th night in the 490 year prophecy about that “One Life that Changed the World.” With pinpoint accuracy, Acts 10:38 says, “...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” i.e., baptism was the doorway to a brand new mission for Jesus. Heaven’s unique sign we’re born NOT of human birth, but born from above. A sign we’ve started all over again. In fact, that was Christ’s very last command before He ascended to heaven: <Matthew 28:19,
20> If you want to begin again, baptism is the sign...heaven’s one-of-a-kind, tailor-made plan to start all over and be born again. Let me tell you a story about some ladies who understood this very well. Pastor Duane was traveling to the village of Ncokaloca [nick-oh-call-oh-kah] in Central Africa for a baptism. In Ncokaloca he met several people who had prepared to be baptized - in fact they had waited almost a year for a pastor to come! The pastor told them that the next day he would be there for the baptism. The next day, when the pastor returned after having a large baptism in another area, some of the people planning to be baptized were at a village in the forest, cutting trees. They thought that it was the following day that the pastor was going to be there for the baptism. The pastor went ahead, the candidates who were there were examined and baptized. The hour was very late and the pastor had to go on to a distant village that night As the pastor finished baptizing the last person, several ladies came out of the forest and when they saw what was happening they said, "Oh, we misunderstood. We want to be baptized, too." The pastor had a schedule to keep and he said, "I'm sorry, I must go to Ncocosway. Next time we're here we'll have another baptism." Bertha and her friend felt very bad. As the pastor drove away in the Land Rover she and her friend began to walk, because they knew that in the forest a large tree had fallen across the road the day before, and they thought that when the pastor came to that tree he would turn around and come back and see them walking and stop and baptize them. But the pastor didn't have to stop because someone had cut the tree that day with a machete and had moved it aside. The pastor kept driving on. When Bertha and her friend got to that spot and saw the tree had been moved, they were crestfallen but not deterred. They kept walking. They walked over 30 kilometers that long night. The next morning at sunrise, they arrived at the village where the pastor was sleeping and knocked on his door. The pastor was amazed to see Bertha and her friend who explained that they had walked all night long. The pastor said, "You must tell me, why would you walk all night long to be baptized?" Bertha responded with words the pastor will never forget. “Pastor, I'm so sick and tired of this old world. I want to go home and see Jesus.”
There are so many customs you really wonder if baptism is even Christian. Some people baptize by sprinkling salt on you. Some by dipping. I’m glad most preachers don’t argue about it any more. They’ve re-discovered Bible baptism by immersion. Some still offer you a variety of methods. But even the brand new $300 million Catholic Church on Temple Street in Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Angels, has a full baptistery! Methodists and Lutherans give you the choice now. Bible baptism – by immersion in a river or lake or the ocean. I’m glad Christians are finally getting back to Ephesians 4:5 where the apostle Paul says there’s no confusion on this subject. “There is… “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” That’s because in the Greek the word “baptism” means literally “to immerse,” “plunge under.” Like when you dye a piece of cloth, you don’t sprinkle it. You completely plunge it under. Probably the most interesting detailed account of baptism recorded in the Bible is found in the Book of Acts. A few years ago I stood on the dusty road outside Jerusalem where God directed Philip the evangelist to go out and do some hitch-hiking. Because God had someone in mind who Philip needed to meet and evangelize with the Good News about Jesus. On the road to Gaza. Philip sees a fancy chariot racing towards him coming all the way from Africa! It was Ethiopia’s treasurer for Queen Candace in Egypt: a diplomat in charge of all her treasury. This government official had gone to Jerusalem to worship the true God. Now this African celebrity was on his way home, riding in his limousine-chariot and reading from a scroll of the book of Isaiah. As his chariot flashed by, Philip ran toward it and called to the man: <Acts 8:30, 31> “Come up and explain this passage – (Who’s this talking about?) – Messiah?” Philip saw immediately the man was reading Isaiah 53, a detailed prophecy about the crucifixion of Jesus as Messiah. <Acts 8:35> What a Bible study – bouncing along in that chariot! Philip telling him about Jesus and Calvary. He told him about the parables. The miracles. They traveled for hours. He explained the significance of baptism by immersion, for the Bible says that finally when they came to a desert oasis, the Ethiopian said to Philip, <Acts 8:36-38> Philip immersed him, just as John immersed Christ when He was baptized. And the Bible says that the Ethiopian, <Acts 8:39> Because he had followed God’s instructions explicitly to bury the old life of sin and start a new life in Christ. By the way, that’s a promise, friend! Joy and rejoicing always happen when we follow God’s instructions carefully. The Bible is very clear – and Catholics and Protestants now agree – immersion was the only mode of baptism practiced by the early Christian church. No other way. Jeannie and I visited Philippi in Greece in July, 2001. First Christian church ever established in Europe by the Apostle Paul himself. If you ever go there, don’t miss the 1st Century Church. It has a huge baptistery in it! In fact, all ancient churches in Europe had baptisteries. Like the one in Milan, Italy. Because for nearly 1200 years this is how they baptized! Historians and archaeologists of every denomination agree. Even James Cardinal
Gibbons admits that: When Jeannie and I visited Philippi, what an experience. The same exact riverside where Lydia and those first Christians worshiped. First Christian outpost in Western civilization. Philippi was where Paul so stirred up the people a revolution erupted and a mob attacked Paul and Silas. Tore off their clothing. The authorities beat and flogged them. Threw them in prison – (we saw the actual prison – archaeology has uncovered it) – where the jailor put them in stocks, their bodies half upside down, their torn and bleeding backs in the filthy muck of confinement. Their feet so tight the pain was terrible. But they didn’t murmur. In the total darkness and utter desolation of that dungeon they encouraged each other, prayed and sang to God. Because they’d been found worthy to suffer shame for Jesus’ sake. The other prisoners were astonished. They were used to hearing moans and groans and curses coming from that gloomy cell. The guards wondered: Praise? Prayer? Who are these men? Cold, hungry, and tortured – yet rejoicing? Suddenly at midnight an earthquake shook the prison walls so violently the doors flew open and everyone’s chains fell off. The keeper of the prison came running, and, seeing the doors opened, assumed all prisoners had fled. He knew Rome’s punishment for letting prisoners escape. So he was in the process of taking out his sword to commit suicide. <Acts 16:28> The jailor was shocked. Paul and Silas, had suffered torture at his hands. Untold agony. Yet these poor men held no resentment. Wanted no revenge. The jailor knew they were innocent men. He ran and got a light, went into their cell. <Acts 16:30, 31,
33> The worship service we held by the river near the jail in Philippi was one I’ll cherish forever. Precisely where that jailor and his family became members of the very first Christian church in the Western world! If you’re ever in Ephesus, Turkey, by all means visit St. John’s Church. The disciple John actually pastored that church, which was built as a memorial to him. It’s so old, the third general church council took place in this very building in A.D. 431. But what’s of special interest is the baptistery, circular in shape, about twelve feet in diameter and four feet deep, with stairs leading down into the font on two sides. Let’s go over to Italy. Ever hear of the Leaning Tower of Pisa? It’s really an ancient cathedral. But don’t miss what’s inside that cathedral – an ancient baptistery – a pool twenty feet across and four feet deep constructed by the Catholic Church. Tourists say, “Hey! How come Catholics needed so much water to sprinkle?” Tour guides will correctly inform you, “That’s because for thirteen hundred years the only mode of baptism was immersion – even for Catholics!” There are dozens of such cathedrals with large baptismal fonts in Europe. Sixty-six in Italy alone, whose construction dates between the fourth and fourteenth centuries. So there’s no debate about which method was used to baptize the new converts. The question is: how important is the rite of baptism? Is it really necessary for me to be baptized by immersion? Yes! Jesus says it means something profoundly significant. <Mark 16:16> Is it that important? In John 3:5 Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom.” “Well,” you say, “how do you prepare for baptism? What do you have to do?" Three simple steps. Jesus told His disciples: Step one… <Matthew 28:19> Teaching precedes baptism. You study first. Get some basic teaching. Uh-oh! That means infant baptism is not true baptism, because an infant can’t be taught doctrine! Jesus said the baptismal candidate is to be taught… <Matthew 28:20> This doesn’t mean you have to get a college degree before you’re baptized. Candidates simply prepare for the sacred rite of baptism by getting acquainted with the basic teachings of Jesus. We start the wonderful journey of living a brand new life: Christ’s way. So step number one: teaching. What’s the second step in preparing for baptism? When the Ethiopian asked Philip if he could be baptized, Philip said, <Acts 8:37> Believe. Total belief in Christ. Remember, there are different kinds of faith. The devils believe, too, but it won’t save them. This has to be accepting faith. Trusting faith. Third step: repentance. Peter said, <Acts 3:19> Repentance simply means to be sorry for my sins and with God’s help to turn from them. Jesus promises to do this for you. He’ll give you repentance! Three simple steps: Not complicated. Very personal. But if you’ve ever wished you could change your life for the better – but you haven’t known how – these three steps prepare you for baptism so you may truly become a new person – from the inside out. And Jesus invites us come just as we are, today. Now. We don’t wait until we’re perfect. Jesus says, “Let Me worry about your sins and habits. They’re MY problem. You just come. I’ll forgive you. I’ll convert you. I’ll empower you. I’ll help change you.” He invites, <Acts 22:16> One dark night, a Jewish leader named Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly because He didn’t want his friends to know he was really interested in this itinerant teacher’s new theology. He flattered Jesus, <John 3:2> Jesus could read this man’s heart, like a book, so He cut right to the point and showed Nicodemus what he really needed. <John 3:3, 4> Jesus said, “I’m talking about spiritual rebirth.” You can’t get yourself born, Nicodemus. Birth is a gift, given to you by someone else. Same with being born again. That’s a gift someone else gives you, too. <John 3:5> Nicodemus knew Jews “baptize” people – outwardly dip them in their ritual bath (“mik-veh”). But Jesus said I’m talking about spiritual rebirth inside, too! Water and the spirit. Outside. Inside. True baptism is an outward demonstration of the change that has taken place inside of us – in our spirit! Being immersed or sprinkled isn’t enough. Jesus made it clear: That won’t change you. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to transform your life! Anything less is inadequate. You come to the water. I’ll send the Spirit. Water and the Spirit – that’s the way a person officially seals his acceptance of Jesus Christ. It’s just like a wedding ceremony. That’s the public sign of a new relationship called “marriage.” The ceremony of baptism is the public sign of our marriage to Christ! When we’re baptized, God announces, “Look Universe!” Let me introduce to you…” <Matthew 3:17> “One of my saints!” Paul says when we’re baptized we “put on Christ” like you put on a beautiful new coat. Watch carefully what baptism symbolizes. In Romans 6 Paul very clearly says immersion visually commemorates faith in three great facts of Christ’s sacrifice: Death. Burial. Resurrection. <Romans 6:3> DEATH: Breathing stops. Eyes shut. Lips close. Hands folded. Next step? You lay down in the watery grave and are buried. <Romans 6:4> Immersed (for one second!) But this immersion symbolizes something special. It means you died – in a voluntary death decision for Jesus. When you’re immersed under that water, it means something drowns! Materialism and racism and war and intemperance and greed and pride and impurity and all your secret sins are drowned, friends, in that baptismal water. If any evil manages to sneak down underwater and you’re still hiding something, the true meaning of baptism is violated – it’s ruined. But there’s a crucial third part to this symbol: RESURRECTION! <Romans 6:4> Now please friend, there’s nothing magical about the water. The water won’t save you. It’s not the act of being baptized that works some mysterious miraculous change in an individual. I could immerse a person 50 times and he’d be just as sinful as before, unless the heart has been changed. But God declares that when you have that inward spiritual new birth plus the outward symbol of baptism, the person baptized is born of water and the Spirit! June 11, 1958. I well remember the day. I was 11 years old. But it was the day I died, was buried alive and lived to tell about it! I stepped into a baptistery in America, and after a simple but meaningful statement about my young Christian experience and desire to serve Jesus my whole life, I was baptized by a pastor in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That was the most important day of my life: My public baptism demonstrated my personal faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul says, “Lonnie, what happened is you died (to sin), the old you was buried, and a brand new you came out of that baptismal pool!” <Romans 6:11> It’s sort of like getting married. When Jeannie and I got engaged I was nearly 20, and let me tell you we weren’t perfect. But we got married! It was a perfect beginning. And that is what’s important tonight. <Ephesians 4:5> Keep it simple. No confusion. The only question to ask is: What did Jesus do? When the time was right, He did it, too! No hesitation. No putting it off. And the question today is, will I take Him at His Word and follow His example? I don’t care who you are or where you have been in your spiritual journey, friend. If you have not understood the meaning and importance of baptism before; or if you have not had the privilege of following Jesus in this sacred ceremony of baptism by immersion – the same question and invitation comes to you just now that Paul presented to the Philippian jailor when he cried out: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Still the same question. And still the same answer. And the invitation comes to you tonight: <Acts 22:16> Will you say “yes” to Jesus today? You say, “I don’t know if I FEEL ready.” Friend, feelings have little to do with it. Can we rely on our feelings for something as important as baptism? I told you Jeannie and I couldn’t wait to get married. But let me tell you a little secret: after the ceremony was over, we still didn’t “feel” married! But do you think we waited around in that little church to “feel married” before leaving for our honeymoon? Are you kidding? No way! The feelings caught up later. Six months later I woke up one morning and said, “Honey, I feel married!” Same with baptism. You can’t wait until you “feel” right about it. It’s the only right thing to do! The feelings will come later. Some say, “I’ll wait until I’m older and a bit more mature.” But do you know – the best time to prepare for baptism and be baptized is when you are young. The older you get, the more set in your ways you become, and the harder it is to make a change. No. Don’t wait until you’re older. If you sense Jesus calling you to be baptized tonight, don’t hesitate. Tonight Jesus and I want to extend a personal invitation: If you’d like to make plans to follow Jesus all the way in Bible baptism, I want you to make a tangible decision, a choice. Stand up for Jesus tonight. He went to Calvary for you. If you want to be baptized we want to pray for you and help you. Some people hesitate. Hold back. They don’t believe they’re ready. Remember, baptism doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It means you are committed. Jesus invites you, “Follow My footsteps in the watery grave of baptism. I offer forgiveness, I offer freedom from all the guilt of your past, I offer power to live a new life through My Holy Spirit.” The important question
is: Will you say “yes” to Jesus right now? Wherever you are
watching, I want to invite you to stand to your feet and come forward
to this screen and we want to pray for you. Jesus invites you. Come right
down to the front during this song. Will you come?
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