Water Baptism
Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-18,20
The Christian life begins the moment one accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We do this through faith and by believing that He is the Son of God and that He died for our sin. Acts 16:31
This is the first step of the journey ~ a challenging and exciting life.
The next thing we are instructed to do in God’s Word is to be baptized in water by immersion as we will see in our text.
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark both end with what is known as the Great Commission. However, they each state this commission in slightly different ways.
In this series on The Great Commission, we have attempted to take each element of both Matthew and Mark and study them separately to provide a complete and well rounded overview of everything Jesus indicated was part of evangelism.
Based on these two passages, evangelism is much more than simply preaching or sharing our faith, the message of salvation.
We have but two ordinances – both laid down by Jesus himself, and these are tenants of our church LCC as well as the ACC see the back of your bulletin
#6 “We believe in the sacraments of baptism by immersion and of the Lord’s Supper.”
According to Jesus, the Great Commission also includes healing, casting out devils, speaking in new tongues (one instance of the infilling of Holy Spirit), making disciples (on going education), and last but certainly not least baptizing new believers in water.
Water baptism plays a vip part in a person making a bold stand for Jesus. We emphases how important it is to share our new faith in Christ and also for us seniors citizens, so to speak, how important it is to continue, to share the goodness of God in our lives so that others can too share in that atmosphere of God’s mercy.
Water baptism is one way to make the public declaration of a private decision.
It is basic, foundational Christian doctrine and an act of obedience to the command of our Lord.
As such, it is wise that the new believer be baptized in water as soon after their conversion as possible instead of waiting to do it later in life as is common.
Here is a NT example:
Sword Drill Acts 8:35- 39 (may tell story)
35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"[c] 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
Another example we see from the NT that those who believed were baptized right away is found in
Sword Drill: Acts 16:29-33
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Are we convinced yet? How about another example Paul was baptized immediately following his conversion (Acts 9:1-19)
Then there was Cornelius Acts 10… v 47 “can anyone keep these from being baptized in water?”
44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues[a] and praising God. (Tangible manifestation of being filled with Holy Spirit – a sign, evidence that demands a verdict)
Then Peter said, 47"Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." 48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Today we want to realize that water baptism as is Holy Spirit baptism is all part of evangelism.
I believe it is important to understand what water baptism is not.
What Water Baptism Is NOT
1.Water baptism is not an option, nor is it essential to salvation it is part – a vip of the process. Only the blood of Christ can save, heal and cleanse us from sin.
· The thief on the cross was not baptized yet he was saved
· Not always possible to baptize someone near death yet they can be saved.
2. Water Baptism is NOT church membership
· Like the Lord’s table it is His table not the churches, water baptism is personal decision and action by the believer
· We are baptized into Christ not into the church
· You do not need to be baptized when or if you move (for good reasons) to another church. It’s believer’s baptism.
Believer’s baptism means one becomes born again, receives Christ as Lord and Savior there are some religions such as JW’s who also baptize but we do not consider that as believer’s baptism.
· It may be required in some churches to become a member if you haven’t already done so. Having said that IF you desire to become a member after baptism it is your choice here at LCC.
3. Water baptism is NOT infant baptism.
· We do not baptize infants, we dedicate them to the Lord
· We are exhorted to repent and be baptized infants have no understanding of this. We do at LCC willingly baptize children when and after they have received Christ as their Lord and Savior and have an understanding of the process.
What Water Baptism IS
1. Water Baptism is obedience to Christ’s commands
· Jesus said “Go … baptizing them in the name of “
2. Water Baptism is burial + resurrection with Christ
Sword Drill Colossians 2:12
12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Death ~ signifying death to sin and old life
Burial ~ burial of old self, you can’t hurt a dead man. We are a new creation old is gone new has come…
Resurrection ~ signifying resurrection with Christ. We are rise to new life in Christ. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us! Ya whooo! And we look forward to resurrection we we die naturally as well.
Why it is important and we do it.
Sword Drill Mark 16:16
16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Jesus our model
Jesus Himself said it was necessary for Him to be baptizes in order to fulfill all the law.
Sword Drill Matthew 3:13-20
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Although we do not believe that water baptism it’s self, as a stand alone, is necessary for salvation, it is definitely an integral part of the process!
We believe water baptism is by immersion when ever possible. That too was the example in NT.
The word baptize comes from the Greek word ‘bapitiso’ meaning to immerse or pickle. Yes, like pickles are baptized they are immersed in a solution they are soaked, baptize means to soak.
If you are born again have received Christ as your savior and have never taken that next step and been baptized then I ask as the Eunuch did “What hinders you?”
I’d be very interested in talking with you and answering any questions you may have. We would like to give you the opportunity in Aug to follow Jesus example in the water’s of baptism so let me know if you are interested and what dates. The Hillier’s so generously offered their pool for such a joyous occasion so you are also welcome to invite significant people to witness your special occasion.
We would meet at their home after the regular Sunday morning service. Candidates wear bathing suits and bring towels. We would ask you to share a brief testimony of you faith in Christ and then we would baptize you. If you have water issues we would work around that.
In this message we actually experience God's presence and His voice towards the end you will hear examples of folks as they share their God thoughts. Then we take it a step further to hear God's voice for others - it was a very powerful day at LCC indeed.
Prophetic Evangelism
July 11, 2010
Last week we learned how the Glory – God’s presence and His empowering presence to prosper, will change us into His likeness.
We learned from Moses and Jesus examples how they:
1. Found a quite place away from distractions (arise, come up higher – they literally went to a mountain!)
2. waited patiently for the glory or God’s presence to come ( tangibly in a cloud, or fire – we may sense for feel His presence)
3. they listened to what the Father was saying or looking in their minds eye for what He was doing
4. then they went and did as they saw or heard the Father
It’s important to note that when God’s presence His glory comes powerfully it may be uncomfortable, to some frightening as with the disciples on the Mt of Transfiguration but realize the importance to waiting and not being compelled to pick up our agenda’s wither good ones or not. Just be still and wait til you get the word.
Today we want to go deeper into actually Hearing God’s Voice so we can share with others ~ Prophetic Evangelism
Our initial prayer could be from
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Let me hear your voice what are some of those thoughts Lord? For me? For …
There is no formula for sharing the gospel, for praying for the sick, or just praying. The good news is always the same and it does not change. How we re present Christ to others will be unique to us as individuals. This is why it is so important to be able to go with your heart, to hear God’s voice, for ourselves and others.
We might think the thoughts are ours but they may not be they may actually originate from God but they come so natural we may be surprised.
Evangelism is no different.
We know that Jesus never healed two blind people the same way twice. Nor did He approach people with the goodnews the same way. With some He attracted them with healing. With some like the woman caught in adultery, He simply showed an act of love and forgiveness.
With others like Nicodemous who came to Him by night, He could see past the flattery, and speak right through the issue of his religious mind – “You must be born again.”
Still with others like Nathaniel, He gave a prophetic word – “I saw you under the fig tree” – and it was enough to make him leave everything and follow Jesus.
This is what prophetic evangelism is.
It is simply getting a word, impression, or a picture in your heart, minds eye, about the person God wants to talk to and then acting on it.
The truth is that hearing one word from God supernaturally will have a greater impact on people’s lives than we can imagine! I hear that there is a certain physic here in our area that is so busy with people going to get a ‘word’ - they may get more than they bargain for! It’s not as innocent as one might think. Would to God that all these people would come to God for a word –
The Godly way we see in
Sword Drill #2:
1 Corinthians 14:25
“The secrets of his heart are revealed; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God …”
If we are listening closely to the voice of the Spirit, He will tell us those secrets in a person’s heart.
Then we will tell the person what the Holy Spirit has told us, they will know that only God could have told you certain things about them, and they will want to know Jesus because of it.
It is really important that when we share with people, by praying for them, healing them, sharing a word from God, we must give them the opportunity to invite Christ into their life – they may be ready they may not, but they do need to opportunity to decide.
“This shows that God loves YOU so very much would you like to invite Him into your life and have a relationship with Him?”
If their response is no then simply ask “May I ask what is hindering you from starting a new life in Christ”
And listen intently with your heart, be emotionally present with them, don’t be trying to come up with a debate.
Just respect where they are at and respond honestly to their questions or response. People will almost always respond positively to love, honor and respect.
Last week we mentioned about how we are transformed or transfigured especially evident at new birth - God made man in His image when He breathed into mankind the breath of life.
Hold up a deflated balloon
You’ll recall we said that when God breathed into man (blow up balloon) He put His own life breath, His Spirit into man. And man became alive to God. The Spirit of God was put into his spirit and he was one with God, His creator.
When man sinned his spirit died (release air from balloon) and now the only way his spirit can come alive again is to receive Jesus as His Lord and Saviour.
Blow up balloon again
When we are born again, the Spirit of the living God lives inside us – that same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now lives in the believer! We are born again! Adam was the first born, we are born again. Holy Spirit lives in us.
Sword Drill #3:
John 7:38
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”
Rivers of living water are a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
This is important to know because God speaks to every born again believer.
In the DVD series Hearing God’s Voice by Mark Virkler He gives the following steps to hearing God’s voice:
Key #1 – God’s voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.
Habakkuk knew the sound of God speaking to him (Hab. 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12 ). I had always listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that usually, God's voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.
Debra comes and shares about her inspired prophetic painting. You can hear her story on the recording check it out it's quite moving! Inspiring!
Key #2 – Become still so you can sense God’s flow of thoughts and emotions within.
Habakkuk said, "I will stand on my guard post..." (Hab. 2:1). Habakkuk knew that to hear God's quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to be still, and know that He is God. There is a deep inner knowing (spontaneous flow) in our spirits that each of us can experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds. If we are not still, we will sense only our own thoughts.
Loving God through a quiet worship song is one very effective way to become still.
Key #3 – As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart upon Jesus, seeing in the Spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.
Habakkuk said, "I will keep watch to see," and God said, "Record the vision" (Hab. 2:1,2). Habakkuk was actually looking for vision as he prayed. He opened the eyes of his heart, and looked into the spirit world to see what God wanted to show him. This is an intriguing idea.
God has always spoken through dreams and visions, and He specifically said that they would come to those upon whom the Holy Spirit is poured out (Acts 2:1-4, 17).
Key #4 – Journaling, the writing out of your prayers and God’s answers, brings great freedom in hearing God’s voice.
God told Habakkuk to record the vision (Hab. 2:2). This was not an isolated command. The Scriptures record many examples of individual’s prayers and God’s replies (e.g. the Psalms, many of the prophets, Revelation).
1. Quite yourself down
2. Fix your eyes on Jesus
3. Tune to flow (river of Holy Spirit in you)
4. Write it down
When Holy Spirit gives us impressions, or speaks to us, it’s in our hearts, on the canvas of our minds eyes and we hear with our spiritual ears sometimes with our real ears too.
In fact, the Bible tells us the way we can know we are sons of God is that we are led by the Spirit of God
Sword Drill #4:
Romans 8:14
It is in our spirits that God will tell us things secrets about the people we want to lead to the Lord. Why would He do this? He’s not going to embarrass a person but will tell you things that will let people know He is a real live God and knows the very secrets of their hearts.
When you do or say something they know only God could have told you, it will open up their hearts to receive from the Lord.
They will be much more interested in what you have to say.
The best example of prophetic evangelism was Jesus and the woman at the well. He read her mail! As a result not only did she become a believer she brought her entire town to Jesus !
Sword Drill #5:
John 4:28-30
28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
When we tune into the Spirit, we will see hungry people reach out for Jesus too. It is important to spend time in prayer, in His glory so you will have His presence with you when you go remember Moses? I will not go without you God.
We need to be listening to God and He will tell us things that will open hearts to the gospel.
Que music
Exercise:
3. Tune to flow (river of Holy Spirit in you) can speak in tongues, worship
Please enjoy the powerful testimony's of Yvonne, Stacey and Virginia as they share briefly the goodness of God in their lives and how it's made a difference! Special music by Richard and Virginia.
Then listen as Pastor William English delivers a challenging message speaking from the parable of the treasure in the field.
