1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,160 And on this card, there's a place to have any questions. 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:13,640 You write those on the back or any prayer requests, and then those are the cards that 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:14,640 we draw. 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,520 Now, this card is a little bit different than the ones we've had previously. 5 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:28,120 Just be aware of that, because as we close today, there's an opportunity to commit, 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,720 to take another step. 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,640 One other thing that we sometimes do before we begin is to answer some questions, some 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:36,640 Q&As. 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:45,680 So, a question that was turned in last night was about Revelation 13 and Revelation 17. 10 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:51,440 There's a beast in both of those passages, and in Revelation 17, it talks about a woman 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:52,440 riding the beast. 12 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,120 So, that was the question that was turned in. 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,900 But here's the answer. 14 00:00:57,900 --> 00:01:03,200 I'm not going to answer that question this morning, because we're actually going to talk 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,760 about that Sunday night, and then I believe it's Thursday. 16 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:13,880 We're going to talk about both Revelation 13 and Revelation 17 this week. 17 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:19,040 So hopefully, we'll answer that question, and if not, if you still have the question, 18 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,120 then we'll tackle that after that. 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:27,360 So we hope that you'll come back tonight at 7 and tomorrow night at 7, and then also 20 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,080 we'll start Thursday and Friday and next weekend as well. 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,400 But let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 22 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,200 Dear God, we thank you so much for bringing us here. 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,840 We've been able to sing songs. 24 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,840 We've been able to recognize that the thing that thrills our heart is the love that Jesus 25 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:47,440 has for us. 26 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,460 And our Lord be with us as we open up your Word this morning. 27 00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:52,160 In your name we pray. 28 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:53,160 Amen. 29 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,920 Are these working or not working? 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:01,440 Okay, apparently, did you hit that select on there? 31 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,880 Apparently we won't have the little graphics, so that means you're definitely going to have 32 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,440 to open up your Bible. 33 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:12,240 I always encourage you to open up your Bible, but typically we have the verses on the screen 34 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:13,360 as well. 35 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:17,520 So we're going to start with a story today, a story about a farmer. 36 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:26,840 Now a farmer worked really, really hard all of his life planting, saving money, earning 37 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:33,720 money for one reason, because he wanted his son to be able to go to college. 38 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:39,040 And so he worked hard to make sure his son could have things that he was never able to 39 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,040 have. 40 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:47,120 And so as he did that, his son went off to college in the big city and was able to graduate. 41 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,440 And the farmer decided he was going to go visit his son. 42 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:58,080 And he went to his son's home where his son lived, and his son was having a gathering. 43 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,880 There were other friends, there were other people that were there. 44 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:09,640 And the son, now very wise and much smarter than his old farmer father, said, Dad, I'm 45 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:15,680 glad you're here, but please just don't embarrass me in front of my friends. 46 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:17,960 Please Dad, just don't embarrass me. 47 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,000 And the father said, Son, I would never do that. 48 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,160 In fact, I'm just going to sit in the corner and I'm just going to read the Bible. 49 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,420 Nobody will even know that I'm here. 50 00:03:29,420 --> 00:03:36,200 And so the father found a corner to sit in, and he was just reading quietly to himself. 51 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:42,480 And as the gathering went on, suddenly the father stood up and he said, Hallelujah! 52 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,240 Praise the Lord! 53 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,000 And the son ran over, Dad, Dad, my friends are here. 54 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:49,000 What are you doing? 55 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,120 And the father said, Oh, I'm sorry, I just read in Romans 3.23 where it says that all 56 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,880 have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 57 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:04,560 And then I read a few pages over in Romans 6, and it says that even though we've all 58 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:10,440 sinned, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. 59 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,360 And I was just so excited about that. 60 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,440 I'm sorry, son, I'm sorry. 61 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,440 And so then I won't embarrass you anymore. 62 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:19,440 Dad, please. 63 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,400 Nope, nope, I'm just going to read over here. 64 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,360 I'm not going to embarrass you anymore. 65 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:31,720 And so the son went back to reading, and about 10 minutes later, Hallelujah! 66 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,400 Praise the Lord! 67 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,800 Dad, what now? 68 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,920 Please, you're embarrassing me. 69 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:40,600 And the dad's like, Oh, sorry, son. 70 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:46,840 I flipped over to the Old Testament, and I was reading in Micah chapter 7, and it says 71 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:51,520 that God is going to cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. 72 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:57,000 And I realized that I have this promise of eternal life, and my sins will be cast into 73 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,600 the depths of the sea. 74 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,440 And I just had to say, Hallelujah! 75 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,680 Okay, dad, please, here, let me take the Bible from you. 76 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,640 That's getting you too excited. 77 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,600 And the son looked on his bookshelf, and he said, Here, here's an almanac, surely an 78 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:17,240 atlas, this world atlas will not excite you in that way. 79 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,800 Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, son, I'm so sorry. 80 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:27,200 And the son gives him that, and the father continues to read, and 10 or 15 minutes later 81 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,440 as he's reading through the atlas, Hallelujah! 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:31,920 Praise the Lord! 83 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,760 Dad, an atlas. 84 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,800 How can you say Hallelujah from an atlas? 85 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:43,680 Well, son, I had read that we've all sinned, but we have this gift of God, this gift of 86 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:44,680 eternal life. 87 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,760 And then I read that all my sins are cast into the depths of the sea. 88 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:55,840 And in this atlas, I read that there are places in the bottom of the ocean that they've hardly 89 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:56,840 even seen. 90 00:05:56,840 --> 00:05:58,680 It's so deep, they can't even get there. 91 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,040 They can't even explore the bottom of the ocean. 92 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:08,160 And it reminded me that even though all the things I've done, that God loves me, that 93 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:15,600 God cares about me, that God forgets my sins, and He casts them into the depths of the sea. 94 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,760 I think that's a beautiful picture of what God does for us. 95 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:25,400 But let's turn over to Micah, chapter 7, as we start here. 96 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,320 Now Micah is towards the very end of the Old Testament, so if you go to Matthew and go 97 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:35,520 back just a few books from there, or go to Daniel where we've been and go forward, you 98 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,600 will find Micah. 99 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,040 And we're going to look at Micah chapter 7. 100 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,400 Micah chapter 7 is where we're going to look today. 101 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,280 Micah 7, and we'll start in verse 18. 102 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:51,760 And it says, Who is a God like you? 103 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,200 Micah 7 verse 18, the Bible says, Who is a God like you? 104 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:03,440 Pardoning iniquity, pardoning sin, and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His 105 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,120 heritage. 106 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:11,280 And then it goes on in verse 19 and says, He will again have compassion on us and will 107 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,600 subdue our iniquities. 108 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:20,180 And then it says, You will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. 109 00:07:20,180 --> 00:07:26,480 And that's that picture of no matter what we have done, we have a Lord, we have a Savior 110 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,960 who forgives us, that Jesus died for our sins. 111 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:37,000 And even though you and I can look back into our life and can remember times that we have 112 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:43,440 fallen short, we can also recognize that God does not remember that. 113 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:45,400 God casts it away. 114 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,280 God puts it to the side. 115 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:54,920 And so we're going to look today and see that God has given us a way to put our past behind 116 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:04,920 us, to bury our past, and to wipe out totally any sense of guilt that we may have, any sense 117 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,520 of shame that we might have. 118 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:15,220 And it's through this experience of accepting Jesus as our Savior and then taking another 119 00:08:15,220 --> 00:08:19,100 step and being baptized. 120 00:08:19,100 --> 00:08:25,560 Baptism is God's way of taking away the shame and the guilt and washing that away. 121 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:32,240 And we may say, well, wait a second, this forecasting hope, this is about Bible prophecy. 122 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:39,920 Why would we take a session about Bible prophecy to talk about forgiveness again, to talk about 123 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:40,920 baptism? 124 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:48,480 Well, we've seen night by night that the purpose of Bible prophecy, the purpose of 125 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,640 revelation is to point us to Jesus. 126 00:08:52,640 --> 00:09:00,200 And if all we do is learn some interesting facts about prophecy or to learn a timeline 127 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:07,040 or to learn some history, then we've missed out on the real purpose because the real purpose 128 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,300 is to teach us about Jesus. 129 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:14,640 And not only that, but believe it or not, we're going to go to Revelation chapter 1. 130 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:22,240 And in Revelation chapter 1, we can see that this is actually a part of Bible prophecy. 131 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,480 Revelation chapter 1. 132 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:30,960 We're going to go to Revelation 1 and we're going to start in verse 4 because it gives 133 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,320 us the full background here. 134 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,400 It says, grace to you. 135 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:42,400 Revelation 1 and verse 4, John is writing and he says, grace to you and peace from him 136 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,920 who is and who was and who is to come. 137 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:52,000 That's Jesus right there, the one who is, the one who was, and the one who's coming 138 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:53,080 again. 139 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:57,120 And it says, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne. 140 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:05,020 So we have God, we have a spirit, and then it says from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, 141 00:10:05,020 --> 00:10:10,380 the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. 142 00:10:10,380 --> 00:10:17,460 And then notice what it says, it says, to him who loved us and washed us from our sins 143 00:10:17,460 --> 00:10:19,960 in his own blood. 144 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:24,220 That's a picture right there of what Jesus wants to do for us. 145 00:10:24,220 --> 00:10:32,440 That's a picture of this cleansing from sin as we are washed from sins by the blood of 146 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:33,480 Jesus. 147 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:42,120 And so here in Revelation before it gets to any apocalyptic vision, before it gets to 148 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:48,060 the seven seals or the seven plagues or the beast or any of those things, there's this 149 00:10:48,060 --> 00:10:53,040 picture of this cleansing, this forgiveness. 150 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:58,440 And then turn over to Revelation chapter 7. 151 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:05,480 Now we briefly looked at this chapter a few nights ago because in chapter 6 it ends and 152 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:07,880 it says, who is able to stand? 153 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,880 It ends with that question. 154 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:14,520 And then chapter 7 describes who is able to stand. 155 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:20,200 Kind of gives two names there, the 144,000 or the great multitude. 156 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:25,600 And notice just one of these verses, verse 14. 157 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,920 It says, well verse 13, who are these wearing the white robes? 158 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:31,800 Where did they come from? 159 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:35,800 And then in verse 14, I said to him, sir, you know. 160 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:42,600 And this heavenly being said to me, these are the ones who came out of the great tribulation 161 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:47,580 and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. 162 00:11:47,580 --> 00:11:53,280 So again we have this picture of cleansing that only Jesus can do. 163 00:11:53,280 --> 00:12:01,080 And Jesus has given us this understanding, this idea of baptism, this cleansing from 164 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:08,840 sin where our sin and our guilt is totally wiped away, totally forgotten by God. 165 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:15,400 And so we could begin and ask ourselves the question, is baptism really needed? 166 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:17,880 Is it something that we have to do? 167 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,520 Well let's go over to Matthew chapter 28. 168 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:27,920 Matthew chapter 28, the very last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. 169 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:37,720 This is very much the very last words that Jesus proclaimed before he goes back to heaven. 170 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:44,800 And you know sometimes we look at the last words that people think, that people say, 171 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,840 and we think, well those last words are important. 172 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:54,520 Because when somebody is sharing their last words, they're usually not talking about 173 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,520 something that doesn't matter, something that was trivial. 174 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:03,160 Someone's last words are usually something that's close to their heart, something that's 175 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:04,860 important to them. 176 00:13:04,860 --> 00:13:10,980 And so we're going to pick up the story in Matthew 28 and verse 19. 177 00:13:10,980 --> 00:13:18,740 And notice the Bible says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing 178 00:13:18,740 --> 00:13:24,000 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them 179 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:31,120 to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to 180 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,520 the end of the age. 181 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:39,640 And so here in Jesus' last words, he kind of is mentioning two different things, two 182 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,300 different things that seem to be important to him. 183 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:46,840 The first thing he's talking about is mission. 184 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,920 He says, go, go and make disciples. 185 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,080 Who are you supposed to make disciples of? 186 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:55,000 It says all nations, everybody. 187 00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:01,320 It doesn't matter a language, it doesn't matter ethnicity, it doesn't matter social level, 188 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:06,640 but we're supposed to go and tell everyone about Jesus. 189 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:09,160 And so that's one thing that is important to Jesus. 190 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:15,800 And another, as he mentions here in his final words, as you go and make disciples, the next 191 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:23,680 thing he says, the next step that people can take with Jesus is this act of being baptized. 192 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,920 Baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 193 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:36,600 And so when someone is accepting Jesus, a next step that they can take is this step 194 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:37,600 to be baptized. 195 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:43,260 And that's why even in a prophecy seminar, as we're talking about the prophecies of Jesus, 196 00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:50,200 as we're pointing people to the teachings of Jesus, we want people to have an opportunity 197 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:56,840 to take the next step, as we have one young lady next week who's decided to do that. 198 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:05,280 And so when people are baptized, what is happening is they're symbolically, publicly stating 199 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,240 whose side they're on. 200 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,700 And it doesn't mean that someone is perfect. 201 00:15:11,700 --> 00:15:15,760 It doesn't mean that someone is never going to make a mistake again, but it means that 202 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:21,160 they've made a decision in their life about who they're going to follow. 203 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:30,460 Now many times, in some ways, the Bible compares this baptism to a wedding, to getting married. 204 00:15:30,460 --> 00:15:36,560 Now I see many people here that are married, and I would imagine that many of you remember 205 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,160 your wedding day. 206 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:43,320 You remember where it was, what the weather was like, what people were wearing. 207 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,360 You probably remember what went wrong that day. 208 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,240 At least the ladies probably remember what went wrong that day. 209 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,400 I remember my wedding day. 210 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,720 Jolie and I got married at a wedding chapel in Gatlinburg. 211 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:58,040 A wedding chapel in Gatlinburg. 212 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,400 And I had some pictures of that, but we're not going to be able to see them today. 213 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:10,320 And so what happened on that day is that I was standing up before family and friends. 214 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,920 It was a small group of family and friends. 215 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,560 It was a wedding chapel in Gatlinburg. 216 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:22,240 But I was declaring to them that I want to spend the rest of my life with this lady, 217 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,080 that I love her. 218 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,880 It wasn't the beginning of our relationship, but it was the next step. 219 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:34,620 It was an outward sign of something that was happening in my heart. 220 00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:36,440 And that's what baptism is. 221 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:44,040 It's an outward sign of the love that we already have for Jesus and the decision that we make 222 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,840 to follow Him. 223 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:52,920 And as we follow Jesus, we recognize, because we're human, we recognize there's going to 224 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:54,300 be good days. 225 00:16:54,300 --> 00:16:57,460 We recognize there's going to be bad days. 226 00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:02,180 But we're telling everyone that I want to walk with Jesus. 227 00:17:02,180 --> 00:17:07,840 Let's turn over to our scripture for this morning, Romans chapter 6, the scripture that 228 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:09,080 we read this morning. 229 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:17,400 Because this, perhaps more than any other verse, gives us a picture of what baptism 230 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,320 is all about and what it represents. 231 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:25,900 So we're going to go to Romans chapter 6, and we're going to begin reading in verse 232 00:17:25,900 --> 00:17:26,900 3. 233 00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:31,040 Romans chapter 6 and verse 3. 234 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:38,120 The Bible says, or do you not know that it was that as many of us as were baptized into 235 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:42,360 Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. 236 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:49,320 Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was 237 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:56,880 raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of 238 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:57,880 life. 239 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:03,880 And so that gives us several pictures there, several things we can look at, several things 240 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:04,880 that we can examine. 241 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:11,680 It says we were buried with Jesus into His death. 242 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:13,720 Now what does that mean? 243 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:20,560 That means that as I've been living my life apart from Jesus, then perhaps I have not 244 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,160 always lived the way that I should. 245 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,200 Maybe I've been dishonest. 246 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,560 I've spoken ill of people. 247 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,400 I've not been trustworthy or whatever it means. 248 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:38,320 But when I want to begin walking with Jesus, then I want to put that old way of life behind. 249 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,200 I want to take a new step. 250 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,740 I want that old life to die in essence. 251 00:18:44,740 --> 00:18:47,240 And I want it to be buried. 252 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:54,800 Then I want there to be, as it says, a resurrection, just as Christ was raised from the dead, even 253 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,280 so we also should walk in the newness of life. 254 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:07,840 And so this baptism gives us some symbolism of death, of dying to an old way of life, 255 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:14,080 of being buried with water and then rising to a new way of life. 256 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:18,240 And that's just what Jesus did in this plan of salvation. 257 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,520 He laid down His life on the cross. 258 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:28,360 He was buried in the tomb, and He resurrected to a new life and to give us the assurance 259 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,960 and the promise of eternal life. 260 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,240 That kind of reminds me of a story. 261 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:40,360 There was a lady who had lived a very dark life, a hard life. 262 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:43,960 She had been involved in selling her body. 263 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:45,840 She'd been involved with the mafia. 264 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:50,760 She'd been involved in murder and different things like that. 265 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,760 Had a very, very rough background. 266 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:59,500 But as she continued to live out her life, she heard of a series, a revival that was 267 00:19:59,500 --> 00:20:06,560 taking place, and she began to attend that, and she heard stories of how Jesus could change 268 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,240 people's life. 269 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:15,600 She heard stories of Mary Magdalene and her life being changed, and King David who had 270 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,640 people killed and his life was changed. 271 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:23,840 And she recognized that if Jesus could do that for others, then perhaps Jesus could 272 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,000 do that for her. 273 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:31,200 And she made a decision to follow Jesus, and she began to prepare to be baptized. 274 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:37,880 And as she was talking to the pastor about her baptism, she said, Pastor, you know what? 275 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:39,160 I've been practicing. 276 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:40,720 I have an odd request. 277 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,880 I've been practicing holding my breath. 278 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:49,120 And I can hold my breath for almost a minute. 279 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:54,280 And when I get baptized, I want to really experience this. 280 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,440 And I just want to bask in all that Jesus has for me. 281 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:06,600 And so, Pastor, when you put me under the water, I want you to hold me there for a little 282 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,320 bit because I can hold my breath. 283 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,760 And when I'm ready, I'll squeeze your hand and you can lift me up. 284 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:19,240 And so, Pastor, I've never heard of that before, but okay, yeah, we can do that. 285 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,660 And so, that day comes. 286 00:21:21,660 --> 00:21:22,720 He raises his hand. 287 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,620 I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 288 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:31,080 He puts her under the water, and he waits. 289 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:40,280 One, two, three, four, five seconds, ten seconds. 290 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,880 He could see the joy on her face down through the water. 291 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:49,100 But what he hadn't done, he hadn't told any deacons or elders or church members that this 292 00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:50,760 was the plan. 293 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:56,200 And so, the people watching, they got to know Pastor not like this lady. 294 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:57,820 Did he hurt his back? 295 00:21:57,820 --> 00:21:58,960 What's going on here? 296 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,120 And finally, she squeezed his wrist. 297 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:02,440 He lifted her up. 298 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,720 And when she came up out of the water, she said, hallelujah, praise the Lord. 299 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:12,080 Now, pull that plug and wash my sins right down the drain. 300 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,420 She understood that there was a cleansing. 301 00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:22,320 She understood that something took place, that a forgiveness took place, that a new 302 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,640 life was taking place. 303 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,200 Let's turn over to 2 Corinthians. 304 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:34,640 So from Romans, you go to 1 Corinthians, then 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 305 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,960 5 and verse 17. 306 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:45,440 It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, the Bible says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he 307 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,320 or she is a new creation. 308 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,400 Old things have passed away. 309 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,840 Behold, all things become new. 310 00:22:54,840 --> 00:23:01,640 When we put ourselves into the grace of Jesus, it says the old things have passed away and 311 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,480 all things become new. 312 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,120 And that's something that's hard to explain. 313 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:12,600 We can't explain how a life is changed. 314 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:14,000 Psychiatry can't explain it. 315 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,900 Sociology can't explain it. 316 00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:24,960 But a divine miracle can explain it as the Holy Spirit comes in and baptism is part of 317 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:25,960 that journey. 318 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:32,400 Now, we have to make sure we're careful here because sometimes people go to one extreme 319 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,160 or another. 320 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:40,560 Sometimes people look at baptism as kind of a life insurance policy. 321 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:46,280 I'm not sure about this whole Jesus thing, but you know what? 322 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:51,520 If that water touches me, if I get in that water, then I'm saved no matter what. 323 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,240 So I'm going to do it just in case. 324 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,000 But that's not what baptism is all about. 325 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:03,480 Baptism is a public expression of something that's taking place in the heart. 326 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:08,440 If you're not truly believing it, then you can get baptized, but really just getting 327 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:09,900 wet. 328 00:24:09,900 --> 00:24:13,500 So that's one extreme that sometimes people go to. 329 00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:21,200 But then there's another extreme, and that's that idea of perfection, that I have to wait 330 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:26,040 until I'm perfect in order to take that step. 331 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:33,760 And I have to wait to achieve a certain level, and then I'm worthy to be baptized. 332 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:39,440 I remember one time many years ago I was doing a kind of a small group study with collegiate 333 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:45,920 people, young people, and there was one young lady who every time we gathered, she's like, 334 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:46,920 you know what? 335 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,720 I need to get back to church. 336 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:51,820 I need to get baptized. 337 00:24:51,820 --> 00:24:58,420 But whenever you talk to her about that anymore, she was like, well, I've got some things in 338 00:24:58,420 --> 00:25:00,960 my life that I need to take care of. 339 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,560 I've got some things that I need to work on. 340 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,680 I've got some things that I need to fix. 341 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:15,180 And during my time with her, my experience with her, she never ever made that choice. 342 00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:22,240 And so we have to make sure that we're not putting things off, that we're not delaying, 343 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:28,280 that if God is calling us to do something, we don't have to wait until we feel that we're 344 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:29,280 perfect. 345 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:36,200 If we waited until we were perfect, none of us would ever be baptized because we fall 346 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,880 short of the glory of God. 347 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:47,200 So then sometimes people say, well, okay, that makes sense, but what is baptism? 348 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,200 How do we get baptized? 349 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,960 And there's different ideas. 350 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,840 There's different ways that people do it. 351 00:25:54,840 --> 00:26:02,960 I've heard of baptism by oil or baptism by pouring or sprinkling or baptism by telephone 352 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,840 or people get baptized for somebody else, proxy baptism. 353 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,420 There's baptism by immersion. 354 00:26:10,420 --> 00:26:14,760 So is there a way in the Bible? 355 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:20,400 We want to make sure that we're following what the Bible says, what God says. 356 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:28,360 Well, the word itself, baptism, it comes from the word baptizo, baptizo. 357 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:36,040 And what that word means, it means it comes from the textile or the garment world. 358 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,640 And it's talking about dyeing clothes. 359 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:45,320 So if you're dyeing clothes to turn them a different color, you would want to put the 360 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,480 cloth into the dye. 361 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,460 And what would you do with it? 362 00:26:50,460 --> 00:26:52,160 You would want to push it all the way down. 363 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,360 And that's what that word means. 364 00:26:54,360 --> 00:27:01,280 Baptizo means to submerge or immerse or to dip or to plunge under the water. 365 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:09,720 So that word gives us a little hint, and that is the one way that kind of fulfills that 366 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:18,120 theology that we saw in Romans chapter 6 about dying to an old way of life, about being buried 367 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:25,040 as you hold your breath under the water, and then about a resurrection as you arise to 368 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:26,480 a new way of life. 369 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,020 But let's do more than just vocabulary. 370 00:27:29,020 --> 00:27:31,240 Let's look and see what happened. 371 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,200 Let's turn over to Matthew chapter 3. 372 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:39,760 Matthew chapter 3 tells us the story of Jesus' baptism. 373 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,360 We talked last night about what would Jesus do. 374 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:46,400 Well, let's see what he did in Matthew chapter 3. 375 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,400 We'll pick up the story in verse 13. 376 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:54,240 Matthew 3 starting in verse 13. 377 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,800 Matthew chapter 3 starting in verse 13. 378 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:03,560 It says, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 379 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:09,400 And John tried to prevent him saying, I need to be baptized by you, and you're coming to 380 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:10,400 me? 381 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,880 John's like, wait, I'm not worthy to do this. 382 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:14,080 You're the Messiah. 383 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,400 You should be baptizing me. 384 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:22,420 But verse 15, Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so, for thus it is fitting 385 00:28:22,420 --> 00:28:25,960 for us to fulfill all righteousness. 386 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,080 And then he allowed him. 387 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,780 Jesus is giving us an example. 388 00:28:30,780 --> 00:28:37,680 And then in verse 16, it says, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from 389 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,680 the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him. 390 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:47,560 And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 391 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:54,300 And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 392 00:28:54,300 --> 00:28:55,460 pleased. 393 00:28:55,460 --> 00:28:59,280 And so Jesus here is giving us an example. 394 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,200 You notice what happened there in verse 16. 395 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:07,440 It says Jesus came up immediately from the water. 396 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:14,920 Now if Jesus was to come up from the water, that would mean that first he had to go down 397 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:16,640 into the water. 398 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:24,680 And so we see that Jesus gives us this example of death, burial, and resurrection, this immersion 399 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:25,680 that takes place. 400 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,600 And we can actually see it in another place. 401 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:34,520 Let's turn over to Acts, the book of Acts, which is the story of the New Testament church 402 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:41,600 as these disciples are going everywhere sharing the gospel of Jesus. 403 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:47,720 And in this story, in Acts chapter 8, there's a follower of Jesus named Philip. 404 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:55,480 And he's one of the deacons, and Philip has been sent by an angel to go down a particular 405 00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:01,240 road, a random road, into the wilderness, a desert road. 406 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:07,960 And as he's going, he sees a chariot coming by or a wagon coming by with a government 407 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,680 official from Ethiopia. 408 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:19,440 And this angel who sent him tells Philip to go next to this wagon, this chariot, and talk 409 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:20,440 to this guy. 410 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:26,120 It's kind of like if you're driving home today and suddenly God tells you, why don't you 411 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:31,320 roll down your window at that stoplight and start talking to the person next to you. 412 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,360 Tell them about Jesus. 413 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:37,800 We might push back a little bit at that, but Philip doesn't. 414 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:44,560 Philip goes up next to this wagon, this chariot, and he hears the gentleman reading from the 415 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:45,560 Old Testament. 416 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,560 And he's reading about the Messiah. 417 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:53,480 And he didn't understand what he was reading about. 418 00:30:53,480 --> 00:31:01,640 And so then notice in Acts 8 verse 35, the Bible says, Philip opened his mouth, and beginning 419 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,160 at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. 420 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:06,340 It's an awesome story. 421 00:31:06,340 --> 00:31:09,960 He starts right where that guy is, and he tells him about Jesus. 422 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:15,680 And then it says in verse 36, now as they went down from the road, they came to some 423 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:16,720 water. 424 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:19,440 And the eunuch said, here is water. 425 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,340 What hinders me from being baptized? 426 00:31:22,340 --> 00:31:26,820 And Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. 427 00:31:26,820 --> 00:31:32,580 And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 428 00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:38,760 And so he commanded the chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into 429 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,680 the water, and he baptized him. 430 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:48,840 And so an awesome, awesome story that this man learns about Jesus, and he recognizes 431 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,080 that there's a new step for him to take. 432 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,400 And it says, they came to a place where there was water. 433 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:02,440 And once again, it says, Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water, and he baptized 434 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:03,440 him. 435 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,080 And again, they came out of the water. 436 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:13,520 This is a symbol here of immersion, of death, and burial, death of the old life, and burial, 437 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,520 and resurrection to a new life in Jesus. 438 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:24,520 But did you catch, there was a really cool question that the Ethiopian asked in verse 439 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,720 36. 440 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:35,560 Verse 36, he says, here is water, and then he says, what hinders me from being baptized? 441 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:38,000 He's like, I believe in Jesus. 442 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,040 You've taught me some new things. 443 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:42,720 What hinders me from being baptized? 444 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,760 And I think that's a question that we can often ask ourselves. 445 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:51,640 Is there anything that hinders you from taking that next step with Jesus? 446 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:59,240 Is there anything that hinders you from following this command of Jesus as you've been studying 447 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:05,320 the word, as you've learned more about Jesus, as you've drawn closer to him, as you recognize 448 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,520 that Jesus is coming soon? 449 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:11,280 What hinders you from being baptized? 450 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:18,300 And so that's a question that I think we can all ask and we can all consider. 451 00:33:18,300 --> 00:33:20,760 So what does it mean? 452 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:22,600 When can we be baptized? 453 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:29,160 Well, just like this Ethiopian, it said if you believe, he believed and accepted that 454 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,720 Jesus was his personal Savior. 455 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:39,520 And we've seen in nights before that we talk about repentance, turning from our desire 456 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:44,860 to sin, and publicly stating, I want to be on Jesus' side. 457 00:33:44,860 --> 00:33:50,440 And like this Ethiopian, there was some instruction, just some basic knowledge. 458 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,240 He didn't know everything, but he knew enough. 459 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:59,080 He knew that Jesus was his Lord, that Jesus was his Savior. 460 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,880 Sometimes people ask a question, well, what about rebaptism? 461 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:05,880 Is that ever a thing? 462 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:13,200 Well, I would say that we don't want to get to the point where we get baptized seven or 463 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,400 eight or ten times or whatever. 464 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,960 Every time I sin, I need to get baptized again. 465 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,920 That's not what baptism is for. 466 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:29,040 The Bible talks about a communion service as kind of a reconnection, a recommitment 467 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:30,040 to God. 468 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:37,320 But let's turn over to Acts chapter 19, because there actually is an example of that. 469 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:44,680 Now in Acts chapter 19, we have Paul, and Paul is visiting in the town of Ephesus. 470 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:51,560 And Paul comes across a group of people, and he begins to question them and figure out 471 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,620 who they are and what they've done. 472 00:34:54,620 --> 00:35:02,000 And it says in verse 2, the end of verse 1, it says, finding some disciples in Ephesus, 473 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:09,620 Paul said to them, verse 2, Acts 19, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 474 00:35:09,620 --> 00:35:15,800 And so they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. 475 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,240 Holy Spirit, what's that? 476 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:19,080 What are you even talking about? 477 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:25,280 And it goes on in verse 3, and he said to them, into what then were you baptized? 478 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,520 And they said, into John's baptism. 479 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:34,200 Apparently, this group of people had left Ephesus and traveled to Jerusalem at some 480 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,800 point and they had heard the ministry of John the Baptist. 481 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,960 And John the Baptist was teaching about the baptism of repentance. 482 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:49,920 And then they had gone back to Ephesus and they had missed the whole story of Jesus and 483 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,560 the Messiah and everything that came after that. 484 00:35:53,560 --> 00:36:01,640 And so Paul now tells them, verse 4, it says, Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism 485 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:08,120 of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after 486 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,720 him, that is on Christ. 487 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:17,400 And then in verse 5, it says, when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the 488 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,500 Lord Jesus. 489 00:36:19,500 --> 00:36:26,160 So this group of people had been baptized before and then they learned something significant. 490 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,800 They learned something new. 491 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:34,040 And they felt that once again, they wanted to take this public stand, they wanted to 492 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:41,400 take this public and show their commitment to this new significant truth that they had 493 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:42,400 learned. 494 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,800 And so we see there in Acts 19 that they were baptized again. 495 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,960 And that's a perfectly acceptable thing. 496 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:56,520 I think another time would be if someone has been baptized before, has been following Jesus, 497 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:03,480 and then for an extended period of time began to walk away from God, began to live their 498 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,720 life in a totally different direction. 499 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:10,400 And people realize that and people recognize that. 500 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:15,640 But now someone says, you know what, I walked away from God, but now I want to publicly 501 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:24,080 stand and I want God to recognize that I am with him and that he is with me. 502 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,320 Now I want to look at two more verses here and then we'll be done. 503 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:32,380 We're going to go to John, they're both in John, John chapter 3, and then we're going 504 00:37:32,380 --> 00:37:37,840 to go to John chapter 14, John chapter 3 and verse 5. 505 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:42,440 John chapter 3 and verse 5. 506 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:49,920 The Bible says, Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I was reading verse 3, 507 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:57,880 Jesus answered most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water, that's the baptism, 508 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:03,320 and the Spirit, he can't enter the kingdom of God. 509 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:08,080 So just being dipped or dunked, that's not enough. 510 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:12,320 It says, baptized with water and the Spirit. 511 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:19,680 Then turn over to John chapter 14, John chapter 14, and we're going to look at verse 16. 512 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:24,120 John chapter 14 and verse 16. 513 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:29,440 Jesus had just said in verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments, but then it says 514 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:37,320 in verse 16, I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper or another comforter 515 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,920 that he may abide with you forever. 516 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:46,840 There's a beautiful promise there that Jesus does not just leave us alone. 517 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:54,080 He doesn't say, okay, you've been baptized, great, good luck, you're on your own now. 518 00:38:54,080 --> 00:39:01,640 But no, he wants to pour out, he wants to give us a helper, a comforter. 519 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:08,240 He wants to give us the Holy Spirit because it's through the working of the Holy Spirit 520 00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:17,040 in our life and in our heart and in our mind that we can begin to walk this path with God. 521 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:22,360 And we can ask God as individuals, I want to be born of the water, but I also want to 522 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,640 be born of the Spirit. 523 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,080 And we can pray that prayer every morning. 524 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:30,480 God, fill me with your Spirit. 525 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,520 Let me walk with you. 526 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:40,080 And so there may be some here today who haven't been baptized or maybe have a different walk 527 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:41,080 with God. 528 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,960 And so I want you to take out the little card that you were handed because there are several 529 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,680 different responses there. 530 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,680 And I think there's something for each one of us. 531 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:55,720 The first one says, I know that Jesus is my Savior and I desire to follow him with all 532 00:39:55,720 --> 00:39:56,720 of my heart. 533 00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:02,140 I hope that every one of us could check that and make that statement. 534 00:40:02,140 --> 00:40:07,920 And then some would say, I'd like to experience Bible baptism by immersion one day soon. 535 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:11,880 And then I have strayed from the Lord and I would like to be re-baptized or I've learned 536 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:15,640 new things and would like to be re-baptized. 537 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:17,720 Or maybe you want to study more. 538 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:22,200 I encourage you just to fill this out prayerfully. 539 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:26,640 We're going to sing in just a moment, Amazing Grace, because that's what it's all about, 540 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:29,520 the grace that Jesus has for us. 541 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:37,880 And so as you fill this out, just respond to what Jesus is asking you to do. 542 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:45,720 Dear God, we thank you for such amazing grace that even though we have been blind, that 543 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:49,000 we can see because of what you have done for us. 544 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:55,320 And Lord, I thank you for decisions, commitments, for steps that are taken because of what you 545 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,080 have done for us. 546 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,840 And Lord, thank you for your promise to cleanse us of our sins and to cast them to the depths 547 00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:02,840 of the sea. 548 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,880 And Lord, it's my prayer that may the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart 549 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:11,400 be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. 550 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:12,400 In your name we pray. 551 00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:16,040 Amen.