1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,000 Amen. Ephesians chapter four verse five. It's been our theme verse the last three weeks and I'll be concluding today on the threefold cord of God. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:25,000 The word of the Lord reads this way, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Someone say one baptism. 3 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:34,000 In this series we have looked at the cords of one Lord, one faith, and today we're going to look at the third and final cord, one baptism. 4 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,000 You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. 5 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:58,000 A couple of weeks ago on June 28th, I celebrated a milestone in my life. 32 years ago on that day, I made the single most important decision of my life. 6 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:06,000 I decided to give my life to Jesus Christ and be baptized in his wonderful name. 7 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:16,000 I get a little emotional, maybe like some of you do when you think about the day that you gave your life to Christ and were baptized. 8 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:25,000 When I think about that day and what it meant to me, certain images, certain feelings sort of stand out from that day. 9 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:38,000 And it is a decision, it is one decision that would ultimately guide every one of the hundreds of thousands of decisions that I would make for the rest of my life. 10 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,000 That one decision would be the most important decision. 11 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:50,000 For those of you who have made a decision like that and have been baptized in Jesus name, how many of you remember that day? 12 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,000 Amen. It's a day you never forget. 13 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:08,000 It's a day you should never forget, not only for what it represents, but if it was done with your whole heart, then it was a decision that would impact every other decision in your life. 14 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:27,000 This decision for me dictated for me other life choices like where I would go to college, school, who I would marry, who my children would be, who my friends would be. 15 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:38,000 Right down to where I would live, what my occupation would be, that one decision impacted all the other decisions. 16 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 And ultimately where I would spend eternity. 17 00:02:41,000 --> 00:03:05,000 And as I stand here today, I can tell you that that one single decision that I made over 30 years ago was the single greatest decision of my life and one that has blessed my life in more ways than I could possibly explain to you today. 18 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:24,000 And it's for the fact, not that it was a just a symbolic act, not that it was just a public confession of my faith, though it was those things as well. 19 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Rather, it was because my old life was buried in the water and I was born again and raised to new life in Christ. 20 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,000 Baptism changed me. 21 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,000 It saved me. 22 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,000 It washed me. 23 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,000 Amen. 24 00:03:50,000 --> 00:04:02,000 It integrated me into that one baptism that Paul writes about in Ephesians chapter four. 25 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,000 That one baptism. 26 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,000 Someone say one baptism. 27 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:28,000 Paul's message of one baptism would suggest to us today the possibility of other baptisms or other faulty forms and formulas of baptism. 28 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:41,000 Whether by immersion or sprinkling, baptism is a very old ritual of many religions. 29 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:55,000 In fact, Hindus have been practicing a form of baptism for approximately 4000 years. 30 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:12,000 As a part of their religious purification rites, they are immersed in a river or sprinkled with water and many Hindus make a pilgrimage to India to participate in that. 31 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:36,000 The ancient Babylonian, Egyptian, and even Roman civilizations all had their own form of religious washings, purification rites that their adherents would practice involving water. 32 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:55,000 There are archaeological evidence to suggest this and also ancient literature to suggest these ancient civilizations and religions that had their own form of water washing and purification. 33 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:14,000 And even within Judaism, Judaism that predates Christianity from which Christianity was in some ways born out of had their own washings and purification rites. 34 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:28,000 So the idea of water being essential, however, an essential element in the process of salvation is a uniquely biblical concept. 35 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:48,000 So all these other religions with their forms of washings and water purifications, none of these religions or civilizations would say that these are essential for eternal life. 36 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:58,000 And this is what separates the baptism that we preach and the baptism that Paul writes of that one baptism. 37 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:03,000 That the baptism of the Bible is one that is of salvation. 38 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 That is a biblical concept. 39 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:26,000 And there are some key moments in biblical history that prefigure the form of baptism that was instituted by Christ, practiced and taught by the the Apostles and continues in the apostolic church today. 40 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:42,000 So what I want to do here for a few moments is before we look at the function and the formula baptism, explore the foreshadows of baptism in the Old Testament in the Word of God. 41 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:52,000 There are some powerful, beautiful pictures, prophetic pictures of baptism. 42 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:59,000 I want you to understand today that water is featured prominently in the Bible. 43 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:08,000 And at nearly every point that water appears in scripture, it symbolizes a change. 44 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:13,000 Starting from the very beginning of creation. 45 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,000 Let's look at creation. 46 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:23,000 The first picture foreshadow of baptism in Genesis one. 47 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:33,000 The Word of God tells us that the world was without form, without function, without purpose. 48 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Then the Lord comes down and his spirit begins to move upon the face of the waters. 49 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:53,000 And after this occurs, according to the creation story, the world was forever changed. 50 00:08:53,000 --> 00:09:09,000 I find it interesting that the first recorded move of God in all of scripture, the first record of God's spirit moving happened over a body of water. 51 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:15,000 So I like to connect those dots in your mind in your spirit today. 52 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:27,000 The moving of the spirit of God and the element of water, because you're going to see how those two go hand in hand. 53 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,000 They work together. 54 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:39,000 And this is what happens when a soul, when a person goes through the waters of baptism. 55 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:54,000 Through baptism, like we see in the picture of creation, God transforms your formless, purposeless existence into a habitat of life. 56 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:55,000 Amen. 57 00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Through baptism, God takes a soul, a life that without form, without purpose and transforms that life into a flourishing place of life. 58 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,000 Praise be to God for that. 59 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,000 So baptism gives you purpose. 60 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Amen. 61 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,000 Gives you a reason to exist. 62 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:24,000 Another foreshadow is the great flood. 63 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:33,000 In Genesis chapter six, we read of how the Lord repents. 64 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,000 That he has made man. 65 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,000 So he responds. 66 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,000 By washing him. 67 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,000 From the earth. 68 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,000 With water. 69 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:56,000 And in doing so, the Lord marks a point in history, in the history of the world that separates. 70 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,000 The old from the new. 71 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:06,000 The then from the now, the past from the present. 72 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,000 The flood. 73 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,000 That we all have heard about. 74 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,000 We know was a historic cataclysmic event. 75 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:17,000 Changed the landscape of the earth. 76 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,000 But what it also did. 77 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:27,000 In the in the waters covering the earth, it stood as a solid line. 78 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:34,000 And God used the water to mark a change from one state to another. 79 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,000 God baptized the whole earth. 80 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,000 The earth got baptized. 81 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 And after the waters receded, there was new life. 82 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,000 There was a new beginning. 83 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:47,000 Amen. 84 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:51,000 This is what baptism does for the human soul. 85 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,000 Baptism marks a change. 86 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:55,000 Amen. 87 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:02,000 In your state from being a state of damned to a state of saved. 88 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:07,000 Just like the great flood baptized the earth. 89 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,000 And as a result, there was new life. 90 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,000 Noah and his family was saved. 91 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:24,000 When we are baptized in Jesus name and water, we go from a place of destruction and damnation to a place of salvation and eternal security. 92 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,000 Because somebody give God some thanks and some praise for that. 93 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,000 Amen. 94 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:38,000 The Bible says in First Corinthians, Paul writes chapter 10 and verse one, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you. 95 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,000 Excuse me. 96 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,000 This is the second part. 97 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,000 This is the Red Sea. 98 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,000 But there is a beautiful typology. 99 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,000 Let's look at the Red Sea. 100 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:55,000 In Exodus chapter 14, we see another powerful picture of baptism. 101 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:03,000 The Red Sea served as a physical boundary of Pharaoh's influence. 102 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,000 Physical boundary. 103 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:23,000 So when the Israelites came to the brink of the Red Sea and they crossed through it through a supernatural act of God parting the sea, they went through the sea. 104 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,000 They went through on dry ground. 105 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:39,000 And as they did this, there was a spiritual and a physical change of authority that took place with the people of Israel. 106 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:44,000 Something took place when they crossed through those waters. 107 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:51,000 They went from the rule of Pharaoh to the leadership of Moses. 108 00:13:51,000 --> 00:14:11,000 It was a symbolic transfer of government and authority, because when they reached the other side of the Red Sea and they saw their enemies swallowed up in the water, it marked a change of authority in their life. 109 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:26,000 Now they were no longer subject to the rule, the slavery, the system of slavery and the authoritarian oppression of Pharaoh. 110 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,000 They were no longer under that. 111 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:37,000 But now they were a free people under the leadership of Moses and under the direction of God. 112 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:44,000 When we are baptized in water, there is a shifting of authority that takes place. 113 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,000 Man, I get excited when I think about it. 114 00:14:48,000 --> 00:15:00,000 You're no longer bound to sin and to spiritual Egypt, which is the world, Satan and his demonic control and the control of sin over your life. 115 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,000 But there is a transition of authority. 116 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:12,000 Now you are under the authority of Christ under the rulership of God, and you're no longer a slave to sin. 117 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Hallelujah. 118 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,000 The Bible says this. 119 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,000 Now this is the verse I wanted to read. 120 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,000 Got a little ahead of myself. 121 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:30,000 But in first Corinthians chapter 10, verse one, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all of our fathers, which were under the cloud, were under the cloud. 122 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,000 Passed, they all passed through the sea. 123 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:44,000 All were baptized into Moses in the cloud, in the sea, without getting too much into it. 124 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:51,000 Moses, often in scripture, is a foreshadow or a type of Christ. 125 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,000 And so what is being taught to us here? 126 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000 I don't know if I have that verse, but no, I don't have it. 127 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:57,000 My bad. 128 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,000 But write it down, first Corinthians chapter 10 and verse one. 129 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,000 Amen. 130 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,000 What is being taught here is that they were baptized into Moses. 131 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:12,000 They were baptized into a new leadership, into a new system of rule. 132 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,000 Let me tell you that when you give your life to Christ, you are free. 133 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,000 Amen somebody. 134 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:24,000 But in some ways, you're not free. 135 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,000 Because now you have a new ruler. 136 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,000 Amen. 137 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:30,000 Now you have a new king. 138 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:36,000 Now you answer to a higher authority. 139 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Amen. 140 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,000 And you're saying, is that a good thing? 141 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,000 Absolutely it is. 142 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,000 Because this king is a good God. 143 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,000 Amen, somebody. 144 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:51,000 And this king knows how to take care of his people. 145 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,000 And he's got a promised land with your name on it. 146 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:58,000 Praise be to God. 147 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:06,000 Another picture is the laver or the brazen bowl in the temple. 148 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:12,000 In Exodus chapter 30, we see the construction of the Lord's temple. 149 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Now that religion or God's form of worship is being established, comes with it, a temple and an order. 150 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:37,000 And in order to enter the holies of holies where the presence of God was, hidden behind this veil of separation, 151 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:42,000 the priests had to make sacrifices. 152 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:48,000 Blood had to be shed, which is something I'd like to preach about here real soon. 153 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,000 But they also had to wash themselves. 154 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:57,000 There was this pool area filled with water. 155 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:04,000 And the priests had to cleanse and wash themselves with the water of this basin. 156 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:09,000 And the washing took place not on the inside. 157 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,000 The washing took place on the outside. 158 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:19,000 Because you can't get to the inside unless you do the washing that happens on the outside. 159 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:25,000 And then once the priest did the washing on the outside, it qualified them. 160 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,000 Hear me what I'm saying. 161 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:33,000 It qualified them to step into the presence of God. 162 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:40,000 They could not enter into the temple interior without undergoing a washing. 163 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:45,000 And this is a picture of what happens at baptism. 164 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:54,000 Amen. See, what I'm praying and hoping today is not only will this message help someone here today who has yet to make that decision, 165 00:18:54,000 --> 00:19:02,000 your understanding clearly that God has a concept and a plan of baptism and how that, the part that it plays in your salvation. 166 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:10,000 But I'm also praying that this will cement, solidify strength in all of us who have already gone through the waters and been baptized. 167 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:24,000 And hopefully it will help you to teach and explain this to others because there's such beauty, such dimension to this great act that God calls us to do. 168 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:33,000 And what happens is that immersion in water, just like the temple in the Old Testament, it transitions you from the outside to the inside. 169 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:38,000 How many of you want to be on the inside? 170 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,000 I don't want to be on the outside looking in. I want to be on the inside. 171 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:51,000 One of the worst feelings in the world is when I'm around maybe a baseball game or something like that and I don't got tickets. 172 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:56,000 San Francisco has that little gate, you know, you go to the park, you get to see a little bit. 173 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,000 But man, there's nothing like being on the inside. Right. 174 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:09,000 I don't want to watch what God is doing. I don't want to watch his, his purpose, his promises, his blessing from the I want to be on the inside. 175 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,000 Amen. If you want to be on the inside, then this is what we have to go through. 176 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,000 We need to surrender our lives to God and be baptized. 177 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:23,000 Then there's one more picture I want to show you, and that is John's baptism. 178 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:28,000 John the Baptist. Was a Baptist. 179 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:39,000 Not the denominational Baptist, but he baptized people and he came to prepare the way of the Lord and his message. 180 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:47,000 Was a message of repentance. He said, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. 181 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,000 In order to prepare people. 182 00:20:51,000 --> 00:21:03,000 John practiced what Jews had practiced for centuries, which is a ritual of baptism and their baptism was a baptism of spiritual preparation. 183 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:09,000 The Jews practice a washings and cleansings, but it was for spiritual preparation. 184 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:17,000 It was just for purification, but it was not as a means of eternal salvation. 185 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,000 It was for preparation. This is the Johns baptism. 186 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:28,000 John had disciples of his own and he baptized his disciples and even Jesus wanted John to baptize him. 187 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:38,000 Jesus was baptized into John's baptism and that type of baptism is a baptism that prepares you for what was going to come. 188 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:48,000 But there is a beautiful connection for with the New Testament baptism that we preach today and the apostolic faith is that baptism. 189 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,000 It also prepares you for what's coming. 190 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,000 It prepares you for the coming of the Lord. 191 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,000 Amen. It prepares you for the return of Christ. 192 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:10,000 Hallelujah. John's baptism was strictly for repentance, not salvation, but baptism for eternal salvation came with the words of Christ. 193 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:19,000 Because in Mark 16 16, he says he who believes and is baptized shall be saved. 194 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,000 Amen. Hallelujah. 195 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Hallelujah somebody, but he who does not believe shall be condemned. 196 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:45,000 So Jesus introduced, he initiated the concept of baptism, not being just for purification and for personal cleansing, spiritual preparation, but as a means of escaping damnation and finding eternal life. 197 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:58,000 Then he commissions his apostles in Matthew 28 19 to preach this gospel of baptism to baptize souls and to make disciples. 198 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,000 And this brings us to the function of baptism. 199 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,000 What is the purpose? 200 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:19,000 We have seen now. Picture after picture of the symbolic power of baptism and how all the Old Testament was pointing to New Testament salvation, New Testament, new birth. 201 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,000 It brings us to the function. 202 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Water baptism for fields. 203 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,000 I'm talking about that one baptism. 204 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,000 Hallelujah. 205 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:37,000 Not many that one baptism one water baptism fulfill several functions in order to save your soul. 206 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:43,000 And the first is to remove our sins. 207 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,000 When comparing how Noah was saved through water. 208 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:49,000 Peter writes these words. 209 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:56,000 This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also. 210 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:01,000 So there again is that concept that baptism is not just a symbolic act. 211 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,000 Baptism is not just a public confession of faith. 212 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,000 Baptism saves you. 213 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:08,000 Hallelujah. 214 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:14,000 Not the removal of dirt from from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. 215 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:21,000 It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 216 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:28,000 Paul is establishing or Peter's establishing that that baptism is not you're not just taking an outward bath. 217 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:35,000 It's not just to remove the dirt from the body, but it's about a clear conscience towards God. 218 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:44,000 And this is in reference to the cleansing of our spirit, our soul, our hearts and our minds. 219 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,000 Baptism is not just a washing of the outer man. 220 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,000 It's a cleansing of the inner man. 221 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:52,000 Hallelujah. 222 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,000 It's not a bath. 223 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,000 It's not a bath for the outer man. 224 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,000 It's a washing of the inward man towards God. 225 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,000 Hallelujah. 226 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:09,000 It's God's way of purifying and removing the stain of sin from our life. 227 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,000 Hallelujah. 228 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:17,000 When a group of people on the day of Pentecost were convicted of their sins, Peter stood up and preached the gospel to those 229 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:25,000 that were there, to those who were witnessing the speaking in tongues and the moving of the spirit on that day. 230 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:36,000 They were pricked in their hearts about Jesus who had died for their sins and how Jesus was crucified because of their guilt and their sin. 231 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,000 They were convicted. 232 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,000 And they asked Peter, what shall we do to be saved? 233 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:49,000 What do I do to get this Jesus and His gift of salvation on my life? 234 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,000 And he answers them, which we have been repeating over and over, it seems, every week. 235 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,000 But we got to repeat this. 236 00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:04,000 He said in Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. 237 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:05,000 For what? 238 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:10,000 For the remission, for the removal of your sins. 239 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:11,000 Hallelujah. 240 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,000 And he shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 241 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:26,000 I want to just thank God today that when we are baptized, it's not just for a symbolic purification, but it's for an eternal purification. 242 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:31,000 It's for the cleansing and the removal and the remitting of our sins. 243 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,000 And only baptism can do this. 244 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,000 Somebody give God a praise here today. 245 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,000 Hallelujah. 246 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:48,000 For the remission of our sins plainly means an order to cause your sins to be removed. 247 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,000 Amen. 248 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,000 Sins are removed at baptism. 249 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,000 And that's why we place such emphasis on it. 250 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:06,000 And the record against us is canceled out and our names are written in the Book of Life. 251 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000 The next function of baptism is to identify us with the Gospel. 252 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,000 The Gospel. 253 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:13,000 Someone say the Gospel. 254 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,000 I'm only going to be a few more moments here. 255 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,000 Just bear with me. 256 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,000 And then you can go back to your air conditioned cars or wherever it is you're going to go in. 257 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,000 Amen. 258 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,000 Amen. 259 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:24,000 To identify us with the Gospel. 260 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,000 The Gospel is the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 261 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,000 That's the Gospel. 262 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,000 And being baptized identifies us with that. 263 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:44,000 Just as Jesus was buried and rose again, we likewise experience the death during our baptism. 264 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,000 The death of Christ. 265 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:50,000 When we come into the church as sinners, we die through our sins through repentance. 266 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,000 Amen. 267 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:59,000 And then we are buried in the water just like Jesus was buried behind the tomb. 268 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,000 Amen. 269 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,000 We are buried in the water through baptism. 270 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:09,000 And then we are raised to life in Christ when we come up out of the water. 271 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,000 Hallelujah. 272 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:17,000 Receiving the Holy Ghost is also another form of being resurrected and raised to life. 273 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:23,000 Paul writes these words in Romans 6 and verse 3. 274 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:32,000 Or do you not know that as many of us as many of us were baptized into Christ, Jesus were baptized into 275 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,000 his death. 276 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,000 Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death. 277 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:49,000 That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should also walk in the newness of life. 278 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,000 Praise be to God. 279 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:58,000 So baptism identifies us with the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ. 280 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,000 The death is where is when we repent. 281 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,000 The burial is when we are baptized. 282 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:08,000 And the resurrection is when we come out of the waters and when we receive the Holy Ghost. 283 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,000 Somebody say thank you, Jesus, for that. 284 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:16,000 So listen, if you haven't yet been baptized, this is what baptism does. 285 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:21,000 It identifies you with the death and burial resurrection of Christ. 286 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:25,000 And if you have been baptized, you got to keep reading in verse 4. 287 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:30,000 We've now got to walk in the newness of the life that God has given us. 288 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,000 We got to walk as a regenerated, redeemed people. 289 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:44,000 We got to live with the baptism of God in our hearts and in our minds that we are changed and we are forever going to be a different people. 290 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,000 Amen, somebody. 291 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,000 All right. The third function is to unite us with Christ. 292 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,000 Paul continues in verse five. 293 00:29:53,000 --> 00:30:05,000 He continues to tell us for if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, 294 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:12,000 certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. 295 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:20,000 Through baptism, we are not just joined to him, but we become one. 296 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:25,000 We put on his identity. Praise God. 297 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:30,000 When you're baptized, you're not just you're not just fulfilling something. 298 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,000 You know, well, they say we got to do it. So I guess we'll do it. 299 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,000 No, you're putting on the identity. You're uniting with Christ. 300 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:46,000 Paul writes in Galatians 3, 27, for as many of you were baptized in to Christ have what? 301 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,000 Put on Christ. 302 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:53,000 I wonder how many of you are wearing Christ today? 303 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,000 Amen. I said, how many of you are wearing Christ today? 304 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,000 I'm wearing him. 305 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,000 You got to put him on. 306 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,000 And for those of us, I've already been to the water and I've already been baptized. 307 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:11,000 Well, you know what? Every day you got to make a choice to put on Christ. 308 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,000 Put him on. Someone say put him on. 309 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,000 Put him on. Amen. 310 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:26,000 As I get ready to close, I want to just conclude by looking at the formula, the formula of baptism. 311 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,000 How do we baptize? There's only one way to do it. 312 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,000 Someone say there's only one way. 313 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,000 There is a proper way to baptize. 314 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,000 And it has to be into water. 315 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:42,000 By full immersion into water. 316 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:53,000 That word baptism, the root of it is baptizo in Greek and it means to dip, to plunge. 317 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,000 To be immersed in the water. 318 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:04,000 Paul, Peter said, can anyone in Acts chapter 10 and verse 47, can anyone forbid water? 319 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:15,000 That these should not be baptized, immersed, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. 320 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:24,000 So in our church, the apostolic church, we don't practice the pouring of water as some churches denominations do. 321 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,000 We don't practice the sprinkling. 322 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:37,000 We also don't practice the baptism of babies because how can a baby understand the decision that's being made? 323 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:44,000 You have to be at the age of accountability. Amen. 324 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,000 And it has to be in full water. 325 00:32:48,000 --> 00:33:01,000 Secondly, and most importantly, I would say, baptism must be administered in the name of Jesus Christ. 326 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,000 Somebody say amen. 327 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:12,000 Some have misinterpreted the words of Christ in Matthew 28, 19. 328 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:31,000 Because there he says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 329 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:41,000 What most churches do is they baptize in these titles. 330 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,000 If that's what they are, these are titles. 331 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,000 These are not names. 332 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:56,000 And as we often point out, church, the word name in this verse is singular and not plural. 333 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,000 That's because there's only one name. 334 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,000 Whoo, Jesus. 335 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,000 How many of you know that name today? 336 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:09,000 That's because there's only one name. 337 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:15,000 So if they're baptizing in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son and the Holy Ghost, they're doing it wrong. 338 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:19,000 And if anyone was baptized that way, you got to be rebaptized. 339 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:29,000 You got to be baptized in that one name, because according to Paul, there's only one Lord, one faith and one baptism. 340 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,000 Hallelujah. 341 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,000 It's got to be in the name of Jesus Christ. 342 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:35,000 Invoking the name. 343 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,000 Let me tell you something right. 344 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,000 The name of Jacob isn't going to save you. 345 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,000 The name of Ben's not going to save you. 346 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,000 Nobody's name in this place is going to save you. 347 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:48,000 The only name that can save you is the name of Jesus. 348 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:53,000 And we see this all throughout the New Testament as you stand with me here today. 349 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,000 We see this all throughout the Book of Acts. 350 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,000 The Book of Acts tells the story of the early church. 351 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,000 We take our pattern. 352 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:05,000 We take our doctrine from the Book of Acts. 353 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:13,000 And in the Book of Acts, we see time after time, they were baptizing people in no other name but the name of Jesus. 354 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:24,000 In Acts 8 16, it reads, For as yet had he fallen upon none of them, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord. 355 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,000 Hallelujah. 356 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,000 The name of the Lord Jesus. 357 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:35,000 And that's 10 48 and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. 358 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:36,000 Hallelujah. 359 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,000 That's 19 5. 360 00:35:37,000 --> 00:36:05,000 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.