Prophecy Countdown _ A Voice From the Jordan _ Doug Batchelor

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Good evening, friends, welcome again to Prophecy Countdown. We want

to welcome those joining us across the country and around

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after night. Tonight we on lesson number six and it's

entitled A Voice from the Jordan and you can download

a copy of the lesson so you can study along

with us again at the website Prophecycountdown dot TV. Well, friends,

we have a theme song that'd be like to sing

from night to night. If you've been coming, you know

the words, you know how this works. Let's stand and

let's sing together our theme song, Beautiful Beautiful.

Let's sing together, dutiful beautiful.

Jesus is beautiful g Esus makes beautiful.

Thing that's really touching me, careful touching me, causing by

to see Jesus speech beautiful things.

By turn your eyes upon Jesus, Let's sing, turn you.

A bunch.

Look for love his wi face and the things of.

Earth, and the thing song will grow strange in the

lid with love his.

And Amen.

Please remain standing while past us Foldo brings us our

opening prayer.

Let's connect God, god Father in heaven. Thank you for

your presence without in this beautiful livinging. We would like

to ask again for your blessings and for your guidance.

We are not just interested to no information. We are

not just having curiosity. We would like to understand your

will for us. Not just to understand it, but we

would lie the power of your heally spirit to apply

your will in our lives. Bless everything that we are

going to do tonight. Bless elder Bachelor when he brings

your word to our hearts, and Bless every one of

us that we can concentrate in this program, but especially

in our connection with you. Bless our families, and bless

the people that are coming to this meeting today and

all the people that is watching in other places that

they can feel that you are with them according to

your promise.

We asked this in the name of Jesus. Amen, please

be seated.

We have been blessed with some wonderful music from ninety nine.

Tonight we have wautiful pleas entitle so sweet to trust

in Jesus, brought to us by Jackie and pastor one.

Oh he is so sweet to trust him, Jesus, just you.

Him, mad his his word, just you.

Upon his promise. Just to no BLUs, no.

Lord Jesus, Jesus, How trust him?

How food him and nor.

Jesus, Jesus, prescious Esus, Oh for grace to trust him are?

Oh? How sweet to trust in Jesus.

Just to trust to clan see England.

Just in s perfect to plunge me need the Lincoln

seen for.

Jesus, Gesus, How I trust him?

How I cruve.

Himbre and on Gesus, Jesus, priscious Gesus, Oh for grace.

To trust him more.

I'm so glad I've learned to trust him, Priscious Geeesus,

save your friend, and I know that.

With me will be with me to the end.

Oh, Gesus Gesus, how I trust him?

How cruel him a Gesus, Gesus priscious, Gesus of grace

to trust him. Oh, Jesus asks Gesus.

How I trust him?

How fruit him?

All Chesus, Gesus priscious, Jesus of four grades to trust him?

Oh for.

Grapes to trust me?

Oh?

Hey, very nice, Thank you so much.

Well, pasaduk, it's time for Q and A. So you

now this works if you're becoming and those who are watching.

We're going to put up a QR code on the

screen and if you have a Bible question, just scan

that QR code and you'll be able to type in

your question. We want to thank all of those who

have posted questions. We have of hundreds of questions that

have been posted, and we're trying to deal with different categories.

So if your exact wording isn't mentioned in the question,

while we're trying to get the idea, well Passida. Talking

about languages, you know, it's good to be able to

share different languages. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples

in the upper room. They spoke multiple languages. How many

languages can you speak?

Well, we're about to find out that's more than you thought.

Here's a sample of what has happened as people click

on the different languages.

Is Jesus jests by person.

See now I do speak a little Spanishpanol, but that's

about it. But now with this new technology, it is

a wonderful to see the Gospel going into so many

different language groups.

I think that was just six of the languages out

of fifteen that's been translated live. So we want to

greet our friends listening in different languages as well. Past that,

we've got some great questions. Number one, what is the

difference between the Old and the New Covenants?

Both the Old and New Covenant are based upon the

same law, they're written in different places. It tells us

in Jeremiah thirty one, a new covenant I will make

with the House of Israel. I will write my law

in their hearts. The old Covenant failed because the people

promised all the Lord has said we will do, and

it tells us in Hebrews their promises were faulty. The

old Covenant is based on the faulty promises of the people.

The New Covenant is the promise of God. Jesus said,

I will. It's not we will, but he will put

his law in our hearts. But it's the same law.

God's law does not change. Amen, God says, I am

the Lord, I do not change.

All right. Next question, Jesus talked about varying degrees of punishment,

but all they also varying degrees of reward.

Yeah, you can read even then on the Sermon on

the Mount, Jesus said, if you're persecuted for righteousness sake,

rejoice and be exceedingly grad glad, for great is your

reward in heaven. There are varying degrees of reward and

varying degrees of punishment. Jesus told the twelve par Les,

you will sit on twelve thrones with me judging the

twelve tribes of Israel. There are varying degrees for them.

And Christ said, no man has left father, mother, sister, brother, husband, wife, houses,

or lands, but he will receive one hundredfold more in

this life and eternal life in the world to come.

So if we are rewarded according to our works, good

or bad, there are varying degrees of good and bad works. Amen.

All right. Another question that we have, why did the

kings in Israel have so many wives and concubines. Didn't

they know the law?

Yeah? There's a commandment in the Bible that says no

man can serve two masters, so there's really no excuse

for having more than one wife. You know, it was

pretty much accustomed back then. So many men died in battle.

You can read in the Book of Isaiah, chapter four,

verse one, and in that day seven women will take

hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own

bread and we will wear our own apparel. Only let

us be called by your name to take away our reproach,

indicating that they had no social security program. If a

woman lost her husband and she had no children to

support her. The Bible talks about the widows and the orphans.

It was really tough for them back then. That's why

Christians were admonished to remember the widows and the orphans.

These kings, wanting to make sure they had posterity, they

had sons that would continue their dynasty, would take many wives.

Henry the Eighth tried to do that, except instead of

having many wives at once, he just kept divorcing and

killing them off. But that's why they had so many wives,

make sure they would have heirs that could prolong their dynasty.

But it is against the law God, God winked at

their ignorance. Back then, it wasn't his plan. There's a

lot of things. Slavery was not God's plan, but Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob has slaves, and so it was just

ubiquitous back then. Polygamy, slavery, those were really dark times, right.

Another question that we have, will people from different religions

be in heaven?

Well, yes, you know, I believe that the first of all,

nobody's going to be in heaven except for the grace

of Jesus. Anyone there is there because of his sacrifice.

Peter says and acts, for there is no other name

given among men whereby we must be saved. But there

are some people that have been living in dark countries

that are walking in all the light that they have.

And if we walk in the light, as He is

in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us

from all sin. So some people have been directed by

God's spirit, by God's angels. Jesus said there were many

lepers in the land and the days of Elisha, but

none of them was cleansed but Naem and the Syrian.

And there were many widows in the land in the

days of Elijah. But Elijah was sent to a Cyrophoenician.

And so God Jesus said, the hour is coming in

which all that are in the graves will hear his

voice and come forth they that have done good the

resurrection of life. So people that have trusted in God's

mercy walked in the light they have. They're the rare exception.

That's why we need to have missionaries go and tell

the world. But there will be some from every walk

of life that will be in the kingdom.

Okay, next Christ that we have was Melchizedek an earthly king?

Or was he Jesus in human form?

Well, Melchizedek was a real person. Abraham gave tithe to Melchizedek.

It says Melchizedek was the king of Salem. Salem means peace.

That was later known as jay Rus Salem, and so

Melchizedek is the first king of Jerusalem. It also calls

him a priest. Some have wondered who was he. He

appears out of nowhere. There's no genealogy given. That's why

Paul says, without beginning or end another, we don't know

where he came from or where he went. He's a

type of Christ, but he was a real king of

the area. Some have wondered, did Seth the son of

not Seth rather Shem the son of Noah? Did he

move from Babel to that area? Are you aware that

Shem was still alive during the time of Abraham? He

lived six hundred years? And some have wondered was Melchizedek?

Who would Abraham pay tithes to it that was greater

than him? And so we don't know. That's one theory

that some rabbis have. But it says he's king of righteousness.

Jesus is king of righteousness. It says he's a king

of peace. Jesus is a king of peace. He brought

forth bread and wine as in the New Covenant. So

there's a lot of parallels between Melchizedic and Jesus. But

he was a real person, all right.

Another question that we have, what is the fumbament that

he's mentioned in Genesis chapter one, verse seven at the

time of creation.

Sometimes it calls it the heavens. It simply means the atmosphere.

It's the sandwich of air that separates our earth from

the empty space, the atmosphere around the Earth. The word

heaven is used three ways in Hebrew. You've got what

they call the first heaven, which is talking about where

the clouds float and the birds fly. The second heaven

is talking about where the starry bodies sit. The third

heaven is the dwelling place of God. Paul says, I

knew a man that was caught up to the third Heaven.

He's talking about into the presence of God. Now, some

religions talk about a seventh heaven. There is nothing in

the Bible about a seventh heaven. Or someone will say

I met this man and I was in the seventh heaven. Well,

it's not in the Bible. So the third heaven is

the dwelling place of God.

All right, I see you've got your Bible there. We

might need this verse, Pasada, can you please explain Mark

ninety eight where it talks about the worm dieth not now, Jesus.

Is saying you're better off being cast into Gehenna, where

the worm does not die, the fire is not quenched,

then going into heaven missing an eye, a hand, or

a foot. The word Gehinnah is one of the four

words that are used for hell. The words that are

used for hell are shiel, gahinna, hades and Tartarus. Tartarus

just means place of darkness. Found one place in the Bible.

Gehinna was the valley of Henam, outside of Jerusalem. It

was a place they once offered to pagan gods, so

the godly kings desecrated it and they used it as

a dump, so it would never be used as a

religious sight. It was full of decomposing garbage and worms

and burning baskets. And that's why Jesus said, rather than

go to Gehinna, hell where the fire is not quenched

and the worm does not die, it's constantly consuming the garbage,

And so he used it as a metaphor for Hell there.

Okay, here's an interesting question, pasadag. Was this such a

thing as an ice age and cavemen?

Well, I know there were cavemen because I was one.

I lived in a cave, and we believe there was

an ice age. We think that after the flood the

world went through radical climate changes, and even the fossil

record seems to support that. You know, they find all

of these megafauna massdons up in Siberia that seemed to

die off suddenly. Some were chewing on ferns which normally

grow in a tropical region, but they got buried by

this permafrost and their bodies are still preserved. And so yeah,

I think that climate went through a radical change shortly

after the flood. Noah and his family they migrated to Mesopotamia,

where it was a little warmer, but some had migrated

into colder regions and they may have been caught off

guard at that time.

Okay, another question that we have. Can a person who

genuinely accepts Jesus lose their salvation?

Well, this is an important question, you know, can a

person save be lost? I think the Bible's pretty clear

that our salvation is something that we need to nurture

and preserve with the Lord. But the Bible says that

in revelation. You might remember the Versary says unless you repent,

I will take your name, or I will not take

your name out of the Book of Life, implying that

he can take the name out of the Book of life.

To the Bible talks about King Saul, who was filled

with the Holy Spirit. Later he grieved away the Holy

Spirit and he fell on his own sword. He committed

the unpardonable sin. Balem was a prophet of God, but

then he turned because of greed and he ended up

dying in a battle. You can read several examples of

people in the Bible that were saved. Paul talks about Demetrius,

who walked with us and then he'd gone back to

the world. We have a freedom of choice. Paul said

that we need to examine ourselves whether we be in

the faith. Paul says, I need to examine myself lest

while I preach to others, I am a cast the way,

and so our relationship with the Lord is something that

needs to be nurtured. Christ said that in John chapter fifteen,

any vine in me that does not bear fruit will

be pruned off and burned. And so these are vines

that are in Christ. So we need to be he

that endures to the end will be saved. We need

to hang on to our faith. It's dangerous to tell

people just come forward, say this prayer. You're saved, and

now you cannot be lost no matter what you do.

That basically says God has taken away your freedom to choose.

Now you can have security in your salvation. Don't misunderstand.

You don't need to go day after day save loss,

save loss, I made a decision. I made a commitment

when I married Jesus. Well, no, when I married Karen.

I married Jesus too when I married Karen, that I

love her and I've committed to be faithful to her,

and I have been. I have not lost my free

them to violate that commitment. Right. If I'd lost the freedom,

then it really want to be love. But because I

love her, it's a choice I make on an ongoing

basis to love my wife and to honor my wife.

And it's the same thing with your commitment to Jesus.

That's why we need to continue in the faith. There's

so much in the Bible that talks about Paul said,

I die daily. He means he dies the self every day.

Jesus said, we take up our cross daily and follow him. Right,

being a Christian, we eat that daily bread, we follow

him daily, and we press on.

All Right, here's a question, Pastor Doug. It's about speaking

in tongues. Could you explain First Corinthians fourteen, verse two.

The person says, I understand about acts where they're heard

in different languages, but what exactly is Paul talking about?

First Corinthians fourteen, verse two.

Yes, let me get this here. I wrote actually a

small book called Understanding Tugs, But I want to make

sure I'm reading the right verse. Here here we go fourteen,

verse two. For he who speaks in a tongue does

not speak to men but to God, for no one

understands him, howbeit in the spirit he speaks mysteries. So

the word tongue there simply means a language that is

unknown to those that are present, an unknown tongue. The

word language means a tongue. Jesus said in Mark sixteen

to the apostles, you will speak with other tongues on Pentecosts.

They were giving the ability to speak in other languages

they did not formally know or study, he says. But

he who speaks in an unknown tongue, he means, if

you're in a gathering and you speak in a tongue

that those present do not understand, you're speaking to God

and not to men. Right now, if I should say

to you borujatau roonoi elohinu meleachlum mozi lechem men, or

it's I actually speak a little Hebrew too. You didn't

understand most of you that I just prayed over the bread.

I am speaking in the spirit to God. He knows

what I'm saying, but my speaker is not understood by you.

That's why when you go from English to Greek, that's

what it's really saying. It's and so Paul says, I'd

rather speak five words by my understanding that I might

instruct others in than ten thousand in a tongue that

people do not understand. If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound,

who can prepare for the battle? People need to know

when we speak what we're saying.

Amen, all right, thank you passing Doug. Well, that is

it for our Q and A time. Again, it's not

too late to post a question. Just scan the QR

code that you see on your screen there and type

in your Bible question. You can actually read some of

the other questions that people have posted on that same app,

and we'll try to answer as many questions as we can.

Well.

At this time, Ryan and Jackie are going to bring

us a song entitled lead Me Lord.

It's hard to take the first.

When I don't know the way.

Each turn is so uncertain.

Lord, I've learned to walk by faith by You gave

me a prim that you would really you leave me

and your God me. Lord, I do believe, Lord we fall, Lord.

Leave Lord.

We God you have called me. I will ser.

Lead me.

Lord good.

Your plan for me. It's perfect.

I never need to fee for though times I feel alone,

I know that you are need.

My heart just long to follow.

I will let you be.

Take my hand and lead me. I follow the way.

Lead me lorde for Lord, lead baby.

Lord with go.

You have called me, I will say, lead me.

I will go.

Leave me, Lord, a will fall.

Leave me.

With you have called me.

I will.

Said, leave me.

Do will go?

You have called me?

Aye, will.

Lead me? Ah will good?

Amen, Thank you, Thank your pastor, Ryan and Jackie. I've

studied today is entitled a Voice from the Jordan. And

before Jesus began his public ministry, you have John the

Baptist saying repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at

hand a work of preparation. Well, we're going to be

learning more about the work of preparation than it has

to happen before the second coming of Jesus, and that's

the topic for tonight's study.

Welcome once again to Prophecy countdown to our friends here

at our location in the Fort Worth area, Crawley, Texas,

and to all of those who are watching at various

locations around the globe, we are so thankful that you've

tuned in a very important, if not one of the

most important subjects, because as we prepare to go into

some very heavy topics in prophecy, we want to make

sure that your hearts are prepared to understand these things.

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and tonight we're going to

be going through a lesson that deals with a Voice

from the Jordan. A lot of what I'm going to

cover tonight is going to be found in this lesson.

But ask for the free lessons because you can order them.

If you want hard copies, you can download them. They

contain a lot of additional information, so if anything isn't clear,

we're hoping that you will use those as well well.

I want to begin with an amazing fact. A lesson,

of course, is called a Voice from the Jordan. I

like scuba diving. I was scuba diving in Indonesia about

a month ago, and I used to do free diving. Well.

I heard that the deepest dive performed by a human

in twenty twelve Herbert Natsch of Austria reached eight hundred

and thirty feet. Now to get that low that quickly,

he had to use weights to go down, and once

he reached his point, he had to use an inflatable

bubble to bring him back up. I don't try this

at home. It is a very dangerous practice. Many people

have tried trying to do that. Now. That is the

deepest dive with assisted equipment. Some have gone down with

just flippers. I think four hundred feet free diving, which

is just mind boggling. It's dark when you're down that deep.

The person who has held their breath the longest this year,

September fifth, twenty twenty five, free diver Vitimar Markk held

his breath for a world record of twenty nine minutes

and three seconds while lying on the bottom of a

three meter pool in Croatia. You know what my record

is free diving or holding my breath four minutes ten seconds.

So that's very hard to do that. You have to

hyperventilate at first, which can be dangerous because you can

pass out. So you do this in shallow water warm water.

You don't move so you don't expend any energy. And

you have someone else do the timing for you. And

I don't think I can do that anymore. But the

Bible tells us where the lowest river is in the world,

and it is mentioned many times in the Bible. The

Jordan River is a unique place in that it is

the location of many miracles. It's also interesting geographically. It's

not a very long or wide river. You read about it,

you think it's this massive river like the Amazon or

the Missouri or the Mississippi. But you can throw a

rock across the Jordan in the summer. Sometimes it looks

like a series of stagnating pools. Of course, there used

to be a lot more water back in Bible times

when they weren't draining at all for irrigation of the

Promised Land. It's only one hundred and fifty six mile long,

miles long. But this river's unique in that this river

supplies the water for two seas, usually at one sea

that takes the water from many rivers. The Jordan is

one river that supplies the water for two seas, the

Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. You might even

argue the Sea of Galilee Dead Sea. In one lake.

Up further north, you can read about some of the

miracles in the Jordan. Of course, the Lord part of

the Jordan river. When the children of Israel crossed by

Jericho in the days of Joshua, the river was miraculously

parted again. During the time of the Elijah, when he

and Elisha cross the water, he struck the river with

this mantle. The mantle was your outer robe. The Jordan

is a symbol of death in the Bible. If you

read many of the hymns in the Bible, it talks

about through Jordan's billows you laid me. The hymn writers

understood before you can get into the promised lane, you

get across the Jordan. And it takes a miracle. And

so the fact that he struck the river with his robe,

and it's the robe of Christ that makes it possible

for us to cross the Jordan. And then after Elijah

and Elisha cross the river, Elishah asks for a double

portion of Elijah's spirit and God gives it to him,

and he sees Elijah go to heaven in a fiery chariot,

and as Elijah's going to heaven, he throws down his robe.

Elisha then takes that robe back to the Jordan River.

He strikes it again and for the third time. Now

the Jordan River miraculously parts. God has provided a way

to park that lowest river in the world, which is

often a symbol of death. It is the barrier between

the wilderness and the promised land. He got a miracle

in the Bible where someone lost an axe head and

Elishah threw in some sticks and it made the axe

head float. The impossible hack happened, and those sticks are

like a symbol of the cross. Moses threw sticks in

the water and it became friends. And then you've got

the miracle of Naeman. Here's a general, Assyrian general, and

he's plagued with leprosy and he's dying, and Elisha tells

him go washing the Jordan River seven times. But Naeman

was offended by that. Now, what's implied If you come

to a person and you say, so, what do I

need for healing? And you say, take a bath? What

are you telling them? You're telling him, well, you're dirty.

But what if they say take seven baths, you must

be very dirty. And the Jordan River is sometimes a muddy,

green river. So if you're being told to take seven baths,

in dirty water. You're dirtier than the water. You're really dirty.

And Naemon was offended, and he went home in a rage,

and his soldiers came to him. God in his mercy,

he had to go buy the Jordan River to get

back to Syria. And as he's looking at the river

going home to die with his leprosy, his soldiers june near,

and they said, Sir, if the prophet had told you

to go fight a battle and kill some enemy soldiers,

you would have done it. Climb a mountain, you would

have done it. He's saying, wash and be clean name

and humbled himself, and he took off his armor and

robe and got down in the water. And once, no miracle,

twice no miracle. It wasn't until the seventh time the

blessing shane and he came up out of the water,

and not only was his leprosy gone, the Bible says,

his flesh came to him again, like the flesh of

a little child. Think about this as soldier with baby skin.

Doesn't that sound like a paradox. But the Jordan River,

of course, is where Jesus gets baptized. It's where John

the Baptist is baptizing it. It's seal and cleansing from

the leprosy of sin. Now you might be wandering pastor Doug.

You know, I came to this prophecy countdown. I want

to know about Bible prophecy. And I'll tell you, friends,

you can't understand these things without committing your life to

the Lord. You know what the Jordan River, a voice

came from heaven where God spoke, and he said, this

is my beloved son. Hear him. And some people understood

the voice of God, and some people thought it was thunder.

Some people understand because they've got the spirit of God

and they're surrendered to God and they're searching other people

in the world. Is just going to sound like gibberish

to them. So we do this presentation telling people, if

you really want to understand, the Bible says the wise

will understand. Having ears, they will hear. Some people have ears,

they do not hear. He speaks in parables that the

wise might understand. If you must understand first, you must

surrender your life. So part of these seminars, I always

tell people, it does you no good if you understand

all the sequence of prophecy, but you do not have

a commitment to Christ. So we talk about this subject.

And by the way, the Bible talks about water in Genesis,

the spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.

And then you go all the way to Revelation and

it says, whosoever would take the waters of life, let

him take them freely. And Jesus told the woman at

the well, I'm offering you water where you'll never thirst again.

It'll well up within you in artesian supply. So we're

talking about being spirit filled, and that gives us understanding.

So going into our question, and this is a prophecy lesson,

you'll see what I mean. Number one first question. I

use the question answer format some are still here for

the first night because it helps me make sure I

cover all of the most important points. What New Testament

prophet came in the spirit and power of Elijah, last

prophet in the last prophecy in the Old Testament Malachi

chapter four. Behold, I send you Elijah. Before the great

and terrible day of the Lord, he will turn the

hearts of the father's the children, and the hearts of

the children to the fathers, lest thy come and smite

the earth with a curse. So who is it that

came in the spirit and power of Elijah? Well, really,

two listen Matthew eleven. Jesus says in verse thirteen, for

all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, meaning

John the Baptist, And if you're able to receive it,

he is Elijah that was to come. So in one category,

John the Baptist came as Elijah.

How do we know that.

In the very beginning, when the Angel spoke to his parents,

he said that he would come in the spirit and

power of Elijah. You look in Matthew three, verse one,

John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.

He said, I indeed baptize you with water under repentance.

But he who is coming after me, this is a prophecy.

By the way, he who is coming after me is

mightier than I. He will baptize you with the Holy

Spirit and with fire. The Bible says, unless you are

born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter

the Kingdom of Heaven. You need both births to enter

the kingdom. Those are not my words, those are the

words of Jesus to Nicodemus. Unless you are born of

the water and the spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom.

It's very important. Then all of the land of Judea

and those from Jerusalem went out to him and they

were all baptized by him. John the Baptist in the

Jordan River confessing their sins. Not just so you're not confused,

there are at least three Johns in the Bible. John

is sort of the Greek way of saying Jonah. And

you've got John the Apostle, the beloved Apostle. You've got

John Mark, who worked with Paul and Barnabas and Silas,

he was one of the disciples. And then you've got

John the Baptist, who's the one we're talking about now.

And when John was born, the Angel spoke to his parents,

and the Angel prophesied, he will go before him. John

the Baptist will go before the Messiah in the spirit,

in the power of Elijah. For what purpose? To turn

the hearts of the fathers to the children and the

disobedient to the wisdom of the just. Turning the disobedient

to the wisdom of obedience is what he's saying. And

to make ready a people prepared for the Lord all right,

Why we do these seminars because Jesus is coming. We

want to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Can you say, a man? John the Baptist preached a

message of revival and repentance to prepare people for jesus

first coming. Jesus said, there will be another spirit and

power of Elijah that will come to prepare the world

for the second coming before the great and terrible day

of the Lord. That's still future. Right, So John the

Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Look

at the similarity between John and Elijah. John was never married,

Elijah was never married. They both were known for their bold,

fearless preaching, simple lifestyle. I mean, you know, Elijah's fed

by ravens and widows, and lives by a creek and

camps under a bush and out in the cave. And

they were leather belts and camel hair, fearlessly rebuked kings

when the time came, and they both ministered by the

Jordan River. Isn't that interesting? So John the Baptist did

come in the spirit and the power of Elijah. But

Jesus said, don't miss this. Jesus said, if you can

understand it. Elijah has come, and Elijah will come. There's

going to be another coming of Elijah. John the Baptist

was not the reincarnation of Elijah. Now, when the religious

leaders came to John, the Baptists, they said, are you Elijah?

He said no, and he said, O, wait a second,

Jesus said he was, and John said he's not. Which

is it? They're asking the wrong question. The religious leaders

came to John and they said, are you the reincarnation

of John? He said no, I've come in the spirit

of John. But Jesus said, if you can receive it,

he is the one that was prophesied that would come

in the spirit and power of Elijah. So what unique

ministry number two was given to John? What ministry was

John chosen for?

In those days?

John? No, what's he called? John the Baptist came preaching

in the wilderness of Judea, then Jerusalem and all Judea

and all the region around the George. It was a

great revival. Went out to him and were baptized by

him in the Jordan meaning in the river, confessing their sins,

turning from the sin. The baptism was a symbol of

a cleansing, a washing, and a new beginning. Now, while

we're talking about the subject, now that you kind of

know where we're heading, I thought, well, let's go to

the man on the street and the ladies on the

street and find out what are some of the ideas

people have about baptism, the importance of baptism, must you

believe in Jesus, and what's some of the conventional wisdom

out there.

Baptism is when you're blessed as a young child into

the Lord's.

So when you start and when you were born, you

well old time, he is protecting you. But for me,

is that is a way to be closer.

To Him outward declaration that you have decided to follow Christ.

It's the physical way to wash away your sins to

be born again. I know that I was like full

immersion baptized and people just have water sprinkled on their heads.

It's ending your old life and starting a new one.

To me, baptism means to have a physical way to

wash away your sins.

For me, baptism represents like you're going into the watery

grave and you're coming back alive and living a new life.

For Juth Christ, baptism to me means a brand new starve.

I can't say it's directly the only way so, but

it's it's one one way.

Believing in Jesus will always save you.

Yes, yeah, I believe so.

Yeah.

I wouldn't say that Jesus is the end all be

all for being saved. But like I said, I think

if people find solace in that thought, then as long

as that keeps them going and keeps them happy, then yeah.

Did you catch something that was said by several of

the people speaking here. They said, well, for me, for me,

for me now, it's like you've got your truth and

I've got my truth, and everybody's got their truth. And

your truth is truth for you, and my truth is

truth for me. It's like, is there an absolute truth?

And where do we go for truth? Do you want

to get on an airplane and have the pilot say, well,

you know today, I'd like to try something new. I'm

almost sure that this can work like a submarine. Also,

I believe it. I'm sincere. You'd be very nervous because

there are laws of aerodynamics that you can't violate, and

there are laws in life, and the Bible has laws

of truth and so many people are afraid offending. Someone

else says, well, I kind of think it's this way,

and I think it's that. Well, what does God think?

What is the truth on this subject? We're going to

find out fair enough, Let's see what the Bible says.

Number three, What essential Bible truth is symbolized by baptism.

The Bible says Acts twenty two, verse sixteen, Arise and

be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the

name of the Lord. It's a symbol for washing away

sins and calling or trusting in the name of the Lord.

And you see this happening several times in the Bible. Now,

I'll just tell you right at the beginning, Baptism is

as important to a Christian as a wedding is to

a marriage. Baptism is as important to a Christian as

a wedding is to a marriage. Baptism is the ceremony

ordained by God, not by the Church. It's taught by

Jesus as the method where we make a public declaration

that we want our sins washed away and we are

committing our life to the Lord. And something tangible happens.

When a marriage happens, there is a new relationship. Would

you agree? There are new rights and privileges, and you've

just given away half your property in most states, So

I mean it is legally understood. Something tangible happens in

baptism as well. You are giving God permission then to

release his power into your life. When Christ was baptized,

the spirit of God came down, a special power was

given for a life of ministry. Jesus did no miracles

until his baptism. Isn't that right? His ministry began at

his baptism. So it represents a washing a way of sin.

The Gospel stories begin and end with baptism. You read

in Mark it starts out John, with John the baptist

baptizing the ministry of Christ. The last words of Jesus go, ye,

therefore teach all nations baptizing. The Book of Acts begins, repent,

be baptized. So, friends, I am prioritizing what the Bible

is prioritizing, and it is to prepare a people to

meet the Lord. Amen number four. According to the Bible,

how many different kinds of baptism are acceptable? According to

the Bible, not saying what do people out there do?

Phesians four, verse five there is what one Lord, one faith,

and what one baptism. There's one one true method of

baptism that is taught in the Bible. It is universally

the same same thing that happened in Nam And in

the Jordan River. He was dipped in the waters seven times. Submerged.

Plunged is what that word means. There's about fifteen different

ceremonies that people call baptism, everything from words spoken on

the phone to baptized three times once for the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit, to rose pedals, all kinds of

different things. They get the dry cleaning method, but the

Bible says that there's really some are sprinkling, some are pouring.

The only biblical method was what you call immersion. The

very word baptize means to immerse. It's baptizo. It means

to dip immerse. They used it when they were dying

cloth in Greek manuscripts. When they dye cloth, they say

you take the stick and you baptizo the cloth. They

would plunge it under. That's what other words you get,

polka dots if you just sprinkle it with him in baptism.

Buried is pretty clear. When you bury someone, you don't

sprinkle a little dirt on them and walk away. They're

not buried. So it's being buried submerged. And there's a

reason for that, buried with him in baptism, into which

you were also raised with him through the faith, in

the working of God who raised him from the dead.

Number five. Since Jesus is our example, how was he baptized?

That Christian is a follower of Christ? But what method

did Jesus use? You read in Mark one, verse nine

and ten. Jesus came to the Jordan. He was baptized

by John in the Jordan, and immediately coming up from

the water, he saw the heaven parting. He went down

into a river. If baptism was by sprinkling, you could

have used the spring of canteen. Anything would have worked.

But John needed a place where there was a river

and deep enough water. John was baptizing in Anon near Salem,

because there was much water there. If that's clear as amen.

And then they came and they were baptized. They came

down to the river to be baptized. Now, admittedly it

is a little more inconvenient if you say I want

to get baptized, to be immersed, then to have someone

just sprinkle a little holy water on you or something

like that. But I believe that we need to do

what God says the way God says it. For example,

Jesus gave us also not only baptism. There's only a

couple of sacred rights that Jesus gave. One is baptism.

The communion service of the Lord's Supper is another. And

he said it's to be unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice,

and they represent the body and the blood of Jesus

we all together. But I heard a one pastor who said, well,

obviously these are symbols. So at our church next week

for communion, we're going to have hamburgers in Coca Cola. Now,

I don't know about you, but I thought that was

a little sacrilegious. You're taking it is a symbol, but

you're corrupting the symbol and it's losing its significance. So

when God gives us a symbol and he says, here's

how you carry out this ceremony, we've got to be

very careful about changing the commandments of God and the

example of Jesus. These things do matter, and it's important

Christians are to follow Christ's example. Gave us an example

that we should walk even as he walked, and Christ

was baptized. He said, to fulfill all righteousness. Now was

Jesus baptized for his sin? Christ committed no sin. The

Bible says that for one thing, he was baptized as

our example. And I believe Jesus was baptized in behalf

of those who could not be baptized. Now will there

be people in heaven that were not baptized? Yes, of course.

The thief on the cross who came to Jesus the

last hours of his life, he said, Lord, remember me.

Jesus promised you will be with me in paradise. He

could not get down and get baptized. Jesus gave him

credit for his baptism, just like Jesus gives us credit

for his righteous life. Amen. And so for those who

can't be baptized, Jesus said, I will give you credit

for my baptism. Number six. How did Philip baptize the

treasure of Ethiopia. Here's another example from the Book of Acts.

You can see in chapter eight, verse thirty eight and

thirty nine. Philip, who was one of the deacons later

became an evangelist. He's sent by the Holy Spirit down

to the road to Gaza, and it says that on

the way he meets this very wealthy treasure of Ethiopia

who is probably parked on the side of the road

in the shade, reading from the manuscript of Isaiah. Philip

hears him reading. He's reading out loud. He's reading the

prophecy about Jesus and Isaiah fifty three. And Philip hears

them and he goes, I know why I'm here. He says,

do you know what you're reading? And he said, you know,

it's fairly hard to understand without someone to explain it

to me. Philip said, may I please. He invited them

up in the chariot, and you have the Bible's first

example of a hitchhiker. And as they went along, Philip

then explained that Jesus was the fulfillment of that prophecy

in Isaiah and many other prophecies. And this man was

so overwhelmed with the power of the spirit and the

truth of what he was saying, he said, I want

to give my heart to Jesus. Here is water what

hinders me from being baptized? So we don't know whether

he was pointing at the Mediterranean or it could have

been a creek or a river where he doesn't say,

but there is some body of water. But what we

do read is it says both Philip and the eunuch

went down into the water and he baptized them. Now

when they came up out of the water, is that

clear that they're being immersed. They went together down in

the water, came up out of the water. The spirit

of the Lord caught Philip away. You've got your first

biblical example of someone being beamed from one place to another.

Suddenly Philip finds himself. Philip took him all the way

down to the desert to baptize that one man, and

then he was relocated to cesarea. That man then took

the Gospel to Ethiopia. We believe that eunuch who went

down there was the source of Christianity, going all the

way to the country of Ethiopia through his faith. It

was an amazing story. Number seven. What other truths are

symbolized by baptism. Therefore, we were buried with him through

baptism into death. That just as Christ was raised from

the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so

we should walk in a newness of life. So should

there be a change in life after baptism? Now some

people say, well, Pastor Doug, you know, I think if

you could just baptize me, I could stop drinking. I said, no, No,

you got to stop that first. And I've had people say,

you know, if you just baptistize me, I think I

could quit smoking. Ladies, what would you think of a

man came to you and said, you know, I think

that if we just get married, I could stop dating

the other girls. Would there be something wrong with that proposal? Yeah,

you don't want to be dating the devil when you're

getting baptized. John the Baptist said, bring forth fruits, meet

for repentance. Before they were baptized, he gave them specific

things he wanted them to do that they would repent

of and forsake. Repent means a sorrow for sin and

a turning away from it. So when you say I

am ready to turn my back on that life of

sin and walk in a newness of life, I want

to commit my life to Jesus. Now, that doesn't mean

you're going to be sinless, doesn't mean you'll never make

a mistake. How many of you learned some things about

your spouse after marriage you did not know before. Right,

So you don't have to wait until you know everything

about the Bible before you're baptized. But you need to

have a commit to love the Lord and to follow

the Lord, and to walk in his word. Amen. And

it's compared to a burial, a death, a burial, and

a resurrection a new life. For if we have been

united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we

also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. So

it's like Jesus was raised from the dead through a miracle.

When you are baptized, there is a miracle that takes place.

You are empowered by God also now to live a

new life. He gives you the Spirit. At Pentecost, the

Holy Spirit came down, and Peter said, when they said,

men and brethren, what shall we do? He said, and

acts chapter two. Repent and be baptized every one of

you for the remission of sin. And you shall receive

the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises unto

you and your children, and as many as the Lord

God shall call. Is there a promise that God will

give us his spirit. Live the Christian life without the

Christian spirit. You must choose to make the commitment to

turn from your life of sin, surrender your life to

the Lord, and he empowers you in a special way.

But you need to make that commitment first. For we've

been united. I guess I read this one. So another

comparison of baptism. I told you I could hold my

breath for four minutes ten seconds. Actually I once held

my breath for nine months, my mother tells me before

I was born, and then I came out and I

had my first breath. So when a baby's born, you know,

sometimes there's a little bit of tension. They're in the

delivery room and the doctor's rolling the baby round. In

the good old days, they'd hold him by the feet

and they'd smack him on the posterior and they'd let

out a cry, and everybody would rejoice because the baby's crying. Well,

sometimes there's tears associated with baptism, but they're happy tears because.

It's a sign of new life.

Mary was weepy outside the tomb, and Jesus said, I'm alive,

and it turned to rejoicing. Weeping me endure for a night,

but joy comes in the morning. Amen. And so you know,

if you're sorrow, if you have sorrow and you're repenting

of your sin, that's appropriate. And there should be a

turning from sin. And we've got to turn away from

the garbage of the world if we're going to walk

in a newness of life. Tell you a quick story.

If you want to be a Christian, you've got to

stop dumpster diving.

Now.

When I was living in the mountains in a cave,

I ran away from home. I lived on the streets.

I lived in a cave. I you know, I used

to go to Christian missions and use drugs. And I

won't go into all of it, but I was down

at the bottom, sleeping in abandoned buildings. When you talk

about homeless, I was homeless, you might say. But it

was really by my choice back then. But I grew

up in a normal family where you know, we eight

with silverware and bought our groceries at the market. But

I had friends who used to get food out of

the garbage can. When I saw that happened for the

first time, I thought, well, that is revolting. I was

hanging around with these street people, say hey, Doug, come

on out back. We'll show you where you can get

some neat stuff. And I saw them climbing over the

edge of the slimy garbage can. Now they're more protected

than they used to be. But they were climbing over

the edge of the slimy garbage can and they were

rooting around in there, and they're getting food out, you know,

spotted bananas, bent cans, day old bread, I mean, whatever

they could find. And I thought, that is that is

the grossest thing. Oh man, I can know how they

can do that. But I kept hanging around with them,

and I noticed it got easier and easier for me

to get closer and closer to the dumpster. And then

I started looking over the edge in an advisory capacity

and I say, there's a can over there. Corn looks

like it's dead. I think that's grab that for me,

would you? And those bananas over there, the ones in

the middle, look okay? When to grab? And then I

started reaching over the edge and the next thing I

was climbing in. It happened a little by little. You

can get to the place where sin does not appear sinful,

But when you're born again, you're going to find the

things you once loved you now hate, and things you

once hated you now love. First time I started going

to church, I listened to them singing. I thought, oh,

this is awful. I heard, you know, some lady up

front clunking on the piano, and these all these old

people were singing. And I used to look at how

many verses were in the song, and I think, I'm

going to go to the bathroom until they're done, because

I was used to just the music of the world,

and I thought, this is painful. And some of you

still feel that way, I can tell, but you know

what happened to me. One day I looked and I saw, well,

there's only three verses. I'll see what I can do.

And I sat there and they were singing, and instead

of thinking about the music and the beat and the harmony,

I looked at the words. And I still remember. The

song was I Will sing of Jesus, Love, sing of

Him who first loved me before he left his throne

above and died on Calvary. And all of a sudden

I just started crying. And pretty soon the things I

hated I loved, and the things I loved I hated.

I used to love cigarettes. It was hard for me

to quit. It was so hard that after I quit,

when someone lit up a cigarette across the street, I'd

crossed the street and walk behind them and inhale when

they exhaled. But praise the Lord, I never had a

cigarette since I quit forty five years ago. He changes you,

and it's a new birth, Paul says, old things are

passed away, all things are made new. How many of

you have regrets? Don't raise your hand. You've done things,

said things you wish you could forget, and whenever you

think about it, you cringe. Don't you wish you could

go to a land of beginning again, or that you

could be born again as another person, knowing what you

know now, so you don't make the same mistakes. Baptism

is your chance to be a new person. I could

never stand before you and talk about Jesus in the

Christian life. If I was still bothered by my old life,

I'd be ashamed. But I'm not that person anymore. I

am a new person, and so I believe in God's mercy.

Baptism is how you go through a change in chapters. Indeed,

it's a whole different book. Now your name is entered

in the Book of Life. How important is baptism, Jesus said,

unless one is born of water and the spirit, he

cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven. What about those that

can't be baptized, Well, God will give you credit. I

visit the hospital sometimes as a person who can't get

baptized because they're on their deathbed, and I'll pray with

them and I'll lead them to Christ. But you know,

just it's impossible. Jesus will give them credit for his baptism.

That will not be an obstacle to their salvation. But

when a person can be and they don't want to

be because if they think it's inconvenient or they don't

want to be a public witness for Christ, that's disobedience.

Listen to Jesus said in Mark sixteen. He that believes

and is baptized will be saved. If that's clear, say amen,

take it up with Jesus. He said that, not me.

He who does not believe will be condemned. Most important

thing is belief. What blessed ceremony can be compared to baptism.

I already gave you a clue. For as many of

you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.

It's like a marriage. The Bible says, for you, your

maker is your husband. The Lord of Host is his name.

As a woman takes her husband's name in marriage. So

Christians take the name of Christ. And when you say

I'm going to be a Christian, don't take his name

in vain. Then you want to be a witness for him. Amen, Husbands,

love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and

gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse

her with the washing of the Word, by washing of

water by the word. Notice, washing of water by the word.

The Word of God has a cleansing, sanctifying influence. The

H two O in baptism isn't what cleanses us. In

a little bit, you're going to see an example of

a baptism. But the water is water. But the obedience

and the ceremony and the faith is transformational. Number ten,

What command did Jesus give to his people just before

he ascended to heaven? He said, go therefore and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father and of the Holy Spirit. Someone write down

a question, are we to be baptized in the name

of the Father's Son, Holy Spirit, or the name of

Jesus or the name of the Lord, because all three

are used in the Bible. We'll answer that Friday night, okay.

But Jesus said, baptize in the name of the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe

all things whatsoever I have commanded you. There is teaching

that goes before baptism. A person should know what they're

getting into, and there's teaching that even happens after baptism.

We're ever learning. Amen. So do you need to know

everything before you're baptized. You need to know the fundamentals

of what that commitment evolves you. And I have known

people that got married the same day they met somebody,

and they wake up in Vegas and they look at

the person in bed next to them and.

Go, who are you?

And those marriages don't work out very well. You want

to know the person that you're getting married to. Peter

followed this command when on the day of PENTECOSTI said, repent,

and let every one of you be baptized in the

name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. Number

eleven what biblical qualifications must precede baptism before you baptize?

What are the criteria? Here they go, and we got

a scripture. You pull out your phone, take a picture.

But it's all so in your lesson. Number one, you

need to understand the teachings of Jesus. Matthew twenty eight,

go and teach all nations. Number two believe his teachings,

Philip said to the Ethiopian. If you believe with all

your heart, you may Number three repent, Peter said, repent

and be baptized. Number four willingness to confess your sins

to God. You don't have to confess them to a priest.

You might need to confess to someone you've offended and apologize,

but the public confession is really only for something really

public that you've done. Usually it's private confess and repent

of your sins. Number five, believe with all your heart.

Number six accept Christ as your personal savior and King,

and desire to experience that new birth. Now with that

in mind, can a baby do that?

No?

Many of you many listening you say, well, I was

baptized as a baby. Does that count? Not? Really, it's

not biblical baptism. Your parents dedicated you. Now, Jesus was

dedicated as a baby, but he wasn't baptized till he

was thirty, So your parents meant well when they dedicated you,

you probably had no choice in the matter if you

were a baby. Baptism is something you must choose every person.

You know, God has no grandchildren. You can say, well,

my father was a pastor, and that means I'm a Christian.

You must have a personal, one on one relationship with

the Lord. Amen. Number twelve. Where did all of these

counterfeit forms of baptism originate? Answer for laying aside the

commandment of God, you hold the what the tradition of men?

Christ said, you have a fine way of ignoring the

commandments of God, that you might observe your tradition. He

says it two or three times in different ways. Jesus

had a real problem with them making man made laws

that superseded the commandments of God. What should come first,

man made tradition or commandments of God? One. So, if

everybody in the world does things a certain way, and

you said, well, that's what's popular. Everybody's doing it, that

doesn't make it right. You want to follow what the

Word of God says, that's when you're building on the rock. Friends,

in the judgment day, you just need to say, Lord,

it was in your word. I did what Jesus did,

and you're safe, hymen, if you can follow his example.

In Vain, they worshiped me Matthew fifteen nine, teaching as

doctrines the commandments of men. Now, I know a lot

of people in sincerity, and it was a beautiful ceremony.

They baptized their babies. But that's not really baptism. It's

a dedication. I've been having baby dedications in my church

for Pastor Ross and I work for like three weeks

in a row now and it's a wonderful occasion. We

still dedicate the little children. You want to know the history.

It's really clear to prove baptism by immersion was the

only method that was practiced for at least the first

thousand years of church history. Here's an ancient baptistry in Israel.

This is a Christian baptistry. Of course. Naeman is an example.

He went down into the water came up out of

the water. Here's an ancient baptistry first century Philippi where

they went down into the water they were baptized with

the pastor. Here's another baptistery in the Byzantine baptistry in

the Negev Desert, dating from three to five hundred AD.

Here is a first century baptistery in Amaeus, And I've

got pictures of a baptistry in Ephesus. How many of

you have been to or heard of the Leaning Tower

of Pisa. I've been there. It's been a long time.

I think I was sixteen years old. Right across the

courtyard from the tower is this church. You can see

in the picture. Inside the church, there is one object.

That object is a baptistry where you step into the water.

Even the priests in the Roman Church baptized people by

immersion up until over Ay eleven hundred AD. It wasn't

until centuries later, in the Council of Ravenna in eighty

three eleven that sprinkling and pouring were officially accepted as

equally as valid as immersion. Gradually people began to change

the commandments of God and follow the traditions of men.

But I don't think that we should be fooling with

what God's word says. We're missing something in the symbolism

death burial, washing, marriage, new birth. All of that is

when you are immersed, you hold your breath momentarily and

you come up, you take that new breath. It's a

symbol of washing. And it can be a pond, it

could be a baptistry, it can be a river, it

can be an ocean, as long as you have those

symbols of the immersion in the water and the new birth.

Number thirteen. But doesn't baptism of the Holy Spirit replace

baptism by immersion. No. You can read in the Bible said,

repent and let every one of you be baptized in

the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin,

and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

You need both baptism and water. Baptism in the spirit.

You can read where Peter is preaching to Cornelius in

his household. This is a Roman centurion, he's not even

a Jew. And all of a sudden they were filled

with the Holy Spirit, and they began speaking with other languages.

And Paul said, look, they've got the gift of tongues.

Obviously God is blessing them. And then he goes on

to say, who can forbid water? That they should be baptized.

He said, it's great, you've been baptized in the spirit.

You need also water baptism because the Bible says you

must be born of the water and the spirit. And

maybe I should say more about that. You know, in

a lot of churches, our church, Baptist churches and others

that believe in baptism by immersion. When you do an

evangelistic meeting or there's a revival, they always say how

many were baptized. They want to know how many were

baptized in the world water. But the Bible says you

need both baptisms. Baptism in the spirit is maybe a

little harder to measure, but you realize the children of

Israel before they went to the Promised Land, Paul says

in One Corinthians, chapter ten, they went down through the

Red Sea and they were baptized. The whole nation before

they got out of Egypt were baptized in the sea.

That's what it was a symbol of They went down

through the Red Sea, and then a pillar of fire

came and they were baptizing the fire. They had water baptism,

they had spirit baptism. In the days of Noah, the

world was baptized in water. Right, the Bible says, when

Jesus comes again, it's baptized in fire. You got water baptism,

spirit baptism. Then he makes a new earth. We need

both baptisms. Amen. So number fourteen is re baptism ever appropriate. Yes,

you can read in Act nineteen about an experience where

Paul is preaching to twelve the Pesian believers. They were

baptized by John the Baptist, baptized by immersion. They had

not heard about all the teachings of Jesus, and they

didn't understand everything about being the sacrifice of Christ and

what he did for them. And so Paul preached to

them about Jesus, and they said, we've not so much

as heard whether there is any holy spirit. He said,

into what then, were you baptized? They said, John's baptism,

which is by immersion in the river. Paul said, John

indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying that they

should believe on him who would come after him, that is,

on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized

in the name of the Lord Jesus. Second baptism. So

three reasons that a person might be rebaptized. One, you

were not baptized biblically, maybe it was as a child,

or you were baptized by sprinkling or some other unbiblical method.

You should be baptized like Jesus was, to be obedient.

Second reason is if you have div i worst yourself

from the Lord. Sometimes people they are baptized with a

group at a summer camp and they go through the

routine and the kids are quickly baptized, and then they

drift away and they stop going to church and they

live for the devil. And if you come back, you

may want to consider re baptism. There's a time for that.

It's like if you divorce your spouse and you realize

it was this mistake, do you know you have to

get married again. That's what the loss is, So that

would be a case of rebaptism. A third example is

like with the one we just read. Sometimes people just

don't understand. They're baptized too soon, and they love the Lord,

but they've missed so much truth. They say, you know,

I need to get a fresh start with the whole message.

Now I've been baptized twice. First time I was baptized.

I was living up in the mountains in a cave.

I read my Bible and I accepted Jesus, but I'd

not been baptized. I hadn't really studied the subject. I

read it, but I hadn't really fun about it. Two

Baptist hikers came by my cave. They started to talk

to me. They were witnessing to me, and then they said,

have you been baptized? They said, well, no, oh, Praise

the Lord. They were Calvary Baptists, and they wanted to

baptize me. And so they gave me this quick Bible

study on the scriptures about baptistms. I said, well, it's there,

sure enough. They left out the part about making sure

I was taught the commandments of God. And so my

pond right outside my cave came from melted snow, and

they said, here's water, let's have a baptism, and I said,

praise the Lord, you know. So they brought me down

on the water and they baptized me. And I just

about walked out of the water because it was so cold,

and I fell born again, I'll tell you. And then

after they baptized me, they went Praise the Lord they

went hiking on their way. They didn't instruct me anymore,

and I thought, I'm all by myself. I said, Praise

the Lord, I'm baptized. I can't wait to tell my friends.

I went to town to tell my friends. They said,

let's celebrate. We got some beer, we started a party,

and I got arrested. And the first day of my

baptism I spent in jail witnessing to the other people

there in jail about Jesus. But clearly I had not

been instructed very well. Later, a wonderful old pastor studied

with me. He helped me quit smoking and drinking. He

baptized me. And it's stuck. I've understaid. Now when I

visit jail, I'm visiting jail. So it's a little different,

all right. And then number fifteen is baptism connected with

joining a church? Yes, the Bible says those who gladly

received his word were baptized that day. At about three

thousand were added. Ladies, what would you think about a

man who said I love you, I want to marry you,

I'm going to stop dating all the other girls, but

do we really need to live together? You'd say, well, wait,

a second here. You know. So people will say, I

want to get baptized. I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious.

I don't want to join it church. There's something wrong

with that, friends, because the Church is the body of Christ.

God wants us to learn to love each other. Church

is where you learn to love. Is really easy to

love when you're a hermit in a cave. You don't

have to deal with people. But that's not what the

Bible teaches. We need to learn to love each other

and work together. Amen. They were added to the church,

praising God, having favor with all the people. The Lord

added to the church daily those who are being saved.

We are called into one body, for we are by

the spirit. We all baptize into one body, one spirit.

Christ is the head of the body, the Church, who

is the beginning of the firstborn. Number sixteen. If I

refuse baptism, whose counsel am I refusing? The Pharisees and

the lawyers rejected the will of God, not having been

baptized by John, Whose counsel are we rejecting? They rejected

the counsel of God. God, by his own word and example,

Jesus endorsed baptism. Number seventeen, when Jesus was baptized. What

did the Father say? Now, if you look in your

bibles in the Book of Matthew, chapter three, it tells

us that when Christ was baptized, he went down into

the water, and he came up out of the water,

and the heavens were open, and the dove descended, and

a voice from heaven came saying, this is my beloved son,

This is my beloved daughter, in whom I'm well pleased.

What happened to Jesus happens to you. The heavens are open.

Peace comes into your life. The power of the spirit

comes into your life. When you're baptized, says they heard

the voice of the Father. You will hear God speak

to you. You will hear a voice behind you saying

this is the way, walking in it. And then you'll

also have heaven. Access to heaven is open in a

new way, a power. Christ began his ministry at his baptism.

God's got to work for you to do. He'll give

you spiritual gifts. Was Jesus tempted after his baptism, You'll

still deal with temptation. But did he get victory? The

word of God? I have hidden in my heart that

I might not sin now. When you came in tonight,

I think we gave each one of you a card,

and i'd like you to take a look at that

real quick. Those of you watching, you're going to see

this on the screen as well. It asks three simple questions.

Please put down your contact information so we can reach

out and pray for you. First question, I have accepted

Jesus as my savior, and I desire to be baptized

by immersion. You maybe have never made this decision. I'd

encourage you make that decision now. The best time to

listen to God's voice is when you're hearing God's voice.

It doesn't mean no one's going to grab you and

make you get baptized right away. It means choose now

and then prepare for that. Check that box off the

spirit speaking to you. Maybe you were baptized once unbiblically,

or you were baptized biblically, but you've wandered away and

you think I may need to be rebaptized. Put a

mark on that box, and we're going to be praying

for you, and someone will contact you and see how

we can help facilitate that and the third question, it says,

I still have questions on this subject, and I'd welcome

help to further study the subject of baptism, and maybe

you'd like to know more about it. But friends, God

promises his spirit when we surrender our lives to him.

He wants you to be born of the water, born

of the Spirit, and then we are prepared for what

is coming in the world as we consecrate our lives

to the Lord. Most important thing in this series is

that we make a decision to say yes to Jesus

washing from sin as part of it. To Paul, why

do you terry arise and be baptized and wash away

your sin calling on the name of the Lord, and

he wants to give you that new beginning. Would you

like that? Mark it on your card. I think we're

going to see an example, Pastor Adam, and I'm going

to hand this off to you, and I'll let you

introduce this happy candidate.

Friends, there is no greater joy as a minister of

the Gospel than to be standing in this waters with

someone who has accepted Jesus and someone who is living

fully for Jesus. This evening, I get the privilege of

standing with Lenny Finn. Lenny has already been actively living

for Jesus. He's been actively serving in our church. He's

been helping with different capacities, from helping in people's homes

with yard work, helping here in the church to lead

music and worship. And one of the things that is

clearly evident as I interact with him is being able

to see the love of Jesus shine through him. Friends,

That's what this experience is all about, is standing here

to say, I profess belief in Jesus. I allow Jesus

to be Lord and Savior of my life. And that

is the commitment that Lenny has made. And it is

such a joy and a privilege to be able now

as a minister of the Gospel to baptize him in

the name of the Father, the name of the Son,

and the name of the Holy Spirit.

Now you know, if you listen carefully, you can hear

angels sing, because Jesus said, there is joy in heaven

before my Father when one of these little ones, and

when he talked to the little ones talking about baby Christians.

When someone turns their life over to the Lord, the

last words of Jesus should be a first priority for Christians.

Christ said, go and teach every nation, Go teach and

baptize in the name of the Father's Son and Holy Spirit.

And the Lord has a special work for each one

of you to do. I didn't know until I was

twenty one years old and I was baptized. I had

no idea that I had the gift of preaching. I

had no idea I was selling firewood and doing mechanic work.

If you'd told me and my friends or my family

back then that I would be a pastor, I was

the black sheep of the family. But God, he works

in your life when you surrender your life to him.

God has a plan for your life. He wants to

activate his plan for your life. But you realize that

his plan for your life is going to remain on

hold until you commit your way to the Lord. The

Bible says, if you commit your way to the Lord,

he will direct your path. Some people are afraid to

make this decision, and you should be afraid. You know why,

because the devil wants you to be afraid. It doesn't

surprise me a bit if the devil frightens you because

you've got two choices, God's way or your way. Your

way is code for the devil's way. There's no third option.

You're either going to surrender your life to the Lord.

Say Lord, will you activate your will for my life.

I want you to live out your life in me.

That is the happy life, that is the abundant life.

Otherwise you're going to keep running into a cold, cold,

a sac of disappointment. Friends, the only way to really

have peace is to put your life in the hands

of God. Commituate to him. He will direct your path.

Now again, i'd like to review. For those that are

here and those that are watching, we're giving you an

opportunity to make a decision. We don't do this every night.

You notice at these meetings, we're not begging for money. Now.

These meetings are happening because other people believe in what

we're doing and they contribute. What we are pleading with

people is get ready, Get ready, get ready, because you

are living in the last days. I believe it with

all my heart. Friends, and you might be feeling a

struggle going on in your life right now. That's a

struggle between your Jesus and your devil. And you've got

the tie breaking vote. If you've not done it yet,

i'd encourage you. If you believe Jesus died for your

sins and you want that new beginning, mark, yes, we'll

talk to you about it. Nobody will twist your arm.

No one's going to force you. It won't do any good.

You might be interested in rebaptism and mark your card.

For those here, there'll be ushers at the door to

take your cards on the way out, Please give it

to them. Of those that are watching, if you'll contact

the hosting churches in the area, they'll tell you what

to do so that they can process. You can even

contact Amazing Facts. We will take you through Bible studies

online so that everybody can have a way to follow

up in their decision to get that new beginning. He said, Okay,

if I pray for you as we close, Loving Lord,

thank you so much for your blessings, and I pray

that you will be with each person here who's made

that decision tonight, fill them with the Holy Spirit, and

I pray that you'll protect them and bring us back

again Friday night, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. When

is our next meeting? Friends? Friday night, we're going to

be talking about the Day of the Lord. Is our

next lesson. You don't want to miss this. God bless

and thank you so muchasssssssssssssssssssssssss