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We continue this week - making our way through this short 5 week series - through the month of May - hitting a different topic each week....
Last week we looked at PRAYER....
And there was a reason for STARTING with PRAYER...
Hopefully - in HEARING last week that prayer is - a PRIVILEGE and PERSONAL communion with God...
That we would PRAY - in response to each of these sermons we’ll hear...
covering water baptism
giving
discipleship
missions
And so - there’s a purpose we started with PRAYER...
TODAY - we come to water baptism...
The LEAST controversial topic in Christianity!
haha
Baptism is, if not THE most, ONE OF the most controversial topics within Christianity...
It seems that virtually every aspect of baptism is HIGHLY debated...
Who should be baptized, infants or converts?
How should baptism be done, sprinkling, pouring, or immersion?
Well the word baptism MEANS - IMMERSE - TO FULLY IMMERSE..
Right - OK - but WHY does it mean IMMERSE?
Why was the WORD BAPTIZED (which means fully immersed) USED to describe this process??
Oh, well - BECAUSE to go under the water completely - REPRESENTS Jesus being FULLY IMMERSED into the EARTH!
NO - that’s not WHY the word baptize is USED!!
It’s used because when we put our FAITH IN Jesus - we are FULLY IMMERSED - INTO CHRIST…(Spiritually)
Remember what Ephesians told us OVER and OVER and OVER again?...
to be - IN CHRIST
WAIT - so Is whole thing symbolically identifying ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus?
Or, is it when the Holy Spirit is received?
Or, is it the initial act of obedience, after faith, that God requires?
• Should baptism be done in Jesus' name or in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
Each of these questions, ACTIVE QUESTIONS that have made their way into the Christian arena...
Which has lead to...
Confusion - Many sects of Christianity…OPERATING differently!
WELL - thankfully, we have 31,100 other verses in the Bible to help us with this...And it’s very clear in fact…which is a good thing!
Today we’re going to see what Water Baptism is…and what it is not...
And so today we’re going to look at...
What it’s NOT.....then to WHAT IT IS...
What it DOESN’T DO - to what it DOES do!
And so let’s get started...
Today we’re going to focus in on the story of the Eunuch, found in Acts 8...
Let’s look at the entire passage...
There are quite a few verses here, but what we see is it all starts this way...
So - we see the LORD here guiding Philip by telling him where to go...God had a plan - so let’s see what it was...
NOW - these verses here are going to CATAPULT us to another part of Scripture...
This Ethiopian was a Eunuch...What does that mean?
A Eunuch was a MALE servant or supervisory official in the court of a ruler...
And So - he had gone to Jerusalem to - WORSHIP...
This points to him having been a proselyte...What’s a Proselyte…?
A Proselyte is a RELIGIOUS CONVERT… especially TO Judaism...
So this term (proselyte) was the primary term used to describe a gentile who had converted to Judaism...
So this Ethiopian Eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship...
OK - so why IS THIS guy being a Proselyte (one converted to Judaism) important to this idea of WATER BAPTISM...
Let’s jump to Matthew to see:
So, if you remember, John the Baptist came with a purpose...He came - to prepare the way for Jesus...
And he came - with a call for - REPENTANCE
And with this call - came a call to be WATER BAPTIZED...
Now, this call by John the Baptist - went out to - Israel…to the JEW
We know this based on Scripture...
The waters of 1st century baptism were RESERVED for Jews....for Israel...
So think about it - WHY would God usher water baptism to the 1st century Jews, and with it, CALL FOR REPENTANCE…?
Why did God set it up this way??
Think about Jewish Culture…Jewish Traditions…about Judaism...
Within Judaism - you had:
Circumcision - Physical circumcision
Dietary Laws - rules
Water Ritual Cleansings - Physical cleansings
Sacrifices
So let’s just LOOK at those...
The Jews, at this time…they RELIED upon...They FOUND SECURITY in their LINEAGE!
Meaning - they were Jewish (ethnically), and thought that BECAUSE they were Jewish, they were RIGHT with God - BASED on that!
Not only that, but they felt secure in their:
Adherence to these Physical Regulations
Circumcision: check
Dietary Laws: check
Water Ritual Cleansings: check
Sacrifices: Check
They felt like their ASSURANCE before God was GROUNDED in their adherence to these things...
So think thru that!
They felt like THEIR ASSURANCE was GROUNDED in the SIGN of circumcision!
They felt that if they were physically circumcised, then that meant they were RIGHT with God.
SO GOD - sends John the Baptist - to the JEWS - to tell them that THEIR ASSURANCE…(physical circumcision) - DIDN’T EARN them a place with God...
To tell them that they needed to REPENT of their SINS - and he does it USING water baptism
SO BASICALLY - you need to WASH yourselves of this HEART POSTURE!
And so the 1st century Jew would have understood this!
It says - for THIS REASON - i came baptizing with water - SO THAT He (Jesus) would be revealed to - the world? the nations?
NO - ISRAEL
Baptism - these cleansings were A PART of the Jewish culture -
And so - IN A REAL SENSE - Water Baptism BEGAN - as a way to ELEVATE where REAL ASSURANCE rests - and that’s in REPENTANCE and FAITH...
SEE - where Jewish assurance - erroneously rested in the keeping of the law… (SLIDE)
SLIDE:
Water baptism came to the Jew, in order to tear down all the self-righteousness of men, and in its place, put repentance and faith.
And so if we THINK ABOUT the baptism of Jesus...
- He comes to His people - is water baptized as a way to be INTRODUCED TO His people - and His message in that baptism was what?
So Jesus’ message to the Jew (in getting baptized) was - I am the END of the LAW - FOR righteousness!
You’ve been placing your assurance IN THE LAW...
WELL - by the time i’m done with my EARTHLY ministry - I WILL BE the END of the law for righteousness!
And so this HAS to inform us on how we view water baptism!!
AND - So i think a good way to figure out what something IS...is to first understand what it's NOT
...So what I'd like to do is - In understanding what water baptism is NOT - we’ll end up getting to what it is
SLIDE: Water Baptism: Not A Goal
Water Baptism
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